Advice for Home Theatre

[viper]

Hi Guys,

A friend of mine is planning to invest in a couple of systems for his newly renovated flat. Requirements are as follows.

1> DEN - requirement high end home theatre(only suggest brands available here)
2> Bedroom 1 - same but slightly less expensive.
3> Bedroom 2 - Decent surround system(Satellites)
4> Hall - Good 4 speaker setup wall mount only (the best )

Need 2-3 options with total approx budget of Rs10 lacs which must include 1 nos 42" plasma tv and 2 nos 32" LCD tvs.

Already have a quote of approx 9.5lacs from Audiovision for a B&W speaker +Onkyo/Proson Amps setup. Looking for other brand options.


Please reply with brand, model nos and approx prices as soon as possible as I need to purchase in 3-4 days time.

Viper

PS - If someone can get me good discounts would also be appreciated

[binz]

Originally Posted by viper

PS - If someone can get me good discounts would also be appreciated

If and only if you can wait then we could get you discount from audiwiz.It is a one of a kind showroom in dubai(only one in the middle east).You could check up with the dxb members(steeroid,catamaran)about their products.If your interested,give me the details.

binz

www.audiviz.com

[Bass&Trouble]

I don't like the sound of the B&W's cheaper speakers.

Pop by to these stores in Bombay and see if you like something you hear.

1. Lakozy Electronics, Chowpatty
2. Desginer Audio (I think they're at Tardeo and Santacruz now)
3. The Shop (near The Club, Andheri)
4. Boomerang (somewhere in the suburbs, not sure where exactly)

All these guys have setups on demo and you should be able to decide.

[Autophile]

Tannoy Loudspeakers and Velodyne Subwoofers are my strong recommendation. Can't beat them in sound and performance they are out of this world.

[viper]

Originally Posted by Autophile

Tannoy Loudspeakers and Velodyne Subwoofers are my strong recommendation. Can't beat them in sound and performance they are out of this world.

Hi ,

Thanks any recommendations for models/pricing.

Viper

[deepug]

There are many more brands than Tannoy and Velodyne

Some of the options that you have are as follows

Jamo - They have very good HT options
KEF - Q Series
Definitive
Quad 22L , 12 L and Sub Woofer combination - Supposed to be a very Powerful combination
PolkAudio
Dali
Dynaudio -

REL Subwoofers are supposed to be the best.

Please note that IMHO, Onkyo can be avoided more hype I would Say. AV Reciever/Amp can be from Denon, Rotel, NAD SilverLine ,Marantz, Arcam.
Also many of the above recievers have multi zone features.

Not sure where these are available in Mumbai, but I know it's available.. 10L is lot of money , I would suggest you to insist on a home demo to make sure that the combination suits your room acoustics. With this kind of money I doubt any one will decline a home demo.

Also would suggest you to carry DVD's you are familiar with when you go for auditions.

PolkAudio , Kef and Denon are available with ProFx Showroom. Not sure of the address in Mumbai though.

Deepu

[navin]

Originally Posted by viper

A friend of mine is planning to invest in a couple of systems for his newly renovated flat.
1> DEN - requirement high end home theatre
2> Bedroom 1 - same but slightly less expensive.
3> Bedroom 2 - Decent surround system(Satellites)
4> Hall - Good 4 speaker setup wall mount only (the best )
Need 2-3 options with total approx budget of Rs10 lacs which must include 1 nos 42" plasma tv and 2 nos 32" LCD tvs.

Already have a quote of approx 9.5lacs from Audiovision for a B&W speaker +Onkyo/Proson Amps setup. Looking for other brand options.

1. I find B&W to be too bright but it is a matter of personal taste in fact the only B&W speaker that worked for me was their 302/303 becuase the hf was a recessed.
2. Speaker brands I would consdier JM Lab (Focal), Jamo (D870), Dynaudio (52), Monitor Audio (Silver Series)
3. HTAV Amp brands I would consdier Marantz, Denon

I would consider 5.1/6.1 for the DEN and 4.1 for the Hall (with phantom center) and stick to 2 ch stereo for the bedrooms.

if that is agreed
Now lets start with the easier stuff
Budget 10L
about 2L for the 42" plasma
about 1L for 2 32" pixel plus Philips
about 1.5L for the DEN speaker set
about 1.2L for the Hall speaker set (one or two less satellite)
about 80K for 2 pairs of bedroom speakers
about 1L for 2 HT/AV recievers
about 60K for 2 2ch. amps
about 1.2L for 4 DVD/CD players
about 70K for wires
----
10L

now to work backwards
the 2 bedroom stereo systems
Speakers 40K each Epos 12.2 (stand mount) or JM Lab 714 (floor) or Wharfdale Evo 30 (if you get the under 40K per pair they are great value) or KEF iQ5 (bass is a not upto the mid), Mordant Short 914 (compare these to the Evo 30), Monitor Audio RS6

Stereo Amps 30K each NAD C352 (mated to the Evo 30 can rock), Rotel RA03 (need a discount to get to 30K), Cambridge Audio 640 (esp if you are getting the Epos 12.2 the combination is smooth) Marantz 7200KI (mated with the Monitor Audio Silver RS6)

DVD/CD Player 20K each Denon 1720 or Cambridge 540 the former does video better the later does audio better. choose your poison if one of the bedrooms is not having a TV then one can get a really good CD player from NAD< Cambridge or Marantz for 20K instead.

Wires 10K each Chord or QED or Eccosse all have cable in this range. Spend about Rs. 5000 per on the RCA interconnect and Rs. 500/m on 10 meter of speaker cable.
--------------
40+30+20+10 x 2 = 2L

Now to tackle the HT systems in the DEN and HALL

1.5L speaker
50K HT/AV
40K for DVD (maybe even Blu Ray)

For the speakers I would stick to the same brands
Epos, KEF, Monitor, Wharfdale, JM Lab
At 40K per pair of sateliite (2 pairs), and 40K for the subs, and 30K for the center it would cost about Rs.1.5L for a 5.1 (DEN) and 1.2L for the 4.1 (HALL) two other speaker systems one can consider are the B&W MT 30 (I did not like) or the Tannoy Arena (I liked) however these are 5.1 systems with subs. Most REL and Velodyne subs are too expesnive for this budget.

For the HT/AV amp I would try and get a deal on the Deon 2805 it is a class above other products (Marantz 4500, Yamaha 657, etc...) but a bit more expensive too.

For the DVD player the Denon 1920 or Yamaha 2500 or maybe a Media server would be your bet. I would ocnsider atleast one machine which has a HD based video recorder built it. Quite a few are already available in the under 40K price range.

Hope this helps. You can use the same speaker cable as above. Only your component video cable will be different.

Please listen to you ears. There are many brands and models I have not listed because I dont have an opinion on them or because I plain forgot.

BTW If you want a one stop shop beyond those listed by B&T I would talk to Sushil Anand at Nova Audio on Carter Road. He is a real gentelman and can demo various brands. I think his office number is 26007700. I wold make an appointement and catch him.

Discalimer: I have no commerical interest with Mr Anand save that I bought my Marantz AV reciever from him about 2 or 3 years ago.

[viper]

Hey Mods,

You can close this thread. System is almost finalised.

Viper