HT with a budget of 1.75 L (only the fronts & AVR)

[hemant2312]

Hi guys. I started as an utterly confused soul eager to build a HT. Reading through this forum, research on google etc. confused me to the core. But at the same time the knowledge of the fellow FMs, detailed discussions on this forum and auditioning real time has helped me tremendously in clearing some air. And i seem to be at the verge of making a decision and need your desperate help in taking the plunge.:sos:

My requirement: A good home theater in the long run that shall sound good for Music as well.
Preference: Movies/Tata Sky (TV) - 60-70%, Music - 30-40%
Room size: 10 Ft by 18 Ft, seating area opening into dining area + Kitchen (more of an L shape)
Budget: Rs. 1 Lakh for Front Floor Standing Speakers, Rs 50-75k for AVR
Plan: Plan is to initially setup the fronts + AVR, and few months later add the Centre+Sub+Surrounds

Below is the list of speakers that i've auditioned so far:
JBL Studio 270
Polk TSX550
Polk RTI A7
Kef Q700
Dali Zensor 7
Dali Ikon (don't remember if it was Ikon 5 or Ikon 6)
Klipsch RF 52

I'm quite sure that i may be missing many more in my budget for speakers and would really be grateful if you you could point out which ones.

Well i loved the PSB Imagine X2Ts that i auditioned just today and plan to go for them but then the confusion is which AVR? At Music Ranch Bangalore, Mukesh recommended Onkyo TX-NR636 (or higher). Even though i was more inclined towards Denon. But as per him the service of Onkyo is far better than Denon which makes sense practically. Could you pls advise if Onkyo TX-NR737 would be a good choice considering my budget for AVR? Would it be sufficient to unleash the full potential of PSBs?

At the same time i'm not able to decide if i shall audition more speakers or simply close the deal on PSBs. Pls help. :sos:

PS: I am not an audiophile but do have a good taste for music & sound quality. hyeah:

 

[hemant2312]

Helloooooooo, anybody there. Need help guys.

 

[sash]

If you share your impressions of the speakers you auditioned (with the AVRs), it'll benefit the community and will also enable FMs to recommend systems based on your taste and preferences

 

[elangoas]

For a 70% movie usage, stick to BS speakers rather than FS...

For your budget, consider the Midrange/Top End AVR's and they can really make a good difference than spending on speakers...

Marantz SR 7009, Denon X 4100, Pioneer LX Series, Yamaha Aventage RX A series & Onkyo 8xx series and above.... These are very capable AVR's and offer some important features (Room Calibration system)...

The above suggested models from Marantz/ Denon have Audyssey Multi EQ XT32 room calibration, while Pioneer, Yamaha & Onkyo have their own room calibration...

If you are not keen on Dolby Atoms, see if you can get a good deal for Onkyo TX NR 929, 9.2 channel AVR with Audyssey Multi EQ XT 32...

 

[hemant2312]

For a 70% movie usage, stick to BS speakers rather than FS...

For your budget, consider the Midrange/Top End AVR's and they can really make a good difference than spending on speakers...

Marantz SR 7009, Denon X 4100, Pioneer LX Series, Yamaha Aventage RX A series & Onkyo 8xx series and above.... These are very capable AVR's and offer some important features (Room Calibration system)...

The above suggested models from Marantz/ Denon have Audyssey Multi EQ XT32 room calibration, while Pioneer, Yamaha & Onkyo have their own room calibration...

If you are not keen on Dolby Atoms, see if you can get a good deal for Onkyo TX NR 929, 9.2 channel AVR with Audyssey Multi EQ XT 32...

Thanks for the suggestion Elangoas. Your feedback makes perfect sense but i think the Floor Stands will provide better depth to the music that BS may lack and it seems once i have FS i will tend to listen to music more than movies. And on a lighter note i can't wait my friends & neighbors to envy the tall bulky Floor Standers, their sheer beauty & muscle

I had read that Onkyo has/had heating issues. But when i checked with the Dealer he said which AVR or Amp doesn't get heated up. How's your experience with Onkyo?

PSB Imagine X2T's manual recommends 20-200 Watts and has a sensitivity of 90dB and nominal impedance of 8 ohm. With this would Onkyo TX-NR737 be a good option? Below are the specs i found for this AVR on their website:

All Channels
95 W (8 Ohms, 20 Hz-20 kHz, 0.08%, 2 channels driven, FTC)
115 W (6 Ohms, 1 kHz, 0.7%, 2 channels driven, FTC)

Dynamic Power 240 W (3 ohms, Front)
210 W (4 ohms, Front)
120 W (8 ohms, Front)

 

[elangoas]

Thanks for the suggestion Elangoas. Your feedback makes perfect sense but i think the Floor Stands will provide better depth to the music that BS may lack and it seems once i have FS i will tend to listen to music more than movies. And on a lighter note i can't wait my friends & neighbors to envy the tall bulky Floor Standers, their sheer beauty & muscle

An other reason for suggesting BS is because of room space... Consider a demo of BS and see if you like them..

I had read that Onkyo has/had heating issues. But when i checked with the Dealer he said which AVR or Amp doesn't get heated up. How's your experience with Onkyo?

I have been using Onkyo AVR's for 10 yrs.. Have been using the 818 for 2 yrs now... I have used them extensively for movies & stereo for like 10 hrs in a day, it gets warm.. But not Hot...

Onkyo AVR's has heating issues.. they were older series ones.. The new series seem to be fine...

PSB Imagine X2T's manual recommends 20-200 Watts and has a sensitivity of 90dB and nominal impedance of 8 ohm. With this would Onkyo TX-NR737 be a good option? Below are the specs i found for this AVR on their website:

All Channels
95 W (8 Ohms, 20 Hz-20 kHz, 0.08%, 2 channels driven, FTC)
115 W (6 Ohms, 1 kHz, 0.7%, 2 channels driven, FTC)

Dynamic Power 240 W (3 ohms, Front)
210 W (4 ohms, Front)
120 W (8 ohms, Front)

Onkyo TX NR 737 should comfortably drive the PSB's without a hitch...

 

[hemant2312]

Thanks Elangoas for clearing my doubts on Onkyo.

Another thing i just noticed is that the new Onkyo series AVRs (TX-NR535,636,737,838) do not have Audyssey, they rather have their own home developed AccuEQ room calibration which is taking some amount of beating atleast in the reviews.

With no experience on AVRs, can you comment on what kind of impact i should expect with no Audyssey? My living room is a little imperfect for setting up a HT. Would i be able to manually calibrate the AVR properly?

Attaching a snapshot of my living room. It's L shape is extending into the dining and kitchen area. And i'll be placing my TV & Front Speakers in the place highlighted in Red. The first red circle in the top left corner reflect the listening room (main listening area) and my listening distance will be around 15-16 feet. The Dining & Kitchen circles are part of the Liviving room itself.

In such case, would the bookshelves be sufficient? and would the AccuEQ room calibration on Onkyo calibrate for this kind of an imperfect room?

 

[elangoas]

Thanks Elangoas for clearing my doubts on Onkyo.

Another thing i just noticed is that the new Onkyo series AVRs (TX-NR535,636,737,838) do not have Audyssey, they rather have their own home developed AccuEQ room calibration which is taking some amount of beating atleast in the reviews.

With no experience on AVRs, can you comment on what kind of impact i should expect with no Audyssey? My living room is a little imperfect for setting up a HT. Would i be able to manually calibrate the AVR properly?

Onkyo dropped Audyssey calibration in their x2x and x3x series :sad:.. Not sure how good is Accu EQ... The reviews haven't been good too reg Accu EQ calibration...

Yes... Audyssey calibration is an important feature.. There are other options like Yamaha's YPAO & Pioneer MCACC too, but i don't have expereince with them..

Since you have a very good budget, try to get an AVR with Audyssey Multi EQ XT32 (Denon/Marantz)..

Attaching a snapshot of my living room. It's L shape is extending into the dining and kitchen area. And i'll be placing my TV & Front Speakers in the place highlighted in Red. The first red circle in the top left corner reflect the listening room (main listening area) and my listening distance will be around 15-16 feet. The Dining & Kitchen circles are part of the Liviving room itself.

In such case, would the bookshelves be sufficient? and would the AccuEQ room calibration on Onkyo calibrate for this kind of an imperfect room?

Looking at the picture, yes, a BS can do it for you...

If you have an Onkyo showroom in your city/town, try to take a demo where the Onkyo AVR has been calibrated...

 

[krishnamurthy]

I really liked the PSB's too, except that their FS are somewhat expensive. Since you are not planning to get surrounds and subs for now, then it is the perfect choice compared to all that you have heard. They have a 5 year warranty too, better than 1-2 yrs for all others. How much were you quoted for the FS and centre channel?

I was not floored by Denon 2100 or NR636 but really liked the Anthem MRX 510 but it costs 1.3-1.5 L

 

[krishnamurthy]

I called up PSB headquarters in Canada and enquired about the impedance variation across the various segments of frequencies and noted the minimum impedance is 4 ohms at certain frequencies, but the impedance is mostly 6 and and higher. So a decent AVR should be good enough. Denon x-2100 could not play music properly (it would keep cutting out) from my high-end blackberry phone through USB.

 

[hemant2312]

I really liked the PSB's too, except that their FS are somewhat expensive. Since you are not planning to get surrounds and subs for now, then it is the perfect choice compared to all that you have heard. They have a 5 year warranty too, better than 1-2 yrs for all others. How much were you quoted for the FS and centre channel?

I was not floored by Denon 2100 or NR636 but really liked the Anthem MRX 510 but it costs 1.3-1.5 L

Their warranty is really icing on the cake which to a certain extent does compensate their high price + peace of mind for 5 years.[emoji13]

I totally agree with you, they are the best I've heard so far. That's the reason why I'm inclined to just go for them even without listening to the unlisted floor standers. [emoji16]

I called up PSB headquarters in Canada and enquired about the impedance variation across the various segments of frequencies and noted the minimum impedance is 4 ohms at certain frequencies, but the impedance is mostly 6 and and higher. So a decent AVR should be good enough. Denon x-2100 could not play music properly (it would keep cutting out) from my high-end blackberry phone through USB.

Wonderful. I heard them with Onkyo TX-NR838 in an HT setup and felt that this receiver is capable of handling PSBs well enough. When heard the music in stereo mode with this AVR and then with NAD C356BEE there was only minor improvement with the latter.

As you mentioned a more powerful stereo receiver will do justizce with this pair for music. NAD 375BEE should be able to squeeze the best out of this pair.

 

[hemant2312]

Missed the pricing part. I was quoted the below figures:
1. Imagine X2T FS pair - 1.05 lakh, 1 lakh after discount
2. Imagine XC Centre - 32k
3. Imagine XB pair Surround - 40k
4. Onkyo TX-NR737 - 73k, 62k after discount if bought with the FS pair.

Music ranch also had a pair of Image T6 demo piece that he was ready to offer for 70k (MRP 95k) but it had minor cosmetic flaws. He said that pair is used for 4 months but looking at the faded yellow colour of the drivers it did appear older than that.

 

[krishnamurthy]

The PSB surrounds are not that good i feel. Deftech surrounds are better in my observation.
The Image T6 is a discontinued model, so was a little leery of them.
PSB Sub 200 is alright but their bass does not have the tight bass and oomph of SVS PB 12 or Velodyne Impact 15.

 

[krishnamurthy]

One thing to note related to the pricing:

These FS are 1500 cdn dollars/pair MRP. Conversion would take you to 78k but the dealers are given 25% to 50% discount on MRP. So i am pretty sure the internal cost ranges from 39k to 60k and add 1/3rd customs and other duties at the top end, the landing cost to the warehouse of the dealer is 52k to 80k at the maximum.

Typically dealers maybe okay with 10-12% discount but may go upto 20% if your total purchase value is higher (i.e if you buy projectors, screens etc).

 

[n_sachin84]

Go for blumenhoffer fun series.best in class .or go for wharfdale 220 series

 

[krishnamurthy]

Checked wharfedale 10.6 and they missed/re-produced lightly some notes in the sampled music during the audition compared to Dali or even SVS. Also a more polite speaker i felt, lacking some edge though. Again my personal observation

 

[n_sachin84]

check with diamond 10.7 series .just try blumenhofffer fun series .

 

[n_sachin84]

u are welcome to my house for denon3312 + wharfdale 9.5 combo experience

 

[krishnamurthy]

Blumenhoffer fun series seems like 3L and above.

 

[rajeevisonline]

Marantz would be a good buy. I suggest the Marantz MER-803

heres the review:

Trusted Reviews

Last sold on Snapdeal for 53091

http://www.snapdeal.com/product/marantz-mer803n1sg-blu-ray-receiver/653266