Help to Decide?

[soni_mahesh]

I am sincerely searching for a good Audio system primarily for music. Lots of confusion in terms of what to purchase. I am 70% on music and 30% on movies. Should I go for a 5.1 AVR and speakers, or an amp with bookshelf speakers and one decent sub. Pl suggest, my budget is under 35K

 

[grunthos]

Getting a pair of bookshelves + 1 sub + 1 stereo amp would be difficult to fit in your budget - unless you buy used or expand your budget
If the above isnt an option, you can drop the sub, then you can manage pair of bookshelves + stereo amp, but bass might suffer a little. But it will still be very sweet sounding system
And if thumping bass is a must-have, then maybe the Onkyo 3400 is the way to go.
A clever alternative to that is to get a good quality soundbar + wireless sub. Boston Acoustics has a good TVee 30 model (or the 26 even) for about your budget which has got great reviews

 

[subbubusk]

I am sincerely searching for a good Audio system primarily for music. Lots of confusion in terms of what to purchase. I am 70% on music and 30% on movies. Should I go for a 5.1 AVR and speakers, or an amp with bookshelf speakers and one decent sub. Pl suggest, my budget is under 35K

Since you have music and movie interest , better buy basic yamaha avr or denon avr and a pair of bookshelves to start with ( but even that exceeds your budget a bit) .25k (avr) + 13k (bs)

alternative :

avr + pair of floor standers (great for music). You need to increase your budget upto 40 - 45k.

dont go for onkyo 3400 as your primary interest is music.it is ok for movies.(see im not saying good).

 

[afj]

esp at that price point, and considering you listen more to music imo you should go for a stereo set up. you'll get much better sound quality. and for movies, admittedly the sound wont come up from various parts of the room but it will still come out from the front two speakers and at better sq.

for speakers you can look at the wharfedales, apart from others. the bose 301's is also a good well rounded speaker. for amps, there's yahama, denon...

 

[oglio]

Since you are more about music, I'd go with bookshelves and an amp. Plus the sub too. But if the money is a problem, sometimes it's better to save up some more than buy the "plan B option".

 

[mandyrhtdm]

I am sincerely searching for a good Audio system primarily for music. Lots of confusion in terms of what to purchase. I am 70% on music and 30% on movies. Should I go for a 5.1 AVR and speakers, or an amp with bookshelf speakers and one decent sub. Pl suggest, my budget is under 35K

If your budget is 35K i think you can very easily satisfy both your pocket and you ears. 35K is enough to get a Very Good sounding stereo setup. you can even add an additional Small Sub, but i will advise to first buy a stereo setup and then see if you feel the need for an aditional sub because even if you buy a speaker with 5 inch driver ( that is theleast) you will still hear plenty of base if it is a ported enclosure. a subwoofer will just add some base in the 35hz to 20Hz bracket and will distort the Mid bass. Its bettr to have a book shelf with 5-6 inch woofer then going for aditional sub..

Now coming back to what to buy first ask yourself are you a techie kind of guy? who enjoys to have lots of cables anc connections to use? or you want a simple setup that sounds good and you dont have to make too many connections.

If you want it simple buy a pair of decent Active Book shelf speakers. They have in Built Amps and will satisfy all your needs.

My two cents will be for the following set ups

M Audio Bx5a Book shelf : Very detailed and Analytical Sound .. 20K for pair
Audio Engine A2 / A5 warn sound less detailed but more suited for daily listening. 15K / 30K ( PS i have an pair of A2 which i plan to sell in case you want )

In case you want to got for the passive Mode That buy separate Amps and Spekares the only thing you should ever buiy is
Norge millenium Mk2 Booksgelf speakers with Norge 2060 Amp. You would be hAPPY FOR A VERY LONG TIME ... Spk 13.5LK, Amp 9.5K total 23K !!!! You save 12 K

All these options are High Quality Audiophile setups with exceptionally High quality sound for the price. to have even 2% improvement in sound above these setups you will have to pay at least 4 times more.

 

[soni_mahesh]

Many Thanks for your valuable suggestions. I can go for bit more as I am a music lover I love to listen to very detailed sounding systems with balanced bass. Systems like 5.1 or 7.1 create confusion in terms of whether I am missing something. Primarily I love bookshelf and a Sub based system, but am I loosing something by not installing a so called 5.1 or 7.1?

 

[soni_mahesh]

Since you are more about music, I'd go with bookshelves and an amp. Plus the sub too. But if the money is a problem, sometimes it's better to save up some more than buy the "plan B option".

Many Thanks, I'll certainly keep this in mind.

 

[soni_mahesh]

esp at that price point, and considering you listen more to music imo you should go for a stereo set up. you'll get much better sound quality. and for movies, admittedly the sound wont come up from various parts of the room but it will still come out from the front two speakers and at better sq.

for speakers you can look at the wharfedales, apart from others. the bose 301's is also a good well rounded speaker. for amps, there's yahama, denon...

PL let me know , what aprox price bracket both will be in?

 

[soni_mahesh]

What do you suggest If I go for a used one?

 

[soni_mahesh]

Pl let me know how is Marantz SR 301 for my purpose?