[BheemBoy]

Hi Sandeep,

I will make sure to check it.

The Onkyo models of HT available in Reliance and Croma are very old and I have a dependency of buying there.

Also this Sony system has wireless rear and NFC, Bluetooth and Wifi.. Good on connectivity.

Hence leaning heavily towards this one.

thanks,
Rajnikanth

[::CMS::]

Originally Posted by BheemBoy

The Onkyo models of HT available in Reliance and Croma are very old

Dont buy from those hyper/super markets as those will either be old models or you will not be able to do the audition properly. Check with the HT showrooms \ HT dealers in your city.

this Sony system has wireless rear and NFC, Bluetooth and Wifi.. Good on connectivity.

Dont waste your money for those bells n whistles which has nothing to do with an HT and of no use. Get a proper HT for the same price will be any day better than the one you had mentioned.

[d_himan]

Gurus, please help with suggestions!

Usage
A. Off Tata SKY HD/HD+ Box most of the time for TV Viewing
B. Bluetooth/Wireless a great advantage. Youtube audio from Speakers instead of listening to the Phone Speaker/headphone would be super.
C. Would be placed on a long study table which also has a LG LED TV 32". The TV just about fits into the space between the desk and the cabinets at the top.
D. Would be listening to it (watching TV) from the bunk bed less than 5 - 6 feet away
E. Very occasional laptop movie/music listening (I have a Fiio E10 and HD 518 for this)

Constraints
A. Space. Must be as small as possible. Absolutely not flexible on space. Small room with dense furniture and a bunk bed. A sub doesn't fit.
B. Wires - as minimal as possible. The instructions from the missus are clear!
C. Ruling out passive speakers. Want a really neat look. No space for amp.
D. Was contemplating a good soundbar but even that doesn't fit in since the TV just about fits into the gap between the study table and the cabinets on top.

Budget
Max 35K - 40K. INR

Quality Desired
A. As non-colored as possible within the above constraints.
B. Indifferent to active or powered or brand name! But definitely no amp.

My thoughts..
A. Genelec 6010? Audio Engine A5? A2? Yamaha HS50M?
B. Had a Z2300 which sounded like shit when connected to the headphone out of the TV

[Fillmore]

Anyone owning a Denon 1713 ?

The Specs show that it supports Dolby Digital+ and Dolby True HD codecs.

However much to my disappointment I find that it cannot decode AC3 / Dolby digital. This is the most common audio format most movies come with.

Dolby Digital+ is supposed to be a successor to Dolby Digital, so I don't know why it does not play AC3 streams.

Do let me know if you have any solutions.

I know from the streaming point I can convert AC3 to Stereo and then it will work. But dont want to do this.

[hrmanju1]

Hello Friends

I got some cash from an unexpected source. So thinking of wisely spending it instead of spending it on Wine and Food.

So, i have decided to go for a Home Theater system and that's how i ended in here.

Budget

INR 30k. Stretchable to +5k

Main Usage

1. 80% Watching Movies - 1080p, 720p, 480p
2. 10% Tata Sky HD TV Entertainment/Music
3. 10% Tata Sky HD Sports (with Soccer WC coming, its gonna increase)

I have a a Sony 40 inch LED TV at home with enough HDMI ports.

I am planning to do all the research here, finalize and got Reliance Digital or Chroma or Modern World in Bangalore. If there are nicer places, please suggest.

What do you guys suggest for my requirements?

I know it all depends on my hearing experience but i dont have enough time to go about taking demo's of many systems and combinations.

Thanks all in advance

[kalpeshc]

Well, if you want to spend it wisely just put it in some kind of long term fix deposit

Jokes apart, at this budget try and demo Onkyo's 3200/3500 models. For beginners these are good options. If you want to go a little bit beyond the entry level systems, many would recommend getting an AVR and speakers separately. Maybe just 2 to begin with and then slowly 'build' your system. But your budget would not permit it. You'd just get a good entry level receiver in your budget. For speakers you may have to shell out 15-20K extra. Look at Pioneers PKFS52 for your first two speakers if you plan to go for an AVR based system. They are truly value for money speakers and have earned rave reviews. Such a system would last you a long time and is upgradeable as you progress through your hifi journey.

[barathvajan]

Hi Friends,

I have been trying to post this for long time. Every time something or other pops up and I end up closing without posting.
Well its really simple. I want to buy a Home theatre setup (unfortunately I don't have the vitamin M for that).
I have booked a house which I will posses after March 2015. I want a home theatre setup for the same. I am a complete idiot when it comes to electronics. I cant understand ohms, analog or digital or the type of end connections etc.

All I need is a clean (very clean) sound. Woofer should be tight (hope you understand). I don't want it go BOOM BOOM.

Budget 1.5L max. Setup is a 5.1. Purpose: English movies and Tamil music (both Carnatic and regular movie stuff). Sometime I also listen to heavy metal (not regularly. But when I have the mood)

Went for audition of Bose and Yamaha in Chennai. Bose was good and more music oriented and really expensive (a funny thing happened when I went to Bose with wife. After the audition, she asked for price for which the guy told 2.35L Ma'am. She was like okayyyy till she realized that the price was only for the speakers and the receivers. She was thinking they will provide the TV also for that price. Had to convince her to take her for Yamaha audition. cmon shez gonna pay half and the rest is going to be mine and she is an auditor )
Yamaha was more movie oriented but music was not upto the mark with Yamaha speakers (surround effects are akin to what I like in Sathyam cinemas). And it is cheaper.

Now I am more tilted to Yamaha. But I feel that I should only purchase a receiver from Yamaha and speakers elsewhere to get my feel.

And I don't what those features like Bluetooth, airplay (what is that?) Ethernet, net radio and all nonsense. I would prefer simple plug and play from my source (which will be a TV and a blueray player or an USB or maybe an Aux from my phone). I prefer to pay for sound quality rather than features.

My requirements are
1.When watching a movie, I should feel like in theatre
2. When listening to music I should feel like in concert hall.

I request you experts to guide me in buying a
1. AV receiver (Budget: 50 K max)
2. a Neat sub (Budget 25K max)
3. Floor standing speakers (Budget: 25k max)
4. Surround speakers (Budget 30K max)

Have to spare another 50 K for TV. Pl think of that also.

And I will not be getting this in one shot. I have to start collecting the items one by one.

Thanks in advance.
Barath

[NetfreakBombay]

Which Yamaha speakers did you audition? Or was it a HTIB?

[barathvajan]

Originally Posted by NetfreakBombay

Which Yamaha speakers did you audition? Or was it a HTIB?

Hi,

Its not HTIB. They had a 5.1 setup and a 7.1 setup. I checked the 5.1 setup with 2 floor standing speakers, 3 surround speakers and an woofer.

Didn't check the model name.

Barath

[graaja]

Originally Posted by barathvajan

Hi Friends,

I have been trying to post this for long time. Every time something or other pops up and I end up closing without posting.
Well its really simple. I want to buy a Home theatre setup (unfortunately I don't have the vitamin M for that).
I have booked a house which I will posses after March 2015. I want a home theatre setup for the same. I am a complete idiot when it comes to electronics. I cant understand ohms, analog or digital or the type of end connections etc.

Hi Barath,

Check out Denon AV receiver and Polk Audio speaker combination available with Pro-Fx. I installed a system 3 years back and am very satisfied with the performance. Based on their present product range, here is my suggestion for the setup. The cost works out to 1.38L. You may get some standard discount.

AV Receiver - Denon AVR2113 - Rs.49,900
Front side speakers - Polk TSX330T - Rs.30,000
Center speaker - Polk TSX250C - Rs.20,000
Subwoofer - Polk PSW110 - Rs. 18,500
Surround Speakers - TSX220B - Rs.20,000

The speakers are slightly overrated in power compared to the AV receiver. This is a good practice as you would usually keep the speakers for a long time and upgrade the AV receiver in the future. You could save another 15K or so if you choose a lower power option for the center and surround speakers. The Pro-Fx guys may be able to suggest you the best combination.

Go and have a demo of the system and decide if it suits your taste.

On a side note, generally a system that performs well for movies is not the best for listening to music. Usually audiophiles have two different systems for cinema and audio. The ideal (but expensive) solution is to choose your home theater for watching TV and movies and buy a separate system for music. For music, you could go with a Bose wave music system. For about 37K you could get a Bose Wave system which can play CDs and has an Aux input for other audio inputs.

You could also check out Onkyo AV receivers. But when I purchased my system, I ruled out Onkyo as the quality of sound of their AVR + Speakers was was way behind the Denon + Polk combination.

Hope this helps. Good luck with your home theater hunting

[Funda]

I am trying to set up a home theatre area ( yep no dedicated room ) in my new flat. Since its a flat it has walls on two sides and two sides are open. The ceiling is approximately 10.5' high. Here is what i have done so far and what the plan is. Experts please suggest if there are better things that can be done, I am looking for suggestions / critisms etc. etc. so that I can make it the best I can within my budget which is not great. I want to harness the processing power of the group.

What I have
1) 12 AWG CL2 rated cables wired under the floors and and inside the walls.
2) Yamaha Network reciever I bought in 2007
3) Onkyo Speakers bought in 2007(I am planning to upgrade - looking for suggestions )
4) Gigabit Lan (Cat6a cables of Amp make) running from the central hub to all the bed rooms.
5) One Wireless N router optimised for video streaming( I guess its branded as HD fuel tech or some branding gimmick)
6) One wireless G router which might just go away
7) One 3D LED projector ( Again not very powerful but serves good enough for my use). Later I might get a proper HT projector which is out of budget for me now.
8) A dumb old CRT TV which will change place anyway.

What I plan to buy
1) A NAS storage 4 TB or higher
2) Network Printer (Not really a hometheatre component, but part of my networked house)
3) Dedicated home theatre PC, I had my old laptop configured using ubuntu but it gave way.
4) New LED TV
5) Xbox One Gaming Console

The Plan
1) Have the Home theatre / Viewing area as the control hub
2) Be able to stream video from the hub wired/ wireless
3) Access content over the network from any room
4) Access the network remotely
5) DIY things as far as possible

For the viewing area which measures 13'X12.5' I have two walls. One of them will house the TV and the other will house the speakers. For the two open walls I intend to use heavy curtains all the way upto the ceiling when I use my home theatre. I want to use real heavy clothing which will darken the area plus will give a wall effect although not as good as a wall. The floor is vitrified tiles, so the plan is to use a carpet for controlling first reflections. No other distractions in that area. All video equipment get connected to the reciever. Laptops will stream music wireless using windows media server.

Please let me know your suggestions and where you think the set up can be improved. Also for the contents to be purchased, please share if there are better recomendations.

Originally Posted by Fillmore

I second that.
In fact since the shelf where I placed my receiver is a bit small , I have a USB driven laptop cooling pad placed on the receiver. Connected to the AVR USB port it keeps it well ventilated.

You could alternately try placing a plate at 45 Deg to the reciever, this works wonders. I tried it when I was in Chennai after getting the tip from a friend. My reciever used to restart every now and then even with ample ventilation and no obstruction for atleast 2 feet on the sides and nothing on top. After the simple hack it never restarted.

Originally Posted by BheemBoy

Sony system has 3 (2 in's and 1 out) HDMI ports.

So will I be able to get TV sound through the Sony player if:

1. Connect set top box to Sony player via HDMI

2. Connect Sony player to TV through HDMI

Yes thats the way you should connect. All video inputs go to the reciever (in this case its the player) and only one video cable goes to the TV which is from the reciever. That way you can hear TV without watching it . What I mean to say is that even if you switch off your TV the reciever will still be able to play the audio from the set top box. This is useful when you want to play music channels without the video.

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[RajeswaranK7]

Originally Posted by barathvajan

Hi Friends,


All I need is a clean (very clean) sound. Woofer should be tight (hope you understand). I don't want it go BOOM BOOM.

Budget 1.5L max. Setup is a 5.1. Purpose: English movies and Tamil music (both Carnatic and regular movie stuff). Sometime I also listen to heavy metal (not regularly. But when I have the mood)

@barathvajan

Please visit 'GrandCinema' in Kodambakkam and Decibels in Teynampet. They can give you an idea of what you can get with your budget with different combinations. And in your budget you can get a decent HT setup.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by barathvajan

All I need is a clean (very clean) sound. Woofer should be tight (hope you understand). I don't want it go BOOM BOOM.

Budget 1.5L max. Setup is a 5.1. Purpose: English movies and Tamil music (both Carnatic and regular movie stuff). Sometime I also listen to heavy metal (not regularly. But when I have the mood)
...

My requirements are
1.When watching a movie, I should feel like in theatre
2. When listening to music I should feel like in concert hall.

I request you experts to guide me in buying a
1. AV receiver (Budget: 50 K max)
2. a Neat sub (Budget 25K max)
3. Floor standing speakers (Budget: 25k max)
4. Surround speakers (Budget 30K max)

My sincere suggestion is not to constrain yourself to a budget right now and compromising on your need. Suggest you take this phased approach:
(*Assuming you already have a Blu-ray player)
Phase 1:
1. Get a good LED/Plasma TV (Samsung/Panasonic, etc)
2. Get a good AV Receiver (Onkyo/Denon, etc)
3. Get good set of front tower speakers (Polk, Focal, Jamo, etc)
This will meet your music needs since you now have a good stereo setup and a basic HT for movies though it's just 2 channel for the moment.

When budget permits, go ahead with:
Phase 2:
Good center channel speaker, will improve movie viewing considerably

Phase 3:
1.Surround speakers (you don't need really expensive ones, good bookshelf speakers will do)
2.Sub woofer
Now, your 5.1 setup is complete!

[navin]

Originally Posted by Funda

I
The Plan
1) Have the Home theatre / Viewing area as the control hub
2) Be able to stream video from the hub wired/ wireless
3) Access content over the network from any room
4) Access the network remotely
5) DIY things as far as possible

Wow when you PMed me I thought you needed help, but from this post it seems you got is all sorted out on the audio front, the questions you have are more to do with networking and wifi. I know absolutely zilch about networking.

Ok the way i understand all this is this:

You have a central server somehere in the house. This central server houses your media (photos, video, audio, etc..).

For each room you have a receiver which connects to this central server. This receiver sends control signals to the server which then pushed the media required by that receiver to be played back in the room.

So every room needs it's own speakers, receiver (amplification), and TV. Only the media storage is shared. Would it not be simpler to just have 2-3 small servers one for each room and not worry about networks and whyfi and that bluebeard thing? Forgive me but I am old school, very old school, old enough to have seen a phonograph cylinders albeit made by Dictaphone for office use.

Originally Posted by barathvajan

All I need is a clean (very clean) sound. Woofer should be tight (hope you understand). I

Budget 1.5L max. Setup is a 5.1.

Went for audition of Bose and Yamaha in Chennai.

I request you experts to guide me in buying a
1. AV receiver (Budget: 50 K max)
2. a Neat sub (Budget 25K max)
3. Floor standing speakers (Budget: 25k max)
4. Surround speakers (Budget 30K max)

Typically companies that make electronics (Pioneer, Sony, Yamaha, Onkyo etc.) do not make very good speakers (there are exceptions).

I would suggest that you choose a 5.1 speaker system from a speaker company like Polk, KEX, B&W, Klipsch, Wharfdale, etc.. and mate it to a receiver from Denon, Pioneer, Yamaha etc.

[diyguy]

Originally Posted by Funda

I am trying to set up a home theatre area ( yep no dedicated room ) in my new flat....

I have a similar setup as you. I have setup wall mounted network swivel racks for my HT equipment, wall mounted swivel led tv, NAS that streams content throughout my house, network Yamaha receiver, Yamaha speakers and sub, optoma projector behind my cot, projecting to the wall above the wall mounted HT equipment. I had the wall painted a shade of grey white and use that instead of the fuss of a screen. Happy with the setup and use it very frequently as it is in my bed room.
Good luck with your build. All if mine was DIY except for the wall paint!