Wanted! Good Speakers + amp/avr in 1-1.25 lacs

Hello Everybody,

I am from mumbai, India. About 7-8 months back I decided I needed a new Hi-Fi music system. and the budget and systems that I was looking for then was totally different. I looked at Onkyo 3300 and 5300 HTIBs but was not satisfied at all. Then I got busy with life and some time passed by. But now I am again starting to look around and see what I can get best for my money.

My budget then was around 35-40k. now I have upped it to 1-1.25 lac. So I wish to get something really good in that budget.

Sometime back I did check out a few sub-sat combos as they looked attractive in the price range. Here is what I found:

1)Mirage mx: good warm sound. Liked it immediately. Suitable for music too. But a little muffeled sometimes.

2) Kef 3005se: worst of the lot! High expectations but severely dissapointed. Not suitable for music at all. Too bright and sharp sound.

3) Jamo sat/sub (don’t remember the model): a little better than kef eggs. But still too bright for music.

4) Morel sat/sub: similar to jamo. Nothing great. Too bright and sharp.

5) Bose lifestyle 48: demoed them just for the comparo (though way outta budget) surprisingly the best of the lot. Balanced sound. Tight performance. Good clarity compared to others.

6) Bose lifestyle 35: this system actually sounded a little better compared to lifestyle 48 for music as it sounded more warm and balanced compared to the lifestyle 48, which sounded much sharper compared to this. Liked this more!

All tested on denon 1611 except Bose lifestyle systems.

Also tested a couple of conventional speakers in the mean time. Kef and polk audio but nothing too great about them to write about. Polk sounded too boomy! Also heard a psb (model unknown and just checked one model as it was almost closing time and I had just dropped in as was passing by) at lakozy which sounded good but lacked the bass. That was alomost with all the three models of kef, polk and psb. Psb a bit better in clarity and overall sound if I recollect.

Then one day I was at atria mall at worli and thought to check out this hi-fi shop called Thump. I was shown and given a short demo of Energy speakers by Sameer. As I had just dropped in by chance so I had no CD’s with me. Sameer suggested I bring my own CD’s to Demo. But heres what I felt about the short Demo I took of two Energy models.

1)Energy CF-30: sounded really good and was impressed. It had good bass and nice and clear sound. Liked it. Sameer said a sub unit along with it would give better effect with Hip hop kinda music. I heard Hotel California (unplugged) and liked it.

2)Energy RC-50: after CF-30 I heard these and he played some instrumentle CD which had lots of Drums. And I was completely Blown away! WOW! These speakers sounded amazing! The bass was awesome and tight. Very good clarity. Overall superb sound. But I heard that this is a discontinued model. So which is the replacement model for RC-50?

I heard the above speakers with a Marantz PM-7003 Amp and some marantz CD player. The combination just sounded teriffic with the RC-50.

So now I have dropped the idea of buying a sub-sat combo but still have written my experience above for anyone who needs a comparo.

But now my hunt for good speakers begin. I have shortlisted a few below which I need to demo. Meanwhile all suggestions are welcome if there is anything else besides these which I can check out.

1) Warfedale Diamond 10 series (Diamond 10.7 + 10 cm + 10 dfs + 10 gx)

2) Q Accoustics 2000 series.

3) Mordaunt short aviano series.

4) Energy RC-50 equivalent model

5) Lithos Kontra

6) PSB Image

7) Quad L2 series

8) Monitor Audio RS

My requirement is great sounding musical speakers which should do a good job as home theatre for movies too. I need Amp/AVR + Speakers in around 1-1.25 lac (max 1.5 lac). room size is 19 x 13. and speakers will be kept on the wall which is 13 feet wall to wall.. so cant keep too much distance behind the speakers for rear ported speakers. I listen to all kind of music. also after hearing the Energy speakers I am also a bit confused whether to buy a 5.1 package + avr OR 2 centre speakers + avr right now in that budget and then later on add a centre and surrounds OR just to go for a stereo amp + 2 speakers? Guys please help me make a decision and buy a great sounding system. All suggestions welcome. Any help will be really appreaciated. also please do let me know where can I audition which brand/speakers. Thank you.