yamaha at singapore

hey.....

are u sure u want to get only yamaha.......did u listen to marantz.....if u are looking for 657 i wud suggest u to atleast listen to marant5600 before u decide on yamaha......this is much more superior in both music and HT mode compared to yam657......i donot know bout the yam there but one of the forum members got a marantz 5500/5600 for around 16k INR converted from singapore dollar.....

coming to yam657....u wud get in the gray market for around 25-25k here in india.......donot go by by billing stuff as there are no authorised distributors or dealers here in india foe yam.....they will just promise u all the bills and warranty and stuff but check out on the yam website for the authorised people here and u will get 0 results......

edges

Ahh the Marantz!!! I seem to run behind the yammie but a marantz is always not far behind pursuing me!

Dear Edges, have u read that review? I have always leaned towards yamaha,may be becuase i am a movie buff. I am neither an audiophile nor am i into serious music. The music albums u guys discuss here sound only greek to me.

And I have read allover the net that yamaha is better for HT.All the music i would be hearing would be film music.Most of the reviews about this yammie 657 says music is also good through the pure mode.

Well i may also try to hear the marantz too before taking the plunge.

Anyway if any of u can help me to get the singapore price of th yammie i will be greatful.
Shri

Hey Srikarkav,
Buddy if you are movie buff then look at Harmon Kardon or an Onkyo, they are superior to the Yammys in almost all respects. If you care then listen to a Sonodyne reciever and you will be blown by their HT performance...but people who are more brand conscious dont bother much for brands like Sonodyne even if they are vastly superior, in case you are interested then go ahead and liste to the brands I have mentioned (particularly Sonodyne) then you know what you were missing.......


As far as the review goes......first of all you cant buy a audio equipments by reviews alone......revies are just there to tell you some things that others feel and not what you feel.
Secondly the review you have posted was there on the Yamaha's site so its bound to be good....
Buddy if you have come into this forum for some true suggestions and then first of all "TRUST YOUR EARS ONLY" rather than reviews.

Yamaha at the entry level is just an average performer THATS ALL....

Hi abhi,
thanks for ur reply. There is an onkyo show room in Chennai. but i dont know where i can audition a HK. As far as Sondodyne is concerned there are are two delaers in chennai. But i dont know wheather they have a demo room.
Your advice of trusting one's own ears is well taken.

I have been looking for a 7.1 av receiver even tho i know most of the dvd's come only in 5.1 format.What is your take on 7.1 receivers. Do u think it is not going to be much diifferent from a 5.1 receiver?I mean the expereince of watching the movies.

Any on here have a Sonodyne? If so can they share their views with me please?
Shri

Hi Srikarkav,
Talk to any experienced HT guy, most of the times you will find that 5.1 is all that you need to enjoy proper HT in our living rooms. In case you have a very big hall or something then you may think of adding a channel or two that too just for fiiling huge gaps between two speakers, but as you have already said you wouldnt find any REAL 7.1 effect as the DVD itself is encoded in 5.1. Instead in a good living room if you simply push extra channels you would lose on the surround seperation so its mostly recommended to stick to 5.1 channels only.

As far as the recievers are concerned, go to the showrooms (onkyo, sonodyne) and take the demo. If you have any reference DVD then take it along with you. I am sure both of them must be having some demo setups for their HT products. Dont hesitate to ask about discounts. The sonodyne is 17k (I prefer it above most of the other recievers under 35k). The entry level Onkyo should be 23k (approx). Try to find the JBL showroom, those people also deal in HK. ALL THE BEST......

Dear abhi,
I thank u for ur prompt replies. plss tell me wheather getting a HK or Onkyo from Singapore would be a cheaper option for me? I can use the extra bucks for the speakers.
Shri

hey.....

anytime better to get them from singapore as the prices are almost half there compared to there even in the grey market......one thing u have to see the service backup.......or u can even do one more thing-let it be there in singapore for a month with everyday usage if u have a friend/relative staying there so that if there are any problems in the begining then u can claim the warraty there......

edges

u ll even get a good pair of surrounds for the price compared to what u pay here......

Hi,

I bought a yamaha RV2500 for a friend of mine from Singapore about two months ago for about SGD1100 thats roughly 29-30K at a conversion rate around 27.

In my view, prices in SG are about 50-60% of what they are in India (official) and about 25% cheaper than gray.

But that is not taking into a/c the customs duty payable.

CKN

Dear CKN,
Thanks for that great info.
Can u tell me the name of the shop u bought it and the amount u paid as customs duty here in India?
Thanks again friend,
Regards,
shri

Hi S,

The shop was Alpha Audio at Sim Lim. Good selection of equipment. They also have a shop selling higher end at Adelphi.

As we are all well aware, customs duty is quite flexible. Try and get something "fixed" so that you can control the cost!

CKN

Hi CKN,

Whats ur friend, for whom u bought the yammie rxv 2500 saying? Is he happy with it? Did u have the opportunity to audition it in his place? If so whats ur opinion plss?
Thank u,
Regards,
shri

Hi,

It was more like my friend had decided on a Yamaha (he isnt too much up to speed on this) as it was the most "popular" name in his view. Among the set of AVRs I checked out for him, i liked the 2500 the best. It fared well on both music and movies. Had enough on board features to keep a not-so-avid owner happy.
Havent heard any complaints from him. So I guess he is ok with it too!

CKN

Hi CKN,

I think this yammie may suit me well. because i am not much in to serious music.But what is in ur opinion will satisfy an 'avid owner' as u have put it.Some guys in this forum has asked me to go for either a marantz or Harman kardon. I was impressed by HK but i hear that it fails to give 7.1 output. I will eithier go for RXV 657 OR 2500 or some Marantz, since Marantz also retails cheap at singapore.
Thanks,
Regards.
shri

Srikarkav,
If you are looking for a really HT + Stereo Setup at the mid-level (since you are talking of the RXV-657 and 2500) then look at Sonodyne Surround Processor + Six channel power amp. It will just beat the pants of any reciever in that price bracket. Awesome to the core. I tell you, you will simply forget everything else.
My suggestion is dont decide before looking at this gem.

Sri,

I strongly second Abhi's view on the sonodyne. Excellent stuff at a good price. The new Avant series speakers were good too, though somewhat "life-stylish".

CKN

Dear abhi,

can u plss give me the model number of this sonodyne and possibly the price? Since i am not an audio geek i will find it really difficult to tune my speakers. Does this sonodyne have a feature like yammie's YAPO for optimizing sound in any given room and can it matrix two channel sound into multichananel audio?
Dont u think i will miss features like YAPO.component video up conversion,night listening enhancer and a presence channel ouput for dialougue lift if i dont go for a yammie?
Regards,
shri

Hi Srikarkav,
What i understand is, features like yapo is good but not something which one would prefer above the Sound Quality. It may make a bit of your task easy in speaker setting (which in itself is not at all difficult IMO) but those are all just value-addition over the main product (which consist of the surround decoder + pre-amp + power amp). So first you should get the core product right then think of value additions like DSP and Yapo. I will tell you there is a lot of difference between the sonodyne and the Yammy in terms of quality of surround processing and sound quality.

Now I have heard some high end yammys and I will tell you all those DSPs are just waste. You will just 1 or 2 of them. As far converting 2 channel into 6 channel os concerned......man its a joke, I have tried that also, infact you would find this feature in the cheapest of the sound cards so its no big deal that Yammy has it and i am sure Sonodyne will also have it but frankly there is hardly any surround effect, its just that all speakers are singing at a time (like in a marraige party). Nothing to enjoy...just a feature thats it. Its there in all recievers though some of them name it as Matrix and some dont. Effect is all same....CRAP. Yes it matters if you fire all channels on DTS Music Video Track where all channels have a job to do and then there is true surround around you.

My bet is still on Sonodyne. It should cost around 50k.
Go to [url] www.sonodyne.com [/url]

Hi abhi,

U have got me a little confused man! r u telling me to get the following sonodyne products?
1 AVR 300R-audio video receiver
2 MPA 6150- 6 channel power amplifier
3 MP606- multichannel amplifier
Man i thought its simply enough to get a AV Receiver for my HT!

If i sound a little stupid, pardon me sir. But i am not getting the hang of this 'pre-amp' thing. So if i get all this gear its good for HT and as well as two channel stero?
plss explain the pre amp concept to me. And when u say it will cost me 50k did u mean the total cost of the above said sonodyne gear together?
How naive of me to think life is an easy breeze!!!
Thanks for all ur prompt replies,
Regards,
shri

Hi,
One more q. how a multichannel power amplifier differs from a multichannel AV Receiver? and a multi channel processor is different from both of the above?

Man i think i am sounding more & more stupid! sighhhhhhh
shri

srikarkav schrieb:

Hi abhi, U have got me a little confused man! r u telling me to get the following sonodyne products? 1 AVR 300R-audio video receiver 2 MPA 6150- 6 channel power amplifier 3 MP606- multichannel amplifier Man i thought its simply enough to get a AV Receiver for my HT!

Abhi is suggesting you to go for Sonodynes pre-power amp separates. There will be 2 components, MP606 is for processing 2 or multichannel sound (decoding & dividing the source into different channels) and MPA 6150 is for amplifying all the six channel. So you need to connect MP606 to your source CD or DVD player. Connect MP606 & MPA 6150...and again connect MPA 6150 to your speakers.

The sound will be better because for 2 jobs there are separate components, the price will be higher too (around 50k Abhi assumed)

Power amplifier has capability to amplify but not to process the sound. Receiver has capability to do both.

Else you can get AVR-300R, which has both of these components integrated and it costs only 17k. It is a great VFM product.

So no need to get all of them, get either 1 or (2 and 3).

Thanks Diskspinner....I really caught a grasp as I found that Srikarkav is totally confused and even paniced.

Hi Srikarkav,
See its just simple, Totally your electronics comprises of three parts (in general) source (your cdp/dvdp) + Pre-amp + Power amp.
Now in a reciever the Pre-amp and the Power amp are built into one box where as what I was suggesting is to go for a seperate Pre-amp and a seperate 6 channel power amp. Normally such seperates cost a bomb but Sonodyne has come out with a setup which are seperates but still affordable.
They are definitely better than what you get from other brands at that price.

abhi wrote: They are definitely better than what you get from other brands at that price (referring to the Sonodyne processor-power amp combo)

Is it possible for any one to list some comparable products that the Sonodyne beats, just so that we know how much of an advantage (price wise) it offers. Am sure this will be a valuable comparison chart for anyone considering a good set up (me being one of them!)

Thanks
Ckn

HI,

Many thanks to abhi,diskspinner and ckn.u guys seem to have given me a better laternate to an av reciver.

Have any of u heard this combo of MPA 6150+MP 606?
Well i like the idea of having a better stero system and as well as a HT setup.
Does NAD, Marantz and Rotel too have a combo like this? and or they better than Sonodyne? If so i want to get them from Singapore. Dont curse me since I am harping on Singapore. But these amps and recevers seem retail half of Indian prices there.
Iu guys feel there is a better combo from the above mentionerd brands plss let me know. abhi has said other brands cost a bomb.I think i can around this probles by getting the gear from abroad.
Thanks again
shri

If you are getting things from Singapore then you can try the follwoing:
Marantz SR-5600, 6600
Nad T763,

Rotel should be out of the budget but still you can try.

Hi Srikarv,
I scouted around for an entry level amp/AV receiver + speakers on a tight budget. I checked up on this forum extensively. I finalised on the Sony STR-DE-598 + SS-MF-650H floorstanders.
I'd echo the opinion of not going by reviews. I got a demo of the Yammy RXV457 and the AX496 amp. They work well only with good speakers(RsRsRs). My speakers are entry level speakers and the Yammies boomed unbearably. So finalise Ur config, listen to it and then go ahead. All the best.
Bibs

Hi Bibs,

Thats great friend, u could finally settle for something.Hope it gives value for the money. Have u set it up in ur home and if so how do u find the perfomance?

So u have first gone for the front speakers only for the timebeing? Thats smart thinking.

Thanks for sharing th info.
Regards,
Shri

Hi Srikarkarv,
I wanted a Hifi sound to begin with. The speakers required for that were way out of my budget. So I settled for an AV receiver. The midrange is very muted in the AV receiver and on certain recordings the bass booms ( but less than with the Yammy I tested it with.).
I noticed U mentioned the night listening enhancer. It is available in the Sony also, however, the fine print says it works only with suitably encoded discs. So I again caution U abt paper specs and ads. Listening to the full config with Ur own discs, DVDs, CDs etc. is the best way to judge the worth of any system.
Bibs