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It helps to define "not expensive". For what you are asking, you are looking at no less than 200k.

For your genre of music, I would buy a Polk Audio Rti A9. Metal needs a solid speaker that can reproduce quality bass and this Polk is one among many that do it right. You could do a nice stand mount as well as the space is not that big. A Polk Rti A3, a PSB Imagine XB or Axiom M3.

Amplification can be from the likes of a Yamaha R-N602 as it combines a quality amplifier and decent DAC. Does a respectable 105 watts at 6 ohms.

For metal, I'd get a direct drive turntable. Either used or a Pioneer PLX-1000. Not a lot of good direct drives out there. To be honest, I'd stick to quality digital downloads for metal. While you do get vinyl pressing of a lot of bands, I am not convinced of their quality.

Not a lot of options in the SACD space except for some universal disc spinners from Marantz and Panasonic.

Ah my bad. Should have mentioned it. 2L would be out of range till the foreseeable future. One can hope though.

What would be your suggestions for a budget of 1L?

And could a PC figure in this? The interface would be unbeatable i guess when you have a vast library of digital files.

Thanks for the feedback about Vinyl. Some money saved there :)

I will give you a couple of options.

Option 1.
Yamaha HS8 Studio Monitor with the most basic Yamaha Studio mixer. Pair this with a Asus Essence STX 2.0 channel card on your computer. You will want a computer that is quiet. Sign up with Tidal or any other music streaming solution or download service like Roon, HD Tracks or Linn Records and you are sorted.

Trade off with the above setup is that upgrading the amplifier is ruled out as it is built in to the speaker. Also; being a mixer, the pre amplifier section is weak and may require that you to spend lots more money later for adding a turntable or cd spinner.

Option 2.
Monitor Audio Bronze 2 (or even the other speakers I mentioned) paired with the Yamaha amplifier I mentioned in the previous post. A Marantz PM7005 is another excellent option. Do listen to KEF's excellent Q300.

No real limitation with the above setup. There is a phono stage present on the Marantz and a few inputs options when you want to add an out board dac later on.

My advice would be to buy the best you can afford right away, even if it means extending your budget. You should not get tired of the sound 5 years down the line. Every time you sell a component, you loose money. Buying the right gear ensures you will be happy for a long time to come.

That sounds like a good plan.

Man, the stuff available out there is just mind boggling!

How is the creative flagship sound card? It comes with a daughter card and an external controller as well. It's the same price as the Asus.

Or do we avoid a sound card altogether and just connect the output to an external USB DAC and then to AMP/Powered Speakers?

I would suggest to avoid a sound card and go the external DAC route with an asynchronous USB input. That way you connect your PC directly to the DAC. Then a good Yamaha/Marantz amplifier into a pair of KEF's or PSB's or Q acoustics.

What would be a good DAC and er what is "asynchronous USB input" please:

Sure is.

A few things to note;

The Yamaha, Marantz amplifiers I recommended have a DAC built in and you have something to start with. It is not top grade dac though. The Marantz has a bit of an edge here as it will permit a usb connection direct from your computer. No such thing on the Yamaha but it does give you wireless streaming options which the Marantz does not do. If you are after quality, I would not bother with wireless. Another approach the Yamaha takes is via wired ethernet so lossless music should sound clean.

For the Yamaha HS8 option, you will have to rely on a computer sound card to do the dac processing.

In both cases, I would recommend a dedicated dac somewhere down the line. Some nice ones made by Border Patrol, M2Tech, Rega, etc.

If you can import a Outlaw Audio 2160, you are sorted on the amplifier and dac front for a while. A stellar amplifier that does not cost an arm and a leg.

The outlaw looks tempting. 799 dollars and a lot of options. The marantz does not seem to have an option to add a sub. am i right? should that factor be noted?

So PC-->DAC/Amp (USB or Optical?)-->Speakers & Sub. Yes?

How reliable is the outlaw?

Outlaw Audio is very reliable. I use their Model 5000 5 channel power amp to run my front LRC through AVR pre outs. A home grown US company that provides exceptional value and quality. If you have the means to have stuff imported from overseas than I can give you enough suggestions that will match your requirements to the T.
Marantz is okay but way to expensive in India. Get a DAC, a Yamaha amp and a pair of speakers.
An a asynchronous usb input will connect directly to the usb out of your laptop/pc into the DAC. Just install the drivers set the resolution and you set. A good DAC is a very relative term but you can look at NAD/Arcam/Schiit Auido etc.
You ll use a usb connection from the PC to the DAC. Then from DAC you ll have the RCA inputs to the amp. Then into the speakers. The Amp should have a sub out for any active sub.
Now the amp can either have only analog connections or have both digital and analog connections. Since you are already getting a DAC, an all analog amp from yamaha should suffice.

US is what i am looking at, at least for the amp and dac or amp-dac. Can ask my sis to bring it over whenever she comes.

Speakers might be pushing it :P

Time to start the research and window shopping with the fabulous inputs from you guys and thanks for pointing me into the right direction.

Should be the least of your worries.

I would give the Outlaw guys a call and ask them if they can ship a 230volt version to India.

The Outlaw does have a sub out. In fact; there are two if you feel like getting spend thrifty at a later stage.

The need for a sub is really down to what your existing speakers are capable off. If you get a speaker that can play down to 35hz, you probably do not need one. It is very subjective. One of the speakers I had was a modest PSB Image B15 and I never felt the need for a a sub. I listen to the same genre of music as you do. You most definitely do not need a sub if you end up buying something like a Polk Audio Rti A9. The stand mount Polk A3 or KEF may need one. Take it step by step.

You most definitely want to use usb for the purpose of digital audio. Another way is to use wired ethernet, if the amplifier has one.

Happy to help.

Outlaw is a great recommendation. Most American built stuff is over designed and lasts forever. I have a 10+ year old B&K amp/preamp that I bought used through Audiogon and both are going strong without any issues. The other two brands I would look at are Emotiva and Schiit (Yup).

Since you will be importing the units, warranty will probably be null and void, so you can also look at open box or factory reconditioned to get a better deal. By the way, audiogon.com is a great site for the research you were planning to do.

Good Luck.

Thanks again for the inputs. You guys are the best!

My setup included and Onkyo TX SR-608, Polk Audio PSW10 (subwoofer), Polk Audio CS10 (centre) and Polk Audio Monitor 30B surrounds. Everything was bought circa 2010 and I carried it back with me from the US.

Unfortunately, the Onkyo is died around a year back. I now have no sound output, owing to an HDMI issue. There have been a few complaints with this generation of Onkyo's and HDMI board replacement is the only option; except that HDMI boards are not easily available. Specially not in India.

Regardless, I've decided to revive my hobby, after a long gap. And, faced with a few options, I would benefit from the suggestions from this group.

1. Replace the AVR: The Denon AVR-X1400H appears to be a good replacement. I'm open to suggestions, of course. However;

• I don't know if the speakers are functional (it's been a year since the Onkyo died).

• Wife believes that the living room deserves something "light"; the Polk Audio speakers are quite large and definitely don't look modern

• I've never quite perfected the setup, given that the speakers have been mounted close to the ceiling. Always thought the sound stage was a few feet above my head.

2. Sell the speakers and get a soundbar: Something like the Philips Fidelio B5/12

• New; therefore should be trouble free for a few years

• Sleek and modern will keep the living room looking young

• Detachable surrounds; again uncluttered, clean appearance to the room

• Lighter speakers; so I get to mount them directionally.

My usage is 50:50 on music:movies. So, I do need an all-rounder, even if it's not the best at either.

Suggestions and inputs will be incredibly helpful. TIA!

I have the B5 at home. Notable cons:

1) Not good for music. Even DTS/Dolby music concerts or FLACs don't sound all that good.

2) Outdated codec support. Does not support DTS-HD, Dolby Atmos

Pros:

Good for movies
Surround on demand is a neat party trick and is pretty good!
Rear speakers not all that loud and they go up to vol of 3 only