what to buy?!

[muzikman]

hi friends, I am back on this forum after a long gap of about 1.5 years! last time I had started a thread here but didn't end up buying anything as the circumstances changed and now my requirement has also changed a bit.

anyways, now I need a good system which can be good for both music as well as movies. I am a lot into music and appreciate details and fine nuances and at the same time am a bit of a movie buff too and would like to have a good theatre experience too if possible.

my room size has now changed to a smaller dimension its now just 13 feet wide x 11 feet long. and on one corner a 6 ft wide cupboard is placed (actually being made currently) so there the dimensions are 11 feet wide and 11 feet long. I hope you all get the picture.

now my first question is what to go for such a small room? I love movies but music is everything to me! wish i don't have to sacrifice on either. should I get 5.1 or 2 channel stereo setup?

next if I get 5.1, should I get sat-sub combo or a pair of good floorstanding speakers for front channel, center speaker and a pair of surround speakers for the rear side walls? will the foorstanding speakers be an overkill in such a small room when used in a 5.1 setup for a movie? will it be too much sound and mix and mash everything or get too boomy and bassy?

today i heard a few good speakers. i heard a few polk audio and KEF floorstanders. I found the RTi A5 a good deal at the price. for surround I was suggested FXi A4 and CSi A4 or A6 for the centre along with Denon AVR 2113. but will this system be an overkill for a 140 sq. ft. room?

next i tried definitive technology Procinema 1000 5.1 setup with an Onkyo AVR. sounded good too. surprisingly the music didn't sound too bad on it either when I tried stereo output.

had auditioned Energy RC-50 a year and a half back and had loved it but that time i was looking it for a 240 sq. ft. room. so now will something like that be too much and too big for my current 140 sq. ft. room

so guys what do you think which way should i go? I am open to try out more systems and speakers. hope to get the best in similar budget which is great for music and good for movies too! leaning towards a 5.1 setup as there are a lot of issues with stereo amps as they don't take digital signals like Dolby DTS and so cant even use them properly as a 2 or 2.1 channel for movies etc. whereas the AV receivers are pretty feature rich and you can connect almost anything and any source to it without much problem.

ok also i first need to decide on wires asap! some renovations are going on in my house right now and so I need to install the speaker wires as soon as possible. so if I go for the 5.1 setup the i need to get the wires concealed inside the walls right now. and if only the 2 channel floorstanding system, then its not much of an issue. and for wires which ones to go for? Monster cable speaker wires like the THX certified which is around 190/meter if you buy the whole spool of around 40 meters i think. or some better ones in monster cable wires. or something like Leyline or Carnival classic from CHORD? which one is better and what model? and will be good if I can decide on speakers also soon as if its something like deftech procinema 1000, then the wires need to be concealed even for the front speakers. so help me reach at a decision soon guys.

oh yeah... budget for everything, around 1.5 lac max!

Thanks a lot guys.

 

[afj]

i would go with a simple 2.0 setup esp if you love music. at a given budget you get much better sound quality. for a small room like that i believe bookshelves would be best otherwise it may get boomy.

though considering your budget (which is considerable for a small room) you could get bookshelves all around with a good amp that works for music as well.

 

[ngd]

Cambridge S-30 (10k) + TA2021 Amp (from ebay indeed labs, 5k). You have to listen to it to believe it. This system can also be moved to your study or bedroom once you upgrade your house.

 

[muzikman]

Guys, this is for my bedroom setup only. I don't mind a good 2.0 setup. would love to have 2 good tower speakers but yeah... fear they will get boomy in such a small room. but I guess some good front ported towers might just do the trick. maybe something like the PSB T5 or T6 even. and a good marantz or NAD amp and I am done within the budget I guess! I would love the Energy RC-50 with a Marantz Amp combo which I had heard a year and a half back and had absolutely loved it. but now since the space is less so again fear such a setup will get boomy as Energy speakers are rear ported and have deep bass and need big space.

but my prime concern is if I have a good stereo amp, how will I connect my BD/DVD, Tata Sky HD, iPod/iPhone/iPad, Media centre/external HDD or PS3 etc. to the amp?

I am a bit confused here as to how will I be able to setup a good 2 channel stereo setup which fulfills all my digital need.. as the amp is capable of transmitting and receiving only analog signals. there is an option of external DAC but i guess that would be too expensive as i was told a good DAC will be above 1 Lac!

so if there are so many connectivity issues then I guess I will have to go with the AVR route instead.

guys, please help me as I need to take the decision between 5.1 setup or 2.0 setup very soon. within a day now as there is renovation work going on in my home and need to install speaker cables for the surround speakers now if I go for the 5.1 setup.

 

[leokatero]

i would go with a simple 2.0 setup esp if you love music. at a given budget you get much better sound quality

 

[muzikman]

As I said earlier.. I don't mind going for a 2.0 setup but will I be able to connect all the above listed items to the amp or will I need an external DAC? And also even though I do have good amount of CD's but nowadays listen to a lot of mp3's and downloaded music as well which is usually between 256kbps to 320kbps. So is it still worth going for a dedicated 2.0 setup when the source itself is lossy format? Will the mp3's sound even worse on 2.0 setup compared to 5.1 setup with AVR?

Also does all the modern integrated amps have a built-in DAC? Was told NAD does come with one but the price is higher. Usually all NAD amps are pretty costly and you can attach only one thing to the DAC.

Please get me out of this dilemma people.. Need some expert advice. Again I love music and movies both but appreciate finer details in music. The more clear and pure, the better. am a musician too.

 

[afj]

you can connect traditionally through rca connectors. as for mp3 for that sort of system as long as the downloaded songs are about 1mb per minute of music you should be fine

 

[muzikman]

guys i love my music but also watch a lot of DVD movies. someone told me you can get similar effect on front 2 speakers for music with an AV receiver like a 2 channel stereo amp if you have a big expensive AVR with enough and matching power. but that would most probably be outta my budget anyways.

so now i have almost decided to go for a 2 channel setup. my main issue was actually connectivity of digital sources rather than speakers. will I be able to connect and play my digital source like iPhone/iPod/Blu ray/PS3 etc to a 2 channel stereo amp and get good results or will AVR do a better job with such digital sources? so main issue is AVR or stereo AMP for blu-ray, iPhone, iPod etc.

secondly the area of my room is such that if at all I go for 5.1 setup, I will have to place the surrounds above 7 feet on side walls. so will this do a good enough job?

and also since the room size is 140 sq. ft. only, one demo guy had told me that better to go for small speakers. sat-sub will do better coz if I go for towers for front L-R speakers, it will get all mix during movies when all 5.1 is active. but since this is my main system, I need to take music also into account. and small sat speakers might not be great for music. so I need good musical powerful front speakers no matter what. and if this will be too much for HT and be all mixed and mashed during 5.1, then chuck 5.1 and better go for 2.0 setup. but with the main issue was playing digital sources with stereo Amp!

so such a huge confusion! damn!

also if I go for good quality towers with 2.0 setup, will I be able to get decent enough effect when watch movies? as the size of the room is 140 sq. ft. only wont it be powerful enough to fill the room and give decent effect?

guys please give your opinion. people with similar setup in similar rooms can share their experience. need to decide this (5.1 vs 2.0) ASAP! as need to do the wiring for 5.1 setup now if decide for it as renovation is going on. no problem for 2.0 setup. will do actual buying of speakers later after couple of months when renovation gets complete.

your opinions and help will be much appreciated.

 

[afj]

most amps now come with ability to connect mp3 players using docks or simple connectors like

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41JGQR4TJML._SL500_AA300_.jpg or

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...ables.jpg/220px-Xbox-360-composite-cables.jpg.

though i must say that the sound converter in a mp3 players (including iphone ipod etc) is very poor so the sound quality is pretty much crap. your source needs to have a good inbuilt dac or a good sound card if youre using a computer. at the least you can use a multimedia player like the xtremer that stores and plays your music / videos etc

speakers are ideally placed at listening level. but if youre going for satellites you can always point them downwards.

its going to be totally up to you to go for a surround sound or a stereo set up. its a toss up between better sound quality vs sounds coming out from different areas of the room

ps. you can always wire your place for surround sound and not use it if you decide to go stereo

 

[muzikman]

ok thanks afj, leokatero and ngd. I have now decided to go for a 2.0 setup only and therefore not going to install the surround speaker cables.

as the room is small, i thought that if I go for 5.1 setup then i will have to go for bookshelf speakers only for the front compulsorily or else it would be too much while playing 5.1 content. so towers speakers would be out. and even in bookshelf, I might not be able to go for very powerful speakers. and due to this i might have to use the subwoofer for music as well which i don't prefer usually as it adds extra bass which kills the clarity a bit and also it does not gell as well with the music as with the movies. basically subs are a disturbance when playing music from 2.1 setup. I prefer 2.0 setup for music. and this would eventually reduce my music listening pleasure when playing music in stereo mode. so all in all i would loose at least 30-40% of quality for music. 15-20% for going with smaller speakers in the front and 15-20% for using AVR instead of an AMP. all this is mainly because the size of the room is small. in a bigger room with a bigger budget this might not be a problem.

so now I have decided to go for 2.0 setup which does not require to install speaker cables to be concealed inside walls. so will now start auditioning 2.0 setup once my renovation work is fully completed in couple of months max.

thinking of mostly going in for tower speakers (like Energy RC-50 or better) or some really good bookshelves (like KEF R300. loved em' but pretty expensive). as the reason to go for powerful speakers is not necessarily to play very loud or crank up the volume to shatter things but to get more rich, clear and detailed sound. i prefer to listen my music the way it has been recorded in the studio. very neutral. don't like to add any effects.

can't wait now to start auditioning and finally purchase my first true hi-fi setup!hyeah:

 

[ngd]

Since you are in mumbai, try Hari Iyer's TL speakers. I heard them during the HFV meet in Pune and were most impressive. He was giving them for 35k at that time.

 

[muzikman]

Since you are in mumbai, try Hari Iyer's TL speakers. I heard them during the HFV meet in Pune and were most impressive. He was giving them for 35k at that time.

what speakers are those and where are they available? will try them when i start auditioning. was also thinking about auditioning lithos kontra but they are now very expensive and outta budget! sad! :sad:

 

[ngd]

Hari is in mumbai. PM him: http://www.hifivision.com/members/hari-iyer.html