Stereo system in the US?

[naj]

Hi!!

I have moved to the US.
And I am not happy.
Reason- could not take my first humble HT with me. I took the plunge in putting together a basic HT promising to upgrade as time passed to something more refined . Little did I know that I will have to leave behind this very first HT comprising of Marantz AVR ,Polk TSI Towers and a Polk sub .

And frankly, now ,I don't even earn as much I did in India.

I thought that US was cheap to buy but the prices do feel same as what I see in India unless I am unable to find cheap deals.

I have started searching and researching again.

aa)What do you think about the below Emotiva deal and any pointers about the performance especially the middle bundle .
Audiophile | Emotiva Audio | High-end audio components for audiophiles and videophiles, spanning 2-channel music systems, as well as 5.1 and 7.1 home theaters. Products include multichannel amplifiers, stereo amplifiers, and monoblock amplifiers, as

bb)Any advise on JBL ES90- has a good deal on Amazon. Comparing it with Polk TSI 500 which I have been using in India.

Please advice with your able and valuable inputs.

Cheers
Naj

 

[ranjeetrain]

I have no idea what are you talking about. US is heaven for Hifi. There simply is no cheaper place for anything reputed (unless you like to buy in grey without b/w).

Keep your eyes open. Visit the brick and mortar stores every weekend. You may end up buying some stuff at unbelievable prices. Find out the addresses of nearby Bestbuy, Sam's Club, Walmart, Radioshack, J&R, BH Photo Video. These are the places where you come across great deals.

 

[GeorgeO]

Audiogon is a good site to look for good preowned gear. What is your budget-that will help anyone giving any suggestions!

 

[corElement]

Learn how to use ebay and audiogon my friend.

 

[naj]

I have no idea what are you talking about. US is heaven for Hifi. There simply is no cheaper place for anything reputed (unless you like to buy in grey without b/w).

Keep your eyes open. Visit the brick and mortar stores every weekend. You may end up buying some stuff at unbelievable prices. Find out the addresses of nearby Bestbuy, Sam's Club, Walmart, Radioshack, J&R, BH Photo Video. These are the places where you come across great deals.

US is heaven no doubt. But it's not cheap unless you find deals. The stores you mentioned are not really into audiophile stuff never the less they do have a wide range of electronics.

Audiogon is a good site to look for good preowned gear. What is your budget-that will help anyone giving any suggestions!

I am researching on audiogon . 2000 $ to begin with floorstanders + amp.

Learn how to use ebay and audiogon my friend.

Agreed . Missed a deal.

Any pointers on the Emotiva stereo system mentioned earlier.

Thanks,

Naj

 

[ranjeetrain]

The stores you mentioned are not really into audiophile stuff never the less they do have a wide range of electronics.

What is "audiophile stuff"?

It's all about money, isn't it? If you want to spend more than what they have they don't appear like "audiophile stuff". But for a big lot of people those stores have decent enough stuff.

In any case, those were mere pointers. One can't list every store in US here, can he? If you have a budget for which these store don't carry "audiophile stuff" according to you, go to other stores based on your budget. All top cities in US have a lot of brick n mortar store. Not to mention there are likes of Agon, and CAM.

 

[GeorgeO]

Two suggestions here:

1. Try and audition some gear at hifi stores.

2. Be on the lookout for good pre owned stuff, there are some very good deals available if you are alert.

I am not a great fan of Emotiva-I had a UMC 1 prepro, and upgraded to a Marantz AV 7005 which is significantly better-but costs more. Emotiva does offer one advantage though-it operates off 220V off the bat with no mods.

For $2K, I think you should be able to get some reasonably good stuff. You need to mentally allocate a break up for amp and speakers-say 50% for each and see what's on offer. Sometimes some good valve amps also come up which can be easily wired for 220V. Since you say you have looked on Audiogon have you seen anything of interest there?

 

[corElement]

Forget emotiva, in the us you have access to ridiculously good gear at even just the 500$ mark. I picked up my 2700$ speakers for 600$ from ebay.

You need to do more research to take advantage of what you have access to.

 

[pdhanwada]

Agree with GeorgeO.

if Want to buy Audio HI fi there are lot of options in US. It is the cheapest in prices compared to any place in teh world.

For audio I would prefer, preowned. Keep checking audiogon and Ebay.

especially Audiogon has good reputed buyers/sellers.

 

[Audio_Freek]

Naj,

Being in US and if you feel AV components are very disappointed with the Brand Range and Price range then think about India

Here ppl sometime never mind getting a best stuff from US or UK Paying almostly double the original MRP ,Inclu MPR+SHIPPING+TAX+Local pickup and possibly end up happy hearts.

I expected a thread from a US audiophile as "Confusion in selecting my speakers and amp please suggest ",following atleast 20-30 combos",and make FM'S in embarrassment.

I heard most of the AV brands are available or atleast they will ship to US from worldwide.So keep watching you can end up in big deals.

As its Christmas season+New year so Wintersale ,stock clearance sale could be your pool for fishing the best shark or even whale.

Just open a new email account and subscribe for the best deals and discounts, allocate time for reading and select,else make a visit to every HIFI store in weekend and enjoy shopping.

All the best for your purchase

All the best.

 

[naj]

Hi!!

Has any one heard of Grant Fedility.

What do you feel about the below Tube DAC.
Grant Fidelity TubeDAC-11 D/A Converter

Aa)Will I need a pre amp to be connected after this DAC or can I connect a power amp directly.

bb) what are the options of connecting a sub w.In the hook up diag ,can see provision to do so. Can all the out put ports be used at the same time?

Pls advise.

Cheers
Naj

 

[naj]

Hi,

Finally after much deliberation took the plunge and ordered with Emotiva.
They have a current spring sale on.

Ordered power amp Xpa2 ,Pre amp USP 1 and a set of Emotiva RCA interconnects.
Media Source- PC + Audinst DAC + the Emotivas .
Speakers hmmm.. Don't have them yet.
Have availed , Bill me later with PayPal , so can spread payments over 6 months .
Hope have made the right decision.

Will update as the order is received.

Thanks

 

[naj]

Hi!!

Am searching for a new set of speakers for the XPA 2

Came across tekton speakers M Lore.
Seem to be an attractive option with good reviews.
Link- tekton-designcontent2011


Sub woofer- Could you all pls help choose between SVS SB-1000 - $ 500 and Polk audio micro pro 1000- $ 538 eBay on polk store.
Svs SB 1000 has good reviews. Both are sealed subs.
Room size 15x 15 ft.



Thanks-

Attaching some pics of the Amps. The 16 gauge speaker wire felt very good in quality.

 

[afj]

whats your budget. retail prices in usa are one of the cheapest in the world. i think you should audition a few systems and once you decide on what you want go online and look for the best available price. you will def score a good price

 

[naj]

whats your budget. retail prices in usa are one of the cheapest in the world. i think you should audition a few systems and once you decide on what you want go online and look for the best available price. you will def score a good price

Hi!!

My budget is roughly $1200 to $1300 plus the emotiva DAC .
Am a little inclined towards th Tekton design for the Mlore. It's a full range single Eminence Driver. Not heard it but has good reviews -
Tekton M-lore Speaker Review

Thanks

 

[asliarun]

Hi!!

My budget is roughly $1200 to $1300 plus the emotiva DAC .
Am a little inclined towards th Tekton design for the Mlore. It's a full range single Eminence Driver. Not heard it but has good reviews -
Tekton M-lore Speaker Review

Thanks

Where in the Midwest are you located? You seem to be interested in floorstanders so please note that shipping will be a huge expense unless you buy local.

Are you open to used speakers?

 

[ghatgepatil]

If you are somewhere near or in Michigan, the below should suffice all your requirements ........ @ your indicated budget!
SongBird - home

 

[shanmune]

Hi!!

Sub woofer- Could you all pls help choose between SVS SB-1000 - $ 500 and Polk audio micro pro 1000- $ 538 eBay on polk store.
Svs SB 1000 has good reviews. Both are sealed subs.
Room size 15x 15 ft.

If budget is your constraint, then the best would be SVS PB1000. For your room size, SB1000 is underpowered. I guess you want to use your subwoofer for movies and not for stereo. For movies, SB1000 gets no where near PB1000 though both are priced the same. For music, there is no much difference between them. If you are willing to extend you budget by another $150 to $200, SVS PB12-NSD and SB12-NSD are the options. If space is your constraint, then either go for SB12-NSD or PB1000. I even heard SB12-NSD is no match for PB1000 for movies.

 

[naj]

Thanks Shanmune & ghatgepatil,

Have come across a few full range speaker makers - Zu audio is one of them.

Today spoke to Audio Nirvana Link- CommonSense Audio
They make full range drivers and have a tie up with Wyatt Acoustic for speaker cabinets. Link- http://wyattacoustics.com/featured-items/csa-2-8/]Wyatt Acoustics

 

[naj]

Hi!

To update , today booked the Tekton M- Lore speakers.
Eric had a refurbished pair and give me for $ 500 , $ 150 less.

Hope they are good. Great reviews . I feel the are like the Norge / Lyrita of the US . Awaiting to get them .
Will be able to give initial impressions of the Emotiva set up too once they have been connected.

There is how ever one thing I wish to share. With the Audnist DAC connected as I/put to the pre amp , I was getting a very narrow sound stage. Felt that the lows and highs had disappeared. I was virtually going to return the Emotiva pre and pro until one day tried connecting the source PC directly to the pre & the sound stage opened up to such a extent. His remains a mystery. What could be the reason for this.

Thanks-