5.1 sound for 30K

Sonodyne all the way............others are all big compromises with bad sound.

Abhi, If given a choice between Onkyo TX-SR503 and the Sonodyne AV300R which one is better to go for?

He has already suggested...

abhi.pani schrieb:

Sonodyne all the way............others are all big compromises with bad sound. :cut

Ya....its still Sonodyne for me between the two.
But I would repeatedly insist to listen to it once before taking my words. Its truly coooool......

I have been to the Sonodyne Listening Room in the Forum Mall in bangalore atleast 7 times, and each time just loved the sound!!
the only thing thats holding me from buying it is the lack of component connections and 7.1 setup.
all the reviews in this Forum shows compromise on one thing or the other in all other brands - Denon, Marantz, Onkyo...
But Sonodyne have any complaints at all.

Besides, Sonodyne AVR 300 has -

Video Inputs - Composite-4 (on front dial), S-Video-4
Video Outputs - Composite-1, S-Video-1

Audio Inputs - Digital(coax)-2, Optical(600nm)-1,
Analogue Stereo-7 (one on front dial)
Audio Outputs - Speaker(Binding Post)-5, Subwoofer-1,
Headphone-1

I am planning to connect TV, DVDp, Worldspace, cd player, and Set-top box.
Is this possible with the above available connections? Whats the best way to connect each of these?

Hi Juggy,

Did u listen to the stereo integrated amp? siA102R. If so how was it?

What speakers did u use to listen to the AVR 300?

and are those sales guys after u to make a purchase???

- Nimz

Thanks for the comments guys! I have now made up my mind more or less to buy sonodyne combination only. Thank you abhi.pani for firming my decision.

I have been to Sonodyne listening room at Forum mall, Bangalore. Never thought I might end up buying it. At that point of time, my mind was firm on Philips HTR 5000. Sonodyne looked like an overkill.

I talked to Sonodyne authorized dealers here in Delhi over phone. What an ignorant bunch of fools! One guy told me that there is no such thing as Cinque speaker package. The other had a hard time looking it up in the catalogue list. This is what I am able to gather. The package will be -
4 monitor speakers - 1.5 K each
1 center speaker - 1.5 K
Powered subwoofer - 7 K
AV 300R receiver - 17.5 K
I am not yet sure whether the speaker cables are complementary.

I will visit the showroom tomorrow afternoon. While at it, I will also check out Onkyo HT-S580 out of curiosity.

I will let you know what happens there.

Hi rshri,
Ya, I agree with the fact that many of the Sonodyne guys are quite ignorant of audio concepts and also about the products. You can only blame sonodyne for it. They have never cared to promote the Cinique package which could heve been their best seller !! Look at onkyo how they have marketed their entry level packages like HTS-570/580/670 etc...Now more people know about Onkyo than Sonodyne even though they are an Indian company and that too 30 years old.....what a pity

Anyway dont worry, its not an overkill at all, instead you would feel more in a Theater environment because of the thrill it would give you.

Onkyo is mediocre, its sub-woofer has no bass, just a crying thud as if being over-strained doing a sub duty.
You wont get that low-end kick when there is a bomb-blast scene, infact if you switch your TV off, you wont even know that there was a Blast scene. Whats the use of buying it then ? Its my opinion......you go ahead and have a look.

rshri schrieb:

I am not yet sure whether the speaker cables are complementary.

i got 3m high gauge spkr wires free with the sonus 2605...looks like sonodyne's own produce...

nindo

I just got my marantz sr5500.Havnt opened the box yet.Can i use high guage finolex cables,for connecting speakers,at least.. temporary ?only the front rt and left ones,a pair of vintage kenwoods.

neono schrieb:

I just got my marantz sr5500.Havnt opened the box yet.Can i use high guage finolex cables,for connecting speakers,at least.. temporary ?only the front rt and left ones,a pair of vintage kenwoods.

Go right ahead..
i see no problems..
I don't see why they shoudl reject audio signals.
It is still electricity..

Hi,

I just got back after meeting two authorized dealers of Sonodyne in Delhi. I am now more confused than ever!

First dealer didn't have all Cinque speakers to give a demo (He was lacking two speakers - 1 rear and 1 front). He told me that speakers will be available next week only. He gave the demo by combining Cinque speakers with two other brand speakers for front and rear. He then also gave me demo of Onkyo HT-s580. Now the surprising part - he repeatedly insisted that I should buy Onkyo. He didn't have high opinion of Sonodyne. He told me that Onkyo is an internationally acclaimed model and has been around for years. Whereas Sonodyne is an Indian company which has been shut for many years in past and has come up actively in market only since past one year. For the same price, Onkyo will deliver 100W power and Sonodyne will deliver 50W power. He also said that Sonodyne woofer being powered is of no great value since the same effect can be achieved by increasing volume of Onkyo subwoofer. He and the other sales guys in the shop were actually rather surprised that I was favoring Sonodyne so much. They swore that for 30-35K budget, Onkyo HT-S580 was way to go.The sales guy actually insisted that I take Onkyo HT-S580 and try it for a week and if I am dissatisfied, they will replace it with Sonodyne. They told me that they will sell Onkyo to me for 32K (including wires, delivery, installation etc) though its actual price is 35K (Sonodyne package will cost 31K). I told them that I will think over it and let them know later.

Confused, I headed over to the second dealer. Turned that this guy had not even heard of any Cinque speaker series of Sonodyne. He tried looking it up in his catalogue but could not find it. Finally I showed him printouts that I had taken from Sonodyne website. He told me that he can get it for me. On asking his opinion, he told me that for my budget I should go for a Yamaha receiver and a good 5.1 speaker package (He was not Onkyo dealer). He was most insistent on Yamaha 357 plus NSP100 speakers (Total 25K). He had dismal view of Sonodyne too - he said that Sonodyne is a "manufacturer" and is stagnant whereas companies like Yamaha continuosly improve themselves through newer models. He asked me to get a demo of Yamaha which I had to politely refuse on account of lack of time.

My question is - Why Sonodyne is so unpopular with its own authorized dealers? Surprising indeed!

As far as sound quality goes, unfortunately I could not detect any significant differences in output of Onkyo and Sonodyne in the half-baked demo that I was given. I must confess that Sonodyne did indeed seemed a bit "clearer" and Onkyo was bit "noisier" but not much difference.

Looks-wise Onkyo scores over Sonodyne easily. The center speaker of Sonodyne will be an eyesore if put directly on top of TV.

I need you help now more than ever. Abhi, have you actually seen Cinque series in action? I dont think that Sonodyne listening rooms use Cinque series for demo. But I may be wrong. What do you say to all the comments given by dealers?

I request all of you please let me know of your opnions and comments and guide me further. I am very confused at the moment.

Gr8 rshri,

Join the gang.. am also pretty confused too...

Am yet to see both sonodyne (shope being refurbished here) and Onkyo (may not go for it..)

With regards to the Yamaha.. its bass heavy for music and not to my taste.. If ur gonna watch only movies and not much music the yamaha will be a good cost effective choice..
I have seen the yamaha in surround theater mode.. it does the job.. if u have the money go for a butt kicker under ur sofa... it rocks!!!

hey rshri.. a word of caution though.. am a novice.. better give more weightage to the likes of Abhi, benkenobi and others..

also a simple rule - u listen, u like, u buy!!

Have fun!!

rshri, I had been to the Sonodyne Listening Room in Bangalore and asked 'bout the Cinque package. They said its discontinued and the Genie packages are the ones in demand.

I have seen the Cinque package only in the Sonodyne website.

Sonodyne doesnt care for marketing and publicity stunts with overrated numbers....thats why its not heard about much. Quality wise, Sonodyne beats the Onkyo fair and square.

juggy_25 wrote:

I had been to the Sonodyne Listening Room in Bangalore and asked 'bout the Cinque package. They said its discontinued and the Genie packages are the ones in demand.

Hmm..this explains why Cinque speaker package is unavailable and unheard of among Sonodyne dealers here in Delhi.

I guess the option of buying Cinque package is now gone. Juggy, can you please suggest me a 5.1 Genie speaker package that will go with Sonodyne AV 300R and will fit my budget of 15K?

I checked the Sonodyne website again for Genie packages. They do speak of some packages called "Cine Packs" but its not stated very clearly.

Nimz, I wish to use this setup only for movies. I will try to get the demo of Yamaha 357 plus NSP100 speakers. Do you think this Yamaha setup is better than Onkyo HT-S580 for movies?

For 15K, I think you can only manage a 2.1 setup of genie and later upgrade to 5.1.
Each genie speaker is around 3.5K

Kvish wrote

Each genie speaker is around 3.5K

I also confirmed the same yesterday. This means that whole Sonodyne setup will cost me around 45-50K (I am only looking for 5.1 setup). This is too pricey for me. I will have to regretfully reject Sonodyne as an option for myself.

This leaves room for only two possible setups -
1. Onkyo HT-S580 (Also called Onkyo Gladiator)
2. Yamaha RXV357 receiver + NSP100 speakers

Guys, what do you think is better of the two?

BTW, I came to know yesterday that the Onkyo dealer who gave me the demo was trying to make an ass out of me. He told me that though unit's price is 35K, he will sell it to me for 32K. I checked the price with other dealers over phone yesterday. They straight away quoted me price of 28-29K including delivery, installation etc. They also told me that 7.5 mts of speaker-cable per speaker were complementory.

hi rshri,

going by wot i have heard of the yamaha and listening to them... reviews and other "research".. for movies I'd say the yammys are better they have various DSP modes which can make ur movies sound good!!
u can get the RXV 457 at less than 20K and if ur lucky even the RXV 557 for abt 20K.. i thot that the RXV 357 lacked a lil punch if u ask me..
Another feedback i have got reg the yamaha frm various quarters.. it seeme they are basically troublefree!! Probably this needs to be attested by yammy users..(quite a few in this forum)

Am not too sure abt the yammy speakers though!!

goodluck!!

hi,

i think you guys here in delhi have spoken to all the wrong guys- please speak to mr raghu ram on 9810661147 ,he's the guy incharge of the delhi demo room- and a learned man.
or may be put a mail to sonodyne and they revert fast-

regards
anirvan

Hey Guys,
You are really having fun now.......
With all those sales-man tricks and biased info around, you seem to actually get into the thick of the high-end audio marketing....

Rshri,
You are quite bold to confess that you are confused and beleive me anyone in your shoes would feel the same..CONFUSED..

Now listen, the reason why you got very high opinions about Onkyo is clear...right ? There is a lot of profit margin to Onkyo dealers. HTS-580 was initially quoted at 40k (in newspapers) then it slowly came down to 35k and then to 32k being quoted to you then it came down to 28k by some other dealers and I personally know people who have managed to bargain it down to 25k (though he didnt buy it still.. ). So you can understand why dealers are so interested to show you Onkyo and not Sonodyne.
Sonodyne has a fixed price all over India and they offer 10% discount if you pay ready cash. There is nothing more to this. That is the reason dealers either dont stock it or they push other brands with hype.

Whoever said Sonodyne Cinique Package is no more in production is a poor Ignorant chap with very little knowledge. Its true that Sonodyne doesnt market this package as much as the Genies because they normally are shortage of showroom space and thats why they try to accomodate their high-end models first then come down the order and normally they hardly have any space to show-case the Cinique (this is the first hand info I got from a senior Sonodyne Store Manager). I have heard the Cinique here in Bangalore twice and its really worth every penny.

Onkyo, Yamaha are not bad products at all. Its just that Sonodyne beats the pants out of them when it comes to performance IMO...

Now all it matters is your ears, if you find them similar then better go for the one which offers the best after sales service.

Hi guys,

I went ahead and bought Onkyo HTS-580 for 28K yesterday. I had given up on Sonodyne after hearing that it has discontinued Cinque series. After reading Abhi latest reply, I now believe I should have persued it further. Anyway, its over for me now. I advise others who are yet to buy to look up Cinque series.

The original dealer finally agreed to sell Onkyo to me for 28K. He grumbled that he is not getting any commission on that price (Liar!Liar!). He also charged me Rs 200 for getting it delivered.

The box arrived yesterday afternoon. The mfg date on the box said Oct,05 and price printed on it was Rs 37,500/-.

The setup took all day (moving furniture & stuff). By 11 PM I was able to make it work. Sound is good but not great. I put on 'Saving Private Ryan' DVD to demonstrate to my family. Though my family was thrilled, I was just satisfied. It sounded so much better when I saw this movie in theater. Well, this is all what you can get for 28K. I will try more tweaking & adjustments today to make it sound better.

I had asked the delivery guy bring along coaxial cable to connect with DVD player. He instead brought me a high quality but ordinary audio RCA cable set (The red-white pair) made in Singapore and priced Rs 600. I asked him whether a separate single coaxial cable existed. He told me this is all what it is available and all what it takes. I bought it and used it. The guy also tried to sell me high quality speaker cables but I refused. I used the ones supplied in the unit.

From what I have heard on internet, the required coaxial cable is supposed to have 75 ohm impedence. There is no impedence rating written in this cable's packet. Should I hunt for the cable in market? Or what I have is good enough for the job?

This is the first home theater setup that I have done and it complements my 29 inch Sony TV well. Myabe few years down the line, I will buy a large plasma/LCD TV and a Home theater system worth a lakh
Till then I will enjoy with what I currently have with me.

I thank all who have replied in this thread..

Requesting all experts to answer my query regarding coaxial cable...

Thank you!

Congrats Buddy...........
Great to see another hifi enthusiast.
Now forget about brands and just enjoy the music/movies, ultimately thats the goal of all these exercises.
Finally you got it for a good price. Now dont spend much on hifi cables but do get decent Interconnects (Coaxial/Digital...etc).
I wonder how thrilled your family members would be to get that Theater like experience at home...Always a great feeling.

Do post more feedbacks with your first hand experiences....it will help a lot of guys in the forum.

congrats buddy....

i suppose its better u get a good coaxial cable...shud be avlbl for abt Rs. 1000 or 1200...u dont need nything else...

nnnnjoy...

nindo

this is my first post here, forgive any ignorance pls.

i had planned to get a 5.1 system with av receiver for my sony wega tv and old philips cd hifi. after reading this forum mainly, i decided upon desi sonodyne and visited its listening room. not very well decorated, but the staff were very helpful.

i had a demo with their demo cd of cinque 5.1 package (with free lg dvd), cinque combination with roarr 1810 subwoofer, sonus 5.1 package, and their premier avant series. avant was way beyond my budget of 30k, but the staff gave me a demo anyway.

my general impression was, cinque 5.1 sounds better than genie which sounded bit metallic, but sonus was far better. the cinque with roarr 1810 was also good. however, i stay in a apartment and the staff told me that the downward firing subwoofer may create sound hazards. hence i decided on the cinque package. suitable for my room of 12 ft x 12 ft.

price was 29990 with avr300 and lg dvd. they will deliver the package this weekend with free installation. they will also visit my apartment and advise on the wiring requirement before installation date. really impressive service.

whole package has 1 year carry in warranty.

btw, i also had a demo of a sony htib in sony world, dvd player with inbuilt receiver. pretty poor compared to sonodyne sound, and they gave me a demo of "die another day". sonodyne in non-prologic mode was terrific.

i have not heard any other systems mentioned in these forums like polk, denon, onkyo. i guess i have made the best choice within my budget.

75 ohms coaxial cable is available at Rs.16/- per metre, (RG6 AU) i.e. good imported make like TFC or Commscope. Wonder why they charged you so much, what is the length supplied ? Ask your local Cable operator and they will be able to help.

rshri schrieb:

Hi guys, I went ahead and bought Onkyo HTS-580 for 28K yesterday. I had given up on Sonodyne after hearing that it has discontinued Cinque series. After reading Abhi latest reply, I now believe I should have persued it further. Anyway, its over for me now. I advise others who are yet to buy to look up Cinque series. The original dealer finally agreed to sell Onkyo to me for 28K. He grumbled that he is not getting any commission on that price (Liar!Liar!). He also charged me Rs 200 for getting it delivered. The box arrived yesterday afternoon. The mfg date on the box said Oct,05 and price printed on it was Rs 37,500/-. The setup took all day (moving furniture & stuff). By 11 PM I was able to make it work. Sound is good but not great. I put on 'Saving Private Ryan' DVD to demonstrate to my family. Though my family was thrilled, I was just satisfied. It sounded so much better when I saw this movie in theater. Well, this is all what you can get for 28K. I will try more tweaking & adjustments today to make it sound better. I had asked the delivery guy bring along coaxial cable to connect with DVD player. He instead brought me a high quality but ordinary audio RCA cable set (The red-white pair) made in Singapore and priced Rs 600. I asked him whether a separate single coaxial cable existed. He told me this is all what it is available and all what it takes. I bought it and used it. The guy also tried to sell me high quality speaker cables but I refused. I used the ones supplied in the unit. From what I have heard on internet, the required coaxial cable is supposed to have 75 ohm impedence. There is no impedence rating written in this cable's packet. Should I hunt for the cable in market? Or what I have is good enough for the job? This is the first home theater setup that I have done and it complements my 29 inch Sony TV well. Myabe few years down the line, I will buy a large plasma/LCD TV and a Home theater system worth a lakh Till then I will enjoy with what I currently have with me. I thank all who have replied in this thread.. Requesting all experts to answer my query regarding coaxial cable... Thank you!

Hi Kousik,

Welcome to a grt forum...

We were all ignorant when we were born..

However reg ur queries I am ignorant of all those models u have mentioned - the only 5.1 package i auditioned was an yamaha with Torvin speakers and a butt kicker thrown in for good measure (to kick my butt.. wot else )

Have fun here

Nimz

abhi pani wrote :

I personally know people who have managed to bargain it down to 25k (though he didnt buy it still..

Yes coz it's not worth and if you feel you can have a laugh at it please feel free to do so as you would've done it doubly if I would've got it...so laughing is very easy do you see that my friend..

Abhi, If given a choice between Onkyo TX-SR503 and the Sonodyne AV300R which one is better to go for

503 is far better compared to AV300R dear friend...

sonodyne AV300R doesnt have component video.

how different (picture quality wise) is a component video from an S-Video?

and I read that S-video is not capable of transmitting HDTV picture.

kousik_s schrieb:

this is my first post here, forgive any ignorance pls. i had planned to get a 5.1 system with av receiver for my sony wega tv and old philips cd hifi. after reading this forum mainly, i decided upon desi sonodyne and visited its listening room. not very well decorated, but the staff were very helpful. i had a demo with their demo cd of cinque 5.1 package (with free lg dvd), cinque combination with roarr 1810 subwoofer, sonus 5.1 package, and their premier avant series. avant was way beyond my budget of 30k, but the staff gave me a demo anyway. my general impression was, cinque 5.1 sounds better than genie which sounded bit metallic, but sonus was far better. the cinque with roarr 1810 was also good. however, i stay in a apartment and the staff told me that the downward firing subwoofer may create sound hazards. hence i decided on the cinque package. suitable for my room of 12 ft x 12 ft. price was 29990 with avr300 and lg dvd. they will deliver the package this weekend with free installation. they will also visit my apartment and advise on the wiring requirement before installation date. really impressive service. whole package has 1 year carry in warranty. btw, i also had a demo of a sony htib in sony world, dvd player with inbuilt receiver. pretty poor compared to sonodyne sound, and they gave me a demo of "die another day". sonodyne in non-prologic mode was terrific. i have not heard any other systems mentioned in these forums like polk, denon, onkyo. i guess i have made the best choice within my budget.

Good one buddy.......
I think you have got one of the best deals and also one of the best HT sound available within 30k in India today...
Cheers

Do post your experiences here.

SUB_BOSS schrieb:

503 is far better compared to AV300R dear friend...

Heu Sub,
Have you done any one on one comparision between the two??
How are you so sure about the performance comparision...any recent experiences ?

SUB_BOSS wrote: 503 is far better compared to AV300R dear friend... Heu Sub, Have you done any one on one comparision between the two?? How are you so sure about the performance comparision...any recent experiences ?

Regarding your one on one comparision tell me how many of you who talk so much about diffrent brands have done it?? and have you done a one on one between any of these two to contradict my statement..I have heard both in diffrent locations and conclude 503 is way ahead in presentation but marred by bad speakers and AV300R is a OK performer with lot of delays in sound reproduction and timing errors but fares good with it's own brand mediocre speakers..
Sonodyne is too lazy to do any R&D and if goes on it will have to close it's shop forever very shortly..

Hey Buddy,
I never contradicted your statements but just was curious to know as in how are you so sure that 503 is WAY ahead of AVR300...I know its difficult to do one on one test with AVRs but still may be you would have got the opprtunity. Like I got an opportunity to do one on one between Denon 2105 and Marantz SR-4400 at the Profx (using the same set of speakers and DVD player). There on I was dead sure that Marantz was way more musical and detailed than the Denon but the Denon had more Punch in some movie sequences(if that matters).
Thats why I recommend Marantz over Denon anyday.

Now for 503 vs AVR300, I have heard both but each with its own brand of speakers, I mean Onkyo with Onkyo speakers and Sonodyne with Sonodyne speakers, to my ears Sonodyne package (with AVR300) beats the pants off Onkyo (again as a package).
Now whether that difference was sheerly because of better Sonodyne speakers(genies were what I used) or the AVR300 also did some trick is something still debatable to me. I simply loved the Surround processing (seperation) of the AVR300.
Even in 2.1 channel music I found the AVR300 doing a very decent job (anytime better than Yamaha, Onkyo and Denon). I have listened to the Yammys with the Lithos NOA1 package (which itself are very good speakers at entry level), the Denon with the Polk speakers and the Onkyo with Jamo speakers. Except for the Sonodyne, all the other 2/2.1 channel demo I have mentioned sincerely expressed the lack of a dedicated Stereo Amp IMO.

As far as research is concerned, I agree that Sonodyne is much slower than its competitors in bringing out new products. But still I think what they lack most is the urge to advertise and publicity of their brands and products and lack of showrooms around India.......Any common man who knows Onkyo or Denon would always hold a very high esteem and hyped image of these brands and would never know that they also have crappy products. One would blindly buy an Onkyo if he has money, its all because of their hype which Sonodyne lacks every bit.

Ok sub, do you think that its the Sonodyne speakers which does all the trick of better presentation ??

rshri,
You have mentioned that u have used a RCA cable.

This will NOT give you the correct surround affect. you need to use a coaxial or optical interconnect between your DVD player and amp.


So when you said you were just satisfied, I am not surprised.

My congrats to everyone who has been able to buy Sonodyne Cinque package! You have suceeded where I failed
That too at less than 30K (including DVD player!) WOW!

I am however satisfied with my purchase of Onkyo HTS-580. Sound clarity is sufficient for me & my family. None in my family is audiophile. I explained them the concept of surround sound to them with great difficulty

Plus point is that speakers look good and are light. I appreciate the light weight since I do not have a permanent arrangment for rear speakers yet. I have to manually place them behind me everytime I put a movie on

BTW, the moderate quality sound on "Saving Private Ryan" DVD was a DVD problem. I tried other DVDs like "Day After Tomorrow".. They were fantastic!

The RCA cables (Left-Right red-white pair) that I had bought for connecting AV receiever with my DVD player are coaxial all right (RCA is the cable connecter plug, the cable itself is coaxial). However I am not sure whether its rated 75 Ohm. They are expensive (Rs 600/-) since they are very thick, gold plated, well-shielded and of very high quality. However after doing a lot of studying on internet, I now believe that for coaxial cables of short length (less than one meter or so), the quality of cables have negligible impact on audio quality (since information that they transmit is digital).

However, just for the heck of it, I bought a designated digital home theater coaxial cable (Rs 250/-). Using that now; it made no difference at all to quality. Still don't know whether its rated 75 Ohm though

I will use the earlier Rs 600/- cable pair for connecting my TV with AV receiver. The information that my TV will pass on to receiver will be analogue and will be for both Left-Right channels. Thus I will be able to do full justice to utilization of the cables.

Thank everyone!

Comments welcome...