[Daewood]

Originally Posted by vasoo

My suggestion is if you are looking at a budget above 20k, consider entry level models of specialist brands such as Onkyo, Denon etc instead of mass market products like Sony or Samsung.

+1
Sony, Samsung, LG pale in comparision to products from dedicated HTiB makers.
Since your budget is above 20k you can easily go for an ONKYO or Yamaha. Denon maybe a bit costly but worth it.
Don't get misled by RMS or PMPO or any fancy terms.
Listen for yourself and decide.

at half the price of a Samsung or Sony HTiB you can get a Indian brands like Torvin Audio Systems
Believe me. They sound better!!

@nairkk among the ones you've shortlisted the Philips models are better than the sony and samsung.

[nairrk]

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR

@nairrk - AFAIK, samsung offers better choice in terms of playback formats from the USB drive. I have not verified this particular model though. Do they HDMI outputs?

+
yes, they have HDMI output, hdmi-cec, MP3 enhancer, wireless ready,
optical input, composite videa output,component V output,Audio input,
CD ripping,mp3,wma,divx,up-scale,Dts, Dolby digital,Doly pro logic II,power bass, usb host,jpeg viewer, Anynet etc

[pawan_pullarwar]

Try Aletc Lansing, the best I found. Though not famous brand but the reliablity and sound quality is amazing.

[nairrk]

Originally Posted by Daewood

+1
Sony, Samsung, LG pale in comparision to products from dedicated HTiB makers.
Since your budget is above 20k you can easily go for an ONKYO or Yamaha. Denon maybe a bit costly but worth it.
Don't get misled by RMS or PMPO or any fancy terms.
Listen for yourself and decide.

at half the price of a Samsung or Sony HTiB you can get a Indian brands like Torvin Audio Systems
Believe me. They sound better!!

@nairkk among the ones you've shortlisted the Philips models are better than the sony and samsung.

+
Thanks, some problem with Phillips supply in this area. Even I sent a mail to phillips customer care but no response from them.
Sony - no stock above 500w rms HTS however the shop willing to bring it from somewhere else (may be from Sony outlet) but only against payment and not for demo.
Samsung guy is bringing one set from the main dealer and will give a demo to me, If I am ok with it then I can take it.
So the choice of selection is much less here (and I dont want to buy it from outside as will have difficulty for service related matters, if required)

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

nairrk - Mangalore is not too far.

Start at around 7 AM, and go off to M'lore; shop around, and be back around 7. PM. Forget about service - all major brands have service centers in Kannur.

Do not leave out a brand from consideration merely because they do not have service centers next door. The technicial can, and usually will, travel.

SInce you do not seem to be interested in specialised brands, I think you should seriously consider Phillips too.

[nairrk]

Yes, I appreciate Mangalore is just about 110kms from my place but the roads are horrible at this time.
Anyway I will see the demo of C555 and then will decide which one to go..
(because of delay in getting/finalising a HTS , I have not yet asked the shop to deliver my tv -LA46c550 - which already finalised, as I prefer to bring both tv and HTS together and install)

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

@maorrl - take delivery of what you purchased. The TV is just a component of the entire experience.

If road conditions are an issue, have you considered Kozhikode? At least, if you can get a demo of the models, you can finalise and source it through the dealer in Payyannur.

BTW, given the budget on the TV (I guess it should be upwards of 75K), I think you should consider the suggestions on a specialised audio system, rather than HTiB. (Home theater in a box).

I should confess that I was/am in aituation like you are in right now - I was looking at HTiBs, and choice was limited to Samsung, Sony, LG, Phillips, etc., till I saw this thread. The problem is lowest end product from the specialised brands are approx twice what I am (was?) prepared to spend on audio.

I am still in a dilemma - caught between HTiB from generic bradns and speclalised brands.

To confound matters, there are not many dealers, even in Ernakulam, for specialised brands, so no way I can ask for an audition. (I would like to be corrected on this aspect).

[nairrk]

Presume the above post is in reply to my last post.
Yes, you are right the tv price is 73.5k
initially,. I have shortlisted Phillips and samsung but I was told phillips hts (above 1000w rms) is not even available in Ernakulam?. Even the sammy c555 is coming from Ernakulam (sammy showroom) for demo.

The roads to calicut too very bad.last month I drove to Calicut airport and that time the roads were not that bad(theyhave done some patch works on the potholes), but after that there was heavy rain non-stop till last 2 days (calicut and kannur district are the two places where heaviest rain recorded) and there are reports that the roads badly damaged.
first let me see the demo of c555 and then will decide.

[nairrk]

I still not able to get a HTS (even samsung HTS also not arrived in local shop for seeing the demo). Eventhough I prefer Phillips but again their products not available anywhere near to my place.
While I was searching the e-market, I have seen ezone has got phillips 5540/94 listed
at Rs.23,900 including shipping. Is it safe buying such items through eshopping and
how genuine are the 'ezone' - anyone dealt with them??

[H_Zoom]

Hello Mr. Nairrk,
Firstly, it would be good if you can audition the systems before you buy.
Because these choices are very subjective (to each one his own liking and preferences).
I too did a lot of auditioning a year back when I wanted to buy one and went thru' Sony, Samsung, Philips, Onkyo and Yamaha. But based on my requirements, budget and auditioning I narrowed down on Philips.
I had the system from EZone, Bangalore and my experience was not so nice. Again this may be unique to me, however, I would suggest you to check out from online reviews on them before making a decision.
The issues were two-fold, one considerable amount of delay in delivery and secondly they delivered some demo piece initially which looked pretty old to me and I had to fight it out to get a fresh one.
Just listing them out so that you can be careful on these fronts while you deal with them.

[dvinod]

hi,

I bought samsung ht-c550 through ebay two weeks ago. reason for buying online is the price. I enquired both locally and chennai for the price and the difference is almost rs.4000. So i ordered through ebay and got it with in 3 days from mumbai.
ht-c550 is similar to ht-c555 in specification except tall boy speakers. i'm happy with the product. i think ht-c555 not available in ebay as of now.

[nairrk]

Yes C-555 is still not listed in ebay.
c550 - how much you paid, Rs,17,700/-?
Local dealer of samsung gave me a price of Rs.20,900 for the C555 which has got 4 tallboy speakers (and may be few more features than c550/-). But these people do not have ready stocks in the shop.

btw, how is sound quality in c550, especially the BASS.?
Can you able to hear good output from all 5 speakers sound?

[dvinod]

Actual mrp of ht-c550 is Rs.17700. dealers offered a price around Rs.15000 but when i searched ebay i'm surprised to see the price Rs.11500. Then i immediately purchased it for Rs.11000(using 5% discount coupon).

Regarding the performance of ht-c550, it is excellent for dolby 5.1 and dts sources.bass are deep and Effects are brilliant. But you should be aware that home theaters are meant basically for movie playbacks. If your primary use of this product is watching movies then it's ok otherwise you will be disappoint while playing music files like mp3,wma etc.

[nairrk]

@dvinod
Yes,I know HTS always work fine for movies.
my eyes are still on the pHillips but no stock (those have minimum output 1000w rms or above)available in our area or even nearby places.
Still waiting to finalise a model.

[nairrk]

@dvinod
Have bought it from ebay seller 'icenslice''??
They still have similar HTS listed at rs.11500/-!!