Suggestion on a Good Home Theater System to Buy

[prosenjit]

bower and wilkins or usher will be your choice with so good budget....
in fact if you hear usher once..i bet you you will hardly demo any other..
bower and wilkins are also fantastics..but i have not heard them..
and i still say..no avr for you..
emotiva pre pro and emotiva power amp is the choice..
sepatrates can do magic over avr

well for fs or bs..
could you elaborate more on your use..
music/cinema....and source/material also

 

[shanmune]

bower and wilkins or usher will be your choice with so good budget....
in fact if you hear usher once..i bet you you will hardly demo any other..
bower and wilkins are also fantastics..but i have not heard them..
and i still say..no avr for you..
emotiva pre pro and emotiva power amp is the choice..
sepatrates can do magic over avr

well for fs or bs..
could you elaborate more on your use..
music/cinema....and source/material also

Hi prosenjit
I have no confusion for speakers and you have listed the best.
For AVR vs seperates, I am very curious and eager to audition when I get time.
Just for the sake of the discussion and having an example to explain with, I am writing down the scenario here: (This is just for discussion sake only )
OP can take two paths and what do you say on this :
1. Buy an AVR and then go for power amp in future
2. Buy pre-pro and power amp.

I know path#2 will give good results. Let's take path#1 - How, how about going for Anthem MRX500 or NAD T747 or T757 and have a seperate power amp ? The reason I am hearing is - MRX500/MRX700/T747/T757 are having great reviews. Almost all the reviews conclude that these receivers have the SQ unmatched at their price levels and into audiophile segment.
One specific thing with respect to MRX500 - Most of the guys say that it has superior (Anthem Room correction) room correction compared to rest of the room corrections features coming in Marantz or Denon or even any other pre-pro. For T 747/757, couple of reviewers say that they offer even much better sound signature and sonic quality (when used as pre-amp with it's preouts) when compared with few of the dedicated AV pre-pros.

I know - MRX500 costs around $1500, T747 costs around $800 T757 costs around $1600. I understand the cost part, but what do you say about the performance part which I have put in the above para ?

To keep simple:
1. Emotiva pre-pro+Emotiva power amp
2. NAD T757 (pre-amp)+Emotiva power amp
3. MRX500 (pre-amp)+Emotiva power amp

Performance wise - any thoughts on the above combinations ? -or- With path#1, one can go for upgrade at a later point in time. Anyway, I want to know your thoughts and suggestions.

I guess I am giving a sweet headache and confusion not only to OP, but also to prosenjit . prosenjit, please don't ask me why I am complicating things when there is a very simple setup of having only pre_pro+power_amp
WHat to do ? My mind is jumping like a monkey in being too much curious

 

[prosenjit]

Relax
even i have the same question in my mind for future purpose
hehehe..

option 1 will be cheapest and best value for money i belive..
for nad t757 or alikes...what i think is to get their actual potential better power amps than emotiva is needed....

so option 1 is good..

to op
you can ask experts...anyday you will get much beter results with a emotiva pre pro+emotiva power amp than a same priced avr alone...

 

[shanmune]

Relax

to op
you can ask experts...anyday you will get much beter results with a emotiva pre pro+emotiva power amp than a same priced avr alone...

Yes and there is no doubt in that.

To OP,
Assuming that you have finalized on the speakers.

I will simply recommend you to go the way of having Emotiva pre-pro + Emotiva power amp if you are focus is ONLY and ONLY Sqound quality. Only problem is - You will miss some features available on Yamaha, Onkyo, Denon, etc. As I said before, you decided whether you want very good Pure sound quality -or- features+good sound quality.

 

[tulsiyan]

bower and wilkins or usher will be your choice with so good budget....
in fact if you hear usher once..i bet you you will hardly demo any other..
bower and wilkins are also fantastics..but i have not heard them..
and i still say..no avr for you..
emotiva pre pro and emotiva power amp is the choice..
sepatrates can do magic over avr

well for fs or bs..
could you elaborate more on your use..
music/cinema....and source/material also

Hi prosenjit,
First of all a major correction. Today I got down to actually measuring my living room and its embarrassing to admit that I made a major mistake, my present living room is 220 sq ft and not 100 was I originally guessed. Also I shall be moving in a couple of years and the living room size shall double. So I need your suggestions on fs or bs based on that. My preferred use shall be 50 50 for music and movies. I am very keen on trying out nad, arcam, anthem and the likes because I have read rave reviews about them. I might end up choosing them over the onkyos, denons, etc. I am sure your suggestion to go for emotiva is an excellent idea but I might go for the second option for now and buy the nad, anthem or arcam and later pick up a amp down the line. I hope you find that a good idea too. Shall definitely be checking on the ushers and b&w over the weekend along with other brands. All the suggestions from everyone has been very handy and I have also been doing some research of my own based on everyone's suggestions. Thanks a ton everyone. I shall come back with more queries once I have tried out a few options specially at harmonie audio as suggested by you.

 

[prosenjit]

you consult Mr vasu..owner of harmonie..he is so humble and expert and honest..he will give you perfect suggestion..
okay for a bigger room..
fs is better..
and nice choice..going for a pre amp wala nad or alike avr..
and adding a emotiva say..next year...

one request please...when you will visit harmonie please inform me..if i am free i will join you..its an experience i dont wanna miss..hehe..
my id
[email protected]
thanks

oh lastly please please dont settle for a sub other than svs..

 

[tulsiyan]

Does anyone know which dealers stock Anthem and NAD in Kolkata ? I tried looking online but couldn't find any names. Thanks in advance

 

[prosenjit]

you ask Mr vasu..he is so honest he will guide to different dealers if he does not have them..

 

[tulsiyan]

Hi everyone, I am back after a weekend of demos of various speakers. First and foremost, in the receivers category, no one stocks NAD. Anthems have been quoted at close to Rs. 2 lakhs which means its way over my budget. I have tried Onkyo, Marantz and Denon as of now but since they were tried with different speakers so its hard to tell the difference. I am still leaning towards the Denon though I am not sure what my reasons are. I am wanting to try out the Pioneer and Yamaha too and will hopefully get around to it sometime this week.
As to the subs, I have tried out a few which come along with the speakers that I have tested but I am leaning towards SVS. I think they are extremely good subs at the price point although quite substantial in size.
Now coming to the speakers, I have decided that the fronts shall be floor standers and therefore have only tried them out. I first got a trial of Energy Speakers (not by choice but those were the only good speakers they had aside from Jamo and the lot) at Promises. I am not too sure on Energy speakers though they did sound decently nice.
Next got a demo of B&W 683 and Usher V 604 at Harmonie Audio. Somehow the dialogues in the B&W when watching Dark Knight didn't sound crisp and clear, had to strain to listen. The Ushers on the other hand had complete clarity. Even with music, the Ushers had a larger sound stage than the B&Ws. Also the B&W were more brighter while the Ushers sounded more neutral and warmer. So in that contest, I felt the Ushers won. That was my perception. I want the opinion of others on both those speakers.
Next I got a trial of some KEF speakers at ProFX which were terrible. Even the guy who showed them to me said they weren't right for me and has promised me to give a demo of KEF Q900 soon. He has also recommended the Polk LSiM 705 but am not sure if he will be giving a demo on them which I certainly won't buy without a demo.
Then at SKS Traders I got a demo on Quadral Ascent 90 which seemed average and would definitely not be my choice. I also got a demo of Triangle Antal speakers which are expensive at Rs.2.25 lakhs a pain but worth every bit of the money. Ofcourse, the price also means I can't buy them cause I'll be left with almost nothing for everything else. He has promised to give a demo of Triangle Colors soon.
Next I went to a new place which hasn't completely opened yet but is in the process of being setup on ballygunge circular road in the compound of Red Hot Chilli Peppers restaurant. It has been opened by a friend together with Shrikant who earlier worked with ProFX and therefore I am in the know of the place. They are going to stock a few brands including B&W but yesterday I got a demo of Magnate Quantum Series (not sure of the exact model) and found them to be good though not completely to my liking but Shrikant informed me that they haven't been broken in properly yet and therefore the quality of sound shall improve once that happens. I shall be called back in soon in a couple of weeks once the Magnats have been broken in and other brands also arrive.
I am planning to try more speakers at Digital Acoustics (which was closed yesterday and so couldn't try) and Japonica during this week. I am not sure whether I am missing out on any other good store in Kolkata which I should try.
I am considering getting Demos on Tannoy Revolution DC6T SE, Paradigm Reference Studio 60 v.5, Klipsch and Dali if available at any of the other stores and then decide the speakers I want to settle for. Any other suggestions on the speakers to try ? Also I need your views on my observations above ?
Thanks everyone

 

[tulsiyan]

you consult Mr vasu..owner of harmonie..he is so humble and expert and honest..he will give you perfect suggestion..
okay for a bigger room..
fs is better..
and nice choice..going for a pre amp wala nad or alike avr..
and adding a emotiva say..next year...

one request please...when you will visit harmonie please inform me..if i am free i will join you..its an experience i dont wanna miss..hehe..
my id
[email protected]
thanks

oh lastly please please dont settle for a sub other than svs..

I asked Mr. Vasu as suggested by you whether to opt for NAD or Anthem and he suggested to still go for Denon and said even Denon has pre outs and so can be connected to preamps at a later point in time. He is the one who said Anthems can be procured but would cost close to Rs.2 lakhs.

 

[tulsiyan]

Sorry, one more query. Does anyone know who stocks Velodyne Subs in Kolkata ? They are supposed to be extremely good subs.

 

[Rupam]

I think Velodyne is not officially available in Kolkata. May be you can order online from hifimart.com. But if you listen to SVS subs then you won't go for Velodyne anymore.
SVS is available in Kolkata Harmonie Audio New Alipur.

 

[tulsiyan]

Update since my last post a few hours ago. I managed to visit both Japonica and Digital Acoustics today. Japonica had nothing except Pioneer AVRs of which too it had just 2 models. No speakers and the only one they had were horrible.
Digital acoustics had Tannoy Mercury V4 which sounded really good for music in 2 channel but didn't have much impact when it came to movies in 5.1 mode. Ofcourse the Velodyne subs were really good and have now got me confused whether to choose SVS or Velodyne. I was keen on listening to Tannoy Revolution DC6T SE but they didn't have it in stock. So I seem to have by now covered all the stores I was aware of and am still confused about the speakers to opt for. Any suggestions everyone ? Any more stores anyone can suggest ?

 

[tulsiyan]

I think Velodyne is not officially available in Kolkata. May be you can order online from hifimart.com. But if you listen to SVS subs then you won't go for Velodyne anymore.
SVS is available in Kolkata Harmonie Audio New Alipur.

Digital Acoustics stocks Velodyne. Have heard SVS too and I think both are amazing subs.

 

[prosenjit]

as you said you liked usher very much..also listen to klipsch for cinema..
and decide acording to your ear..

you are saying velodyne and svs seemed same!!!!!!!
anyway thats personal..but imho svs is of diff league....attackes your body..not ear..

 

[tulsiyan]

as you said you liked usher very much..also listen to klipsch for cinema..
and decide acording to your ear..

you are saying velodyne and svs seemed same!!!!!!!
anyway thats personal..but imho svs is of diff league....attackes your body..not ear..

Didn't say SVS & Velodyne are same but both are very good. Haven't found a Klipsch dealer yet, no one seems to be stocking it. Tannoy's Revolution 6T SE are also supposed to be extremely good speakers. The biggest problem I faced is that hardly anyone seems to stock any variety of speakers even in the brands they sell in Kolkata. Highly disappointing.

 

[tulsiyan]

I have finally given up on the dealers in Kolkata. None of them have gotten back to me on the speakers they had promised they shall be receiving soon and I can demo. I have even tried calling them up but each time their response has been that they will be getting it soon which is starting to sound more like a standard line to keep me waiting rather than an actual chance of the speakers arriving. Seems the dealers in Kolkata only stock one or two models at a time and that too of low cost variety. Seems like I shall be compelled to travel to either Delhi or Mumbai to finally buy a good system. Prosenjit, its such a disappointment to note this kind of attitude among the Kolkata dealers.