[barathvajan]

Dear Friends,

Finally after lots of thinking and analysis, bit the bullet and bought my own basic hometheatre setup. This would be for both Movies and Music.

My friend was visiting US and he gratefully agreed to bring the receiver from there. So the search started for the right kind of receivers. I has both Yamaha and Marantz in my mind. But considering the service availability of Yamaha in India, finalised on Yamaha. My budget was strictly INR 30k max for receiver. If it is Yamaha, I prefered Aventage 1060/70. But the price even in USA for the RX A870 was $549. So ruled out the aventage series (RXA 670 was available for $400, but not interested in that). Went and checked out the receivers in authorised outlet in chennai (which by the way is close to my home) and found that RX V683 was very good. Had a demo of RXV 683 too with Elac speakers and Yamaha speakers. Found that the power is sufficient for my present needs. Also the Yamaha guys were happy to explain me the difference between RXV683 and RXA670 and advised me to go for RXV683, since it is available in India and hence spares would be easy to source rather than RXA 670, which is an Europe / USA specific model. They even helped me with explaining the requirements to be done, if I have to use the receivers from USA (since the voltage ratings were different). Asked the price for RXv 683 in India. They gave me a quote for INR 69,990. Checked in Amazon. It was available for INR 55,000. But the yamaha guys told that if receivers were purchased online, then the warranty would be void. But they will be able to service it. Thanked them a lot, came home and checked the proce of rxv 683 in USA. It was available for $400, thats close to INR 27k. Satisfied, asked my friend to bring the same from USA.


He got it to me in First week of May. Was very happy and satisfied with my first purchase. Next started the search for suitable speakers. Armed with FLACs of songs I love in my phone, started hunting for good bookshelf speakers.

First stop was grand cinema. I know they had some Dali Zensor 5 with them as demo and they were willing to give it at discounts. I already listed to them and liked it. Wanted to listen again before putting my money on them. But I dont know why, the speaker never sounded satisfying, no matter what genre of songs I played. The guys were unable to give demo of movie as they were in the process of modifying the shop. They also had Klipsch 5.1 setup. I couldnt demo it. They were ready to give the total 5.1 setup along with receiver for price of around 1.3 l. I didnt want it.
Next went to profx. These were the best guys in terms of giving demo. They never hesitated to give demo of anything, even though they knew my budget was max 30k. Demoed polk audio s20, kef q series, c5, cabasse and few more speakers.
Though liked many, I have decided on polk s20 as they can be used as rear speakers later on when I upgrade my system and its asking price of ~20k with 3 years warranty.
This has happened in May 2018. Then came other huge expenses in home that I postponed the speaker price till July.
Finally took my better half for a demo again to profx. Again they were very supportive and gave unparalleled demo of whatever me / wife asked. Songs, english movies, tamil movies etc. My wife was particularly happy that the experience she is now getting from speaker of one of her favorite scene was close to what she got in Theater. Happy, booked the same and took them home (Boy, they are heavy for bookshelf. Each weighs close to 13 lbs).

Connected to receiver after 2 months of purchase and happy with the outcome. I havent connected to my TV as it is only CRT. I can do it through RCA cable, which is supported by the receiver.

(Note: I have only CRT TV at home. I tend to keep my things for very long time. Even the TV at my native is close to 32 years and still running).
I plan to upgrade my TV later as I an eying only LG Signature OLED TV.

The Speakers are good for Music. But better for movies. The major drawback with S20's are that, they are not wall mountable. S10 and S15 can be mounted on wall. The main reason I opted for Book shelf is that I have major constraint of space in my current place. I preferred a wall mountable speakers, but still went with S20 considering the future.

As of now, the receiver+speaker is used for songs, songs and only songs from USB, FM, IPad and laptop. Happy with my current setup and I am slowly saving money to upgrade. The first would be a sub. Mostly SVS. Next would be floor standing and center.
Thanks for reading patiently. And one small piece of advice, try the demo speakers, as they will be available at much better bargain with same warranty.

Barath

[JMaruru]

Originally Posted by barathvajan

They even helped me with explaining the requirements to be done, if I have to use the receivers from USA (since the voltage ratings were different). Asked the price for RXv 683 in India. They gave me a quote for INR 69,990. Checked in Amazon. It was available for INR 55,000. But the yamaha guys told that if receivers were purchased online, then the warranty would be void. But they will be able to service it. Thanked them a lot, came home and checked the proce of rxv 683 in USA. It was available for $400, thats close to INR 27k. Satisfied, asked my friend to bring the same from USA.

Could you elaborate, on the highlighted part? How did you go about converting the voltage to Indian standards?

This is one of the reason, even with multiple travels to and from US/year have NOT ventured onto get any electrical items into India. I am curious!

[panky12345]

Originally Posted by JMaruru

Could you elaborate, on the highlighted part? How did you go about converting the voltage to Indian standards?

Voltage converters are easily available for Rs. 200 - Rs. 500 at any decent electrical shop. Just plug and play.

[barathvajan]

Originally Posted by JMaruru

Could you elaborate, on the highlighted part? How did you go about converting the voltage to Indian standards?

This is one of the reason, even with multiple travels to and from US/year have NOT ventured onto get any electrical items into India. I am curious!

Hi,


As panky12345 has suggested, go for a simple step down transformer. I went for a 500 VA rating as suggested by the technicians there. its actually available at their authorised service outlet itself. I got it for INR 1500. To be more safe, got a stabiliser also. Now the supply is in following order
Socket - Stabiliser - Step down transformer - Receiver
The step down transformer also has socket compatible with american standard ply. So one more joint avoided.
They have also checked and confirmed that the speakers are compatible with receiver.
Hope this clarifies.
Barath

[motorworks]

Hi Folks

Need some advice! I have a 10 year old Philips HTS5120 Sound bar at home, which I have not been using for the last 3 years now. Initially I used to play movie CDs in this to watch on my TV, but as CDs literally do not exist anymore this Sound bar has almost been untouched for the last 3 years.
So why do I keep it? One, I paid close to 25k for this and I do not think I can get even 2k now! And secondly some of the accessories like the remote and a wireless sub woofer do not work any more.

And lastly it still looks good on the wall just below my TV!

So the main sound bar unit still works, its got HDMI output, radio transmitter and few other outputs but no Bluetooth. So what I want to do now is play music from my phone on this, but since there is no Bluetooth, I may have to buy a Bluetooth adapter.
Or should I buy a Bluetooth transmitter? Else what good use can I put this to?

I have Tata Sky HD and Apple TV connected to the HDMI inputs of my TV, and since my TV has just 2 HDMI inputs, I cannot connect the sound bar to the TV via HDMI.

Any ideas to make this useful would be really helpful! Thanks!

[suku_patel_22]

I would suggest to either get a Logitech Bluetooth adapter or get a Chrome cast Audio.
Using both you can easily play audio from your soundbar

[raghav.carfreak]

Is anybody visiting the What HI-FI exhibition at the Ritz Carlton, Bangalore? It is going on till tomorrow I believe
Maybe worth a visit to anyone planning to invest in a home theatre.

[Fillmore]

Originally Posted by raghav.carfreak

Is anybody visiting the What HI-FI exhibition at the Ritz Carlton,Bangalore? It is going on till tomorrow I believe
Maybe worth a visit to anyone planning to invest in a home theatre

Does it require an invite or is it a free walk in ?
They called me up twice, but both times I was busy at work and said I will revert back but did not.

Edit : Found the registration link
http://whathifi.in/register.aspx

[kotirajendra]

Or should I buy a Bluetooth transmitter? Else what good use can I put this to?

Dont buy bluetooth. If you have an android phone, buy chromecast audio. If using iPhone then investigate streaming options to Apple TV.

I have Tata Sky HD and Apple TV connected to the HDMI inputs of my TV, and since my TV has just 2 HDMI inputs, I cannot connect the sound bar to the TV via HDMI.

If your TV has an optical out then use it to connect to FiiO D03K Optical to Stereo Audio Converter. The analog output of D03K should connect to the soundbar.

Tata Sky/Apple TV > TV > TV optical out> FiiO D03k> sound bar.


Phone > Chromecast > sound bar.

If you are not into audiophille level of musci then you can still put the sound bar to good use.

Hope this helps.

[JLS]

Hello friends,
I am thinking of building a HT system in a limited budget.
I am considering Taga Harmony - 506 V2 5.0 speaker set, link from Amazon below:
https://www.amazon.in/Taga-Harmony-T...3-2b30851ba24e


And I will add one of the Yamaha or Taga lower end SW
Link https://www.amazon.in/Taga-Harmony-T...3-2b30851ba24e
OR
https://www.amazon.in/Yamaha-100W-NS...CWE4Q2RFR1JGKZ

Has anybody actually used and experienced Taga speakers? What is your feedback?

Also, what AV receiver I can consider for these speakers?
I have Pioneer RX 531, Marantaz 1508, Yamaha 3607 in consideration.
Any opinion on these, or any other suggestions?

Thanks
JLS

[The Brutailer]

Guys, planning to get a Bluetooth speaker for my room. Don't care about portability as much as I care about distortion free music even at the highest of volumes. Don't care about loudness that much either.

Just a speaker with superb clarity, good bass and no distortions at the highest of volumes. My budget is 5k as the sole purpose will be to use it in my personal room (I hate using my OnePlus 6's speakers) and maybe while cycling or running. Can be extended to 8-9k if it's worth it.

Thanks in advance!! Sorry for posting in the home theatre thread. Thought I'll take the advice of the audiophiles present here.

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

Originally Posted by The Brutailer

Just a speaker with superb clarity, good bass and no distortions at the highest of volumes. My budget is 5k as the sole purpose will be to use it in my personal room (I hate using my OnePlus 6's speakers) and maybe while cycling or running. Can be extended to 8-9k if it's worth it.

I don't get the "cycling' and "running' parts. Did you mean headphones?

You can find portable speakers with built in batteries on flipkart or amazon. Blaupunkt & JBL are available at 1.5K to 2 K.


If portablity is not required, go for any speaker with BT connectivity or even Chromecast - Which requires WiFi (not used it so far). you'd find top-end soundbar brands at around 10k.

For outdoor running and cycling, I suggest you pay attention to your surroundings and keep the devices away.

[The Brutailer]

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR

I don't get the "cycling' and "running' parts. Did you mean headphones?

You can find portable speakers with built in batteries on flipkart or amazon. Blaupunkt & JBL are available at 1.5K to 2 K.


If portablity is not required, go for any speaker with BT connectivity or even Chromecast - Which requires WiFi (not used it so far). you'd find top-end soundbar brands at around 10k.

For outdoor running and cycling, I suggest you pay attention to your surroundings and keep the devices away.

No man, I clearly mentioned Bluetooth speakers. Wonder how you got confused. Nowadays Bluetooth speakers from brands like UE or JBL have hinges or straps with which you can attach them to your backpack or tshirt or your cycle.

And like I mentioned, I don't want 'any' speakers..I want one with reasonable bass and absolute top notch clarity and zero distortion.

I don't use earphones or headphones and which is why I precisely asked for Bluetooth speakers. Current contenders are UE Roll 2, UE Wonderboom, JBL Flip 3 and Bose sound link micro.

Any experience with the same will be helpful. Thanks!

[bigron]

Try out the UE Boom 2.It should come in at the upper end of your budget but should fit your bill. However YMMV. So, like everything related to audio equipment, hear them at one of those multi brand retail stores. That should give you an idea of what you getting. If you feeling decadent, the Marshall Kilburn is both retro cool and sonically sound (It may lack volume but makes it up with quality).

[PiyushD]

Hello Friends

I am a novice in terms of audio tech and looking to build a stereo audio system for my home. I am looking at below mentioned components and have allocated a budget of approx. 50K for this:

AMP: Marantz PM6006 (https://www.amazon.in/Marantz-PM6006...marantz+pm6006) – currently e-tailing at Rs. 33900

Speakers: Here, I am confused and have shortlisted following speakers:
1) Bose 301®️ Direct/Reflecting®️ Bookshelf speaker system – Rs. 21263/-
2) DALI ZENSOR 3 7" Woofer 2-Way Bookshelf Speaker – Rs. 36000/- (https://www.amazon.in/DALI-ZENSOR-Wo...&keywords=dali) – In this I am overshooting my budget.
3) DALI ZENSOR 1 5.25" Woofer 2-Way Bookshelf Speaker – Rs. 24900/- (https://www.amazon.in/DALI-ZENSOR-Wo...=dali+zensor+1)

I don’t have any place to audition these speakers and looking to buy them online only. I like Bollywood, pop, jazz, lounge, country, sufi, fusion, reggae, soft rock music and would be using Logitech bluetooth receiver to connect to the Amp as of now. Sometime down the line I also wish to add a Turn Table (once the budget permits). Kindly suggest which speaker to choose from the shortlisted or any other speaker below 30K budget which would suit my requirement.
Thanks in advance.