Ht setup for a budget of 3 lacs, urgent!

[Eddierockks]

Hi guys after auditioning Polk A7's, kef 2005.3, focal 726 with marantz 5005 at soundscape Pune and paradigm monitor 11's with Onkyo 515 & Denon 2313 at AvXcellence Pune in the last couple of days, I went to my local Profx dealer. He played me some Magnat 2.25 lac speaker package which I didn't pay much of my interest to because I've never heard of this brand. I might be ignorant about it but honestly they felt nice with the vocals. It's just that I would want to spend my hard savings on some name that I'm familiar with as well as it sounds great to my ears. Sorry. They were compared with a Revel model worth 2.4 lacs, again floorstanding fronts. The dealer had no kef q900's or Polk a9's so I left the place with a feeling of disappointment. Then I went to the other Profx dealer in town to audition Definitive technology tower speakers with rear bipolar surrounds. He had two subs 10" & 15" placed in a 15x30 dedicated ht room. Honestly, the bass got me feeling disturbed. Otherwise we viewed a variety of content like concerts, action movies, songs, Bollywood movies, etc. The AVR used was marantz 7007. I loved performance of these speakers BP 6/8 (confused) used for a 7.2 system. I also came to know that he dint have bp10's on demo. But he has assured me to make up my mind first and then he will open a fresh pair of bp10's for auditioning prior to final purchase. So the second dealer has quoted me Bp10's,cs 8040 hd centre, sr 8040 BP surrounds along with super cube 6000 sub for RS 2,13,000 RS. What are your thoughts on this system?

Also he insists that if AVR is good enough, then it's almost equally good for movies and music preferences, 80% & 20% in my case. He strongly insisted on selling Marantz 5007 or 6007 to me. I've always liked marantz but don't know what other brands like Yamaha, denon, Onkyo, etc have to offer that beats the Marantz hands down or maybe even slightly better. All suggestions are welcome guys as I want to finalise this purchase ASAP now. I've also increased my budget from 2.5 lacs to 3 lacs for 5.1 setup inclusive of AVR or AVR+PowerAmp. Help me out guys, thanks in anticipation.

Kind Regards,
Aakash

 

[Thtpro]

Check out the following Speakers from Martin Logan
Motion 40 Tower Speaker- Pair
Motion 8 Center
Motion 4 Surround- Pair
Dynamo 700 Sub
along with Marantz 5007 Receiver

Should be within your range of 3 Lakhs

 

[Imrahn]

You have been taking 'urgent' requests for the same since 2011 bro....u got to start somewhere.

Get a powerful AVR for 1/3rd the budget, get a pair of floorstanders as fronts for another 1/3rd and spend the rest on the center, surrounds,sub and interconnects - IMHO.You can carry the AVR with you for auditioning the remaining speakers,especially the fronts, this way.

Regards

 

[Eddierockks]

You have been taking 'urgent' requests for the same since 2011 bro....u got to start somewhere.

Get a powerful AVR for 1/3rd the budget, get a pair of floorstanders as fronts for another 1/3rd and spend the rest on the center, surrounds,sub and interconnects - IMHO.You can carry the AVR with you for auditioning the remaining speakers,especially the fronts, this way.

Regards

Yeah I had to make this purchase since then but due to some change of plans, I preferred buying my car first. Now I'm all sorted out and saved some money specifically for this. So hoping that this would materialise soon within a couple of weeks/max a month. Only problem is I can get the said model of Deftech auditioned here in ludhiana but for other models including B&W which I'm soon planning to audition, I've to visit delhi. This is because like I said the budget is 3 lacs, and for me, it's no way less. Also whatever I buy now, I would stick to it for at least 4/5 years and then upgrade later. So I wanna make this first expensive move with caution and not regret later with a feeling in my mind that I could've done a lot better than getting a Deftech system. I say this because not much of the FM's, Internet mention or even Whatshifi magazines etc mention a lot about them. My local delear tells me that Deftech people doesn't spend much on advertisement but their reviews are always great. Without listening to B&W 683, cm8, Kef q900 and Polk a9's, I'm feeling reluctant to make this purchase. Somehow, all this gear hunting confuses the hell out of me. :indifferent14:

 

[Eddierockks]

Check out the following Speakers from Martin Logan
Motion 40 Tower Speaker- Pair
Motion 8 Center
Motion 4 Surround- Pair
Dynamo 700 Sub
along with Marantz 5007 Receiver

Should be within your range of 3 Lakhs

Hi thanks for your reply. Are Martin Logan good for movies or music or both? Pardon my ignorance here.

 

[Thtpro]

IMHO these speakers are excellent for Movies as well as Music. They do produce an wide and full soundstage- and are very transparent set of speakers

Martin Logan recommends 72 hours of break-in time on these speakers prior to critical listening and you will have to experiment with their placement

 

[Eddierockks]

Thanks mate, I've now shortlisted them to my "HT demos to attend in Delhi" list. Would share my experience with them after the audition.

Also, what does Break-in time mean? I've no clue about it.

 

[Eddierockks]

Because the other post might be missed by some FMs, I thought of posting the same query in this thread as well. I'm hoping for maximum advice from you friends.

Hi guys, how do you think about the B&W MT60D? Has anybody ever had any experience with them? Because nobody is replying back to Deftech speaker option posts that I've posted as well as Whathifi mag has no reviews for them, I've somehow started believing that I can get better bang for my buck by choosing some other brand. I wrote to Whatshifi as well and they suggested me to go for this package. I'm considering these smaller speakers seriously now and thinking about letting my front fs desires pending for the next dedicated HT room in my house, which ill be doing next year. Going thru some reviews states that they're good for both movies and music.

I'd be more than happy if someone could also suggest an amp to go with it. Not sure whether to go with denon or marantz or Yamaha. Cheers!

 

[Thtpro]

what does Break-in time mean?

Martin Logan suggests you play the speakers at 90 dB (moderate listening levels) before any critical listening. This is to loosen up the speakers from the manufacturing process and increase the Sonic performance

 

[navin advani]

Hi thanks for your reply. Are Martin Logan good for movies or music or both? Pardon my ignorance here.

Please note that while ML's should be in your short list to audition these MLs are not what ML is known for (planar speakers).

On the other hand the Motion series might well survive hot and humid climes better than the traditional MLs (which have faced some diffculties in this).

On one side you have HT products like Focal's Dome, B&W's MT series or KEF's KHT series (these are usualyl 5-7 satellite speakers mated to a subwoofer) and on the other you get systems that are derived from stereo speakers like Focal's Chorus, B&W 6xx, KEF Q series etc..

Having said that I wold include other brands as well, in addition to everything mentioned above (and in earlier psots).

Tannoy's Revolution series
Monitor's Silver series
Paradigm's Studio series
PSB's Imagine series

and last but not the least Golden Ear (Sandy Gross was one of the founders of Def tech mentioned earlier and also Mathew Polk's partner in Polk)

oh and BTW if your needs are primarily HT (instead of 2 ch. audio) do consider Onkyo's new xx10 (or x10) or Yamaha's newer Aventage xx20 (or x20) line of AVRs along with Marantz.

 

[Eddierockks]

Please note that while ML's should be in your short list to audition these MLs are not what ML is known for (planar speakers).

On the other hand the Motion series might well survive hot and humid climes better than the traditional MLs (which have faced some diffculties in this).

On one side you have HT products like Focal's Dome, B&W's MT series or KEF's KHT series (these are usualyl 5-7 satellite speakers mated to a subwoofer) and on the other you get systems that are derived from stereo speakers like Focal's Chorus, B&W 6xx, KEF Q series etc..

Having said that I wold include other brands as well, in addition to everything mentioned above (and in earlier psots).

Tannoy's Revolution series
Monitor's Silver series
Paradigm's Studio series
PSB's Imagine series

and last but not the least Golden Ear (Sandy Gross was one of the founders of Def tech mentioned earlier and also Mathew Polk's partner in Polk)

oh and BTW if your needs are primarily HT (instead of 2 ch. audio) do consider Onkyo's new xx10 (or x10) or Yamaha's newer Aventage xx20 (or x20) line of AVRs along with Marantz.

Hi Navin

I read about Tannoy's Revolution series a couple of days ago and the reviews looked great. I asked Whatshifi mag and even they suggested me that if I don't want to go in for B&W MT60D, I should definitely try Tannoy's Revolution series. So no doubts about considering them. Also, reading everywhere about MA RX8 and realised that almost everywhere on the internet or magazines, they are a 5 star recommendation. I heard Paradigm's Monitor 11's as mentioned earlier and honestly, they didn't blew me off. But, I would seriously try to audition their Studio series, provided they are available for demo in Delhi. No clue currently about PSB or Golden Ear. Do you by any chance are aware of their dealers/distributors based in Delhi? That is the farthest I can go, not because I don't want to but work constraints wouldn't allow.:sad:

 

[navin advani]

Hi Navin

I read about Tannoy's Revolution series a couple of days ago and the reviews looked great. I asked Whatshifi mag and even they suggested me that if I don't want to go in for B&W MT60D, I should definitely try Tannoy's Revolution series. So no doubts about considering them. Also, reading everywhere about MA RX8 and realised that almost everywhere on the internet or magazines, they are a 5 star recommendation. I heard Paradigm's Monitor 11's as mentioned earlier and honestly, they didn't blew me off. But, I would seriously try to audition their Studio series, provided they are available for demo in Delhi. No clue currently about PSB or Golden Ear. Do you by any chance are aware of their dealers/distributors based in Delhi? That is the farthest I can go, not because I don't want to but work constraints wouldn't allow.:sad:

I don't know the Delhi area. sorry.

 

[Eddierockks]

No worries mate, I'll google down some info. Hope to audition them soon now.

 

[ranjeetrain]

Since you have volunteered to Google dealer info, here are two more HT speakers you MUST audition before making your call.

1. Jamo C series (THX certified speakers)
2. Dali Ikon series

Both will be well under your budget, and are very good speakers IMO. Audition and see if you like the sound.

 

[jai1611]

PSB should be available with Lakozy Delhi

 

[Eddierockks]

Thanks ranjeetrain and Jai

 

[navin advani]

No worries mate, I'll google down some info. Hope to audition them soon now.

Some 1 year ago I also was in the same boat. I wanted a HT system that could make music if required. Some old threads started by me might give you an indication of my thoughts.

I heard quite a few brands (many of them are listed here) including KEF's Q900, Focal Chours 836, Paradigm's Studio 100, PSB's Imagine, and even stretched to the Monitor Audio Gold 300. Nothing satisfied.

I rejected Martin Logan's ESL range due to fears of long term reliability in hot and humid Mumbai and also a few others (incl KEF's Q series) on the quality of their fit and finish.

None of them had the tonal balance and dynamic range I was looking for.

In the end I DIYed the speakers. it is not as diffcult as it sounds. I can send you more information on DIYing if you feel that is an option for you.

here is the thread where I put up the details
http://www.hifivision.com/my-audio-video-setup/36278-my-systems.html

Keep in mind that if the electronics and room do not complement the speakers you might still be disappointed.

The electronics were discussed here
http://www.hifivision.com/amplifiers/26634-nad-vs-yamaha-vs-harman-kardon-vs.html
http://www.hifivision.com/surround-amplifiers-receivers/26636-nad-vs-yamaha-vs-denon-vs.html

I hope this helps.

 

[Thtpro]

I rejected Martin Logan's ESL range due to fears of long term reliability in hot and humid Mumbai

What I am suggesting is Martin Logan Motion series-- These are not the ESL

 

[navin advani]

What I am suggesting is Martin Logan Motion series-- These are not the ESL

On the other hand the Motion series might well survive hot and humid climes better than the traditional MLs (which have faced some diffculties in this).

Exactly. The Motion series claim to fame is the folded tweeter (like their LX15/16 series) which oddly looks very similar to ARX's 1B.
MartinLogan Motion 15 / LX16 Bookshelf Speaker Introduction — Reviews and News from Audioholics
Arx A1b monitor loudspeaker

Legacy, Golden Ear, Dayton, Eton, etc.. all use/make a version of the folded tweeter.
AudioVision India :: GoldenEar Triton Two Loudspeaker - The Absolute Sound

I am still to proprely evaluate a folded tweeter against it's ribbon competitors. I have heard the original Heil and B&G Neo 3 and neo 8 but not the Mundorf, Eton (ER4) or Dayton or LCY's versions.

I am told ML sources their Motion product from China (everyone does na?) from a name that sounds like "Tian".