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I would suggest not going with HTIB combos unless the room is very small (even then probably good bookshelf speakers can also be a good fit).
If your room is bigger, then I would suggest floorstanders, but again since you have a budget constraint, try to get the receiver + 2 speakers first so that you have a basic setup. Then, later you can add the subwoofer (now your setup becomes a 2.1), then get the center (makes it 3.1) and finally the rear surround to complete your 5.1 setup. Audition the receiver + speaker combos with the same set of your content so that you can do apple to apple comparisons :)

Have a look at Bose Cinemate 2.1 systems. I have two of them at home and the ease of use and sound quality make it a far easier daily usage system than my elaborate Yamaha 5.1 setup that I have in my HT area. The Bose cost me under 25k, purchased from the US, not sure of the prices here.

The control option that Marantz refers to is the ability to turn on daisy chained devices that are connected to the HDMI Out/Arc terminal. For example, if you turn on your TV with its own remote, it turns on the receiver too and like wise, if you do the same using the AV receiver remote to power on the AV receiver.

I used to keep this option Off, as in most cases I did not want the receiver to power on along with the TV, in a case I was going to watch the news. Off course, this is down to your personal preference. The HDMI Control option should not come in the way of ARC functioning.

You might run into issues with HDMI ARC not working at times, depending on how you use your gear and the generation of the equipment. When I had a Pioneer VSX-1122K and a Samsung 51E550D1R Plasma TV, I used to power off the mains each night. The next AM, when I turned on the mains and tried to use the equipment right away, ARC would not work. It required about a minute for the devices to hand shake while they are in stand by mode. I could see the HDMI lamp light up for a brief moment on the receiver even though both devices were in Stand By. It is almost like waiting for an old Windoz PC to boot up and stabilize. You might run into this. If I did not allow this wait time and I tried to play a movie from a USB drive connected to the TV USB terminal or stream Netflix, audio would not flow back from the TV to the AVR via ARC. It refuses to work. The solution will be to power down everything back at the mains and do the whole power cycling thing all over again. Hopefully; your AV equipment works better than mine.

Thanks NPV, Room size is 15 x 10. Even I liked floor standers but not an option now as I have small kids running around.

How is Onkyo 5915 ? The advantage I see with this HTIB is front speakers are wooden bookshelf so not as bad as satellite speakers. Also the capability to play Dolby Atmos

If I go for a separate receiver and bookshelf speakers - 2.0, please suggest some options within 50-60k so that I can upgrade later to 5.1

Somehow not a fan of Bose speakers, please suggest any other options

Instead of thinking in terms of percentage use, think in terms of primary vs secondary and optimize only for a single use case. If music is primary, then go for a 2 channel stereo setup and connect TV to the AUX. You will have an extraordinary music experience and adequate movie experience. Ofcourse you wont hear the bullets flying from behind but the 2 channel experience would be great. For your budget you would get a fantastic stereo package. Try something from NAD and PSB at higher end of budget and contemporary options like digital music, apple airplay etc or at lower end with Norge.

WIth a 5.1 system, the budget is spread between 6 speakers, decoders etc. Also since SQ for movies isn't so demanding, the component quality is likewise. So you would get good movie experience but really mediocre music.

So make a judicious choice between primary and secondary needs.

Looking forward to buy a pair of floor standing speakers for Denon avr. Where can I have demo in Delhi NCR. Had a look at Polk S60, Yamaha and Onkyo SKF 4800. I liked Polk but seemed a bit bright.

Any suggestions for are welcome! Budget is max 80k.

Hi All,

Thanks to all the feedback here, I am planning to go for Receiver + 2 bookshelf speakers instead of HTIB for 75k. Maybe after 1 year if budget allows, build a complete 5.1 or 5.1.2 with Atmos.

After multiple auditions in different showrooms - Profx, DNI, Modern World have narrowed down to the below options:

1) Denon x1600 AVR + Q Acoustics 3020i speakers (5 inch woofer - smooth treble, less bass)
2) Denon x1600 AVR + Elac Debut B6.2 speakers (6.5 inch woofer - slightly brighter, more bass)

Since I have two small kids, was planning to wall mount these speakers.
But as per home theatre shops,
Q Acoustics has a wall mount bracket available for an extra 3k
Elac does not provide any, so better to build a shelf and place the speaker.

I am leaning more towards Elac and building a shelf with carpenter.

Please let me know your suggestions.

Simply put, 3020i is a better made speaker.

They both have comparable audio quality and performance and you cannot go wrong with either. I preferred the 3020i but the Elacs will fit the bill just fine also.

Our Yamaha home theater system stopped reading DVD's. It is Home Theater In Box with 5.1 speakers. The service center says the model is old and spare mother board is not available. Is it possible to get just the player with 5.1 output and pair the existing 5.1 speakers from the HTIB to the player?

Did the set come with 2 devices (Player and amplifier) or 1 device (does the speakers connect to the player?), if its the former case, your method might work, if its case 2, then it might not, as the player has the amp section as well.

Edit: does the unit has a line-in in case 2? if yes, then that method might work as well.

My Pioneer home theater (Bangalore) stopped reading DVDs and I just swapped the player with a Samsung 5.1 home theater unit which I bought second hand. Runs great. All speakers work beautifully

No it is a single device. Typical Home Threater In a Box setup. The speakers connect to the back of the device. It has a HDMI output and few other inputs. Not sure of the line in connector



Any idea if such units are available independently for purchase? With an HDMI output.

I did not find an independent unit without speakers, unfortunately. So bought one 'second-hand' paying 4.5k.

Can you kindly share the model number, so as to check its workaround options.
If the device is single unit then the player and amplifier are integrated.
But going through the details, the chances of adding an external player seems bleak, usually HTiB's dont allow a full fledge audio in (5.1) and need to know your sub might also be a passive (you do not connect to power).

I will check the model number.

Yes sub woofer is passive. All the 5 voice channels and 1 sub channel go to the unit. Power supply is only for the unit.