Suggestion reg. A/V System

[siddhartha sankar]

Hello everybody! Though I am a member for sometime but this is my first post. First of all, I must say that I am learning a lot from this forum.I am a novice as per as the hardware of the music/video systems are concerned,so I need some help.I am planning for a system comprising of an AV receiver, 2 main speakers( for the time being) & a CD/DVD player. My budget is around Rs.50k. The Sub & the Surround speakers, not included in this budget, will be added in future.Now friends, can you suggest some combination? Will the connecting cables be supplied with the system or to be bought seperately?I am in Mumbai, so if possible,pl. suggest the places where I can have a demo. Thanks for your time.

 

[dinyaar]

Hello everybody! Though I am a member for sometime but this is my first post. First of all, I must say that I am learning a lot from this forum.I am a novice as per as the hardware of the music/video systems are concerned,so I need some help.I am planning for a system comprising of an AV receiver, 2 main speakers( for the time being) & a CD/DVD player. My budget is around Rs.50k. The Sub & the Surround speakers, not included in this budget, will be added in future.Now friends, can you suggest some combination? Will the connecting cables be supplied with the system or to be bought seperately?I am in Mumbai, so if possible,pl. suggest the places where I can have a demo. Thanks for your time.

Hi siddharth,

I guess u can buy any of the Denon, Marantz , Yamaha receivers and they will happily drive any price comparable speakers from Wharfdale, M Short, Mission and the list goes on and on. I guess since u are buying a A/V receiver to add surround speakers later u must buy one of the budget Dvd players from pioneer, Denon etc though music would sound best from a dedicated CD spinner. To get the Model Nos. of all the components mentioned above, the prices and ratings i suggest u buy a WHAT HI-FI magazine and scan it.

I am not a A/V person but strictly a music person so cannot give u more details. I suggest u buy speakers first as thats the sound u hear and then add the receiver and then the DVD. I would buy all speakers from the same manufacturer to get a perfect hand shake.

As u are in mumbai there are tons of places u can go to buy all these products and for advice and demo s. Lakozy at chowpatty, Pro FX at Atria worli, Designer audio next to AC market tardeo and Sound out at heera Panna if u want to explore the grey market deals.

Ya basic interconnects will be supplied with ur DVD player to start u up but u will have to buy decent speaker wire to hook up ur speakers. Of course u can get really expensive interconnects, speaker wires and mains cables which would make a difference but i guess u can leave that for later.

Regards and good luck

 

[siddhartha sankar]

Hello everybody and thanks Dinyaar for your time & suggestions. As per your advice, scanned What Hi Fi & had demo at ProFx and Designer Audio and have short listed a few models. Now pl. help me choose among Denon 1507/1907, Onkyo 505/574/605 & Marantz similar models (don?t know any model no.). Anybody having experience with Marantz models in the same range, pl. suggest. Of course, it should be available in Mumbai! My budget for Avr is 30-35k. Planning to go for 2 floorstanders for the time being. So pl. suggest me among Wharfedale Diamond 9.5/8.4, Polk Monitor 50 and M S 902i/906i ( haven?t heard & don?t know the price ).Further, is HDMI is must for the future ? Which model of Denon & Marantz at lower end has HDMI? Request to all of you for suggestions / opinions & informations. Thanks for your time. Regards,

Siddhartha sankar

 

[unleash_me]

AVR

1. Denon 1908 http://usa.denon.com/AVR-1908Lit_1112_90w.pdf
2. Onkyo TX-SR605 Onkyo TX-SR605 - 7.1-Channel Home Theater Receiver | Model Information | Onkyo USA Home Theater Products

Speakers

1. Wharfedale Diamond 9.5/9.6
2. Mordaunt Short Avant 906i/908i
3. Monitor Audio BR5

Best Regards.

 

[dinyaar]

Hi siddharth,
I know denon makes great budget AVR s and people are happy with the current onkyo boxes too but i prefer a marantz receiver for music. I heard an onkyo with Monitor Audio (RS 6) and it was a let down.As i mentioned in my earlier post i am a stereo guy and i really feel most budget AVR s are just about ok for the suround/movie experience but give a very poor stereo reproduction. So its marantz/denon/onkyo in order of preference for me. A few people on this forum (unleash me and particleman in particular) are well informed about the current receivers, their specs and prices and am sure will guide u better. I would spend my 50 K (the budget u mentioned) on a basic Nad cd/amp combo and say a monitor audio BR 2 book shelf and be musically happy.
Regards.

 

[unleash_me]

Siddharth,

That is a very valid point our friend 'dinyaar' noted there. I might have looked up on your query in as general AV one. If musicality is your priority. Look no further.

... but i prefer a marantz receiver for music... I would spend my 50 K (the budget u mentioned) on a basic Nad cd/amp combo and say a monitor audio BR 2 book shelf and be musically happy.

True Marantz/CA/Arcam are all renouned for their exceptional capabilities with music. But if its a alrounder you are after, I still would like to suggest the Denon/Onkyo over the above mentioned.

...I would spend my 50 K (the budget u mentioned) on a basic Nad cd/amp combo and say a monitor audio BR 2 book shelf and be musically happy.

Awesome combo. In this price point, luckly, now you can mix and match a lot these days.

Best regards.

 

[particleman]

If music is a priority, you should either get a stereo amp OR get a competent AV receiver for music (CA/Marantz/Arcam as unleash_me has said) and then add the speakers in stages. That is, you could get something like the Marantz SR-3001 (not 301) and get just the fronts for now (MA BR2 is a good choice but the floorstanding BR5 would be better esp for music). You can later add the center, sub and lastly the surrounds. Getting separates rather than a HTiB type solution is thus a good approach. Quality will be maintained.

For the player see if you can get the Denon 1940 on the grey market as its official price is too high (don't worry, unleash_me & dinyaar, no more outbursts of outrage from me ) and its a good all-rounder. On a budget the Cambridge Audio DVD89 is also decent for a mere 12k. Both players do all formats short of HD.

 

[unleash_me]

...For the player see if you can get the Denon 1940 on the grey market as its official price is too high (don't worry, unleash_me & dinyaar, no more outbursts of outrage from me ) and its a good all-rounder. On a budget the Cambridge Audio DVD89 is also decent for a mere 12k. Both players do all formats short of HD.

LOL.

Another player to add to the above list would be Oppo DV981HD or 980 (if you want USB, but will loose out on much acclaimed DCDi by Faroudja) I heard this is available in India officially. But could always make a round in the greymarkets for better offers

In the recent issue of AVmax, they did a DVD player test across different brands. I was very surprised to see that they didn't rate Denon 1940 fairly and have indeed praised the Onkyo model to the core. I have myself watched the above mentioned players many times while helping out friends, trust me, the Onkyo player simply sux; it cant scale up to the Denon in any respect. May be it?s due to my armature/enthusiast outlook, but if its OK to trust your eyes and ears, Onkyo simply dint justify the ratings. Denon and CA are definite knockers.

All the best.

 

[siddhartha sankar]

Hello everybody. Thanks Dinyaar, Unleash me & Particleman. Yes, my first priority is music but I do not want to shut out the option of movies. I like full bodied music which has depth --- just bass & high treble is not my cup of tea! I didn?t know about Marantz?s speciality in music (as all of you have vouched for) and then I couldn?t get any Marantz dealer?s name in Mumbai, hence didn?t get a demo. Now, SR 3001 is in my list. After receiving your comments I searched the Net and have come across a dealer in Mumbai and also another model SR4001( close to my budget).Does anybody has any experience with SR 4001? One more query --- how many in/out is sufficient for the AVR ?

Marantz dealer: Nova Audio,
Carter Rd., Mumbai-52.

Regards,

Siddhartha.

 

[dinyaar]

Hi siddharth,
I personally prefer marantz for the music and i believe its a fair performer for movies too. Marantz is very easy to procure in the mumbai grey market especially the AV receivers though if u opt for bill/warranty Lakozy (23697001/2)at chowpatty are now the dealers and have some stuff but can get u the entire product line to demo/buy. Try CA too. Denons are highly rated and loved but i feel they excel with movies but disappoint with music. Its also depends on the speakers u buy. May sound strange but if its a mediocre speaker u will probably struggle to tell the differences in various budget receivers. Sorry i cant speak on the specific models u mention as i am terrible at remembering them. As far as inputs/ outputs go i doubt any of the receivers will fall short as most are heavily packed. Am not sure if any of them will have an HT bypass though.
Regards

**Sound out, heera panna shopping centre:23525889/23514625 also an option for most AVR s without Bill.

 

[rajagopal_j]

Hi Sid,

Just wondering, have you picked out your speakers as yet? If you havent I would suggest you pick out the speakers that you want to have first.

The speakers are what you actually listen to and last much longer that your AVRs. You can look at the right AVRs for your speakers then.

Also speakers have their own character,for example if you audition to say 3 brands Wharfdale, Mordaunt-Short and Monitor Audio and you like the Mordaunt-Short speakers, you have to keep in mind that these are a little forward sounding, in which case if you pair them up with an Onkyo AVR then you will end up with a very "tinny" or "bright" sounding kit which you will probably not like.

So my suggestion is for you to first pick out your speakers. Then have a word with your AVR guy to check if you can audition your AVRs on the selected range of speakers. This will provide you with a better match.

Cheers,
Raj.

 

[particleman]

I would suggest visiting "Sound Out" at Heera Panna for the Marantz 3001/4002 (latter replaces the 4001!) before taking a decision. Buying from the grey market has its risks but its good to know what your options are.

As for inputs, it depends on the number of devices you plan to connect to the AVR but the Marantz offers a sufficient number of connections to suit most needs and need not be a cause for concern. A bit of a drawback is that the 3001 does not do video up-conversion so you cannot reduce the number of output connections or be freed from input switching on your TV.

You can also consider the Cambridge Audio line of AV receivers if you wish - the 540R V3 and 640R are also competent musical performers. You can contact FX Entertainment (Fx Entertainment) who will put you in touch with the closest dealership for you.

 

[skt]

Hi Siddhartha,
Marantz is a good option for your music requirement with AVR. Marantz have all inputs required for most of our requirements. SR 3001 don?t have HDMI in/out, also HDMI is useful only in hi end AVR which upscale the video to 1080 and those cost around 45k+ About speakers you may start with a pair of bookshelf and centre channel speaker now and latter buy a good floor standing speaker and make this two bookshelf as sound speaker. centre channel speaker required now because in movies you need centre speaker to get the best dialog deliveries. Also to match with floor stand speaker you should consider SR 4001 or higher power amps or lower power matching floor standing speaker. Checkout some dealers may have older models of AVR like SR5400, 7400.. in the new condition with warranty and they will sell those in lesser prices. I know in bangalore and Delhi who have few older models in new condition and may sell at lower rates. Good luck for u r AV hunt.
-Sk

 

[siddhartha sankar]

Hello Friends,
Thanks for all the suggestions. For the last 2 weeks I was trying to have demo of various AVRs & speakers. Got a demo of CA 540RV2 but could not get any demo of Marantz SR4001/4002. Further, most of the retailers expressed very discouraging views about Marantz?s service availability in Mumbai. According to them, if it goes bad then the money gone down the drain! Is the situation so bad? Though Lakozy at Chowpatty claims to have acquired the service rights and the dealership of Marantz but after listening to all the retailers (visited quite a few around Bandra, Andheri & Khar area) I do not know whom to believe ! I am confused ! Any suggestions ? Anybody using Marantz AVR in Mumbai (bought here) may pl. give your feedback. Demo of Cambridge Audio 540R v2 with MS Avant 906i was good. If Marantz gets ruled out then my option narrows down to CA 540 R v3 & DenonAVR1708. By the way, any experience with Mission 33i/34i or DALI concept6, AXS 5000 &8000 speakers? Old stock DALI speakers are available at discounted price. Would wait for your suggestions/comments.

With best Regards,

Siddhartha.

 

[dinyaar]

Hi siddharth,
Warranty for most of these products is just 1 year. And if things go wrong later why would the money go down the drain? Can be repaired. Anyway the service back up here leaves a lot to be desired and as far as various dealers running down a marantz in mumbai suburbs holds no water really. Most of these CA, Marantz, Denon,NAD etc are all made in china and the quality would be very similar.
Finally just buy what u like and dont rely too much on negative comments from dealers/distributors.
Regards.

 

[Gandhian]

any idea on what the price would be in india for the denon 1940 in the grey market...i am in the US and it is available but it is regioin 1 and NTSC...is that easy to unlock???

 

[siddhartha sankar]

Hello Everybody,

At last I could get my A/V system! I 've setteled for Cambridge Audio CA 540 R V3 receiver, Wharfedale Diamond 9.5 and a budget DVD player Pioneer 400.May be on a later date, once the hole in my pocket is repaired, I will go for a better player and may be a sub ! But the main reason for this post is --- THANKS to all of you for your very valuable suggestions --- particularly to Dinyaar,Unleash me, Particleman.This forum has definitely helped me in my search for my system. Once again -- thanks .

With regards,

Siddhartha.

 

[unleash_me]

Nice system. Congrats man. Enjoy!

 

[dinyaar]

Congratulations Siddhartha. U are most welcome. Sit back and enjoy till the upgrade bug bites!

 

[smruti]

Hi All,
I need suggestion about which is better among HK AVR-347 or DENON-2308,plz. help I am confused,cmy choice 80% music 20% movie.
bye