Looking for 5.1 speakers

[efernand1]

Oh...take care and get well soon.....

Dont rush on things......make a sound decision.....your AVR can change with time....speakers tend to remain for atleast 5 to 8 years before an upgrade

 

[ajuvignesh]

Also consider pioneer Andrew jones series. I have come across the reviews where some say it's good for the money and some say it is better than speakers of 3 times it's price. If you like the sound, you can go with it irrespective of it's price.

 

[ratishmohan]

Also consider pioneer Andrew jones series. I have come across the reviews where some say it's good for the money and some say it is better than speakers of 3 times it's price. If you like the sound, you can go with it irrespective of it's price.

Yeah, I have heard about them a lot too. I hope I get their audition as well. I really don't want to purchase any without audition. Thanks for pointing out...

 

[ratishmohan]

Once again thank you friends, I shortlisted 3 sets of speakers (based on my readings on this forum, others, video reviews on youtube etc). Please let me know your opinions. Of course I am preparing to get the audition in Mumbai, Once I am fit to drive (currently having plaster on left arm)

1. Q Acoustic 3090ci center, 3020i fronts, 3010i surround (or same 3020i)
2. Dali Zensor vokal centre, Dali zensor 3 fronts, zensor 1 surrounds
3. Polk audio s35 center, s20 fronts and s15 surrounds
4. Any Other set, please suggest (wharfdale set, Monitor Audio radius series (auditioned)) haven't read much about them.
5. Elac Debut 2.0 B6.2 series. (big size, haven't read much, not sure of which center channel to be used)

Sub: (still to do more research) but need some input
Should I go for
-> 2 subs with 10" woofer each
-> 1 sub with 12"
-> 2 subs wuth 12" (looks very costly)
In case I want to go with 2 subs, I would be buying second sub few months later only. If option a is suitable, then I will go with 10" only to same some money. if not I will buy 12" sub initially. Room size is (lwh) 20' x 12' x 10'

 

[Love4sound]

Once again thank you friends, I shortlisted 3 sets of speakers (based on my readings on this forum, others, video reviews on youtube etc). Please let me know your opinions. Of course I am preparing to get the audition in Mumbai, Once I am fit to drive (currently having plaster on left arm)

1. Q Acoustic 3090ci center, 3020i fronts, 3010i surround (or same 3020i)
2. Dali Zensor vokal centre, Dali zensor 3 fronts, zensor 1 surrounds
3. Polk audio s35 center, s20 fronts and s15 surrounds
4. Any Other set, please suggest (wharfdale set, Monitor Audio radius series (auditioned)) haven't read much about them.
5. Elac Debut 2.0 B6.2 series. (big size, haven't read much, not sure of which center channel to be used)

Sub: (still to do more research) but need some input
Should I go for
-> 2 subs with 10" woofer each
-> 1 sub with 12"
-> 2 subs wuth 12" (looks very costly)
In case I want to go with 2 subs, I would be buying second sub few months later only. If option a is suitable, then I will go with 10" only to same some money. if not I will buy 12" sub initially. Room size is (lwh) 20' x 12' x 10'

Get well soon. I have heard all three and IMO they are the best in your list. And coming to subwoofer what is your budget?. Dual is the way to go. More smooth, even and tight bass. Finding the sweet spot with a single sub is a pain.

 

[ratishmohan]

I am not thinking much about budget. Just want to get best deal and quality. Max budget including AVR is up to 2L. 20-30k for one sub initially. (then second)

what are your opinions? for my room size 2 10" would be more than enough (i think)? or even 8" may suffice too? I know bigger the better. but don't want to overkill too

 

[Love4sound]

I am not thinking much about budget. Just want to get best deal and quality. Max budget including AVR is up to 2L. 20-30k for one sub initially. (then second)

Ok for 20-30k the options are Yamaha sw300, Bic f12 Polk hts 10 and the Taga platinum series

 

[DS123]

Would suggest to spread your budget such that 45% each should be awarded to AVR & Speakers, leaving 10% for speaker cables etc. As for speakers, there are a whole host of brands. My personal choice would be Dali, Monitor Audio, B&W in decreasing order of preference. You can try if you can find entry level of them in your range. Alternatively, used speakers can be a good option, or go for relatively inexpensive options. Good luck!

 

[ratishmohan]

Would suggest to spread your budget such that 45% each should be awarded to AVR & Speakers, leaving 10% for speaker cables etc. As for speakers, there are a whole host of brands. My personal choice would be Dali, Monitor Audio, B&W in decreasing order of preference. You can try if you can find entry level of them in your range. Alternatively, used speakers can be a good option, or go for relatively inexpensive options. Good luck!

Thanks very nice way of putting.

 

[DS123]

Ratish,

Speakers:
Of all speakers listed, Dali is far above & out of their league! That said, given size of your room, try stay away from Zensor 3 (bookshelf right?). You definitely need proper 3-way towers for front.

Also, at this stage, don’t fret over surrounds/atmos. Normal speakers at the back will also do - since their functionality is more inclined towards bells & whistles that musicality. FOCUS on front 3.. and you have sorted 80-85% of game!!

Sub:
Your room demands 2 10” sub. 2 SVS SB/PB 1000 or 1 SVS SB/PB2000 should be great choice (Dual always better). BUT given budgetary constraints, wait for some good deal/used.

AVR:
Invest in decent AVR. This piece should be future proof.. 4K, 7.2 etc. Though I like Arcam/Anthem, I’m mid segment adore Marantz given how sweet it sounds. Yamy is more for movies & I personally don’t like the shrill!

PS: Rs 2-2.5 lac is not bad budget. You can build some sweet HT in that. BUT Be slow & sure. HT is Test Cricket, not 20-20 . If you happen to come to Mumbai, you can check my setups, maybe you will get better clue.

Good luck!!

 

[ratishmohan]

Ratish,

Speakers:
Of all speakers listed, Dali is far above & out of their league! That said, given size of your room, try stay away from Zensor 3 (bookshelf right?). You definitely need proper 3-way towers for front.

Also, at this stage, don’t fret over surrounds/atmos. Normal speakers at the back will also do - since their functionality is more inclined towards bells & whistles that musicality. FOCUS on front 3.. and you have sorted 80-85% of game!!

Sub:
Your room demands 2 10” sub. 2 SVS SB/PB 1000 or 1 SVS SB/PB2000 should be great choice (Dual always better). BUT given budgetary constraints, wait for some good deal/used.

AVR:
Invest in decent AVR. This piece should be future proof.. 4K, 7.2 etc. Though I like Arcam/Anthem, I’m mid segment adore Marantz given how sweet it sounds. Yamy is more for movies & I personally don’t like the shrill!

PS: Rs 2-2.5 lac is not bad budget. You can build some sweet HT in that. BUT Be slow & sure. HT is Test Cricket, not 20-20 . If you happen to come to Mumbai, you can check my setups, maybe you will get better clue.

Good luck!!

Thank you DS.. for offering to check your HT setup, they are at next level MA Silver, SVS and 7011 must be too good. Where are you located in Mumbai. I may plan to visit Mumbai in first or second weekend of June. Already delayed due to my injury.

This is my living room and furniture setup doesn't allow floor standing speakers + My kids keep playing there, though I am so much willing to get them.
Dali Zensor 5 would be a good upgrade, any other which may not hurt my budget much? Also if I go for floor standing, I can delay addition of sub right?

I agree with your suggestion for basic surround speakers. I had that in mind, in case budget goes overboard.
For AVR, My preference were Denon x2500h or x3500h. (I actually ordered x3500h in europe, but they couldn't deliver it in time to my Nephew and got returned back). In India the AVRs are too costly. Now when I checked, Marantz 5013 looks intriguing. Opinions?

 

[ratishmohan]

Going to audition few setups tomorrow in Pune. Let's see what all system I get to see. Any suggestions I should do while visiting the store?
I am trying to prepare some contents for demo but Haven't got many readily with me.

 

[ratishmohan]

Just auditioned paradigm 6000f floor standing 3 way speakers. Sounded awesome. Any views as compared to dali sensor 5?
Couldn't get demo of dali zensor 3 or 5

 

[DS123]

Hi Ratish,

Take care of health first - Sound health over healthy sound!

Am at Malad West. As & when you’re well & planning to visit Mumbai, let me know (send pm, will share contact details). Will be happy to show setup.

AVR:
Post D&M, Denon/Marantz are under same roof. Likewise, Onkyo/Pioneer are now OP it seems, and all these 4 are owned by same org, leaving premium brands like Arcam, Anthem. However, Marantz is “supposedly” sweeter and I have 2 of them - 6010/7011. No complains whatsoever. I won’t suggest 50XX as that entry level, at least go with 60XX. (If you get SR 5013 & lil older SR 6011 price/performance of latter is better any day). Minus bells & whistles, don’t see much change tbh. 70XX has better room correction though, which is certainly better feature.

Speakers:
Have heard Paradigm & Dali. Dali are more European (Warner/refined) while Paradigm American/Canadian (energetic/oomph). Demoed Paradigm 75F v/s Dali Opticon 6, found Paradigm better overall. And such tiny footprint but what sound, but then 75f are reference series & should be compared with Dali Rubicon. There Dali IS better. Overall speaking, both brands are standard brands & you won’t regret going either route.

If Towers is an issue (space, kids), try Paradigm LCR or Dali Fazon LCR. They’d wow you. However, depth of sound with floors are always better as a rule. So invest there is my suggestion. (PS: Space, kids were Issue with me too).

Sub:
I used Monitor Silver without sub for 2-3 months. I really didn’t face issue that without sub, everything is waste. You can definitely add a sub later. Hunt fur a good deal or good used one.

If you happen to be in Mumbai, you can visit “The Shop” at Juhu. He has both Paradigm & Dali (it was here I demoed 75f v/s Opticon 6).
The owner is extremely cordial, let alone price, his support (even for products I didn’t buy from him) is unmatchable in my experience.

My suggestion:
Get Marantz 60XX. Towers Paradigm/Dali. Add sub later.

Cya!

 

[DS123]

Ratish, I just happened to read your post from the scratch, feels like exact same state I was in few years back when I hit my first one. Lol

All started with excitement, followed by confusion (read: carpet bombing of brands in AVR, Speakers, Projectors, Blu-ray, Wires). The next stage was utter frustration - sometimes product wasn’t upto expectation, sometimes budget felt too small. Frustration rose to a point I decided I don’t want ANYTHING. Lol. Not to miss adding reading various sources..

You come down to Mumbai as & when you get well. Klipsch @ Cinebels (Mr Sandeep). I like Klipsch for movies, but for music they have potential to make sad ghazal sound happy. Besides, Klipsch are clearly overpriced in India, unlike Dali/Monitor/Paradigm - which means of a speaker from say Dali cost the same as Klipsch, you’re probably getting relatively inferior speaker from the Klipsch stable. Dali/Paradigm can be demoed @ The Shop (mentioned in prev post owned by Me Jignesh).

Speaker config & order of procurement:
Get good pair of floorstanders (Music - check). Sub/Centre not required for time being (check) Subsequently, add Centre speaker - from same brand & series. Don’t add bigger Center from same brand but inferior series. Surrounds: Better to be from same brand but inferior series is totally ok.

Projector:
Focus on this one. PJ adds TOTALLY different dimension to AV, elevates experience to altogether new level, TV can’t match at least size wise. Even otherwise I find TV colours too saturated (artificially popped up). Takes naturalist away. Samsung QLED are too bright to strains eyes, while OLED have burn issues. Of the lot, Sony seems to be most natural - but relatively so. On price front, say 55’ LG C8 is at Rs 1.5 lac, while for same price a decent projector can be had throwing double the size of image at ease. In you do plan to go that route, go DIY for screen. I procured material from pro-theatre people in Mumbai and Price was fraction of what branded ones cost,

Wires:
Just as Screen, don’t fret too much on wires. I got QED initially (thanks to fear instilled by dealers lol), but thereafter non-branded 12/14 gauge (pointed by elangoas) & they work like a charm. Also, Amazon basic HDMI are good. I don’t see point investing Rs 90K for 2M HDMI from AQ Diamond series (seems diamonds started conducting signals, LoL, next could be uranium coated? Lol).

Invest in things, where every rupee invested reaps tangible results/improvement - that is: Speakers, PJ etc, while taking easy on wires, screen or even Blu-ray player.

Audition 3-5 brands/series for key components and then pull the trigger. Good luck!

 

[ratishmohan]

Ratish, I just happened to read your post from the scratch, feels like exact same state I was in few years back when I hit my first one. Lol

All started with excitement, followed by confusion (read: carpet bombing of brands in AVR, Speakers, Projectors, Blu-ray, Wires). The next stage was utter frustration - sometimes product wasn’t upto expectation, sometimes budget felt too small. Frustration rose to a point I decided I don’t want ANYTHING. Lol. Not to miss adding reading various sources..

You come down to Mumbai as & when you get well. Klipsch @ Cinebels (Mr Sandeep). I like Klipsch for movies, but for music they have potential to make sad ghazal sound happy. Besides, Klipsch are clearly overpriced in India, unlike Dali/Monitor/Paradigm - which means of a speaker from say Dali cost the same as Klipsch, you’re probably getting relatively inferior speaker from the Klipsch stable. Dali/Paradigm can be demoed @ The Shop (mentioned in prev post owned by Me Jignesh).

Speaker config & order of procurement:
Get good pair of floorstanders (Music - check). Sub/Centre not required for time being (check) Subsequently, add Centre speaker - from same brand & series. Don’t add bigger Center from same brand but inferior series. Surrounds: Better to be from same brand but inferior series is totally ok.

Projector:
Focus on this one. PJ adds TOTALLY different dimension to AV, elevates experience to altogether new level, TV can’t match at least size wise. Even otherwise I find TV colours too saturated (artificially popped up). Takes naturalist away. Samsung QLED are too bright to strains eyes, while OLED have burn issues. Of the lot, Sony seems to be most natural - but relatively so. On price front, say 55’ LG C8 is at Rs 1.5 lac, while for same price a decent projector can be had throwing double the size of image at ease. In you do plan to go that route, go DIY for screen. I procured material from pro-theatre people in Mumbai and Price was fraction of what branded ones cost,

Wires:
Just as Screen, don’t fret too much on wires. I got QED initially (thanks to fear instilled by dealers lol), but thereafter non-branded 12/14 gauge (pointed by elangoas) & they work like a charm. Also, Amazon basic HDMI are good. I don’t see point investing Rs 90K for 2M HDMI from AQ Diamond series (seems diamonds started conducting signals, LoL, next could be uranium coated? Lol).

Invest in things, where every rupee invested reaps tangible results/improvement - that is: Speakers, PJ etc, while taking easy on wires, screen or even Blu-ray player.

Audition 3-5 brands/series for key components and then pull the trigger. Good luck!

Thanks DS again for your offer to see your setup. I am thinking to come to Mumbai in first week of June. Will try to contact you before that!.
And also I really appreciate your long comments which are very much in line with what I am going through and the info I need.

As you truely understood, I am really going through same phase of so much confusion everytime I visit any store and read more on web.
So far I though of buying Marantz 5013, but as you said willing to buy 6013. I hope it fits into budget otherwise denon x3500h is what I am after.
After listening to 2 bookshelves and 2 floor standing (Paradigm and Sonus Faber) I kind of finalized to go with FS speakers. As per the store owner, my room can allow 2 FS but to be kept pretty wide. around 12 feet apart. Which I am little doubtful and will check with others too.

Definitely want to go with 2 sub. (but buying one by one). Or none for the start since, going with FS instead of BS speakers and center channel. Thanks for confirming that my approach is is good to go.

Projector, will be in future..
For wires, again I totally agree to buy basic 14 guage for now from Amazon. (C&E)

Once I audition Dali, will mostly decide among them. As suggested by others, I will also check Pioneer Andrew Jones etc but I doubt they will sound comparable to Paradigm or Dali.

I knew The Shop and have them in my list of visiting too! He gives quite detailed comments on AWS also. Registered as "S-Grid ..."!

!!! Attaching my room front setup picture. !!!

The owner from AVXellence, suggested I can have floor standing speakers at the two corners in my room right outside side wooden partition (check the pictures). Need to confirm if that may work!

 

[DS123]

Hi Ratish,

1. Welcome. Drop a msg as & when you plan to visit Mumbai.

2. Get FS. Your layout is no different than most flats these days. 8-10 feet separation is good enough. BS has one key issue - if one adds stands, no way they are space savers. On the contrary more “delicate” with kids around. You can keep FS at either side of wall panel/unit. My guess is wall where TV is hanging is >= 8 feet.

3. Andrew Jones I haven’t heard, but certainly not in sane league as Dali/Paradigm. Not saying they are bad, could be good at their price points, but category is altogether diff. Dali/Paradigm and u shouldn’t be having reason to complain for next 4-5 years or more.

4. Somehow, if am in such a spot, I’d inclined more towards Sat/LCR option over BS. Both from price & space point of view. You should demo Dali Fazon & Paradigm. While most Sat comes in package, you can always buy piece-wise. One good thing this way is - Say you get 2 x Dali Fazon as Front L/R, you can subsequently add Dali Zensor FS as Fronts, while utilising Dali Fazon as surrounds. Not a penny would go waste. Besides, you ears will tell you (in your home environment) if Fazon satisfies you or you want/expect more.

5. LCR option would be costlier though, so either Sats or FS. Heard both Dali Fazon & from Paradigm, was floored. And size of demo room was at least 20x15.

6. For wires, 12 is better than 14. For Fronts go with 12 (won’t need much length as AVR would likely be in front too). Surrounds consume more wire length, 14 is fine there.

7. Marantz 5013 is ok, but as mentioned before, starting point. You can definitely try 6010/6011/6012 - should cost you similar to 5013. And honestly, nothing much changes in new series Marantz announces ever year, except bells & whistles. To add, your 5013/6013 will be old series in matter of few months. Impractical to keep changing every 6-12 months. Case in point - I got Marantz 7011, and when compared to 7012, 7011 actually has more power (5-10 watt/ch). On practical front though, that could even be something too fret over. If I can get better deal on 7011 than 7013, I’d go that way any day.

8. Lastly, yes you can get AVR, Blu-ray, and even Sats from US/UK w/o much hassle as long as it’s luggage. Importing via courier -is a ripoff & ur testing your astrological stars.
Avoid electronics like AVR from US (diff elec format) Blu-ray etc are fine. Speakers (unless it’s a Sat/LCR) is totally fine from US/UK. Between US/UK though, US is largely dominated by Klipsch, UK (Europe) is FAR AHEAD when it comes to audio.

I think under 2 lac you can have a good system in place. Let your ears decide for you, not reviews (read: paid) or suggestions (read: prejudiced - my speaker is DA BEST).

Don’t complicate too much, demo around ur price point, and let ur ears be your guide. Good luck!

 

[DS123]

Hi Ratish,

How’s health? Have you had your setup done? If not soon I’ll be selling one of my setups, as am going to go for upgrade.
The setup comprises Marantz AVR, 5.1 Jamo Speakers, Pioneer Blu-ray, and Benq HT3050 Projector. All being used currently & in perfect working conditions. Perhaps might sell 2nd setup too if I go for major upgrade (reference series DALI & JVC).

Anyways, will be putting Adv under “Sale By Owner” thread shortly. If interested, let me know.

Regards

 

[ratishmohan]

Hand is recovering.. Thanks..
Right now I am in Mumbai and went to the shop for auditions. Continuing towards Cinebels. Please share your contact number on personal

 

[Vivek Batra]

Hey Ratish

Going to audition Klipsch ? Which one?