[murillo]

Originally Posted by manson

Its all set, doubt I am going to need to plug in the passive sub I have anytime soon!!
...

Thanks manson. Your setup looks yummy for music lovers.


Dear BHPians,

Meanwhile, my plans went for a toss. I am reevaluating my options after misus vetoed the floorstanders. Now I am considering the below combo:
AVR: Yamaha RX-V375 (or) Denon X500
Bookshelves: Dali Zensor 3

Dealer offered prices after discounts:
Yamaha RX-V375: 27,350
Denon X500: 24,500
Dali Zensor 3: 28,000

I had a demo of Zensor 3 with RX-V375. It sounded nice to me. In future, I plan to add a sub.

Between RX-V375 and X500, I am inclined towards RX-V375 due to features like USB and YPAO.

The dealer said it is better to go for Yamaha because Yamaha has service centers all over the place. Hence, it will be easy to service, e.g., if power circuit board blows off due to voltage fluctuations which is very common problem in Chennai.

Please let me know if this Yamaha/Zensor 3 combo is good. Don't want to spend more for KEF Q300 or Diamond 10.2 or Mezzo 2.

Regards,
murillo.

[diyguy]

Originally Posted by murillo

The dealer said it is better to go for Yamaha because Yamaha has service centers all over the place. Hence, it will be easy to service, e.g., if power circuit board blows off due to voltage fluctuations which is very common problem in Chennai.

You should get yourself good power protection. I have a power conditioner I use for my Yamaha RX-A810. These things will run forever if you take proper precautions.

Also check Ritchie street for price comparison. There was a dealer for Denon and Yamaha receivers. PM me if you want and I will send you the map coordinates for this shop as I don't recall his name.

I also saw the V375 in Reliance Digital on a package deal with speakers for around 40k I think.

[Sebring]

It's some exotic 'sound-out from TV' called SPDIF, (Sony, philips digital interface). Had to get the connector pins from UK. There is some kind of converter available, but other than that is the 'headphone-out'.

Originally Posted by DerAlte

How did you connect the TV sound output - RCA, HDMI or Optical? Optical and HDMI won't introduce hiss.

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by Sebring

It's some exotic 'sound-out from TV' called SPDIF, (Sony, philips digital interface). Had to get the connector pins from UK. There is some kind of converter available, but other than that is the 'headphone-out'.

SPDIF will not introduce hiss - it is digital transmission. Nothing exotic about it - the electrical one is about 20 years old. Most of the TVs nowadays have the fibre-optic equivalent, because that gives a much higher bandwidth to handle 5.1 or 7.1 signals.

The Headphone-out can - it is an analog signal, and loose connection at the jack can give hiss / noise; very sensitive to plug and cable quality.

Would it be possible for you to post pics of the cable and connector you are using (the one that is giving hiss)?

[manson]

Originally Posted by murillo

Dealer offered prices after discounts:
Yamaha RX-V375: 27,350

You should be able to get it for 26K, that is what I was quoted as the discounted price.

Originally Posted by murillo

Between RX-V375 and X500, I am inclined towards RX-V375 due to features like USB and YPAO.

I think the Denon X500 too has a USB option, not that I would end up using one having a BT phone. Yamaha has FM over the Denon though.

Originally Posted by murillo

The dealer said it is better to go for Yamaha because Yamaha has service centers all over the place.

This is a known fact, the dealer who quoted me 26K for the 375 unit also mentioned that Yamaha service is top notch.

Originally Posted by murillo

Don't want to spend more for KEF Q300 or Diamond 10.2 or Mezzo 2.

Considering you are going to add a sub, check out the Q Accoustics 2010I (MRP 19K) and 2020I (MRP 25K) which seem to be in the same price range as Dali. The sales exec at the store where I head the QA speakers mentioned that the 2010I were better value over the 2020I.

[Sebring]

You are right. Quality of cable/ connector does make a difference. I got Monster now, and I'm told it's sorted. Thanks DerAlte.

Originally Posted by DerAlte

SPDIF will not introduce hiss - it is digital transmission. Nothing exotic about it - the electrical one is about 20 years old. Most of the TVs nowadays have the fibre-optic equivalent, because that gives a much higher bandwidth to handle 5.1 or 7.1 signals.

The Headphone-out can - it is an analog signal, and loose connection at the jack can give hiss / noise; very sensitive to plug and cable quality.

Would it be possible for you to post pics of the cable and connector you are using (the one that is giving hiss)?

[::CMS::]

Originally Posted by murillo

Thanks manson. Your setup looks yummy for music lovers.


Dear BHPians,

Meanwhile, my plans went for a toss. I am reevaluating my options after misus vetoed the floorstanders. Now I am considering the below combo:
AVR: Yamaha RX-V375 (or) Denon X500
Bookshelves: Dali Zensor 3

Dealer offered prices after discounts:
Yamaha RX-V375: 27,350
Denon X500: 24,500
Dali Zensor 3: 28,000

I had a demo of Zensor 3 with RX-V375. It sounded nice to me. In future, I plan to add a sub.

Between RX-V375 and X500, I am inclined towards RX-V375 due to features like USB and YPAO.

The dealer said it is better to go for Yamaha because Yamaha has service centers all over the place. Hence, it will be easy to service, e.g., if power circuit board blows off due to voltage fluctuations which is very common problem in Chennai.

Please let me know if this Yamaha/Zensor 3 combo is good. Don't want to spend more for KEF Q300 or Diamond 10.2 or Mezzo 2.

Regards,
murillo.

Denon and KEF is a good combo and KEF300 is a decent speaker for music too for the price. IMO, At this price range Bookshelves are far better than any floorstander.

You should get a good power conditioner or a good servo stabilizer for all your audio-video equipments, it not only protects from any power fluctuations but also provides enough juice throughout. I am using a custom made 3KVa Vertex stabilizer for my AV equipments. Its a chennai based company specialized in providing stabilizers for high sensitive equipments.

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by ::CMS::

... You should get a good power conditioner or a good servo stabilizer for all your audio-video equipments, it not only protects from any power fluctuations but also provides enough juice throughout. ...

Err... why would one need to do that in this day and age? In fact, voltage stabilizers recommended for homes are too slow to take care of any harmful / undesirable line conditions. There is a *much faster* voltage regulator in the equipment itself, whether DC-DC converter based 'switching' supplies or the more conventional transformer based ones.

I am quite intrigued by the highlighted part, especially, since no voltage stabilizer of any type has anything to do with that. That is a myth.

One doesn't need any 'protection' from 'power fluctuation', the kind where cause voltage drifts of +/-20% over a couple of seconds. Even in cases where large loads are switching on / off in the neighborhood (happens only when one has small or large industries nearby), the variation is ballpark the same order of magnitude.

As far as protection is concerned, one just needs a decent 'spike buster' which provides an alternate path to ground for impulse energy during 'single phasing' (sudden neutral shift when one phase of a neighborhood transformer disconnects on fault). These spikes can be of the order of 200+VAC themselves - not the usual +/-20% - enough to blow the small charger bricks. This works very similar to lightning arrestors provided in tall buildings, by providing an alternate discharge path.

[Funda]

Originally Posted by ::CMS::

I wont recommend a NAS unless you really need all the NAS services. Infact I was also in the boat, but decided to have my 10TB media server directly connected to the main AV and a separate low power media downloader for downloading activities.

Which Media server are you using? Can you share the link of the manufacturer's website or the link to the product. Is it available in India? I dont mind sourcing it from US either.

[::CMS::]

Originally Posted by DerAlte

Err... why would one need to do that in this day and age? In fact, voltage stabilizers recommended for homes are too slow to take care of any harmful / undesirable line conditions. There is a *much faster* voltage regulator in the equipment itself, whether DC-DC converter based 'switching' supplies or the more conventional transformer based ones.

I am quite intrigued by the highlighted part, especially, since no voltage stabilizer of any type has anything to do with that. That is a myth.

One doesn't need any 'protection' from 'power fluctuation', the kind where cause voltage drifts of +/-20% over a couple of seconds. Even in cases where large loads are switching on / off in the neighborhood (happens only when one has small or large industries nearby), the variation is ballpark the same order of magnitude.

As far as protection is concerned, one just needs a decent 'spike buster' which provides an alternate path to ground for impulse energy during 'single phasing' (sudden neutral shift when one phase of a neighborhood transformer disconnects on fault). These spikes can be of the order of 200+VAC themselves - not the usual +/-20% - enough to blow the small charger bricks. This works very similar to lightning arrestors provided in tall buildings, by providing an alternate discharge path.

Its because my reason for depending a stabilizer are different than your's. I am using a custom built microprocessor controlled servo stabilizer for smooth correction that ensures 220v continuous (configurable) with a correction factor of 2% (configurable) along with EMI/RF filters and MOV based spike protection (replaced once in 2 years). Reason being reduced risk of premature failure of the power supplies in the equipments (from experience) and more important, sound difference esp from a tube based equipment. Its the same with projector also felt brightness difference and also affects the lamp life.

I always prefer repairing a stabiliser (works as a shield for the equipment power supplies) than repairing the expensive equipments. Moreover it depends on the power supplier in the area one belongs to. I have seen power supplies blowing off (my Onkyo 606 and smps of my pc along with few bulbs) just because of high current for a couple of seconds during night. In India we cannot believe the quality of the power supply, it can be spikes of high current or less but I cannot take the risk of exposing ~10lakh of investment to direct supply.

Also I had experienced sound quality difference when there is not enough juice from the power company (during peak load hours) esp in a tube based setup. If it is a myth for some, let it be.

Originally Posted by Funda

Which Media server are you using? Can you share the link of the manufacturer's website or the link to the product. Is it available in India? I dont mind sourcing it from US either.

Its a custom built PC or HTPC based on low power Gigabyte 780G motherboard and Dual core AMD Athlon 45nm CPU along with a ATI Radeon HD 5670 display card that outputs bitperfect audio-video (multicahnnel) to the AV processor. For music I am using spdif out to external dac. The files are stored in 10TB internal HDDs\USB. I had tried low power NAS setup long time back using PC that supports RAID config but I moved back to the current setup as I dint see any use of all the NAS features.

[Blow Horn Ok]

Dear Guru's, I am on a shoestring budget to build a home theater/better sounding music system for living room and I am planning to use existing pair or 8 ohms philips component speakers. Also planning to buy a subwoofer upto Rs 8000. The existing range of AV receivers and amplifiers are very out of my budget. Is there any other alternative (CD players with speaker & sub woofer output or budget audio receivers) from which I can connect these speakers and the sub woofer?

Also, would this be a good idea or should i go for straight forward Home theaters for 12-15 k?

[diyguy]

You can get some good deals on pre-owned systems from olx if you are open to it...check listings in your city.

[DerAlte]

Originally Posted by ::CMS::

Its because my reason for depending a stabilizer are different than your's. ...

The reason is the same for everyone. Some do manage to find justifications for excessive measures.

Originally Posted by ::CMS::

... I am using a custom built microprocessor controlled servo stabilizer for smooth correction ...

Any idea what is the correction speed of your stabilizer (V/ms)? You seem to be ignoring the time / speed factor. Do compare that with the correction slope where it matters - in the regulators in the internal power supplies. A mismatch causes severe disagreement when one goes north and the other south.

Originally Posted by ::CMS::

... In India we cannot believe the quality of the power supply, it can be spikes of high current or less but I cannot take the risk of exposing ~10lakh of investment to direct supply. ...

Of course, I have heard of at least one person (another member I think - seldom logs in) who IIRC has drawn a separate 3-phase connection just for his audio needs. But, he doesn't use stabilizers - he feels his supply should not be tainted by artificial manipulation. He uses good spike busters, though. Many others monitor supply frequency also - seems to affect harmonic content.

Originally Posted by ::CMS::

... when there is not enough juice from the power company (during peak load hours) esp in a tube based setup. If it is a myth for some, let it be. ...

Err... do you have an idea how much "juice" is on tap from the power company? Again, just to compare with your needs. "Insufficient" comes *after* knowing that number. Otherwise, "juice" would be just another exotic jargon word some are fond of using.

Originally Posted by Blow Horn Ok

... I am on a shoestring budget to build a home theater/better sounding music system for living room ... or should i go for straight forward Home theaters for 12-15 k?

The simplest would be to get an off-the-shelf HT system. There definitely are compromises in these systems, but the advantages are low cost and much less effort for mixing and matching.

You must personally audition them with your own media, with controls you set and not the store person. Not sure whether there are enough stores near you, but the easiest is to go to a multi-brand showroom even if you have to go to the nearest large city like Ranchi (since your location says Bokaro). Tell the store sales person to maintain silence, set volume to what you would normally listen to, close your eyes, and critically analyze what you hear. Some will be good, some ~OK, some downright bad.

I heard a Panasonic one today, costing 15K (5.1 system with subwoofer; I wish I had noted the model number), and I found it quite VFM for the price, much better than the Philips, Sony and Samsung systems in the 10-20K range.

[::CMS::]

Good opportunity to make a reference level sub. There is a groupbuy for well regarded Exodus Anarchy sub going on in other forum.
First result from the search list:
https://www.google.co.in/search?q=ex...sm=93&ie=UTF-8

A set of 4 small tapped horns (one for each wall in a room) will give you a reference level sub with smooth response throughout the room. If any of the FMs required help in building it I can help you out. Its pretty easy to build.

Plan for the tapped horn design from Mike: http://www.hometheatershack.com/foru...pped-horn.html

[::CMS::]

Originally Posted by DerAlte

The reason is the same for everyone. Some do manage to find justifications for excessive measures.

Any idea what is the correction speed of your stabilizer (V/ms)? You seem to be ignoring the time / speed factor. Do compare that with the correction slope where it matters - in the regulators in the internal power supplies. A mismatch causes severe disagreement when one goes north and the other south.

Err... do you have an idea how much "juice" is on tap from the power company? Again, just to compare with your needs. "Insufficient" comes *after* knowing that number. Otherwise, "juice" would be just another exotic jargon word some are fond of using.

Its correction speed is 70v/s and it has the adjustable correction factor (I prefer 2% (3-4v) as it keeps the servo motor busy continuously if it is 1%) and since the small changes in voltage wont affect the performance of an equipment from the specified specs its fine in ideal condition. It makes difference during the peak load times where the voltage never cross 150/170, but it depends on the the user if he can ignore it or not. The o/p will no where be same as the original spec at that time. Those who cannot ignore the difference will go for similar measures and could achieve that to an extend within the budget. The source units like preamps/dacs/cd players are more affected than the power amps. Another affected equipment is the projector and its bulbs.

Of course, I have heard of at least one person (another member I think - seldom logs in) who IIRC has drawn a separate 3-phase connection just for his audio needs. But, he doesn't use stabilizers - he feels his supply should not be tainted by artificial manipulation. He uses good spike busters, though. Many others monitor supply frequency also - seems to affect harmonic content.

It doesnt matter its 1Rs or Crores, issues are specific for each installs / setups, so a solution for 1crore setup will not work for 1Rs and vise versa unless the situations are same. Thats the issue of sticking to the textbook theories as it will change once the ideal situation changes. If the supply is constant through out the same and there is no voltage sag, he dont have to worry about the power requirement.