Avid Music Listener - Wanna be Audiophile :)

[good2know]

Hello Hi-Fi members !!

Let me start by saying that this website has been a treasure of knowledge to every newbie or an experienced audiophile. Kudos to all of you for maintaining such a beautiful website.

I registered myself here in 2011 and since then been following as and when I get time. It took me 2 years to have my first post and introduce myself (better late than never). I enjoy listening to music (though no specific genre) but mostly I do it over my S3 these days due to my work timings and I am hooked to simple and modest Philips SHE3590 ear phones which rocks.

Aiwa music system has been my companion for close to 10 years and I still enjoy it when I visit my native. After being smitten by audiophile bug, I am planning to set up a home theater system (my gift to my parents) and seek your valuable suggestions. I am in US and traveling to India on vacation by October 2nd. I am in no hurry to have entire set up at one go ...

Current Products I own:

(1) Pioner BS-41 Speakers (130 W RMS, 85 DB Sensitivity) - I got this a week before for $95 in an offer.
(2) Philips DVD Player.
(3) Room Size where this will be set up : 15X10

Looking for:

(1) A/V Receiver: 50% Movies and 50% Music (Mostly Indian Devotional Songs, A.R.Rahman, Ilayaraja, bit of Instrumental and regular Hindi songs).

(2) Recommended speaker cables
Opted for: RCA AH16100SR 100 Ft. 16-Gauge Speaker Wire (yet to purchase). Need inputs if its okay and anything else is required along with it since it being my first time setting up any sort of equipment.

(3) For A/V receiver, do I need step-up down transformers or will a Voltage Stabilizer suffice?

Highly appreciate valuable inputs.

Thanks.

 

[hydrovac]

Hello good2know,
Welcome to HFV.

 

[mpw]

these days its better to buy from India. Many indian dealers stock latest stuff. In Bangalore you will find what you need and this will save you the hassle of getting it from there ( esp electronics ).

If you buy from the US.. there will be need for transformer to convert from 220V, 50 Hz to 110 V ( 60 hz ?? am not sure )

indian dealer will be able to help you with any warranty etc,, if applicable..

Travel light

)

PS : Folks discover the hard way its better to remain a music lover than a so called "audiophile". Generally audiophiles are evaluated by the equipment they own and not by the love of music. Sad but true. Some if this is my introspection too.

)

mpw

 

[alpha1]

So you listen to music or your hear music?
A listener is most likely not the typical audiophile ...
But the person who just hears is most likely to become a discerning "audiophile". (If there is any such thing ...)

 

[koushik]

But the person who just hears is most likely to become a discerning "audiophile". (If there is any such thing ...)

What do you people think an audiophile is? What is it?

-A man pretends to hear blah blah things?
-A man with expensive equipment?
-A man who wants to show off how diligent he is?

or what else?

For me, it is a state of mind of a person, to listen to music to the best possible way he can and the closest he could get to the performance of the recording artist in his budget reach. So, anybody with that state of mind is an audiophile.

It can't be something "wanna be". Either you are an audiophile or you are not. - Black or white.
Either you care only about quality of music or you care about both music and it's reproduction quality.

 

[koushik]

It is perfectly okay and make sense for a person saying any of the the sentence below - One makes him audiophile and another an ardent music lover.

I only care about the quality of music, the content and doesn't care if it is playing in cheap radio of high end audio system. I just enjoy the music.

OR

I care about the music, it's quality, content and at the same time, I push my system and money in trying to reproduce a good quality sound, caring about soundstage, instrument separation, texture, timbre, frequency response etc etc.

 

[shanmune]

What do you people think an audiophile is? What is it?

-A man pretends to hear blah blah things?
-A man with expensive equipment?
-A man who wants to show off how diligent he is?

or what else?

For me, it is a state of mind of a person, to listen to music to the best possible way he can and the closest he could get to the performance of the recording artist in his budget reach. So, anybody with that state of mind is an audiophile.

It can't be something "wanna be". Either you are an audiophile or you are not. - Black or white.
Either you care only about quality of music or you care about both music and it's reproduction quality.

You hit the target and no one can disagree on this ... More importantly, your usage of the words " .. in his budget reach" in your para needs to be highlighted.

 

[sansei]

These days people r more bothered abt features than music.

Read this comment in one of the audiophile reviews.

How very true.

 

[unleash_me]

... I enjoy listening to music (though no specific genre)... After being smitten by audiophile bug, I am planning to set up a home theater system (my gift to my parents)...

Hello and welcome! You didn't mention your budget range. While I understand that you are a music lover, it's not quite clear how much your parents might be interested in your passion or their appreciation for music vs. movies and/or regular satellite tv.

If it is for a generic amplified sound with decent fidelity, you may opt for an entry level HTIB from any locally available reputed and dedicated hifi brand; depending on your budget.

However, if music is the priority then invest in a dedicated 2 channel amplifier first. With your access to the US market, see if you can audition Peachtree Audio integrated amplifiers with your speakers. These have all the latest digital and analogue i/o as well as a subwoofer preout, that would suffice any normal user requirements, along with a HT bypass function; in case you want to incorporate this into a full fledged HT at a later stage. I briefly had their Nova (modded) in my possession and found it quite good.

Cheers.