Onkyo vs Denon + speakers??

[Mads]

Hi Everyone,

I am new to this forum...looking forward to buying a HT...options are

Amp -
- Onkyo 606
- Denon 1909

Speaker set...(The larger confusion is on these )
- Jamo 606 with Sub200/250
- Elac 100 Series ( FS127+Sub111+BS123+CC121)
- Elac 50 Series ( FS57+Sub50ESP+CC51+WS55)

Usage...
1. Bedroom for the HT...18X12 room...I have a PS3, Sony Bravia V series 40" LCD - Music + Movies.
2. I also want to use the Zone 2 to set up a pair of Tower Speakers in the Drawing room - 40X12 - Music only.

I could also plug in my Bose Music System to this unit...

Any advise here would be appreciated and local reference points for retail in Bangalore would be welcome.
I have tried ProFx Shop on MG Road though not too impressed with their Sales approach....almost non-existent.
Also been to Modern World, Domlur - good response but will never call back even if he promises to revert.

Cheers,

Mads

 

[spirovious]

Hi,

It depends on your likings.
For mov 70% Onkyo ,or Denon.

Onkyo 606 video scaler has some issues.It is upto 1080i & dont fit proerly to TV screen.

 

[venkatcr]

Mads:

Regarding your speakers, I wo0uld suggest you audition a few other speakers also to understand what is available in the market. Some of the good brands are Wharfedale, Mission, Mordaunt Short etc. That will broaden your viewpoint and enable you to pinpoint what you are looking for from your speakers.

Cheers

 

[marsilians]

Hi Mads

Denon is a bit laid back AVR so you need a speaker that has a bit of a higher treble. The onkyos are a bit high on treble, so you may want speakers that emphasize just a bit on the mid and lower ranges.


So go by what venkat has suggested and listen to a few other speakers and pick one up that matches the AVRs. What sort of music do you listen to by the way and how much vs. watching TV?

Hi Everyone,

I am new to this forum...looking forward to buying a HT...options are

Amp -
- Onkyo 606
- Denon 1909

Speaker set...(The larger confusion is on these )
- Jamo 606 with Sub200/250
- Elac 100 Series ( FS127+Sub111+BS123+CC121)
- Elac 50 Series ( FS57+Sub50ESP+CC51+WS55)

Usage...
1. Bedroom for the HT...18X12 room...I have a PS3, Sony Bravia V series 40" LCD - Music + Movies.
2. I also want to use the Zone 2 to set up a pair of Tower Speakers in the Drawing room - 40X12 - Music only.

I could also plug in my Bose Music System to this unit...

Any advise here would be appreciated and local reference points for retail in Bangalore would be welcome.
I have tried ProFx Shop on MG Road though not too impressed with their Sales approach....almost non-existent.
Also been to Modern World, Domlur - good response but will never call back even if he promises to revert.

Cheers,

Mads

 

[Mads]

Hi,

I listen to a lot of Country, Rock and high lead music...my wife is into slower instrumentals more...

On the moveis side, I see more action and drama. kids love musicals...so it is fairly varied.

Will check out the Wharfdale and MS speakers tomorrow. How is Elac rated ...dont read much on them here...??

Is there a consensus on which AVR sould one look for - I gather from the forum that the Denon1909 scores over the Onkyo 606...is Onkyo 875/875 considerable upper end....any idea on comercials on these in India?

Since i am planning on setting the 2 zones and one dedicated to music on a 2.1 and the other for Movies+Music on a 5.1 (or maybe 7.1)...pls advise on both separately...

Mads

 

[marsilians]

zone 2 though configurable is a real pain in the neck to setup irrespective of the AVR you use.

Personally, I think Onkyo is one of the brands that rushed to the market with lots of bells and whistles and nifty feature set without doing a good job on quality and reliability. In a number of cases their implementations are not right leading to downscaling on video and their AVRs tend to get very hot even under normal usage. Comparitively Denon's are better in my opinion.

No flames for anyone, again my personal opinion.

Instead of zone 2, I'd invest in a second system though there is the extra budget requirements.

Hi,

I listen to a lot of Country, Rock and high lead music...my wife is into slower instrumentals more...

On the moveis side, I see more action and drama. kids love musicals...so it is fairly varied.

Will check out the Wharfdale and MS speakers tomorrow. How is Elac rated ...dont read much on them here...??

Is there a consensus on which AVR sould one look for - I gather from the forum that the Denon1909 scores over the Onkyo 606...is Onkyo 875/875 considerable upper end....any idea on comercials on these in India?

Since i am planning on setting the 2 zones and one dedicated to music on a 2.1 and the other for Movies+Music on a 5.1 (or maybe 7.1)...pls advise on both separately...

Mads

 

[SAMUEL]

Hey Mads,
Welcome to Hifivision.
Regarding your query on Denon 1909, it is a very good receiver, with all the bells & whistles read latest HD decoding options & video upscaling features.
The Onkyo 606 is the direct competition to the 1909.I don't know anything about the Onkyo 606's upscaling issue but the Denon & Onkyo have won many awards. Listen to both & let your ears and eyes be the judge.

The Onkyo 805 and 875 are truly in a different class.
Both the models are THX Ultra2 certified so you can be sure about the Power delivery these receivers are capable of .
Both the models have extensive Zone2 and even zone3 support.
You can also Bi-Amp your main speakers if you are not using zone2.
Abroad the 806 and 876 are available now but I'm not sure of it's availability in India.

For speakers you can also consider Polk Audio Rti series in addition to what other friends have suggested.If you like Rock you'll love Klipsch Reference speakers.Receiver matching is very important for Klipsch speakers.And many complain of extreme treble response but I tell you, once the initial break in period is over it'll be just awesome, be it music or movies. In fact Klipsch speakers have very high sensitivity so you can drive them with lower powered receivers easily.
You need to audition these speakers quite extensively.A mere 1 or 2 hrs is not enough.Try with different settings, different music, with music of your choice.

If your priority is more into music & sound quality than video upscalability then you can also consider Cambridge Audio CA 540 & 640R Av-receivers.
Marantz is another strong receiver.

A complete good quality 5.1/7.1 speaker package may be very expensive.
If you can build on time to time basis, get the Receiver & main speakers first.
Then later you can get the center, surrounds and Subwoofer.
Have I confused you a lot? Forgive.
I'm just as excited as you are...

So enjoy AV hunting.
Happy Pongal, Sankranti, & Happy NewYear

Best Regards,
Samuel

 

[venkatcr]

Abroad the 806 and 876 are available now but I'm not sure of it's availability in India.

I am sure they will be available from Onkyo India, The prices of these products should be in the range of 75,000 to 100,000.

Cheers

 

[psychotropic]

Please also consider AVRs from Yamaha....the new ones are very good.

 

[Mads]

Hi All

I did some listening to as advised and settled on the Denon 1909...found it better and more to my liking.....

now the qs on speakers...I dont have a very fancy budget and what i have seen is

- Elac FS 57...liked them but unfortunately not in stock where i saw...
- Jamo HCS 606 - did not like too much
- Polk Audio - TSi400 series - seems ok..need to check again
- Morduant Short 906 & 908 - liked them

I personally liked the MS 908 but would want to hear from you on the Polk audio TSi400 TS...

Anyone in Blr has any idea where i cd get the Elac FS 57 wd be nice...Elac FS127 series is too expensive for now...

Thanks ...

Mads

 

[marsilians]

Given your options you are looking at Polk & Mordaunts.

For your listening preferences, I would pick a slightly forward speaker. The Polk TSi400 are excellent floorstanders. They are easily driven by midfi AVRs and when paired with a center down the road will make for excellent 3.1 system. They are compatible with a few chioces from Polk since these are the next evolution of their famous monitor series.

The mordaunts have the classic English sound, and I am not sure would pair well with the Denon's for country music. They are good speakers no doubt for your particular application would be a laid back.

Hi All

I did some listening to as advised and settled on the Denon 1909...found it better and more to my liking.....

now the qs on speakers...I dont have a very fancy budget and what i have seen is

- Elac FS 57...liked them but unfortunately not in stock where i saw...
- Jamo HCS 606 - did not like too much
- Polk Audio - TSi400 series - seems ok..need to check again
- Morduant Short 906 & 908 - liked them

I personally liked the MS 908 but would want to hear from you on the Polk audio TSi400 TS...

Anyone in Blr has any idea where i cd get the Elac FS 57 wd be nice...Elac FS127 series is too expensive for now...

Thanks ...

Mads

 

[Mads]

Thanks...do you have any idea on the Elac...????

For Polk Audio...the TSi400 can be paired with the CS10 centre and TSi100 as back speakers and a PSW110 Sub...makes a decent entry level 5.1 but wd welcome comments on that...can manage this much for now...

 

[vashok]

Hi
I got Elac FS 58 about a year back. I got it directly from Onkyo - modern world. Earlier, I was planning to sell them for some better rated ones. Eventually, decided to stick it with Elac FS 58. If I were to exchange Elac with something I listened to, it would be Wharferdale FS. I have not heard others like MS or MA.
I have Onkyo SR 505 with it. Currently watching mostly movies nowadays. Have to go for a Center speaker CC51 from Elac. Pl. share if you know the cost of this also.

Thanks,
Ashok

 

[Mads]

I finally settled on the Denon 1909 AVR with Polk Audio TSi 400 Tower with TSi 100 bookshelf speakers as back and CS10 centre and PSW110 sub...feels ok for now...only 1 day old...

Cables are another black hole...everyone advises to their own will and this decision becomes very difficult....pls remember there is no end to how far up one can go but understanding your own system and its capability will help define where one needs to go...cables on themselves can make or break the system...but...overkill there is often suggested since one could end up spending as much as a set of towers just on cabling...just a HDMI cable can cost from 2k to 6k..and everyone is playing the brand game...

 

[SAMUEL]

Hey Mads,
CONGRATULATIONS Man. Excellent Choice and Great Value for Money speaker system. They also look very good.Which colour finish did you opt for.
The Cherry finish looked really good the last time when I checked it.

Just go a little easy with the Volume control for a few more days so that the speakers could bed-in properly and then you can unleash the power.

Don't forget to post a review of your setup later.

once again heartiest Congrats.

Sam

 

[Mads]

Hey Mads,
CONGRATULATIONS Man. Excellent Choice and Great Value for Money speaker system. They also look very good.Which colour finish did you opt for.
The Cherry finish looked really good the last time when I checked it.

Just go a little easy with the Volume control for a few more days so that the speakers could bed-in properly and then you can unleash the power.

Don't forget to post a review of your setup later.

once again heartiest Congrats.

Sam

Thanks Samuel....I went for the Black wood finish since it went with the rest of the wood finish in the room...thanks for the tips as well....

 

[spirovious]

Dali Lektor series is out.
5.1 pack with 25cm subwoofer.

 

[saravanansuri]

I finally settled on the Denon 1909 AVR with Polk Audio TSi 400 Tower with TSi 100 bookshelf speakers as back and CS10 centre and PSW110 sub...feels ok for now...only 1 day old...

Cables are another black hole...everyone advises to their own will and this decision becomes very difficult....pls remember there is no end to how far up one can go but understanding your own system and its capability will help define where one needs to go...cables on themselves can make or break the system...but...overkill there is often suggested since one could end up spending as much as a set of towers just on cabling...just a HDMI cable can cost from 2k to 6k..and everyone is playing the brand game...

Hey Mads, could you pls lmk how much u paid for the setup? hope u r having a gr8 time with the setup...

 

[venkatcr]

Cables are another black hole...everyone advises to their own will and this decision becomes very difficult....pls remember there is no end to how far up one can go but understanding your own system and its capability will help define where one needs to go...cables on themselves can make or break the system...but...overkill there is often suggested since one could end up spending as much as a set of towers just on cabling...just a HDMI cable can cost from 2k to 6k..and everyone is playing the brand game...

Mads, I recently installed a HT system for a friend of mine, and I had the system up and running in just a few hours. All I had to do was to tweak the sub woofer settings, and that took a little time. Other than that everything else worked perfectly.

To a large extent, the ease with which I was able to get the system running was because of the cables I had carefully chosen in addition to, of course, the amplifier, speakers, and players. When a system starts giving trouble during installation, or does not perform to your satisfaction, it is a bit difficult to eliminate the items to see where the issues are. Of course, experience matters. Since I was very sure of the speaker cables I had installed, I carried a couple of interconnects I am sure about to eliminate trouble points, if any.

I am not asking you to blow up a ransom for cables and interconnects, but I would be very weary of buying unbranded and unknown cables and interconnects. I recently picked up a simple component cable from a salesman who was pushing a brand. When connected to my system, everything was in black and white. When I asked the salesman, he came running to my house, and promptly blamed my system. I quietly changed to a cable I know will work, showed glorious colours on the screen, and asked him again. He came with a long discourse on amperage, non-standard amp settings, resistance, etc. I cut him short and, and told him to be careful of speaking with half baked knowledge on systems he does not know about. Though I appreciate the enthusiasm of the salesman, at the end of the day, he did not solve any issue. In another case, a friend of mine was constantly complaining about lack of bass in his system. When I checked around, I realised his sub was not even working, even though it was on and the light was burning. After some more analysis, I reckoned that the cable he had used for connecting the sub to the system, was not carrying the data across. A simple switch to a good cable, and I had his chairs vibrating on the floor, and his young kids grinning from ear to ear.

Good quality cables and interconnects are a must for a good system. This cannot be overemphasized. At the same time, you need not blow a large chunk of money. Just like amps, and speaker, if you are unsure about cable and interconnects brands, audition a few by rapidly switching the cables and interconnects for the same song or movie scene. This will give you a fair idea of which one works better and which one your ears like. In the recent past, Raghu of Decibel and I switched between multiple speaker cables as part of my shortlisting cables for my friend. There was a very perceptible difference, and I chose the cables I liked.

I am talking about budget cables and interconnects here.

Ultimately I used a Rs.2200 HDMI cable for a system costing 1.5 lakhs!! And it works like a charm.

As long as the cables and interconnects meet the specification necessary for their job, they will work well. And these specifications should be easily available for you to confirm.

Cheers

 

[Mads]

Hi Venkat,

I comepletely agree with your line of thought...my only concern was that the push on a brand itself is often not justified...and i am not talking about completely non branded cables...like in this case i also evaluated Morduant Short and the person there recommended some of their cables to me...and the whole cost comparison is so funny...QED offers a HDMI cable for 5200 while the same from another, say Panasonic, is for 2200...

I will be happy if you cd recommend cables from your experience...currently i have used QED Micro only for Bookselves and QED Original for Floor speakers..

I need to connect the following

AVR >>>> PS3 ---- HDMI reqd - not purchasedAVR >>>> Tatasky --- ???? ( EP-RC)
AVR >>>> Bose audio player --- problem here since can only use (EP-RC)
AVR >>>> Towers ---- QED Original used
AVR >>>> Bookshelves ------- QED Micro used
AVR >>>> centre -------- QED Original
AVR >>>> woofer ------- QED Original
AVR >>>> LCD ----------- HDMI reqd - not purchased

Any advise here would be of value...also i still have not done a full demo of the system and am using it a few days before i cal lthem to go thru the same...i feel the woofer is coming on too strong...overall finetuning is reqd...

In your experience what is the time reqd to get this one going...

Regs,

Mads