Team-BHP - The Home Theater thread

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Quote:

Originally Posted by ikoneer (Post 2139622)

Hey Kruze.. Thanks. It surely helps.
The rates i have given are discounted rates from the list price. seems to be much higher at this place, will bargain further once i decide.

i listened to 9.5 also, and it was very good at least 85% to what 10.6 was.

Wharefdale rocks compared to other brands that i auditioned.

In case you have not yet finalised, do try out Audio People @ G N Chetty Road, Anmol Palani bldg, opp to Vani Mahal. They deal with Monitor Audio & other brands as well.

Try focussing on the Front L/R + Center speakers first and get the best you can within your budget. Sub+Rears you can mix-n-match later or go for less costlier one's from other brands.

Quote:

Originally Posted by naj (Post 2139627)

Hi!
Kruzader, are the discounts with Bill +warranty?
In Pune I am quoted 45k for denon 1911 and 65k for JBL es 100,Jamo concert 607- 65k. All without discounts.
With a little bargaining Denon 1911 should be available for say 41k and the JBL ES 100 towers for 58k.

I will give it a shot.
Cheers,
Naj

Yes, with bill and warranty. I think you should not go to profx (main denon dealer in bangalore). There are other dealers who can give more discounts. Well, depending on the city, total value of your purchase and bargaining abilities, your mileage varies..

Quote:

Originally Posted by sanjayc (Post 2139747)

Agree with sanjayc. Monitor audio BR5 is a really good choice. And so is Paradigm Monitor 7/9/11. You will have to add a sub to go with the Paradigm, though. Ulitimately, it all boils down to your budget.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sanjayc (Post 2139747)

In case you have not yet finalised, do try out Audio People

Try focussing on the Front L/R + Center speakers first and get the best you can within your budget. Sub+Rears you can mix-n-match later or go for less costlier one's from other brands.

Still on the look out sanjay. Will visit Audio People also. In fact, i was looking for this Jamo and Boston Acoustics shop in GNChetty road this saturday and was not able to find them but I remember seeing them here on this road, some time back.

Does mix and match work well, during the audition, these guys were saying that other brands mixing will not work well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ikoneer (Post 2139988)

Does mix and match work well, during the audition, these guys were saying that other brands mixing will not work well.

Nothing like that...

Usually some companies are good for the Electronics (Amps)
Denon, Onkyo, Nad, Arcam, Marantz, Yamaha, Rotel, etc..

And others for the Speakers.
Jamo, Warfdale, Paradigm, KEF, Sonodyne , Pro-Fx, Klipsch, JBL, B&W, Quad etc...

Mixing will work as long as you match the specifications of the Amp and the Speaker.
Note down the Speaker wattage and impedance (resistance) and Just make sure your Amp can drive these.

When comparing note that you take all factors into consideration eg: 100w at 6 ohms is not the same as 100w at 8 ohms.

Final step is after you hook them up to the Amp, make sure you configure the amp settings properly. Typically your amp will have a configuration setting for each channel where it will let you select whether its a small/large speaker connected.

For the sub connection, you can set the Crossover frequency on the Amp. Make sure the same is set on the Sub also. Typically the sub will have a knob that lets you set this (btw 50 - 150 Hz )

So all the best :D.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ikoneer (Post 2135975)

Thanks PPR. Yes, agreed Sound Quality is subjective, so no questions on that.

Let me rephrase, Does thes 5.1 speaker system have 2-way, 3-way inbuilt in them or not? If i go standing tower speakers with 2/3 way do i still need to buy the centre and rear or just the tower would be sufficient. i believe a woofer is required in any case.

My usage would be for english movies and tamil AV songs.

Minimal configuration, i meant, i am looking for pointers to say this might be a good specifications to have (eg; 130 W/ch, 8 ohms, 1 khz, 1 channel driven - cited from onkyo site :D), so that i would know what to look for and may be eliminate other config. Does that dependent on room size, then let me measure and give it later.

The reason why Onkyo is quoting one channel driven is because that receiver does not have a snowflake's chance in hell of reproducing 130W with all channels driven. More like 50W per channel.
All speakers have to be at least 2 way. Some are 3 way. No need to stress this aspect. Go with what sounds good to you. There are some very high end speakers which are only 2 way.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ampere (Post 2136155)

@PPR now you are giving me a fright!

I bought the the basic AVR130 from FX 6 years back Walton Road in Bangalore) and till date it has not given me any issue. One lesson I learnt in between was when my DVD players stopped working. Further probing by the Sony person revealed that, the power management unit was gone. Thats when I realized, its very-very important to have a stabilizer and surge protector for all these high end equipment. I immediately bought one.

Check if you power module has gone off. Thats the first thing that can get effected.

I have used a 5 kV UPS for the last 3 years, so unlikely that it is the voltage issues. The Sahil guys are trying to fix my receiver after a bit of bluster on my side. Will update once it happens.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaushik_s (Post 2136160)

I kind of tend to agree with that. I've my fare share of trouble when I bought my AVR. It's a Denon and bought officially with Bill and Warranty. But I didn't know that time that the warranty will almost be useless as the dealer doesn't have a service center in Bangalore. The dealer in question is KEI and not ProFx. I called/mailed them many times as my AVR needs an firmware upgrade and it was within warranty period but I never received any kind of help from them except some false assurances when I created a thread about it in an av forum. But that's all I get in the name of after sales service. I would've been better off buying from the grey market and atleast I would've known that I'm on my own. But I would've left some money to repair the system later if there was any issue(diff was around 15k+ between grey and with bill). After Sales Service
is something still many companies need to learn in India. Luckily my issue was not a grave one (and it's an intermittent issue) and there is a workaround which i found on my own by chance. But I shudder to think what will happen in case of a major issue.

KEI & ProFx are both over priced grossly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by naj (Post 2136169)

Is it possible to get this stuff in the grey market?
As far as I know One gets these only thro authorized importers and distributers.

Even the so called "authorized" distributors are selling stuff in the grey market. Sometimes without a bill but with "warranty". Usually in India warranties work if something is wrong with your unit in the first couple of months. Afterwards they may not even know you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay (Post 2136184)

Yes, all HT components are available in Grey market. Cost difference is significant.

IMHO Best (in terms of cost) way to buy HT is to get is from US.

E.g. the AVR that I have (Yamaha 665) can be bought for $250 - 300 in US. I paid $260 that is around 12k.

In India, minimum cost of such AVR is 30,000. This cost difference in insane.

The biggest problem with buying stuff in the US is the 110 V power supply. You do not want to use a step down transformer for power amps. No problem using them for pre amps or DVD players but not for Power amps / Receivers.
The Denon 1911 costs Rs 38K offically. The grey market price is about Rs 30K.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ikoneer (Post 2139198)

A Busy day it was, today. Been to Onkyo, Yamaha and Whaferdale dealers, had some back to back auditions and it was all very exciting.

Please provide your inputs. just want to ensure that the products are worth the price. Should i negotiate further?

Yamaha makes good receivers. Wharfedale makes good speakers. If you are buying from an official dealer, Onkyo is probably the only company with a good nationwide service network. It may matter in Chennai. All other companies have good service in Mumbai and possibly Delhi, zilch elsewhere. If you liked the sound of the Wharfedales, go for it. Have you heard the PSB Image series? Try them out if you can.

ppr

Just wanted to show two of the currently sold receivers. Check out the differences.

Denon 1911

Sells for Rs 40K (officially, iPod dock free at present)

Marantz 5005 (Marantz is the higher end brand of Denon)

Sells at Rs 40K

The most significant differences seen are the presence of pre-outs (essential if you want to add a more powerful amp in future) and 7.1 analog inputs (for SACD or DVD-Audio players)

ppr

Quote:

Originally Posted by ikoneer (Post 2139988)

It will be best to have the Front left/Right + center from the same brand, to have a best signature matching possible. IMO, 2/3 way towers for the F L/R will be the best choice but it will also depend on your room size/acoustics. Center spkr will be 90% used for vocals in a 5.1 setup, for stereo it will not be required at all. Surround/Rear are only for movie special effects - hence any brand can do, if you are not too paticular about the looks matching dept. If on tight budget, one can opt for bookshelf for front now, and later on move this to rear/surr once ready to upgrade to towers.

Sub is a must for both music/movie. Your room size and place avlbl for positioning the sub would play a major factor.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ppr

Why do you say so? I bought the Onkyo TX-NR5007 from Amazon and got it shipped it here via Borderlinx - have been running it via a step-down connected to Vertex Servo Stabilizer for almost 4 months now without any issue. If these receivers are designed to run @110V in USA, as long as 110V power supply is provided - what possibly could go wrong?

Quote:

Originally Posted by ppr (Post 2140193)

Have not faced any issue with step down transformers. Have been using it for last 4 years.

We just need to make sure :

1. Transformer is an "isolation" transformer
2. Rated capacity is at least twice of AVR (power consumption in a cycle is not uniform)

This does increase the cost, 1 KVA transformer would cost approx 2.5k.

Hello everyone,
Dusting off an old thread. I've recently bought a Tata Sky HD which I want to connect to a 5.1 HT system. Currently I'm having an entry model Philips 5.1 HT speaker set which I've connected to my DVD player. There is no other input for the HT speaker set.

Now, if I want to connect Tata Sky HD set top box and DVD player to the same 5.1 HT speaker set, I guess it needs 2 optical inputs. Which brand has such a speaker set? And how much it costs?

Appreciate every help. Thank you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tachobells (Post 2142454)

The normal connection would be

All audio / video sources go into the AVR; Output from the AVR is routed to the speakers and the TV.

It is really difficult to answer your question without knowing the kind of connectors present on your STB, AVR (this Phillips one does not seem to be an AVR, it is just a DVD with built in amplifier), and the TV.

Here is a link which would help you identify the connector types.

Home Theater Connection Photo Gallery

Here is another link:-

http://www.ramelectronics.net/howto-av.ep

Quote:

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR (Post 2142566)

Thanks for the details. Both the STB and the DVD player Digital coaxial audio out. So, I guess I will need a receiver with 2 digital coaxial audio inputs.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ppr (Post 2140204)

Just wanted to show two of the currently sold receivers. Check out the differences.

Denon 1911

Sells for Rs 40K (officially, iPod dock free at present)

Marantz 5005 (Marantz is the higher end brand of Denon)

Sells at Rs 40K

The most significant differences seen are the presence of pre-outs (essential if you want to add a more powerful amp in future) and 7.1 analog inputs (for SACD or DVD-Audio players)

ppr

May i ask then why is the Marantz compared in par with the denon.

Thanks for the detailed, answeers, really very helpful. clap:

Hi!

In my search and quest for a HT I have realized that the min budget for a 2.1 system should be 150k.

At 100k least one can get is a good AVR and 2 towers(which are good but just fall short of the audiophile ones)

Finally i have decided to get Denon 1911 AVR from Grey market and Polk TSI 500 floor standers with B and W.

And seriously when ones looks at the prices of these speakers in US, we here are paying almost 3 times.I mean if we have the same pricing in India one can simply imagine what a set we can have in 100k . Wow!

Cheers
Naj

Quote:

Originally Posted by naj (Post 2143032)

If you want only a 2.1, why go for a receiver? You can get a stereo amp. You will get a much better amp for the same amount of money. If you really like the 2 channel for music, you need to check out Cadence. The tubes sound awesome.

For speakers, Check out the PSB's at LaKozy or Paradigms at Shemaroo. They tend to be reasonably priced. Kefs at ProFx are also very good. But on the pricier side. I personally find the Polks a bit bright but they do offer bang for the buck. I really like the value and sound of the PSB's

If you have to buy a receiver, then Marantz 5005 is better than the Denon (and cheaper). See my earlier post. It has more options than the Denon at the same price point.

The prices being charged by most dealers in India is ridiculous. Even after adding the customs duties and freight charges, equipment should not cost as much as it does. You should also remember that these guys have an establishment cost. Internet retailers are a lot cheaper in the US than the B&M shops.

ppr