Advice for 2Ch & HT Setup

[lakshay]

Hi friends,

I am new to HT and pardon my ignorance.

My wife loves 2 Ch music and I love to have a complete HT setup for watching movies. So it would be 50% for music and 50% for HT. Doesn't want to have two separate systems. Initially starting with 2 ch system and then upgrading when budget permits. Mostly playing MP3 songs from my computer and movies from DVD player. Movies will be mostly on weekends and rest of the days its going to be songs.

I haven't decided on the components yet and if i could get cheaper, I can import from SG or US through relatives & friends. My budget for my initial setup is 70k to 100k and not in a hurry to do the purchase. Is there any chance of getting good deals?. Came across a deal of Denon 790 and Boston Acoustics 5.1 for S$750.00. Not in a hurry as I can wait.

So I will be needing a stereo preamp with HT bypass like Emotiva's USP-1 and looking at Denon 790 for processing video. I have an Onida DVD player.


My connection would be

3.5 mm stereo 2 RCA cable from laptop to preamp's input. Onida DVD player to Denon through component.

Do I need to have a separate power amp like Emotiva's XPA-3 to connect stereo pre amp and 790 or shall I use Denon's power amp to drive the speakers ( something like USP's output to Denon analog in).


Sorry for the big post and looking forward for your advice.

Thanks & Regards

 

[vinod_david]

My wife loves 2 Ch music

:thumbsup:

 

[iaudio]

It would be best if you keep these two systems separate! One HT setup and one Stereo set up. IT would be cost effective and would perform the best too. No compromise.

Else if you want to get an AVR which does music well, cost will escalate and you still wont be able to match the music playback capabilities of an entry level 2 channel set up.

If you are going AVR route,
Denon 1910-Rs 40k
Speakers-
You can assemble a package from QA, Mission, Wharfedale, MS for 60k

All this comes in your 100k budget.

Now you can spend 4k more and get a Topping TP20 stereo amp for music.!

 

[marsilians]

Hi

I think getting emotiva gear for mp3 listening is way overkill. I woudl suggest to invest in a decent AVR that is fairly musical and then build up your system around this.

For starters, I woudl look at Yamaha 663 and above series or a Denon 1910 or above series. For speakers do a search around the forum and you will find tons of good stuff on Wharfdales, Kef, Q Acoustic etc.

There is no need for a power amp initially. Once you ahve built the system and have some money to spare then you can look into getting into the system.

Hi friends,

I am new to HT and pardon my ignorance.

My wife loves 2 Ch music and I love to have a complete HT setup for watching movies. So it would be 50% for music and 50% for HT. Doesn't want to have two separate systems. Initially starting with 2 ch system and then upgrading when budget permits. Mostly playing MP3 songs from my computer and movies from DVD player. Movies will be mostly on weekends and rest of the days its going to be songs.

I haven't decided on the components yet and if i could get cheaper, I can import from SG or US through relatives & friends. My budget for my initial setup is 70k to 100k and not in a hurry to do the purchase. Is there any chance of getting good deals?. Came across a deal of Denon 790 and Boston Acoustics 5.1 for S$750.00. Not in a hurry as I can wait.

So I will be needing a stereo preamp with HT bypass like Emotiva's USP-1 and looking at Denon 790 for processing video. I have an Onida DVD player.


My connection would be

3.5 mm stereo 2 RCA cable from laptop to preamp's input. Onida DVD player to Denon through component.

Do I need to have a separate power amp like Emotiva's XPA-3 to connect stereo pre amp and 790 or shall I use Denon's power amp to drive the speakers ( something like USP's output to Denon analog in).


Sorry for the big post and looking forward for your advice.

Thanks & Regards

 

[lakshay]

Hi

I think getting emotiva gear for mp3 listening is way overkill.

Care to elaborate.

I do have around 25GB of mp3 songs and it will be my source for next couple of years.

I am looking into moving into seperates down the line, as it will give me enough time (some time to save money for the next component) to replace individual components.

As mentioned earlier, I haven't decided on the brands yet and trying to get clear picture of using the components regardign the connections.

Plan is to get Denon 4810 or Onkyo NR 5007, so that I dont have to replace the AVR for the next 3- 5 years and will be adding only the speakers. I know, I will be spending more for AVR, and you get what you pay for.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Regards

 

[marsilians]

Care to elaborate.

I do have around 25GB of mp3 songs and it will be my source for next couple of years.

You will not get better quality with expensive gear when listening to mp3s than a standard AVR. I personally dont think investing in separtes is going to make the mp3s sound any better than through an AVR. Search around the forum for why this is so. Hint: Lossy vs. lossless encoding.....

ALso the quantity of music is independent of the brand you use to get decent sound. I still suggest to stick with a decent AVR. Denon is as good as emotiva or accuphase in your situation.....

I am looking into moving into seperates down the line, as it will give me enough time (some time to save money for the next component) to replace individual components.

You will get a lot more bang for the buck for movies with this. But go to separates only after you have settled on a good speaker system.

As mentioned earlier, I haven't decided on the brands yet and trying to get clear picture of using the components regardign the connections.

If you are going to stick with mp3s for music I suggest to look for AVRs that enable easy connectivity such as true HDMI support and what not.

Plan is to get Denon 4810 or Onkyo NR 5007, so that I dont have to replace the AVR for the next 3- 5 years and will be adding only the speakers. I know, I will be spending more for AVR, and you get what you pay for.

Thanks for the suggestions.

Regards

I think you are on the right path in the plan around the AVR hwoever your approach is a bit flawed for instance you can get very good AVRs these days for reasonable prices. So no need to spend big bucks. Ofcourse used is a very good option if the deal is right....

 

[sydneyvj]

May I suggest that if you want to go the separates route, to choose a HT bypass preamp, AVR and a good 2 channel power amp or an AVR with a good 2ch power amp. IMO most budget AVR's don't sound as good as a proper 2ch amp. Since your preference is 50/50 music/HT i would suggest a budget AVR with all the latest and greatest features paired with a 2ch power amp