[naveenroy]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

You can still buy a new Denon DCM-500AE from Pro Fx. Should be about 17K.

Ouch. A tad costly. Maybe it is time to really think of going the digital way - for my music. Any ideas or pointers?

[diyguy]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Need some advice. A relative is looking to buy a good quality portable dock which can support iPhone and preferably also has a USB/Aux input. Something similar to the SoundDock Portable System series from Bose. Would like to know what are the recommended choices in this space.

I had bought this for my Father in law and it rocks. Terrific sound, but it is not a dock. However, once you hear it, you wont settle for anything else...
http://www.amazon.com/Bose-SoundLink.../dp/B005KFONIU
There is a newer version of this available too and Bose do have their own dock models too.

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by naveenroy

Ouch. A tad costly. Maybe it is time to really think of going the digital way - for my music. Any ideas or pointers?

The CD player is dead already. I sold my Cambridge Audio CD5 for a song just a couple of months ago. It was not working too well. I still want to own one, something basic but with better quality, just for the joy of having to load a disc, hit a few buttons to get music playing. Quite like the days of a record player where you had to be involved to get music playing. You can look at the Marantz CD5004 as well. It will be better sounding than the Denon and will be less problematic in the long run. Changers are problem prone in our dust heavy environment and due the their complex mechanism.

Digital is the way to go. Now that we have high quality FLAC digital music files that can be purchased or downloaded, it sounds good, and in most cases better than a CD. However; getting in to digital audio is another expensive hobby. If you are a casual listener, a laptop/computer running foobar software with the wasapi plugin, plugged into your main stereo is all you need. Some mid range and above home theatre receivers will allow you to play FLAC files directly without the need for a computer. A computer is still the best way to go about it. Along with the computer, you have some serious equipment called the DAC or digital to analogue converter to get more quality out of those FLAC files. You still need a computer though to hit the Play button. The DAC acts as the water purifier for the music and the quality of sound you get is directly related to how much you are willing to spend. Put in some thought in to this and we can PM each other about this if you want to head down this road. There is something call the Network Audio Player too. Its a device that can play your FLAC files without the need of a computer. This is a 45K expense. It can also playback digital music files residing on a computer.

[audioholic]

Not sure if this is related to a Home theater, but I have a query regarding the TV and its networking. My Bravia EX520 is connected to the home network by Ethernet. From the TV, when I go to library to access music, pictures and videos, the TV switches on my PC and after it boots I am able to access all the files and play them. That, as I have understood happens through Wake-On by LAN. However, the problem is, once the job is done, I need the PC to shut down on its own. Is this possible? Has someone configured this by any way?

[naveenroy]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

Digital is the way to go. Now that we have high quality FLAC digital music files that can be purchased or downloaded, it sounds good, and in most cases better than a CD. However; getting in to digital audio is another expensive hobby. If you are a casual listener, a laptop/computer running foobar software with the wasapi plugin, plugged into your main stereo is all you need. Some mid range and above home theatre receivers will allow you to play FLAC files directly without the need for a computer. A computer is still the best way to go about it. Along with the computer, you have some serious equipment called the DAC or digital to analogue converter to get more quality out of those FLAC files.

Thanks! What I currently do to play music from the computer is use the Logitech Music Anywhere device. It connects via USB to my comp and streams the music using Bluetooth to a small receiver that is connected to my stereo amplifier. When I play music on Winamp, I can even skip songs, pause etc using the given remote. I'd really like to move away from this setup to something that I can control from the living room itself.

My ideal setup would be a device - maybe a hard disk that stores all the music and can display all the music by genre or artist and I can just play it off from there - via the stereo amp to floor standers. And like you said, the DAC is required - to get better quality of the music. I currently have loads of music only on mp3, not FLAC.

Was aware of the Network Audio player but it will be too costly for me now. Maybe at a future date.

Any pointers on the DAC (any devices I can check out) and feedback on my desired setup? Perhaps we can take this offline and PM. Thanks for the help!

[coolbareilly]

Originally Posted by coolbareilly

I have bought Yamaha RX-A820 from US and now looking speakers for it. My drawing-cum-dining room size is 24x12, but will be installing the setup width wise. Our main interests are 50% Music and 50% TV+Movies.

My total budget is 100K for 5.1 setup speakers (preferably FS), either step wise or in one go. Can you please suggest speakers for my AV receiver? Also please do suggest good shops with demo in Delhi.

Thank You all for your valuable feedback. I have bought Dali Zensor 7, Zensor 1, Zensor Vokal for my Yamaha RX-A820.
But have now stuck up at sub. Dali has discontinued Concept Series sub. but dealer has offered me Dali E12F Sub or Paradigm DSP-3100. Can you please suggest, which one should I go for?

[mashmash]

Had a scare this morning. My Denon 1908 stopped all of a sudden. On checking observed that the green light on the power button blinked for about 2 seconds and then stopped. My heart sank and a wave of possibilities crossed my mind in a flash. But consoled myself saying that the receiver is trying to tell me something, its not Dead.

Started off with disconnecting each speaker one by one. In the end, looks like an issue with the front speakers, either the cable or the speaker themselves.

Once the fronts were disconnected, I reset the receiver by pressing the Speaker A Speaker B buttons simultaneously. Voila the receiver screen came back to life.

Now need to pin point the issue, if its the cable, it will be an easy fix, but if its the speakers, then hunt for front speakers will begin.


MaSh

[coolbareilly]

Friends, I am still waiting for your suggestions. Can you please help me in buying the sub.

[diyguy]

Originally Posted by coolbareilly

Friends, I am still waiting for your suggestions. Can you please help me in buying the sub.

I would go with Dali to match up with the rest of your speakers. They look terrific btw. Also read the E-12F is perfectly matched with your speakers.

[naveenroy]

Originally Posted by sandeepmohan

The CD player is dead already.
-----------------------------
Digital is the way to go.
-----------------------------
There is something call the Network Audio Player too. Its a device that can play your FLAC files without the need of a computer. This is a 45K expense. It can also playback digital music files residing on a computer.

Thanks a lot for your valuable advise on this. I've PM'ed you and have now bought the Denon DNP 720AE. It is available for a very good deal and I actually bought it without doing an audition. But the reviews are good and I wasn't disappointed. Sadly, I have not had the time to fiddle around with the device and only tried playing streaming radio - and it sounded great! I just wish I'd had the time to check music files off the computer and I could've given a better review.

I will try and setup the player to play music off the computer and put up a short review.

[rm_arjuna]

Planning to get a home theatre from US ,shortlisted these 2 model which one is better and is there any difference in power rating ,

Onkyo - HT s3500 - 279$
Yamaha - yht 399 UBL - 360$

[diyguy]

Originally Posted by rm_arjuna

Planning to get a home theatre from US ,shortlisted these 2 model which one is better and is there any difference in power rating ,

Onkyo - HT s3500 - 279$
Yamaha - yht 399 UBL - 360$

I have a Yamaha myself, can't go wrong there.

[Raj1008]

The Onkyo is a high current, I am not sure about the Yamaha . I believe only the higher end yamahas are high current. Also all Harmon kardon and denons are high current. High current means they have a larger transformer and handle sound better. However you should audition each and see which sounds better to your ears. Speakers paired play an important role too. Sound is very subjective!

[///RMan]

Originally Posted by rm_arjuna

Planning to get a home theatre from US ,shortlisted these 2 model which one is better and is there any difference in power rating ,

Onkyo - HT s3500 - 279$
Yamaha - yht 399 UBL - 360$

Among the two, Yamaha anyday...
Otherwise you can purchase Bose speakers only and hook em up to a Denon/Yamaha amp/base station however you call it...

Also do check for Marantz in US, heard they have quite a range there..


Mod Note : Please avoid typing with excessive dots.........like................this.

[yogibear007]

I think the Yamaha is anytime bet. Onkyo is not really consistant across the model range and has got some mixed reviews for the S3500. Marantz will not be within the same price range and feature matrix I believe.