Home Audio Advise

[Jams4znik03]

Dear All,

I am looking for a good system for my home:

To start with I am putting forth a few basic inputs on the environment and requirements:

a) Space considerations:
Room area is 416 Sq.ft (26 x 16)approx and with a few open areas; kitchen, entrance lobby and common passage leadig to other rooms.
Height of the ceiling -10 ft. Furnitures in the room : Dining and Seating area combined - Furniture : Dining Table & chairs and other sutff :cupboards. minibar..

Adjoining Open spaces - Kitchen (10x8'), entry corridor - 4'x7', corridor - 6' X 3' all totalling to addl 136 sq.ft

Sofa/seating area facing the TV along the length of room; viz distance from LED TV and also the proposed audio system - 15 Feet approx

b) Listening habits Typical listening habits are 75% music and 25% movies. I am looking for a total solution for meet all my home entertainment needs. The music I hear is Rock, soft metal, Ballads and similar genre which is typically rich in music/accompaniments.

C) Budget : My Budget is about INR 1 lac +/- 15%, (not really stuck on it!). I would appreciate your views on the following to shortlist and decide the best system:

1. What are key things to look for in an home audio system wrt specifications?

2. Should it be Stereo AMP or AV Receiver? How do we connect Stereo AMP with Cable TV STB/DTH boxes

3. There are too many brands in the market for speakers especially. Which Brands are good best value for money and with little or no compromise on quality and sound besides aftersales support,etc. from India/ Pune context

3. Speakers - If i wish to do so, how do I build my own system and match speakers with the amp. What are key factors to look for.

4. Is it advisable to mix brands of speakers across fronts, CS and surronds; if not what are the challenges

5. Would it be possible to use the same AMP for connecting to an electic guitar

6. Lastly which are the AMPs/AVRs which has user customisable controls for music aka the hitherto equilisers.. ?


Appreciate your patience to read through my long post and questions; would sincerely appreciate wise views and and experience of this forum . please let me know if you need any clarifictions to respond better, Thanks

 

[afj]

firstly you will need to decide whether you would like a stereo set up or a surround sound set up. if its mostly music youre listening to imo stereo is the way to go. you get much better sound quality with the set budget. the downside is that when youre watching surround sound you wont get different sounds coming out from different parts of the room - they'll just come out from the front two speakers

 

[Brajendu]

Music & Movie audio setup should be ideally separate but if you want to combine then yr budget will fall short to meet both. But there's a way... You can begin with a musical AVR which gives emphasis on good SOUND production (e.g. Marantz 5006/6006 comes around 50-60k) along with a pair of good Floor standers (there are many you can look for around 50-60k). This will give nice musical experience with reasonably good movie experience. Gradually U can add a Sub > Center channel > Surround to make the move watching more engrossing.

 

[Jams4znik03]

Folks - Where are you? Eagerly waiting .

 

[Jams4znik03]

firstly you will need to decide whether you would like a stereo set up or a surround sound set up. if its mostly music youre listening to imo stereo is the way to go. you get much better sound quality with the set budget. the downside is that when youre watching surround sound you wont get different sounds coming out from different parts of the room - they'll just come out from the front two speakers

Music - 75% ; movie - 25%. So would like to have a 5.1 option - can scale up in stages if needed

 

[afj]

Music - 75% ; movie - 25%. So would like to have a 5.1 option - can scale up in stages if needed

if you dont mind scaling up you should go by brajendu's advice. marantz is a good amp to start with. you can look at kef q series, wharfedale diamonds, monitor audio bronze series for floorstanders.

 

[Nikhil]

Jams,

I would recommend you stay with a stereo amp from any of the usual suspects - Marantz/Denon/Onkyo/Yamaha. There are of course many other brands. I would suggest you listen to them before your decide. A decent 70 - 100 watt amp will serve you very well for most of your needs. I would recommend you go for a set of good bookshelf speakers which you should set up correctly (tweeters should be ear height of your listening position). You can add a sub woofer for bass augmentation. You will be very happy with a decent 2.1 even for movies. Most entry level AVRs are not really good for audio.

Before you get to do anything else, spend a little time on the power supply and good cables. Trust me this will help you get so much more out of your system. Don't spend too much money on exotics at this time but if you need help there are very good local suppliers here who will give you excellent stuff. This is a very underestimated area which will give you a lot more bang for the buck.

More than anything this thing is a journey. Don't try to do it all in one go. Pick a starting point that's comfortable for you financially and musically. Once you get settled in you can always spend time on here and other places to get more informed. You will see that there is lots you can learn and experiment with. Hang around on here and you will be in good hands.

Budget: Amplifier 40K + Speakers 40K + 15K for cables & room wiring prep
Option: Sub Woofer 40K (do this later if you need more bass)

All the best!

 

[sunilk]

Jams,

I would recommend you stay with a stereo amp from any of the usual suspects - Marantz/Denon/Onkyo/Yamaha. There are of course many other brands. I would suggest you listen to them before your decide. A decent 70 - 100 watt amp will serve you very well for most of your needs. I would recommend you go for a set of good bookshelf speakers which you should set up correctly (tweeters should be ear height of your listening position). You can add a sub woofer for bass augmentation. You will be very happy with a decent 2.1 even for movies. Most entry level AVRs are not really good for audio.

Before you get to do anything else, spend a little time on the power supply and good cables. Trust me this will help you get so much more out of your system. Don't spend too much money on exotics at this time but if you need help there are very good local suppliers here who will give you excellent stuff. This is a very underestimated area which will give you a lot more bang for the buck.

More than anything this thing is a journey. Don't try to do it all in one go. Pick a starting point that's comfortable for you financially and musically. Once you get settled in you can always spend time on here and other places to get more informed. You will see that there is lots you can learn and experiment with. Hang around on here and you will be in good hands.

Budget: Amplifier 40K + Speakers 40K + 15K for cables & room wiring prep
Option: Sub Woofer 40K (do this later if you need more bass)

All the best!

Nice review..whats your view on Denon 2113 for music and Marantz 5006 ?

 

[Jams4znik03]

Jams,

I would recommend you stay with a stereo amp from any of the usual suspects - Marantz/Denon/Onkyo/Yamaha. There are of course many other brands. I would suggest you listen to them before your decide. A decent 70 - 100 watt amp will serve you very well for most of your needs. I would recommend you go for a set of good bookshelf speakers which you should set up correctly (tweeters should be ear height of your listening position). You can add a sub woofer for bass augmentation. You will be very happy with a decent 2.1 even for movies. Most entry level AVRs are not really good for audio.

Before you get to do anything else, spend a little time on the power supply and good cables. Trust me this will help you get so much more out of your system. Don't spend too much money on exotics at this time but if you need help there are very good local suppliers here who will give you excellent stuff. This is a very underestimated area which will give you a lot more bang for the buck.

More than anything this thing is a journey. Don't try to do it all in one go. Pick a starting point that's comfortable for you financially and musically. Once you get settled in you can always spend time on here and other places to get more informed. You will see that there is lots you can learn and experiment with. Hang around on here and you will be in good hands.

Budget: Amplifier 40K + Speakers 40K + 15K for cables & room wiring prep
Option: Sub Woofer 40K (do this later if you need more bass)

All the best!

Nikhil, Thanks, that helps..

Couple of clarifications:

Since Stereo AMPs only take analog inputs, the TV o/p will need to be an optical one. Right?

What are your views on Floor speakers..

Any views on brands/models for speakers would help. I intend to do a thorough demo during the next few days..

I also couldn't quite get it as to how I can add on more in future with a stereo amp considering its a 2.1.

 

[Nikhil]

Nikhil, Thanks, that helps..

Couple of clarifications:

Since Stereo AMPs only take analog inputs, the TV o/p will need to be an optical one. Right?

What are your views on Floor speakers..

Any views on brands/models for speakers would help. I intend to do a thorough demo during the next few days..

I also couldn't quite get it as to how I can add on more in future with a stereo amp considering its a 2.1.

Jams, I have to explain my recommendations a little more ...

You mentioned a budget of approx Rs 1L and a 75% preference for music.
I don't know how long you've been into audio but this is not a large budget when it comes to "hifi audio".
Rs 1L is a lot of money still and here's why I recommended what I did for you.

40K will buy you a very decent integrated stereo amp which will keep things simple. If you go the Pre-Power route you will need to add more to your budget and you will have to do a fair bit of matching of components. Do you want to do that at this stage? Its your call but this can get costly very fast. Entry level stereo amps are much better for sound than entry level AVRs. To get an AVR with both good video and sound you will have to spend 3X the amount. An entry level AVR with very ordinary sound will set you back approx 55K. Again this recommendation is based on your 75% music preference.

For movies you have a compromise. Many of the basic stereo receivers will give you serviceable 2.5 audio for movies. This means you will have the same fronts as your stereo and you can add a sub woofer for rumble at a later stage. Here a floor stander might be a better option instead of a bookshelf speaker. You can send your video signal straight to the TV from the DVD player. If 5.1 is really important then this proposal gets thrown out the window.

If you are looking primarily for music then go for a stereo setup. If movies are more important, I would suggest setting up a separate HT system ideally.

My speaker recommendation for a starting level system:
FS: Wharfedale Diamond 9.5
BS: Wharfedale Diamond 9.2

Start with this and you will have a decent setup from which you can upgrade once you've settled in. As you spend more time listening to other more higher end systems you will see that there are levels of hi fidelity which you may start moving towards. When you're there you will find that the Wharfedale Diamonds will pretty much sell themselves anytime you want to sell them and move on up.

Hope this helps .... good luck!

 

[aakashr]

+1 to Nikhil.............the wharfs 9 are excellent speakers!!!

 

[Nikhil]

Nice review..whats your view on Denon 2113 for music and Marantz 5006 ?

Sorry sunilk I have not heard either.

 

[Jams4znik03]

Folks - Wharfe 10.5 for 29 K . .What say ?

 

[Hari Iyer]

Folks - Wharfe 10.5 for 29 K . .What say ?

As per some reviews the 10.5 is more suitable for hard rock / heavy metal kind of music. Please audition with your kind of music before finalizing.

 

[Nikhil]

Folks - Wharfe 10.5 for 29 K . .What say ?

29K is fair price for the 10.5s. However, I would still recommend the 9.5s instead if you can get a pair.
The Diamond 9s are regarded as better than the 10 series. In fact the price of the Diamond 9.5 might by about 32K right now.

 

[Jams4znik03]

Jams,

I would recommend you stay with a stereo amp from any of the usual suspects - Marantz/Denon/Onkyo/Yamaha. There are of course many other brands. I would suggest you listen to them before your decide. A decent 70 - 100 watt amp will serve you very well for most of your needs. I would recommend you go for a set of good bookshelf speakers which you should set up correctly (tweeters should be ear height of your listening position). You can add a sub woofer for bass augmentation. You will be very happy with a decent 2.1 even for movies. Most entry level AVRs are not really good for audio.

Before you get to do anything else, spend a little time on the power supply and good cables. Trust me this will help you get so much more out of your system. Don't spend too much money on exotics at this time but if you need help there are very good local suppliers here who will give you excellent stuff. This is a very underestimated area which will give you a lot more bang for the buck.

More than anything this thing is a journey. Don't try to do it all in one go. Pick a starting point that's comfortable for you financially and musically. Once you get settled in you can always spend time on here and other places to get more informed. You will see that there is lots you can learn and experiment with. Hang around on here and you will be in good hands.

Budget: Amplifier 40K + Speakers 40K + 15K for cables & room wiring prep
Option: Sub Woofer 40K (do this later if you need more bass)

All the best!

What do you think of this - "Take a stereo AMP with FS speakers to start with, go for an AVR next and rest of the speaker system"; ie. use the same set of FS speakers for music and Movies with a "switch" option. Trying to thing if this can be automated and not manual switching of connectors..

 

[Nikhil]

What do you think of this - "Take a stereo AMP with FS speakers to start with, go for an AVR next and rest of the speaker system"; ie. use the same set of FS speakers for music and Movies with a "switch" option. Trying to thing if this can be automated and not manual switching of connectors..

Its an option but I haven't used a switch so can't tell how well they work or affect your system sound.

 

[afj]

What do you think of this - "Take a stereo AMP with FS speakers to start with, go for an AVR next and rest of the speaker system"; ie. use the same set of FS speakers for music and Movies with a "switch" option. Trying to thing if this can be automated and not manual switching of connectors..

you should be able to make a mechanical switch. you'll have to buy some parts and put it together

 

[Jams4znik03]

you should be able to make a mechanical switch. you'll have to buy some parts and put it together

Right! - There are some passive switches available too especially used for switching multiple AV inputs to one single O/P.

 

[aakashr]

If wharf diamonds then please go with 9 series...............might be hard to source but better than 10 series.