[navin]

Originally Posted by AshOnTheRocks

,Marantz SR 7400 ( Ken Ishiwata signature series :better quality components & parts used )

KI's work usually revolves around a better power supply. Trust me. :-)

My audio components....
2 CD plauyers of Marantz CD Ki vintage. One modified by Phonosophie and the other a WIP (I have a PDF of some of the mods in case you are wondering).

home made preamp using OP275 and relay switching (Douglas Self)

Home made power amps the SS one has a R-Core 1200VA transformer, 60,000uf of filter caps, and 6 pairs of 2SK135, 2SJ50 Hitachi Metal can Mosfets (per channel). the tube one is a PP EL34 (triode for tweeter and UL for mid) using custom OPTs made in Singapore etc...

Speakers include custom 2 x 12" woofers made by Mike Dzurko of Audio Concpets, 2 x Scan Speak 18W and a 9900 (per channel), a pair of Jordan JX92 and will soon include a pair of horn looded Foxtex FE168.

Interconnects: custom made by my sister's hubby using Belden silver (hot lead) and copper.

Speaker cable: Nordost, some custom made stuff made using 100/40 silver wire (usually used for MIL spec instrumenton leads) and some solid core.

[determinus]

Originally Posted by serious_maniac

I am getting a good deal on Onkyo HTS680 6.1 channel which a friend had imported from the US an year back. How is the set-up as compared to Onkyo HTS 590 which is 5.1 channel. The price of both are same rather 6.1 is lesser (6.1 being 1 yr old). Do you think I should go for it?

Someone here has a 590 and seemed pretty happy with it. He must have done some comparos. Search the thread and PM him.

[determinus]

Originally Posted by n_aditya

Have planned on picking up a Sony Home Theater system - DAV-DZ120K. I loved the sound quality and the price is just within my reach. Have been postponing this purchase for over 2 years now.

Can the audi guru's throw more light on this product (pro's and con's with regard to sound, service backup, reliability, etc). I mostly will be using this for action movies and music dvd's.

What are my alternatives (like buying each unit separately) without compromising on the sound quality and reliability as well as after sales support and service? Please keep in mind my budget cannot go beyond INR 16k.

Sony DZ550 was rated as best HTIB under 30k by What Hi-Fi. I dont know about this "K" series, but DAV-DZ720 seems a good bet. At 16k, IMO, the system will be highly compromised.

So if you really liked the sound, then give 720 (or 555) a listen and see if you can make out a HUGE difference. If not, buy the 120. Else, I suggest you try to increase your budget. You could stick with Sony below the 25-30k mark.

[AshOnTheRocks]

Originally Posted by navin

KI's work usually revolves around a better power supply. Trust me. :-)

I know you'd know sir! Believe you've met Ken Ishiwata ??!!

My audio components....
2 CD plauyers of Marantz CD Ki vintage. One modified by Phonosophie and the other a WIP (I have a PDF of some of the mods in case you are wondering).

home made preamp using OP275 and relay switching (Douglas Self)

Home made power amps the SS one has a R-Core 1200VA transformer, 60,000uf of filter caps, and 6 pairs of 2SK135, 2SJ50 Hitachi Metal can Mosfets (per channel). the tube one is a PP EL34 (triode for tweeter and UL for mid) using custom OPTs made in Singapore etc...

Speakers include custom 2 x 12" woofers made by Mike Dzurko of Audio Concpets, 2 x Scan Speak 18W and a 9900 (per channel), a pair of Jordan JX92 and will soon include a pair of horn looded Foxtex FE168.

Interconnects: custom made by my sister's hubby using Belden silver (hot lead) and copper.

Speaker cable: Nordost, some custom made stuff made using 100/40 silver wire (usually used for MIL spec instrumenton leads) and some solid core.

All I can say is I am speechless :-) What STUFF!! DIYs,custom made stuff..Love to see & hear the system one day! Belden silver, MIL spec inst. lead !! omygad!

[reignofchaos]

Originally Posted by Bass&Trouble

I thought there was a dealer for NAD in Delhi. I am not sure. It is imported and distributed by Lakozy. I would assume Faisal Hamid sells NAD, maybe not. The NAD Master Series is good stuff, but I have not been able to evaluate it at length. The Classic Series, especially the stereo stuff is simply awesome, unbeatable value for money.

Another NAD classic series C320 BEE user here. Before I purchased mine, I compared atleast half a dozen amps from Cambridge, Rotel, Denon, Marantz et al. Frankly the NAD sounded way way better than all of them. I have the amp paired with Jamo E855 floorstanders sourced by a computer with a Creative XFi sound card that feeds an upsampled 24/96 over Toslink to a Citypulse DA7.2x stereo DAC. I was on a very tight budget and found that the entry level CD players are far worse than using a computer as a source with a decent quality external DAC. I also have a pair of Sennheiser HD580 headphones connected to the dac with a home built pure class A headphone amp in between.

[AshOnTheRocks]

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

Another NAD classic series C320 BEE user here. Before I purchased mine, I compared atleast half a dozen amps from Cambridge, Rotel, Denon, Marantz et al. Frankly the NAD sounded way way better than all of them. I have the amp paired with Jamo E855 floorstanders sourced by a computer with a Creative XFi sound card that feeds an upsampled 24/96 over Toslink to a Citypulse DA7.2x stereo DAC. I was on a very tight budget and found that the entry level CD players are far worse than using a computer as a source with a decent quality external DAC. I also have a pair of Sennheiser HD580 headphones connected to the dac with a home built pure class A headphone amp in between.

Hi,

You have a v.good amp. NAD C320 BEE & C325 BEE from NAD are quality amps. How much did you amp cost? You're right about entry level CD players but using computer as a source when you have NAD C320 BEE apm..But how's the music & what genre of music you're into..How's Jamo E855 performance..whats the impedance & recomended amp.power with these speakers..Do let us know.

Cheers
Ash

[Bass&Trouble]

Originally Posted by AshOnTheRocks

There's no NAD dealer in Delhi..Faisal Hamid (Sound of Music) stocks Arcam & few other esoteric brands..I have spoken to him & will go & listent to Arcam A70 amp.Believe its good.

Hmm, its a pity.

You are looking to buy an AV Receiver or a stereo amp? I dont recommend NAD for AV in any case. I have heard there are failure problems. Maybe its resolved now, I'm not sure, but not a chance you can take when you dont have a service station in your city.

Originally Posted by AshOnTheRocks

Heard MS Performance 6 series (Rs.2.5 L/pair) too y'day floor standers

At that budget, there are a zillion other speakers that will pulverize the MS.

Originally Posted by AshOnTheRocks

NAD still comes in drab gray color till today (cae in the point C320BEE,C325BEE). Titanium finish is a very recent origin - Master Series & it took a orporate restructuring & mgmt shakeout for the new design & finish !..How much would a classic series stereo amp would cost??

As far as I know, almost all Classic series NAD products are available in Titanium finish, atleast the ones that matter. If you're looking for a stereo amp, the C325 seems like a marginal improvement over the C320 on paper, but I havent heard the former yet. The C320BEE, I'm head over heels in love with it, for a while now. Not sure about the prices, but the 320BEE should be about 20-22k. No clue about the 325.

[AshOnTheRocks]

Dear B&T,

Hi! My response underlined as below ..

Originally Posted by Bass&Trouble

Hmm, its a pity.

You are looking to buy an AV Receiver or a stereo amp? I dont recommend NAD for AV in any case. I have heard there are failure problems. Maybe its resolved now, I'm not sure, but not a chance you can take when you dont have a service station in your city.

Err..acutally both as I just have to have a 2 channel integrated amp for stereo audio & also 5.1,6.1 channel for movie experince & DVD audio surround sound & hence the a/v receiver..Its ironic..I am inclined towards buying a decent a/v receiver now with a good 5.1 speaker set & later buy a good 2 channel amp for music & a good cd player (well matched with the amp) to go with it..Am I making sense 2 u :-) And yes considering NAD only for amp purpose.


At that budget, there are a zillion other speakers that will pulverize the MS.
The MS 5.1 speaker option I am considering is not the MS Performance 6 series (2.5 L/pair) but the following combo : 908i (floor standers) , 905i(centre channel),903i (bipolar rear channel pair) & 309i SW ( rated at 175 watts). All this at just under 60K. What would be the price for Monitor audio Siver R6 pair ?? any idea..yet to auditin them though..


As far as I know, almost all Classic series NAD products are available in Titanium finish, atleast the ones that matter. If you're looking for a stereo amp, the C325 seems like a marginal improvement over the C320 on paper, but I havent heard the former yet. The C320BEE, I'm head over heels in love with it, for a while now. Not sure about the prices, but the 320BEE should be about 20-22k. No clue about the 325.

Will love to check out C320 & C325 & also Cambridge audio (740A,640A ver.2)& Arcam (A70) option.Out of these three (& Marantz PM - 7001 KI ) how will you rank them in order of preference & audio performance..

[psy_7]

hey ,
here's mine
1. DVD PLAYER --- HARMAN/KARDON DVD 25
2. AMPLIFIER --- HARMAN/KARDON AVR 1550
3. SPEAKERS --- BOSE 10 SPEAKER SYSTEM (ACOUSTIMASS SERIES 10)
4. SDREEN --- NEC VT47 (PROJECTOR)

[navin]

Originally Posted by AshOnTheRocks

[u]DIYs,custom made stuff..

Dont be. I was a big DIY person some years back. Most of this was built pre 1995. A lot of it is hand me downs (like the CD players, wire, ScanSpeaks, etc...). I am real cheapskate when it come to Audio. When you break it down it is all really simple.

Mike Dzurko does not make these custom subs anymore. The ones I have are the precursor of his SV12 (mince are actually DV). I paid only $95 each (there were 6 - a friend took the other 2).

The Intrumention leads were left over from some project I was working on and I figured why not use the wire for the tweeters. Turns out they sound fine.

One thing I must say, each component has a story to tell and it aint some system that you can buy from your friendly neighbourhood audio dealer.

I do have some regular stuff like a Carver M1.0t (slightly modifed to kill the turn on thump), marantz SR7000 etc...BTW I forgot some other custom speakers but they dont reside at my current apt so it is just as well.

[AshOnTheRocks]

Navin,

Guess all the work undertaken many years ago was worth the effort for sake of music! Agree with you that each component has a story to tell & work to do in harmony & only when they are strung well together in chain & harnessed well then the true music fidelity happens..

All in all we continue to learn & yet have lot to learn from gurus like you & others (B&T,Sam,Gunbir,JB aka autophile, deter & others : thank you all for the sharing of knowledge,experience & for the service in the home audio & ICE field!!) On team-bhp..Truly a great place for more reasons than 1.

[reignofchaos]

Originally Posted by AshOnTheRocks

Hi,

You have a v.good amp. NAD C320 BEE & C325 BEE from NAD are quality amps. How much did you amp cost? You're right about entry level CD players but using computer as a source when you have NAD C320 BEE apm..But how's the music & what genre of music you're into..How's Jamo E855 performance..whats the impedance & recomended amp.power with these speakers..Do let us know.

Cheers
Ash

I just love the music out of my system and can never get bored of it. I got the amp locally in bangalore for 21k. I listen mostly to rock/metal/jazz and a bit of classical when I wanna relax. The only concern when using a computer for audio is potentially the noise created by the fans. To fix that, my desktop is watercooled . The Jamos are excellent allrounders. My first choice were the Monitor Audio RS6 speakers but unfortunately no one in bangalore had them. The Jamos may not be the most clinically accurate but they are warm and very musical. For absolute accuracy, I always have headphones. I auditioned KEF iQ5, Dali Concept 6, Wharfedale 9.6, some Polk speakers and a few others. I found the E855 the best sounding of the lot. I got a really good deal on the speakers... they costed just 35 grand and were way cheaper than and better sounding than anything in its class. The speakers are 6 ohm, 89 dB sensitivity and the recommended amp power is 40W to 150W. They can be driven really really loud by the NAD amp.

[determinus]

Originally Posted by navin

One thing I must say, each component has a story to tell and it aint some system that you can buy from your friendly neighbourhood audio dealer.

Wow! What a nostalgic line. Someday I want to build a house with my own hands, and your line just got me visualizing what I will feel when I sleep under a roof that I built.

Yeah, OT.

[AshOnTheRocks]

Thanks for the info..Looks like you're sure enjoying your music & the set up :-)I am also in the process of setting up my system (though the set up needs to include 5.1 surround sound/movie set up as well..:-( Love listening to rock,alternative,jazz & blues..

Will try & check out NAD amps..Yet to take Jamo speakers demo too..

Cheers & happy listening!

[AshOnTheRocks]

Hey B&T,Determinus : I heard JB Labs Cobalt 826S peakers today powered by Arcam AVR 350 receiver...Amazing details, sound stage,depth,clarity & great vocals. Arcam receiver wasn't upto it at high volume. Dealer (Faisal Hamid) suggested to include a power amp to power the front speakers to get nice sound.These speakers were very very good to listen to & tried various demo cds just to see them perform..5.1 set up is being quoted at 1.75L though :-( (these are demo set which dealer wants to sell & replacing them with Vienna acoustics set).what do you think about JB Labs Cobalt 862s?? Also demoed B&W 604,old speakers..good but JM Labs were way ahead..

Anyone having JM Lab speakers or heard them..