[naj]

Originally Posted by nitinralli

Hi Guys,

I want to buy a new Amp and a pair of floorstanding speakers for home. My budget is around 30K. I have the wiring so 30K is only for the speakers and amp.

I have heard Marantz 7001 and found it good, but somehow i think they lacked bass. As i only listen to trance, hence i need an amp which can give good punch.

For speakers, i have heard Wharfedale DIA 9.5. They sounded really sweet with Marantz 7001. But then i think i miight want to add a seprate sub to get that little bit extra punch.

Now the question is, are the above mentioned amp and speakers good for the money spent or there could be other choices as well?
Secondly, if i buy Marantz 7001, can i add a sub to it along with front 2 speakers? If not, then can you advice which amp would do the same.

(@Mods, i tried to look for a thread which answers my question, but (as usual with this site) i am never able to find any thing relevent when doing search, so if there is a thread that answers these, please merge)

Hi!
There is a good thread on HT. Infact I have myself given a lot of inputs ,prices on it in my quest for a HT.

Frankly I feel that the budget of 30k is a little pessimistic .
Good floor standers are available 65k upwards (which will not require a sub).
Only exception is the Polk audio tsi which are VFM for the price.
Tsi 400 at 29k are a steal.But real audiophile towers are 65k upwards.

I have managed to get the Marantz AVR and 2 floor standers at 80k.I am still not very happy but that was my budget.The centre ,surround and sub will set me back by another 100k .

cheers,
naj

[Astleviz]

Since you are based in Delhi, go down to nehru place and audition these 3 systems-
1. Edifier S730
2. Edifier S530
3. Logitech Z-2300

I eventually settled for edifier because I found them more suitable for music, however let your ears decide which one suits you best after auditioning these 3 systems.

BTW, these aren't floor standing speakers but quite decent for what the dough you will be shelling out.

[khoj]

Originally Posted by naj

Good floor standers are available 65k upwards (which will not require a sub)

True, I myself am saving up to get a pair of Bose 901, the ultimate in floor standing speakers. These will allow me to push my current pair of 301s to the back of the room, not that there is anything wrong with the 301s just that after 14 years of listening to them I am now ready for a change.

[ikoneer]

Originally Posted by naj

Hi!

Nitinralli for Marantz AVR SR 5005 its 40k without B and W.
If you want only an amp you will get it around 25 k to 30 k with B & w.

Cheers.
naj

I am not able to understand your message, what do we get between the 25-30 K and the 40K range. Are you talking about different components.

Please share the cost of Polk Standers as well. I once auditioned Polk speakers and it was amazing. Good Choice, Enjoy Naj

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

khoj, hope you have gone through samurai's thread on "Designing a home theater system", link posted few pages back by me.

He has given very good reasons not to look at Bose.

[naj]

Originally Posted by ikoneer

I am not able to understand your message, what do we get between the 25-30 K and the 40K range. Are you talking about different components.

Please share the cost of Polk Standers as well. I once auditioned Polk speakers and it was amazing. Good Choice, Enjoy Naj

Hi!

40k is for the Marantz AVR (Audio video receiver) Model No- SR 5005. Without Bill and Warranty.
I exactly do not know the model no for the Marantz Stereo amp which is 100 w+100w.I will find out the same if you want to know.

Regarding Polk audio you can check the prices on line on profx website.
Link Profx - Advanced Audio Solutions
They have the prices in INR mentioned. I bought Polk audio TSI 500 floorstanders .They cost me 38k. 5% discount on 40k.

Bass extension is great and i can enjoy the music till I get my sub a few months later.They are great ,VFM and reviews too suggest the same.


Cheers,
Naj

[reignofchaos]

The most sensible thing to do if you want the best for music and movies is to have two separate setups - one purely for music and one for movies.

The goals of an HT setup and a music setup are very very different. While for the former, you mainly care about clean dialogue delivery, low end grunt and a slightly forward sound, for music one expects the system to be smooth, neutral and pin point accurate.

For HT, a good sub and satellites do 95-98% of what a full fledged setup would do. Movies have inherently compressed audio so accuracy is not that much of a concern. Spend reasonably on a receiver and a 5.1 speaker system in a box and it'll do the job nicely.

For music, only sky is the limit - eg in my setup, the speaker cable connecting my speakers to the power amp costs more than the cost of my Onkyo TX-SR608 and Paradigm Cinema 90 home theater setup.

Also for music you don't necessarily need low end grunt. A bookshelf speaker that does 40Hz at -3dB will be more than enough for every kind of music other than electronic music. Going separate everything helps - in general a separate transport (either PC or a CD transport), a high end DAC, a tube preamp and a big fat power amp is the way to go if you have any modern speaker. The other side of the coin is folks who listen to single drivers with SET amps. It all depends on the kind of music you listen to. There's also the analog option with a good turntable which can end up being a deep money sink.

Moral of the story - keep separate systems for HT and stereo. A jack of all trades is master of none and won't give you enjoyment either in music or movies.

[naj]

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

The most sensible thing to do if you want the best for music and movies is to have two separate setups - one purely for music and one for movies.

The goals of an HT setup and a music setup are very very different. While for the former, you mainly care about clean dialogue delivery, low end grunt and a slightly forward sound, for music one expects the system to be smooth, neutral and pin point accurate.

For HT, a good sub and satellites do 95-98% of what a full fledged setup would do. Movies have inherently compressed audio so accuracy is not that much of a concern. Spend reasonably on a receiver and a 5.1 speaker system in a box and it'll do the job nicely.

For music, only sky is the limit - eg in my setup, the speaker cable connecting my speakers to the power amp costs more than the cost of my Onkyo TX-SR608 and Paradigm Cinema 90 home theater setup.

Also for music you don't necessarily need low end grunt. A bookshelf speaker that does 40Hz at -3dB will be more than enough for every kind of music other than electronic music. Going separate everything helps - in general a separate transport (either PC or a CD transport), a high end DAC, a tube preamp and a big fat power amp is the way to go if you have any modern speaker. The other side of the coin is folks who listen to single drivers with SET amps. It all depends on the kind of music you listen to. There's also the analog option with a good turntable which can end up being a deep money sink.

Moral of the story - keep separate systems for HT and stereo. A jack of all trades is master of none and won't give you enjoyment either in music or movies.

+1 to that.
Very well said and explained.

HT in a box can be affordable and will serve the purpose right for movies but for music- a preamp,power amp ,cables and a pair of affair good drivers will tend to be very expensive.Just the other day I saw cadence Book-shelfs which retail at a astounding price .
Today they have a demo of their Product range including the analog valve amps and drivers at Koregaon park in Pune.

The more you indulge in these things the more you get hooked on and as someone said music is a recreational drug.And it becomes compulsive!!
And frankly I have ended up being jack of all trades.

cheers,
naj

[ikoneer]

I have scheduled an appointment at ProFx today evening for an audition. They have some offers going on right now, with various combos.

How is the KEF C series? Is that good system?

I have asked an audition of Kef C series and Polk 400+cs10 and owm10 system. Any idea which could be a better choice?

I am so confused? Too many options. My usage would be 75%movies and 25%music. But i like tower speakes much better than the satellite ones.

Any inputs?

[nitinralli]

Originally Posted by reignofchaos

The most sensible thing to do if you want the best for music and movies is to have two separate setups - one purely for music and one for movies.

The goals of an HT setup and a music setup are very very different. While for the former, you mainly care about clean dialogue delivery, low end grunt and a slightly forward sound, for music one expects the system to be smooth, neutral and pin point accurate.

For HT, a good sub and satellites do 95-98% of what a full fledged setup would do. Movies have inherently compressed audio so accuracy is not that much of a concern. Spend reasonably on a receiver and a 5.1 speaker system in a box and it'll do the job nicely.

For music, only sky is the limit - eg in my setup, the speaker cable connecting my speakers to the power amp costs more than the cost of my Onkyo TX-SR608 and Paradigm Cinema 90 home theater setup.

Also for music you don't necessarily need low end grunt. A bookshelf speaker that does 40Hz at -3dB will be more than enough for every kind of music other than electronic music. Going separate everything helps - in general a separate transport (either PC or a CD transport), a high end DAC, a tube preamp and a big fat power amp is the way to go if you have any modern speaker. The other side of the coin is folks who listen to single drivers with SET amps. It all depends on the kind of music you listen to. There's also the analog option with a good turntable which can end up being a deep money sink.

Moral of the story - keep separate systems for HT and stereo. A jack of all trades is master of none and won't give you enjoyment either in music or movies.

+1 to that. Bang on.

This is the reason i went ahead and opened a New thread for Home audio and not home theater. Maybe mods dont know the differnce between the two.

Well whatever, thanks for the suggestions. For the Marantz amp, i am getting PM6002 for 13K and Wharfedale DIA9.5 for 26K. Is this a good bet? I have no clue if thats what is the market price so need your expert advice guys.

[reignofchaos]

26k will get you a Quad 11L bookshelf. It'll be far far better than the Wharfedale you are considering.

[ikoneer]

I went to ProFX on sunday evening and auditioned the Polk 300, 400 series, KEF C series.

I would say, i was not impressed with the units. Both lacked the punch and sounded too dull. My search again continues.

In all probability, i will go for the wharefdale 9.5 series. I only liked this unit amongst the various brands i auditioned.

@reignofchaos: Any idea, where i can audition the quad speakers in chennai.

[reignofchaos]

Quad is sold by the same wharfedale chaps.

[khoj]

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR

khoj, hope you have gone through samurai's thread on "Designing a home theater system", link posted few pages back by me.

He has given very good reasons not to look at Bose.

I did go through that but there was no reason per se that he gave for not buying a Bose speaker all that I could find was this

Originally Posted by Samurai

First let me deal with the Bose issue. With desis, Bose is a big attraction, don't know why, but it is considered a prestige to have a Bose Home Theatre system. Even if you have a 10 times better HT system, your desi visitors and friends will still say "Hmm, not a Bose". No matter how much you defend your system, you won't convince them. That's the power of brand name.

If prestige factor is important, you would want a Bose HTS, and your choice is simple. Pick a dollar figure for your budget, and then look for the most expensive system within that budget. You are done.

Any how even if there were reasons galore in that thread to not buy Bose, I would still go and get the 301s again and the 901 too as the sound that pours from these two sets of bookshelf/wall and floor speakers respectively is amazing. Now I am not an audiophile but for the listening that I do, I find these products to be good enough to deliver per my needs.

Having said that I appreciate your concern. Further even though there might be better products out there, the question is whether I have the time and the inclination to go out and research for all of those hidden goodies after all "Aur bhi gam hain Zamaane mein"!!

[vasoo]

Any plans for the Mega Monday (today) online shopping? Expect quite alarge number of juicy offers from the online portals such as Amazon, ebay and the likes.