Bookshelves or Satts ?

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abhi.pani
Inventar

#1 erstellt: 11. Jan 2005, 16:43

This is my first posting. I am in the process of setting up a HT + Stereo Combo. I am based at Bangalore. My budget is not very tight nor very liberal. I can invest upto 80k (max), preferably lower for the complete 5.1 acoustics setup. For the last 2 months I have been going thorugh the discussions in this forum and also looked into some of the products available in Bangalore. Initially I had developed a likeness towards Sonodyne products especially the Subs + Satts. But later on, after reading the discussions on this forum I got serious about Floor Standers.
I have also gone through Onkyo products, they seemed to be good for HT purpose but not Value for money when it comes to Music.
I have listened to floorstanders from Sonodyne (Sonus, around 22k), Space (150w/channel, around 18k) and one Jamo product ( I don't remember the model but it costed around 28k in Bangalore). I know there is a lot more to research on this front but i would sincerely expect you all to suggest me the setups (within my budget) which I should audition.

As of the AVR I have read in the AVMAX that Harmon Kardon AVR130 is a very good reciever both in the HT and Stereo front, but I am yet to audtion it (Any experiences, please share), I am also a bit optimistic about the Sonodyne AVR but haven't heard any tight comments about it in this forum. Also please suggest any other AVRs which you feel might suit my requirements + budget.

Presently I am overlooking the Subs as I feel that subs can be added any time but a good floor stander with a tight and heavy bass can replace the subs. How about the JBL S312 speakers with 12" woofers. I read about it in this forum but not yet seen it. How about Cadence speakers ? Manek, can you help me ?
Please come up with your suggestions because I strongly believe on you people.

Now, one of the most critical questions I am facing is whether I should go for Sattellites or Bookshelves for my rear surround speakers ? My room size is around 12 * 15. Sonodyne also offers something called the Dipoles surrond speakers. I am totally blacked out in this regard, the utilities of each of these kind of surround speakers is unknown to me. When to use Bookshelves and when to use satts for surround purpose is something I totally dont know. Can any one of you throw any light on these topics.

I know this posting is very long but I had to write all these to express my concerns. Please co-operate.

Manek
Inventar

#2 erstellt: 18. Jan 2005, 13:56

Having floorstanders as fronts is a definate advantage for both HT and music so if you can go for them. Surrounds with floorstanders should ideally be of the same family of fronts/centre so that they are timbrally matched.

Subwoofer you can add if you feel your fronts lack bass.

I think the sonodyne HT set would be the thing to do for you. Wharfedale diamond HT set would also fit into you budget and would be better than the sonodyne HT set.

Cadence floorstanders cost 42k+taxes(15.5%) for a pair of floorstanders....cadence diva's and cadence arita's(boookshelves) cost 33k +taxes(15.5%). I dont think you would be able to buy the rest of the stuff within 80K.

Try mission speakers also if it sounds good to you. JBL I personally would aviod but its your money and your ears. Buy what sounds good to you and not what others tell you to.

manek.

abhi.pani
Inventar

#3 erstellt: 18. Jan 2005, 16:10

Hi Manek,
Thanks for your advice. BTW what is the reason that you avoid JBL ? Is there any bad experiences with teir product or you simply feel that they are not that perfect with sound ? I do trust my ears but since I am quite new to the HiFi world so I tend to need you people's advice in almost all my decissions. Anyway my budget for a pair of Towers is 35k (stretched to maaaax). What are your suggestions for me ?

SUB_BOSS
Gesperrt

#4 erstellt: 19. Jan 2005, 15:03

I will list the combo here :

ONKYO TXSR602 7.1
ONKYO SKF 101 floor standers
SKW 320( powered)
SKS 4600 center
Sk 4600 surrounds ( 4 no's).total cost around 1,12,000

but

but

ONKYO show room promised me the same at 76,000 with installation

It's a good buy and floor standers are awesome.
Sub finish is piano top and twin opposed 8"drivers( i don't beleive the 100 rms output), but performance is good.

If you pay another 4 to 5k and bargain you get TXSR702 with THX and other advanced features.

happy bargaining and ofcourse no worries of mismatched components and excellent ONKYO salesmanship and service.

Alymangy
Ist häufiger hier

#5 erstellt: 20. Jan 2005, 08:10

Wow!! Thats a great bargain.

Are you jumping the gun and going for it?

SUB_BOSS
Gesperrt

#6 erstellt: 20. Jan 2005, 09:23

I actually palneed but my wife would jump over me with a gun.oooh these women

abhi.pani
Inventar

#7 erstellt: 21. Jan 2005, 13:16

I have also been to the Onkyo showroom here in Bangalore. I dont remember the exact model of the combos I heard but the guy there introduced me to almost 3 different combos (all from Onkyo) both with and without floorstanders. I liked the overall performance of the system but when it comes to specifically rate the system in each category of music then it was not among the best in any of the categories in its price range (my personal opininon as far as I have researched so far)

.

1. Putting it into the HT battle (which it is), Denon AVRs have a lot more touchy output then the Onkyos (I have listened to entry level Denon 1604 AVR). The subs from Onkyo that I had auditioned lacked the punch, the kick; which I could find a lot in the Sonodyne subs. As far as the rest of the accessories goes, the floorstanders were good but not awesome (again in its price range). Overall, getting a good discount does gives the complete package an advantage but only for people who are looking for a good deal and a decent sound

.

2. I don't want to put it into serious Stereo battle because of all the above factors and more so because I have listened to it in 2-channel mode with a Jamo speaker attached and it was just just just an ok sounding system.

Hope none of the Onkyo guys are hurt

It is my personal opininon.

Manek
Inventar

#8 erstellt: 24. Jan 2005, 14:25

for 35k you can get very decent towers besides JBl. JBl I dont like as they are too harsh on my ears and I am not the only one to says that :-)

You have choices in Jamo, Mission, PSB, Heybrook, Pro fx, sonodyne, kef, wharfedale, Boston Acoustics, Tannoy, etc etc. take your pick.

Manek.

SUB_BOSS
Gesperrt

#9 erstellt: 25. Jan 2005, 11:24

Hey abhi pani,

You have not hurt any ONKYO guys and you are right when you mentioned that sonodyne subs were better.But I feel the kinda discount these guys offer you is tempting

and sometimes it makes you sacrifice little features when the whole package makes it appealing.

I feel ONKYO package is better if you don't want to experiment with combinations.But as you mentioned :
"Overall, getting a good discount does gives the complete package an advantage but only for people who are looking for a good deal and a decent sound ." is something I would refuse to agree.......discounts are everywhere. It really doesn't matter if you are buying a Aiwa HT or Synthesis.it is how the dealer chooses to sell( of course there are discounts to push models which don't get sold fast).But I've seen solid discounts on faster selling models.to boost up sales..

The market is maturing now.and maybe after few days you might find the best with lotsa discount and puts you in suspicion that the products you buy are these genuine??

the problem with audiophiles.or maybe anyone who's crazy of something will pay up the price dealer mentions.c'mon man it's time we stop these people making lotsa cash and give us a fair deal.

Instance 1: My friend bought a YAMAHA HT from grey market and he was quite excited about the purchase and the dealer hooked him in the right place and charged him 15k more than what he had promised.plus installation charges.The story...dealer feared him that it stuck in customs and demanded more and our man paid up a cool extra 15k.

Instance 2: Same model was purchased a week after by his neighbour 15K less and no installation plus free DVD player worth 5k.

Don't you feel it's time to ask for more.so what we are crazy about hifi's but not crazy about shelling hard earned cash

cheers .....

[Beitrag von SUB_BOSS am 25. Jan 2005, 11:33 bearbeitet]

neckie
Ist häufiger hier

#10 erstellt: 26. Jan 2005, 00:12

leave aside Onkyo..go for these

Pulz - rs250 (Solid state amps. buy two of these, one for a pair of main speakers and one amp for subs...same goes for preamps)
Pulz - rs 100 (preamp. buy two of these too!)(Total cost for the above set would be less than 30k)
go in for a customized speaker set from Pandam. believe me this man, Prashant, is awesome. he'll cherge you some where round 30k for a robust and kick ass set of speakers which will bring you house down.(not for the weak hearted.

go in for a DVD player of Pioneer!

abhi.pani
Inventar