Which home theater system should I buy?

[send2sherry]

Thanks all for your suggestions ! Went to the
Hey another thing I wanted to ask, is it a good idea to place the speakers on the cieling of the room? I have seen the layout pics on the net, but was still wondering, as that can fill the whole room with sound rather than just the sofa area

Dear Angy,

I demoed the Violet 3d system @ Lakozy Delhi. You can keep the speakers wherever you want. Incredibly they can also be screwed into a screw bulb socket (and those are provided with the system). You can add additional speakers (5.1 provided with the system) and keep them wherever you want in the house as the system is 100% wireless. It recently won the NDTV Tech Audio Gadget of the year award. Here's snippet from the citation:

Violet 3D Home Theatre System is a standout innovation with unique aesthetic design, Surround-space technology and speakers mobility anywhere. Its a sound revolution in your living room.

Give it a try. They also do a home demo so you can experince the system in your acual staging area. Go the V3D site and book a demo. They are pretty quick with their followups.

Thx,
~s~

 

[send2sherry]

I am from Delhi, so any idea where I can audition these systems? Currently I have in mind the showrooms in MGF Mall in Gurgaon, Onkyo showroom in C.R Park, Other showrooms like Croma etc (though I dont think they would be having this equipment).
If you guys know know any other showrooms in South Delhi (Preferably Saket, Kalkaji, C.R Park, Malviya Nagar and Gurgaon Malls) please do let me know, I would visit them as well !

I would be auditioning these systems over this weekend.

Dear Angy,

Good work reading up all this stuff. Its interesting, exciting and frustrating all the the same time. I am from Delhi too and auditioned at MGF. The other places I went were:

- JBL systems - Rajouri Garden
- Bass n Treble - Dwarka
- Lakozy Lajpat Nagar
- Pro FX CR park - this was a failed attempt as I could not locate the shop and the guy I spoke to wasn't too helpful with directions

My exp with Bass n Treble (Denny) & Lakozy (Ashish) was excellent. Both are passionate about sound and know what they are talking about. I ended up doing business with Lakozy and am fully satisfied.

Thx,
~s~

 

[angynagpal]

Dear Angy,

I demoed the Violet 3d system @ Lakozy Delhi. You can keep the speakers wherever you want. Incredibly they can also be screwed into a screw bulb socket (and those are provided with the system). You can add additional speakers (5.1 provided with the system) and keep them wherever you want in the house as the system is 100% wireless. It recently won the NDTV Tech Audio Gadget of the year award. Here's snippet from the citation:

Violet 3D Home Theatre System is a standout innovation with unique aesthetic design, Surround-space technology and speakers mobility anywhere. Its a sound revolution in your living room.

Give it a try. They also do a home demo so you can experince the system in your acual staging area. Go the V3D site and book a demo. They are pretty quick with their followups.

Thx,
~s~

Thanks for your reply ! I was thinking about Violet, but then I read on these forums that it does not support Optical or HDMI inputs, and also currently it doesnt decode DTS. So, with its current status, I think its too early to adopt this 'furture wonder' !

Dear Angy,

Good work reading up all this stuff. Its interesting, exciting and frustrating all the the same time. I am from Delhi too and auditioned at MGF. The other places I went were:

- JBL systems - Rajouri Garden
- Bass n Treble - Dwarka
- Lakozy Lajpat Nagar
- Pro FX CR park - this was a failed attempt as I could not locate the shop and the guy I spoke to wasn't too helpful with directions

My exp with Bass n Treble (Denny) & Lakozy (Ashish) was excellent. Both are passionate about sound and know what they are talking about. I ended up doing business with Lakozy and am fully satisfied.

Thx,
~s~

Thanks once again for your reply....trust me, I am so happy that you replied :yahoo:, as I had started to think that noobody was reading the thread anymore, so getting help would get difficult now ! Im still waiting for someone to answer the questions posted in my previous posts, as I am not able to find the answer myself on the internet !

Thanks for the shop names , i would be giving them a visit for sure! Currently I am putting the auditions on hold, as I have done enough research on this that I atleast have an idea now about these equipments . My actual purchase would be 6-7 months down the line, and currently my main aim for researching was to gain information in this field as I have a lot of interest in music equipments but never understood some of the jargons and also to identify the products available in the market, as 6 months on, when I wont have any time to research !

Thanks a lot for your help.....please do answer my queries as well...would really really appreciate it !


Queries (once again):
1) IF others have heard Onkyo S3400, and other speakers, did you notice some sounds being missed by 3400? Is it possible that one speaker can give that sound so nicely while the other skips it totally? Or is it just my ears or was the speaker creating its own sounds?

2) Im no audiophile, so I dont understand the terms like frequency, db etc., but how is it possible that one speaker kills our ears so badly that we had to cover them, while the other, with the same loudness, sounded so nice to our ears? I mean, whats the logic behind this? What effects this? S3400 sounded just like a loud voice or sound, but ELac sounded like everything was crystal clear and not just mere sound. Whats the reason for this?

3) The dealer mentioned that Polk Speakers (and maybe denon) doesnt have enough service centers here? Is this true? Hows the service for denon and polk in delhi?

4) Now that you have understood my tastes, is there any other HT system that you would reccommend to me ?

5) I haven seen many threads recommending Elac speakers! Whats the reason for thet? Are speakers like Polk, Energy etc even better than Elac?

6) The dealer said that the onkyo receiver does not need a separate mic to calibrate, it does so automatically. Is this true? I have seen posts of people enquiring about mics for Onkyo receiver, so am not sure.


Cheers!

 

[angynagpal]

Hi All,
As mentioned, I would be buying the speakers after 6-7 months (as I would be moving to another place where I would be getting the HT installed), but am thinking of buying an AVR now only as I can use my old speakers with it to enjoy some movies and play games ! I would then buy the speakers after moving to the new house but even then I would not be looking to build my HT speaker by speaker and would in the end buy a 5.1 speaker set (e.g Elac starlet, polk etc), but have not decided yet whether I would buy Elac or Polk or some other set of speakers!

With the above in mind, do you think it is a good idea to buy the AVR now only? Do the dealers give more discounts if we buy the complete combination (speaker+avr) from them instead of buyin it separate? Does it make a difference if I use polk speakers with onkyo avr or use elac speakers with denon avr instead of the usual combo of Onkyo+elac or Denon+polk?

Also, whats the cost of Denon 1611 or Onkyo 608 in Delhi? Is onkyo 608 good?

My maximum buget of Speaker and AVR would not exceed 50-55k (thats the maximum)!

Damn....the more I read, the more I think, the more confused I am ! Knowledge is sometimes harmful lol!

Edit: Does anybody here on these forums live in gurgaon, has a small(ish) room for TV and is using a HT setup costing around 55k and just loves the experience.....??? Please can I come and visit you and check out your system?? Im very very very very confused and scared now

 

[avidyarthy]

Suggest you visit some of our homes to find out more ...... and carry a bit of 'incentives' to show your gratitude .....

 

[angynagpal]

Suggest you visit some of our homes to find out more ...... and carry a bit of 'incentives' to show your gratitude .....

Sure....how abt some cans of beer to go along while we check out the system...:beer:

 

[ashishkesarwani]

Hi Angy,
Regarding Violet yes it doesn't support DTS decoding as of now but you can do the same at the player's level and pass the signal as LPCM, also you stated the point where you mentioned its lack of Optical and HDMI connections then I would like to say that there are after market convertors for doing these which if given with the product will also add to its cost. I will still ask you to take a demo of this product to believe its endless possibilities and also sound.

 

[haisaikat]

For point 3: Polks are imported to my knowledge and if within warranty your drivers get damaged like other imported brands the dealer (profx, etc) will have to import the replacement for you. So I do not think having any service centers locally affects this much.

For point 4: Try the Harmon Kardon series of Speaker+Amp package. They start from around 22/23K and are good as well.

For point 5: Elacs are Satellite speakers with good output (may not be the best) and are priced competitively in sub 20K range for a 5 speaker system. If they sound good to your ears you may very well go for them.

 

[angynagpal]

Hi Angy,
Regarding Violet yes it doesn't support DTS decoding as of now but you can do the same at the player's level and pass the signal as LPCM, also you stated the point where you mentioned its lack of Optical and HDMI connections then I would like to say that there are after market convertors for doing these which if given with the product will also add to its cost. I will still ask you to take a demo of this product to believe its endless possibilities and also sound.

I totally agree with the endless possibilities....and was very happy to hear that the only thing found lacking in they system was Optical and HDMI input along with DTS decoding, both of which can easily be added to the system ! But seeing the price range and overall VFM, I think, 'currently', there are way better products available in the market for the same price !

For point 3: Polks are imported to my knowledge and if within warranty your drivers get damaged like other imported brands the dealer (profx, etc) will have to import the replacement for you. So I do not think having any service centers locally affects this much.

Oh...so after warranty service can be tricky then !

For point 4: Try the Harmon Kardon series of Speaker+Amp package. They start from around 22/23K and are good as well.

Cool, so will check out their showroom in kalkaji

For point 5: Elacs are Satellite speakers with good output (may not be the best) and are priced competitively in sub 20K range for a 5 speaker system. If they sound good to your ears you may very well go for them.

Which one would you choose between Elai or Polk? Have you heard Onkyo 3400?? Im just worried that the loud noise I was talking about might just have been due to the high volume rather than the speakers, so wanna get more opinions on whether its true that some speakers provide the same volume and effects but dont hurt the ear! Or is it that all speakers hurt the ears during action scenes when heard aloud?
I guess I just need to demo a few more speakers like polk etc to get a better idea, though I dont think they will have the same disc and scene! Might need to look for Master and Commander DVD now !

 

[ukjeyaraj]

Yeah figured that out after reading a lot of posts on this forum. The average price seems to be around 25k ! Thanks for the info, you got an awesome deal ! Does this price include the installation as well?

Yes, with installation and Demo. However I did not take installation and Demo and made the rep register for warranty alone.

 

[haisaikat]

Oh...so after warranty service can be tricky then !

technically yes but since brands like polks are big it will be less likely that you will fall short of spares if you are ready to bear the price but on the other hand unless you abuse your speakers it will be less likely that you will ever need to get them serviced. FYI, I own a polk audio sub which has 1 yr warranty on circuits and 3 yrs on drivers but i have hardly heard people having problems with these.

Which one would you choose between Elai or Polk? Have you heard Onkyo 3400?? Im just worried that the loud noise I was talking about might just have been due to the high volume rather than the speakers, so wanna get more opinions on whether its true that some speakers provide the same volume and effects but dont hurt the ear! Or is it that all speakers hurt the ears during action scenes when heard aloud?

to my ears polks sounded better. satellites at higher volume were hurting my ears except bose hich seems to transform the sound to some extent.

but you must also appreciate that the cheapest polk 5.0 may be costllier than elac 5.0 set.

I guess I just need to demo a few more speakers like polk etc to get a better idea, though I dont think they will have the same disc and scene! Might need to look for Master and Commander DVD now !

why dont you carry your on demo disc. many of us have did that and that included me as well.

 

[angynagpal]

technically yes but since brands like polks are big it will be less likely that you will fall short of spares if you are ready to bear the price but on the other hand unless you abuse your speakers it will be less likely that you will ever need to get them serviced. FYI, I own a polk audio sub which has 1 yr warranty on circuits and 3 yrs on drivers but i have hardly heard people having problems with these.




to my ears polks sounded better. satellites at higher volume were hurting my ears except bose hich seems to transform the sound to some extent.

but you must also appreciate that the cheapest polk 5.0 may be costllier than elac 5.0 set.



why dont you carry your on demo disc. many of us have did that and that included me as well.

Thanks for your replies ! When you say Satellites at higher volume hurt your ears, do you mean even the Polk Sats behaved that way, i.e. RM6750 model?

As for the demo disc, I have searched all over for the demo disc, but none of the shops have it. I even searched on the net, but the two discs that I found hardly had any seeders !

 

[haisaikat]

Thanks for your replies ! When you say Satellites at higher volume hurt your ears, do you mean even the Polk Sats behaved that way, i.e. RM6750 model?

As for the demo disc, I have searched all over for the demo disc, but none of the shops have it. I even searched on the net, but the two discs that I found hardly had any seeders !

unfortunately i could not audition the polks rm series. but i can assure you the same for elacs. CA Minx was better though.

By demo disc I meant that a collection of your own favourite songs which will be a mix of all types that you listen. why will you carry a demo disc that contains test tracks someone else has selected.

 

[alexanish]

The point about satellites may be true with all brands. I guess because most satellites like RM 6750 drives the higher frequencies primarily through these small speakers or horn (that's what I heard about klipsch) they tend to bring fatigue earlier than normal size speakers. I remember it is at this point that my mind changed to normal sized speakers. The RM 6750 of course is a value for money proposition given the 18K price point. And it's on part with any other satellites. You may also try Boston CS which also falls in similar price range. Klipsch may be a little costlier and the basic range like HT300 is not that great. I have heard good feedback about DefTech one but not auditioned.

 

[angynagpal]

unfortunately i could not audition the polks rm series. but i can assure you the same for elacs. CA Minx was better though.

By demo disc I meant that a collection of your own favourite songs which will be a mix of all types that you listen. why will you carry a demo disc that contains test tracks someone else has selected.

I guess I would need to demo the speakers again then. The thing is my room (am trying to get the pic so that I can upload it here) size is not going to be big enough to handle the tower speakers, and I would be having the HT setup in this room for atleast next 3-4 years. And as I mentioned, I tried the Onkyo 3400 setup, but that hurt my ear pretty bad during the acton sequence, while the same scene sounded pretty good on Elac. I guess I would need to demo the speakers again properly and take my own disc so that I can test the same scene on other speakers.

Thanks for your help !

The point about satellites may be true with all brands. I guess because most satellites like RM 6750 drives the higher frequencies primarily through these small speakers or horn (that's what I heard about klipsch) they tend to bring fatigue earlier than normal size speakers. I remember it is at this point that my mind changed to normal sized speakers. The RM 6750 of course is a value for money proposition given the 18K price point. And it's on part with any other satellites. You may also try Boston CS which also falls in similar price range. Klipsch may be a little costlier and the basic range like HT300 is not that great. I have heard good feedback about DefTech one but not auditioned.

Thanks for your inputs ! As I already wrote above, I dont think FS speakers would enjoy my room size much ! So the option lies between bookshelf and satellites. Satellites obviously have the added advantage of looking nice (the HT would be setup in a section of the living room) on the walls !

 

[alexanish]

You are right, in the aesthetic department satellites are much better. But on the sound Bookshelf is better, that's my finding can change on individual tastes.