Hi All
A debate has been going on in this forum whether to buy Onkyo low end seperates or Philips HTiB. My 2p on the same.
I wanted to upgrade my old HTiB and considered a high end AVR - Denon 1909 since I wanted good music performance. Auditioned Onkyo 5105, 3105 and Denon 1909. Denon was definitely better. Though Onkyo 5105 performed really well with movies. But both disappointed me with Music (even the Denon sounded a little hollow with some tracks).The expert there suggested me to opt for a seperate stereo setup for music and buy a low end home theater (i.e. Onkyo 5105).
I listened to NAD BEE525 with Monitor Audio BR2 speakers and difference between Denon-1909 with Polk Audio floorstanders was immediately noticeable. Onkyo 5105 was nowhere in competition when it came to music.
That's when I decided to go for Onkyo HTiB for movies and have a stereo setup for Music. Total budget - Onkyo 51505 - 36K + NAD 525 Amp - 25 K + Monitor Audio BR2 - 40K. This was approx same as that for Denon-1909 with Polk Audio speaker set but Movie performance was comparable and Music much much better.
Having read a few posts in this forum, I thought of trying Philips HTiBs before I committed to Onkyo. I went around auditioning all HTiBs available in the market and covered - Philips, Sony, LG and Yamaha (not HTiB though). Sony ones sounded OK but failed to impress. LG was a firm no-no. I liked Yamaha but was concerned about spares availability.
Philips 4750 was out of stock everywhere. Fortunately found one at e-zone. On the open floor could not really make out whether it is what it is said to be in this forum. Then went to the proper home theater room at e-zone and auditioned 3569 and Onkyo 5105.
The e-zone guy played Casino Royale on both Onkyo and Philips. He showed me the crowded market scene. Both Onkyo and Philips did a great job with surround. Then he showed me the scene at the end where Bond is mourning Vesper's death. There was sound of birds chirping in the background. I could hear the birds on Philips - faint but clear (as it was supposed to be probably) and on Onkyo - nothing. I asked the guy to play it thrice on Onkyo but there was no such sound to be heard. And Philips was much better with Music as compared to Onkyo.
So Philips 3569 killed Onkyo5105 for me - never mind the upgrade options. I would probably junk even Onkyo5105 after 4-5 years and buy a better one (am sure kids will burn it out in 4-5 years). So I didn't mind buying Philips 3569 and saving 14K even though I will have to junk it 4-5 years down the line. Will go for NAD + Monitor after a while.
Other benefits of a simpler HTiB (as compared to seperates) that I am realizing now are -
1. Kids n wife can fiddle with this HTiB and I dont have to bother about settings getting changed everyday
2. Easier to operate for family members (including my parents)
3. I can keep my stereo setup out of bounds for everyone now
Hope that gives something different to think about to prospective buyers.
Cheers
A debate has been going on in this forum whether to buy Onkyo low end seperates or Philips HTiB. My 2p on the same.
I wanted to upgrade my old HTiB and considered a high end AVR - Denon 1909 since I wanted good music performance. Auditioned Onkyo 5105, 3105 and Denon 1909. Denon was definitely better. Though Onkyo 5105 performed really well with movies. But both disappointed me with Music (even the Denon sounded a little hollow with some tracks).The expert there suggested me to opt for a seperate stereo setup for music and buy a low end home theater (i.e. Onkyo 5105).
I listened to NAD BEE525 with Monitor Audio BR2 speakers and difference between Denon-1909 with Polk Audio floorstanders was immediately noticeable. Onkyo 5105 was nowhere in competition when it came to music.
That's when I decided to go for Onkyo HTiB for movies and have a stereo setup for Music. Total budget - Onkyo 51505 - 36K + NAD 525 Amp - 25 K + Monitor Audio BR2 - 40K. This was approx same as that for Denon-1909 with Polk Audio speaker set but Movie performance was comparable and Music much much better.
Having read a few posts in this forum, I thought of trying Philips HTiBs before I committed to Onkyo. I went around auditioning all HTiBs available in the market and covered - Philips, Sony, LG and Yamaha (not HTiB though). Sony ones sounded OK but failed to impress. LG was a firm no-no. I liked Yamaha but was concerned about spares availability.
Philips 4750 was out of stock everywhere. Fortunately found one at e-zone. On the open floor could not really make out whether it is what it is said to be in this forum. Then went to the proper home theater room at e-zone and auditioned 3569 and Onkyo 5105.
The e-zone guy played Casino Royale on both Onkyo and Philips. He showed me the crowded market scene. Both Onkyo and Philips did a great job with surround. Then he showed me the scene at the end where Bond is mourning Vesper's death. There was sound of birds chirping in the background. I could hear the birds on Philips - faint but clear (as it was supposed to be probably) and on Onkyo - nothing. I asked the guy to play it thrice on Onkyo but there was no such sound to be heard. And Philips was much better with Music as compared to Onkyo.
So Philips 3569 killed Onkyo5105 for me - never mind the upgrade options. I would probably junk even Onkyo5105 after 4-5 years and buy a better one (am sure kids will burn it out in 4-5 years). So I didn't mind buying Philips 3569 and saving 14K even though I will have to junk it 4-5 years down the line. Will go for NAD + Monitor after a while.
Other benefits of a simpler HTiB (as compared to seperates) that I am realizing now are -
1. Kids n wife can fiddle with this HTiB and I dont have to bother about settings getting changed everyday
2. Easier to operate for family members (including my parents)
3. I can keep my stereo setup out of bounds for everyone now
Hope that gives something different to think about to prospective buyers.
Cheers
