Looking for speakers for my 5.1 setup with Yamaha RX-V4A

[efernand1]

Added a pair of Dali Zensor 1 as front L/R for now. They sound good but seem power hungry.

View attachment 75912

Nice speakers but yes power hungry

 

[sagittarianajay]

UPDATE:

In my 13.5 feet x 10.5 bedroom, I have setup Dali Oberon 5 pair as front L and R. For now, Dali Zensor 1 is connected as center speaker. Now, I am looking for a Dali Oberon vokal and subwoofer (not in a hurry).

Observations:

1. Earlier, when I was using Zensor 1 (sensitivity 86.5 dB) as front L and R (no other speaker). I somehow felt my AVR (Yamaha RX-V4A) was not able to drive them well. It felt underpowered. With Dali Oberon 5s (sensitivity 88 dB) as front L and R the sound is louder (needless to say bass is far better). The AVR does not feel underpowered (comparison done in stereo mode)
From what I have read/watched in last 1.5 years, if not for the sensitivity difference of 1.5 dB, the AVR should face more difficulty in driving a floor standing speaker than a bookshelf speaker.

2. The 3.0 setup is not fatiguing (till now), even at loud volumes. I watched 'Made in Heaven' Season 2 on Amazon prime. 3 episodes back to back did not sound fatiguing.

3. Bass of course with FS speakers has improved a lot. For particular scenes, the bedroom from outside sounds like a theater.
This gets me thinking - A 5.25 inch low frequency driver, driven by an AVR which supplies at max 80 Watt to the speaker is able to produce very good bass (for my bass appetite; I love bass). Do I need a 12 inch subwoofer with ~300Watt RMS or a lesser powerful subwoofer would do?


Adding proper center channel speaker and subwoofer in coming weeks/months should improve overall experience.

 

[spirovious]

. I somehow felt my AVR (Yamaha RX-V4A) was not able to drive them well. It felt underpowered. With Dali Oberon 5s (sensitivity 88 dB) as front L and R the sound is louder (needless to say bass is far better). The AVR does not feel underpowered (comparison done in stereo mode)
From what I have read/watched in last 1.5 years

It's not that way. BS will always sound smaller compared to Towers. If you need same level of sound, then BS will start shouting after one point. On other hand Towers have bigger soundstage with same amount of volume. This is the comparison when only 2 channel music is played.
Now playing 5.1 or Atmos file with only 2 speakers, then surround will have to downmixed which also gives feeling of poor power. Now you have center in action, so that mixing is less and you get better sound.


In short AVR should not sound underpowered while bookshelf speakers than towers in real.

 

[efernand1]

3. Bass of course with FS speakers has improved a lot. For particular scenes, the bedroom from outside sounds like a theater.
This gets me thinking - A 5.25 inch low frequency driver, driven by an AVR which supplies at max 80 Watt to the speaker is able to produce very good bass (for my bass appetite; I love bass). Do I need a 12 inch subwoofer with ~300Watt RMS or a lesser powerful subwoofer would do?


Adding proper center channel speaker and subwoofer in coming weeks/months should improve overall experience.

Adding a subwoofer will definitely give a better experience. If you are more into movies then you need to get a ported subwoofer. 12 inch would be better to have as it will be able to emit those low frequencies which you cant get from the Front speakers. If you are more into music than movies, a sealed subwoofer would be ideal.

Depending on your budget, you should audition and decide which subwoofer you want. Brands to look at are Yamaha, REL, SVS, Definitive Technology, Polk (HTS 10 or HTS 12). etc.

If budget is a constraint, see the pre owned market. (OLX).

 

[sagittarianajay]

Few more queries -

1. Audio is being fed to the AVR through HDMI ARC connected to TV. The HDMI cable that I am using to connect AVR (YAMAHA RX-V4A) to TV (SONY 55X7500H) is probably a basic one that came with AVR or TV or set top box (I do not remember exactly). Would upgrading the HDMI cable (HDMI 2.1) between TV and AVR make any difference to the audio output (I know ATMOS is not possible with my current AVR)?

Also, how can I see real time stats on TV screen i.e. which audio format is being processed by the AVR?

I generally watch OTT content using Netflix, Prime, Hotstar apps installed in my TV.

2. While shortlisting a subwoofer which factors/features I need to consider apart from RMS power, driver size and brand.

I gathered from my readings that SVS, XTZ, Rythmik, REL are recommended brands. Also I should look for atleast 12 inch and >300 Watt RMS.

 

[sagittarianajay]

Please guide me.