Advice on Denon AVR and compatible speaker setup

[kromastorm]

Hi All,
I am from Bangalore. I am exploring my options of getting an AVR and 5.1/7.1 speaker setup for my place. With the current pandemic situation and no hope of going to office anytime soon, I am thinking of having a proper audio setup at my home as I will be spending lots of time working on office stuff, this would be relaxing of sorts. I do not have much knowledge on AVRs, I have started reading online about them to know more about various aspects of an AVR.

From my limited knowledge, I wish to buy a mid range denon AVRs, my cousin brother had this brand and I trust his judgement. I live in a rented place so do not want to buy the high end models right now. My budget for receiver and speakers is Rs 1-1.2L. It would be great if I can get a decent setup under Rs 1L though .

My main usage includes mix of TV shows, action movies and all kinds of music from all around the world.

Please provide suggestions on this.

Thanks

 

[Pratyush J]

Hello @kromastorm, 1L for both AVR and speakers (5.1) seems to be quite low. Mid segment AVR will itself consume about 50-60k. Better option will be to go in phases and build speaker setup gradually

 

[HTuser]

1 Lakh is a tight budget for 7.1 setup.

You may consider Denon 1600H + Polk TL1600 + Polk OWM3(or RC60i ceiling) to make 7.1 setup or 5.1.2 setup
Yamaha V6A + Taga 607 Package + Taga TSW 90 Sub + a pair of ceiling speakers or additional pair for surround backs
There few more speaker package options like Elac, Eltax, Sonodyne etc.

 

[kromastorm]

thanks for your responses.

I am fine with building up the setup over time. Given the current situation, it will be difficult to visit retail shops anyways.

Will check on the setup combinations provided above.

 

[kromastorm]

I have few query related to above suggested models.
Apologies in advance if I am asking too many queries.

1) whats the difference between denon x1600h, s950h and x2700h models. Is it just wattage? Also is s950h a newer product than x1600h?
2) I do not have the space available to setup taga speakers, if I choose polk t1600 speaker system, can I choose between denon x1600h and yamaha v6a? Which one of these models is better ?
3) is it possible to have wireless rear speakers even in 5.1 channel setup, as my living room is rectangle shaped and its 30 feet in length which makes it difficult to run the wire along the walls to the end of the room.

thanks in advance

 

[argho]

Hi. Will try and answer some of yoru queries.

Denon has different series aimed at different audiences. Eg. different series for consumer retail, and system intgerators (those who setup home theatres - the BT models). Feature differences between these models are very minimal.

The consumer retail models are the xNNNN. Eg. the Denon x1600. The consumer retail series is the one most widely available.

The first digit shows where in the hierarchy its stands :
x1000 followed by X2000 followed by x3000 followed by x4000

The second digit shows the model year.
Eg x2700 is the current year 2000 series model, x1600 is the last years 1000 series model.

As far as I know x1700 has not yet been launched, therefore x1600 is still the current model in the 1000 series.

This link might help :

Denon – PROFX

profx.com

Wireless speakers are not reccomended by most audiophiles.

Hope that helps.

 

[Prodigy]

Hi All,
I am from Bangalore. I am exploring my options of getting an AVR and 5.1/7.1 speaker setup for my place. With the current pandemic situation and no hope of going to office anytime soon, I am thinking of having a proper audio setup at my home as I will be spending lots of time working on office stuff, this would be relaxing of sorts. I do not have much knowledge on AVRs, I have started reading online about them to know more about various aspects of an AVR.

From my limited knowledge, I wish to buy a mid range denon AVRs, my cousin brother had this brand and I trust his judgement. I live in a rented place so do not want to buy the high end models right now. My budget for receiver and speakers is Rs 1-1.2L. It would be great if I can get a decent setup under Rs 1L though .

My main usage includes mix of TV shows, action movies and all kinds of music from all around the world.

Please provide suggestions on this.

Thanks

Hi @kromastorm
As most of them suggested here 1L is an extremely tight budget to set up a full 5.1 but it’s not impossible though. What you get for sub 1L is will end up being a super entry level and you would not enjoy much and to top it off if you want to repurpose some of the equipment’s for future use also it would not make sense as most of them would not go well some of the good stuff out there.
If I have to share my opinion, I would say go in phases. By doing this over a period of time even before you realise you will end of having a good system in front of you.

With your budget you can look at a Denon 1600 or 2700 and start off as a 2.0.
Speakers, I fully recommend a FS but considering the budget, I say start off with Book Shelf’s. There are some very good ones out there which can really justify its price such as Elac B6.2, wharfdale Diamond 12.2, Concept 40, IndiqAudio Universal Mishra and Kef Q950. While all of these will do good as fronts but some of them may need good power to drive them. Out of these I say the Universal Mishra definitely stands out in terms of performance and these are very sensitive so does not need more power to drive them. The other advantage is, you also get 15day no questions asked return period and also they have a fantastic upgrade policy which is a definite benefit and backed with a fantastic customer satisfaction.
With the current pandemic situation where audition is difficult I think IndiqAudio’s 15day experience is a boon.

Regards,
Som

 

[kromastorm]

@argho Thanks a lot for your explanation. I am beginning to understand the model differences.

@Prodigy Thanks for your suggestions. I agree with your points. There are two reasons for keeping the budget to Rs 1 - 1.2L
1) Since I currently living in a rented place, I do not want to have a high end setup which will be prone to damage during relocating to
other place.
2) Other reason is my wish to start with a basic setup, and with more listening experience gain more understanding to differentiate between finer
details of audio both from a receiver and from a speaker. With that I will keep on upgrading/adding receiver and speaker setup gradually to
improve the audio experience with each upgrade.

I wish to have at least a 5.1 channel setup even with lower audio performance as starting point. My TV itself provides a good quality stereo sound and it comes with dolby atmos already. The other reason is space constraint, I do not have space around my TV unit to place those bookshelf speakers. I do this that Polk TL1600 speaker system would work fine though, as the satellite speakers do not need that much space, the only thing I need to worry about is the center channel which can be accommodated around my TV stand..

I had sent enquiries to ProFX for Denon X1600H and to Yamaha for V6A model, so far I have only got response from ProFX. They are telling that the product is not in stock and its current retail price is around Rs 74K. Looks a bit high to me though. I would expect the price to be close to 50-60K max. Please let me know what would be the expected price range for these models.

With the current pandemic situation, not sure how soon the stocks are going to be available. I would like to utilize the time in exploring more options and finding better prices for the models mentioned above.

 

[HTuser]

You may check with HTStore and The Home Cinema as well.
Both of them deals with Denon, Polk, Yamaha etc.

If you are ok with 5.2 AVR, you can consider Denon 550BT or Yamaha V4A

Would like to add that Most of the Yamaha AV Receivers support yamaha wireless surrounds and yamaha wireless subwoofer
Since the wireless surrounds requires inbuilt amplifier and wireless capability, they are costlier than passive surrounds

 

[kromastorm]

Thanks for the response.

Got reply from Yamaha home audio, V6A is out of stock, V4A is available. V6A is currently retailing at 64K and V4A is retailing at 47K approx. Somehow these models are looking much better bargain than Denon X1600H. As these are new arrivals from this year and has slightly better specs on paper. knowledgeable members can provide some more insight into their audio quality vs Denon's X1600H. Also, I know a Yamaha store near my place, can hope to visit it once situation improves a bit.

I was checking out the two stores you mentioned above. Somehow not able to open website for HTStore. I did check details in HomeCinema, will check with them on stock availability.

Regarding 5.2 AVRs, it would certainly fulfil my immediate requirement, but I was just thinking that with a 7.2 I would have the option to get the ceiling speakers and the same unit would work fine with better audio experience. With a 5.2 unit, the most feasible options would be limited to replacing the whole speaker system.

With AVR purchase getting delayed due to stock issues, would it be a sensible thing to buy the speakers first? I would have the option to use it with my TV or my laptop. I have shortlisted Polk Audio T1600. Are there any other options which are similar to this in performance and compact size?

 

[OM_2K19]

Thanks for the response.

Got reply from Yamaha home audio, V6A is out of stock, V4A is available. V6A is currently retailing at 64K and V4A is retailing at 47K approx. Somehow these models are looking much better bargain than Denon X1600H. As these are new arrivals from this year and has slightly better specs on paper. knowledgeable members can provide some more insight into their audio quality vs Denon's X1600H. Also, I know a Yamaha store near my place, can hope to visit it once situation improves a bit.

I was checking out the two stores you mentioned above. Somehow not able to open website for HTStore. I did check details in HomeCinema, will check with them on stock availability.

Regarding 5.2 AVRs, it would certainly fulfil my immediate requirement, but I was just thinking that with a 7.2 I would have the option to get the ceiling speakers and the same unit would work fine with better audio experience. With a 5.2 unit, the most feasible options would be limited to replacing the whole speaker system.

With AVR purchase getting delayed due to stock issues, would it be a sensible thing to buy the speakers first? I would have the option to use it with my TV or my laptop. I have shortlisted Polk Audio T1600. Are there any other options which are similar to this in performance and compact size?

Based on my experience, Denon X1600H (it was going for 48K last year) + Polk TL 1600 (this was going for 32K last year) won't disappoint you in Movies. But it's not a Music centric setup. If you are more into Music, go with Yamaha and at least the Polk S series (if you want to stick to Polk). That said, you have to either extend your budget or built the complete 5.1 system over time as and when you have the budget.

 

[HTuser]

Thanks for the response.

With AVR purchase getting delayed due to stock issues, would it be a sensible thing to buy the speakers first? I would have the option to use it with my TV or my laptop. I have shortlisted Polk Audio T1600. Are there any other options which are similar to this in performance and compact size?

Polk TL1600 speakers are passive speakers, you need amplifier to use them. Subwoofer has its own amplifier, you can give pre-out to them.

Unlike multimedia speakers like creative, Intex etc. which can be directly connected to computer, Polk TL1600 kind of speakers require AV Receiver.

If you don't want to spend on AV Receiver now, you can look for pre-owned receivers at good bargain, later you can buy new AV receiver.

 

[Yogesh]

1) Since I currently living in a rented place, I do not want to have a high end setup which will be prone to damage during relocating to
other place.

In this case, start with an HTiB. Yamaha 3072 would be a good option.

 

[kromastorm]

Thanks for the responses. If the AVR and Speaker costs around Rs 80K, that I can manage. Maybe the current inflated prices are due to scarcity of stock.

My usage is mostly tv series and movies - around 70%, maybe 30% usage would be music. Is there any speaker system that would be better than Polk T1600 for mixed usage: movies as well as music? Another query out of my curiosity, do we find HDMI connection in speakers only in premium range like klipsch? I have also come across few speaker systems that are sold as separate modules, like front, rear, center, woofer etc. I can only assume that these would be sophisticated and specialized system that can even be build one by one, like create 2.1 -> 3.1 -> 4.1 -> 5.1 etc. Although they do seem to cost move then 15K per module on an average based on whatever I was able to find.

I did initially think of Yamaha 3072, it is retailing around Rs 50-55K currently, I would consider it as one of the top end models of entry level AVR segment. If I was unable to find any suitable combination in mid AVR segment, I was planning to go that way as well. I did find 2-3 models here though

The most frustrated I get is when watching movies/tv series where some important dialogueis belng delivered in a very low or sort of whispered voice. I have to re watch those scenes with my headphone then. That is the main reason for looking for an AVR, if music experience is enhanced as well, that would be added bonus. I did buy Sennheiser 660S from Zurich few years back for music, so no complains there.

 

[kromastorm]

Got price detail for Polk Audio T1600, home cinema has quoted Rs 40K. I think it looks slightly above its price mentioned above. Not sure if this price is negotiable. I am tempted to buy it as they have a singe unit available. But we are going into lockdown, not sure what the state would be in next few weeks.
The only outstanding item is the reciever. If I can get denon x1600h or yamaha v6a in 55K range, I will buy it. Please let me know if this price is too low for these models, I am fine with going to 60K as well for yamaha one as its a recent model.

 

[OM_2K19]

The only outstanding item is the reciever. If I can get denon x1600h or yamaha v6a in 55K range, I will buy it. Please let me know if this price is too low for these models, I am fine with going to 60K as well for yamaha one as its a recent model.

Last year around this time, TL 1600 was retailing around 32K and 48K for X1600H. Considering the stock shortage (as dealers claim), prices are heavily inflated. Now that you have a reference, check how much of a deal you can get from your dealer.

 

[trumee]

@kromastorm I am also looking to buy an AVR (preferably Denon) in Bangalore. Profx dont have X3700H in stock but they quoted 1.55 Lakhs which is a ripoff.

Can you share the dealer contacts in Bangalore?

 

[HTuser]

40K for Polk TL1600 and 1.55L for Denon 3700H etc. are MRP
Ask for discounted offer price. It should be lower.

If profx is not having Denon 3700, check with other dealers whether they have stock - HTStore, DNI, AudioPlanet, The Home Cinema etc.

 

[kromastorm]

Last year around this time, TL 1600 was retailing around 32K and 48K for X1600H. Considering the stock shortage (as dealers claim), prices are heavily inflated. Now that you have a reference, check how much of a deal you can get from your dealer.

I am waiting for the lockdown to complete and will contact the few retailers again for speaker pricing.

@kromastorm I am also looking to buy an AVR (preferably Denon) in Bangalore. Profx dont have X3700H in stock but they quoted 1.55 Lakhs which is a ripoff.

Can you share the dealer contacts in Bangalore?

Actually, I checked Denon X1600H price from ProFX team. Also referred to online websites like hifimart, ooberpad etc. For Yamaha V6A, I contacted yamahamusicstore on facebook.

 

[kromastorm]

Yesterday while browsing, I found this model for speaker: Klipsch Black Reference Theater Pack 5.1 Surround Sound System audiomaxx link

The price given at this website is certainly inflated. What would be its actual price in pre-covid period. Would be great if anyone here has some insight on this model.

I am more or less final on Polk T1600, just wanted to clear the thought that this might be affordable to me. Might be better for few more years of use without upgrade. I was checking amazon.com and with import duty it shows price under $1000 which might come close to Rs 78K, somewhat less than the price from above website. Possibly in few weeks or months time the prices may come down, but would it be worth price above Rs 70K? I am sure we should have many good speakers available at that price range.