Need advice on Home Theater Upgrade (budget ~60k)

[zendya]

Hi Friends,

I'm planning to upgrade my current setup and was looking for some advice on the upgrade path -

Following is what I currently have

Yamaha RX-V450 receiver
JBL NSP2 speaker package (4 x N24 bookshelf, 1 N-Center)
SPACE Sub (powered 100W)

Samsung Smart TV - UA46ES7500 (I normally connect HDD with HD-movies + FLAC/MP3 music to the TV via USB)
Panasonic BD85 Blu-ray (not used much as I mostly watch movies from HDD connected to the TV. I do use it for FLAC/mp3 playback via USB as I don't need to keep the TV on)
Pioneer DVD Player DV366 (Not used much now).
Tata Sky+ HD

Interests: Both Movies and Music (would say 50:50). In Music, mostly Soft Rock, Pop, all kinds of Hindi Movie Songs, Hindi/Marathi Classical.

Would like to know what would give me most bang (in terms of audio enhancement/hearing pleasure) for the bucks -

- replacing the front two bookshelf speakers with floor standers

- Replacing the receiver with higher end model

- Or adding an integrated stereo amp in the mix - if that is possible (my receiver does not seem to have analog out which could have been fed to stereo amp - so not sure if this is at all possible)

Budget wise - I had allocated Rs ~30k for towers + ~30k for an amp upgrade. So I can say ~60k overall.

Would appreciate if you could advise me on what upgrade path I can take.


Thanks in advance!
- Pramod

 

[grunthos]

I think you would get bigger bang for buck with replacing your front speakers with floorstanders
Unfortunately the way speakers are priced in India right now, the cheapest good quality floorstanders you can get are the Tannoy Mercury V4is and the Boston Acoustics A360s. Both are around the 50k mark
Or you can go for the Pioneer Andrew Jones, which are under 30k, but jury is still out whether they are audiophile speakers

 

[elangoas]

If you can afford 2 different set up's, then better for you... You can leave the current HT setup as it is & look to build a stereo setup for 60K which is a good budget...

Home theater don't need big speakers...Also for 30K budget for a new AVR, you might get only an entry level AVR if you plan to buy in India...

 

[zendya]

Thanks grunthos and elangoas.

For speakers, I was planning to check out BA A250, A360 and Jamo S428 -
- A360 is available on HiFiMart at 42k which is still over my original budget
- I guess A250 may not give much improvement over my current setup.
- Jamo S428 is ~35k.
- will add Tannoy Mercury V4i to the list.

Will try to see if there is any dealer in Bangalore which carries these three brands for comparing.

If I really like A360 or Tannoy, I will have to look at postponing the amp addition/upgrade.

One question on amps - I understand that the stereo amps are very good for audio. But aren't there higher end AVRs which can treat audio sources in a similar way and produce good quality sound as stereo amps? Those would most likely be expensive but I can delay my amp purchase and increase the budget for it. Basically would prefer to have one setup if it can do justice to both movies and music.

 

[Naturelover]

+1 to two different setups

 

[elangoas]

Thanks grunthos and elangoas.

For speakers, I was planning to check out BA A250, A360 and Jamo S428 -
- A360 is available on HiFiMart at 42k which is still over my original budget
- I guess A250 may not give much improvement over my current setup.
- Jamo S428 is ~35k.
- will add Tannoy Mercury V4i to the list.

Will try to see if there is any dealer in Bangalore which carries these three brands for comparing.

If I really like A360 or Tannoy, I will have to look at postponing the amp addition/upgrade.

One question on amps - I understand that the stereo amps are very good for audio. But aren't there higher end AVRs which can treat audio sources in a similar way and produce good quality sound as stereo amps? Those would most likely be expensive but I can delay my amp purchase and increase the budget for it. Basically would prefer to have one setup if it can do justice to both movies and music.

Hmmm....Convenience, simplicity, lesser cables is one factor where the modern AVR beats the stereo amp.... Juz one HDMI cable is enough for AVR & TV connectivity...

Anyways... Yes.. Higher-end AVR's can handle both movies & music flawlessly.... One good example is my Onkyo AVR TX NR 818 though only mid range AVR is impressive in stereo performance....

My suggestion.....Increase your budget to 40 ~ 45K, pick a good high end AVR from Middle east/European countries where the voltage is the same...

 

[zendya]

elangoas - About building a second setup with stereo amp - how do you think the budget of 60k can be split - ~40k on speakers (say BA A360 for 42k) and ~20k of amp? For 20k - what are the good amps I can look at? (Would not want to consider Marantz 5004 given some issue that have been reported).

Or would you suggest upping the budget for stereo amp as well?

About NR818 - I saw your thread about that importing from Dubai. Looks like that has worked well for you. Yes, the cost of that is very high in India. I will have to check for options for importing from US or Dubai/Singapore. (For US import - I understand I'll need a good voltage converter).

 

[grunthos]

Will try to see if there is any dealer in Bangalore which carries these three brands for comparing.

But aren't there higher end AVRs which can treat audio sources in a similar way and produce good quality sound as stereo amps?

You might not find all three brands under one dealer, but if you can carry your own music (CDs, USB) ALONG with your playback system
- if you have a media player like WDTV or Asus OPlay
- or even your laptop

Then you can keep the source constant - because same CD, when played back from your computer and from a Marantz CD player, will sound very different. Hence it helps a lot if you carry your own playback system

Once you have fixed the source, stick to a widely available AVR like Denon X1000 or Yamaha V477 for all your auditions.

If you manage to keep the source and the AVR constant across the different auditions, then the only difference in sound you will hear will be from the speakers
(the layout at each shop will also contribute to how it sounds, but unfortunately we do not have a practical way of cancelling it out)

If you spend about half an hour listening to music of your choice each speaker setup out of your 3-4 choices, usually you can make out which one sounds the best to you
Ask someone to accompany you if you can, a second opinion is very helpful

***************
For second question about musical AVRs, Marantz and Cambridge Audio are supposed to be more musical than Denon and Yamaha. But they are more expensive too, esp Cambridge.
NAD and Rotel also do AVRs, but they are even more expensive

 

[zendya]

Thanks for those tips, Grunthos. Will keep those in mind while checking out the speakers.

I came across following AVMax article for best speakers under Rs 35k (as per AVMax test criteria I suppose) -

AV MAX - Best Of 2013: Floorstanding Speakers Upto Rs 35,000

Not sure which all speakers AVMax had tested in this category though.

I will check if there are any threads on Astonia Audio T5 and Monitor Audio MR4.

On the receivers - I had not explored Marantz and CA assuming they would be expensive. Need to see where their range starts and which are their models that I can consider (with obviously increased budget).

 

[elangoas]

elangoas - About building a second setup with stereo amp - how do you think the budget of 60k can be split - ~40k on speakers (say BA A360 for 42k) and ~20k of amp? For 20k - what are the good amps I can look at? (Would not want to consider Marantz 5004 given some issue that have been reported).

Or would you suggest upping the budget for stereo amp as well?

About NR818 - I saw your thread about that importing from Dubai. Looks like that has worked well for you. Yes, the cost of that is very high in India. I will have to check for options for importing from US or Dubai/Singapore. (For US import - I understand I'll need a good voltage converter).

Only if you are not able to source an amplifier from Middle east/Asian countries try the US route... I think the current baggage limit has been raised to 45K... So even better....

Consider modern stereo amplifiers like Onkyo TX-8050 & Yamaha R-N 500... These have reasonably good DAC inside, have network capability & USB port in the front that plays most audio formats..... If you plan to get these from abroad, you should get them for 25K Max.... For remaining 35K you can choose a speaker of your choice....