Need on choosing Speakers And Amps Etc.

[Rajagamesbond007]

Hello Everyone ,

i m Raj , i m new with these kind of High-End Sound Systems ,

As you all told me i have changed my mind now i think a proper music system ll be always better than HT Sys for music and movies.....

I just called up a dealer in HYD ,so he asked me to visit his place and has many models for demo, so he quickly suggested me a few models for my purpose of dancing and more of music :

Wharfedale - Model - Price - Watts(Rms)

Vardus.400 - 20,000 - 150 Watts
Diamond 9.5 - 30,000 - 150 Watts

Norge- 1000 gold Stereo 10,000

Yamaha -
AX497 Stereo
Ax397 Stereo 15,000

Denon -
1610 5.1
PMA 510A Stereo 19,000/-

So Which Combo is better ? FloorStanding Or Bookshelves ? Are there any other models ? I would be Mostly playing 90% Music ; 10% Movies for now Later i ll be taking an extra Pair of Used Speakers .

So is it better to take a 5.1 Amp ? heard that Stereo amps are FAR BETTER than 5.1 , so is there any Kind of AMP or Receiver where i can play Stereo Quality Music with 5.1 ?

and my budget is around 32-40K for amps and speakers so please advice

the best model possible around that price range and is it OK to take a used

one ... cause i would lyk to spend about 32-38 K on the new 1 and about

10-15 K on a used 1..so that i can use it to replace my onkyo HT Front
speakers or i can use for music with the new 1...well the new model i ll be
buying has to be more 4 music and the used 1 can be 50 music ; 50 movies
and how about taking a Yamaha SS Series Or something else although i have

never auditioned any of these PRO Music listening audio equipment before, and i ll be visiting bangalore soon so you can tell me where i can go for auditioning these kind of systems & where i can Find a USED ONE....

Thank you for Going through a such a LONG POST , I know i this is too many doubts at once , so i kindly request all the EXPERTS here to Help Me...

Thank You.

 

[Rajagamesbond007]

Sorry The Title Went Wrong....any way Pls Help:sad:

 

[nmurthyk]

Hi Raja,

If your room is big and you like more bass then take floor standers
If your room is medium to small then take Bookshelves.

Diamond 9 series is more towards bass (warm in the audiophile language).
Diamond 10 series give more details.

Diamond 10.2 bookshelves is quoted 20k from the same shop (Vector i guess).
If you add amp (10k - 20k) it comes in your budget.

Or you can take norge amp (10k) + Diamond 9.5 also. but listen to them before taking it.

similarly you can check the Polk speakers also (there is a shop in babukhan mall at somajiguda circle)

 

[Rajagamesbond007]

My room is about 15x16....He just Mentioned a few but he said he has many More Models......

And i want more detail and ofcourse good bass too.....i ll try out the polk spekears....and what do you guys think about the AMP ? i have mentioned my idea above....

and what about the used one...heard you get a lot in bangalore than in HYD?

Can i take a YAMAHA Or Denon AMP with Wharfedale Speakers ? or are there any better combi's you know ?

what do you think about brands lyk cambridge , Mezzo , KEF ?

 

[nmurthyk]

People are saying that DENON AMP + Wharf speakers are not a best match as both are on warm side.
Marantz AMP may be good for Wharf (Wharfadale is a very good brand. only thing is we should get correct match).
Please take others advice as i am not an expert in this. I just started this journey 2 months back only.

People are saying Polk also a warmer one. I listened both Polk and Wharf and I liked Wharf more than Polk (TSI 400).
Why dont you listen to Diamond 10.2 bookshelves, it is there on display in the showroom(Vector Systems)

 

[nmurthyk]

Did you search in the forum?
There are some threads in this forum discussing about good amp+speaker combination.

 

[cmsajith]

Think about some minimal acoustic treatments since the shape of the room is almost square (15x16).

 

[Rajagamesbond007]

Hey i have just visited the showroom (Vector)

For the first time a was auditioning these speakers , i have tried Vardus 400 with marantz Amp..... frankly I DINT LIKE IT AT ALLLLL.....i felt it really lacks power....

Next i tried Diamond 10.5 with some high-end denon amp worth 100k....that was Really Good but i was not REALLY satisfied...then he played me a few more HIGH END speakers like OPUS , B&W , but i was not really happy with them either (although OPUS & B&W are above 150k)....then he suggested me to try a few more shops and listen to as many demo's as possible so that i can have a wide range of choices on Speakers & Amps....and he said Denon 510AE Amp and Diamond9.5 ll be awesome....and he said never go for a asian make like YAMAHA , SONY , JAMO etc. do you think he is right ?

 

[Rajagamesbond007]

please HELP

 

[hifipal4all]

I would be Mostly playing 90% Music ; 10% Movies for now Later i ll be taking an extra Pair of Used Speakers .

So is it better to take a 5.1 Amp ? heard that Stereo amps are FAR BETTER than 5.1 , so is there any Kind of AMP or Receiver where i can play Stereo Quality Music with 5.1 ?

Well if your future plan is to have a Home-Theatre setup, then I would recommend a 7.1 A/V Receiver instead of a stereo amplifier. Definitely you can get a decent quality of stereo reproduction if you choose a good AVR & matching speakers.

Try Denon AVR-1910 with Wharfedale Diamond 9.5 or 9.6 speakers or any model from Jamo in the similar price range. I am sure you will like the sound. Later on you can include a subwoofer (I would recommend a SW150 from Wharfedale - Value for money & a good subwoofer) and finally add the Centre and Surround speakers.

Instead of getting dissatisfied in a couple of days after buying something in a hurry, it is better to build your setup slowly and own what you are exactly looking for and enjoy it everyday

Cheers,
Ramesh @ Bangalore

 

[Rajagamesbond007]

Well if your future plan is to have a Home-Theatre setup, then I would recommend a 7.1 A/V Receiver instead of a stereo amplifier. Definitely you can get a decent quality of stereo reproduction if you choose a good AVR & matching speakers.

Try Denon AVR-1910 with Wharfedale Diamond 9.5 or 9.6 speakers or any model from Jamo in the similar price range. I am sure you will like the sound. Later on you can include a subwoofer (I would recommend a SW150 from Wharfedale - Value for money & a good subwoofer) and finally add the Centre and Surround speakers.

Instead of getting dissatisfied in a couple of days after buying something in a hurry, it is better to build your setup slowly and own what you are exactly looking for and enjoy it everyday

Cheers,
Ramesh @ Bangalore

Hey , Thanx for the advise but i dont want it to watch movies i said i ll be adding a couple of used speakers to the same system i dont want to add them as surround.....is there any good AMP in which you can play a 4 Speakers simultaneously....lets say i have 2 pair's of 150 watts speakers or 1 pair of 150 and another pair of 200...see i want to play real good music in them...i dont want surround stuff....so is there any alternative for playing 2 pairs of speakers other than SURROUND ? and where do you think i ll get more used Speakers and amps ? in chennai or in bangalore and is there any website ? and if you know somebody who is interested in selling please let me know....

 

[nmurthyk]

If you dont want to listen surround sound then using 2 pairs of speaker is useless. and more over you lose the sound stage by using 2 pairs as front and rare. Stereo means 2 speakers only. Try ProFX in Babukhan mall. They have good listening room (with out external disturbances). I think Vector systems does not have the proper room/arrangement for the speakers to show their real strength. When i listened to the speakers there i felt that the treble (upper range) is more and not musical - it may be the fault of the room but not the speakers.

 

[Rajagamesbond007]

If you dont want to listen surround sound then using 2 pairs of speaker is useless. and more over you lose the sound stage by using 2 pairs as front and rare. Stereo means 2 speakers only. Try ProFX in Babukhan mall. They have good listening room (with out external disturbances). I think Vector systems does not have the proper room/arrangement for the speakers to show their real strength. When i listened to the speakers there i felt that the treble (upper range) is more and not musical - it may be the fault of the room but not the speakers.

i ll do that....and i was not into using those 2 pairs as Front and rear...but i would use all the 4 speakers in front....and what do you think about Powered Speakers...which have an in built amp ? i was thinking any way i wanted to take two sets of speakers one is a new 1 and the second pair ll be a used 1... i ll go check out with PROFX guy and get back to you ,so what do you think if i take a Powered speaker as the 2nd pair...so can you advise me any used ones ?

 

[sonosphere]

Dear Rajagamesbond007,
Going thru your replies above I have following suggestion /observations:

1. Considering your room size & room's squarish shape > You will face boomy bass issues if you play Floorstanders at loud volume. So focus more on good bookshelves having decent bass extentsion. (As repeated often in this forum... good bookshelves offer better SQ than Floorstanders at 30k price range). IMHO Good bookshelves for your case "Usher 520S"(24k), "Wharfe 9.2" (14k), "Polk RTI A1" (30k?), "Quad 11L" (30k), These offer similar frequency range say 45 Hz to 20Khz +/- 10 Hz at bottom end. And their bass won't overpower your room. (there are even better ones costing in lacs, but for your "untreated" room-case won't reccomend that). Despite being clubbed as a group, these bookshelves sound very different, so definately audition each of them with a matching amp described in point-3 below.
2. Don't expect "Grand Canyon scale" of sound even from good bookshelves. That comes from hi-end floorstanders... HOWEVER the medium size and squarish shape of your room won't allow that even with good Floorstanders >> UNLESS, you employ a knowledgeable acoustic designer to treat your room (The more lower freq you want the more difficult the job gets in squarish rooms). All is not lost though... speaker placements can reduce it to tolerable extent. Search web for this topic.
3. The amp pairing is equaly important as follows... wharfe with Norge 2060/1000 or Marantz PM7001 upwards, Usher and Polk with NAD 325 upwards, Quad with Denon (not sure). Search this forum for more recommendations. It is clear from your replies that you want good SQ... so don't even think about using an AVR to drive your music. 7.1 channel AVR costing even in 1 lac range +/- 10%, cannot beat an amp costing 25k (BTW Norge 1000 at 10k holds good against MNC amps of 25k ... both price-levels are official dealer prices...not grey market)
4. You may add a matching Subwoofer later to get really low end (at low volume of course). Again only Hi-end subwoofers (above 75k range) reportedly do justice to music, and will pair beautifully with above bookshelves.

So buddy, you have lot of "enjoyable" work cut-out for you if you don't want regrets after investment. Make compilation of your favourite music on CD (incl mp3's in case you can't do without them... some speakers sound good even with mp3's, others don't) and use the same compilation for comparisons during auditions. Don't hesitate to visit bangalore for auditions if your city isn't enough.

Note to Audio Gurus here: The above is from my limited experience of recent 9 months of audio-journey. Please don't hesitate to correct me if I have been wrong in any point above.

Regds,

 

[Rajagamesbond007]

Hey What Do you think about powered Speakers like JBL Eon Series & AE Series and whats the price ? Are there any Powered Floorstander ?

 

[nmurthyk]

Why do you want to go for Powered speaker. Your upgrade options will be limited if you go in that path. Did you try Wharfedale Diamond 10.2 (bookshelves)? They are very good. Norge Concert gold 1000 + Wharf 10.2 = 30K looks good.