Need Help - Buying a 5.1 Setup for TV

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sarang said:
Audio Palace is a sort of rip off for HT stuff. Stay away, if you want proper bill n warranty. Try SoundFactor - East Street, Aquarius East Street and for PSB/NAD/Marantz Lakozy (Rohit Enterprises) Shukravar Peth. AVX is a good place as well and you've already seen it.
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Agreed. Of all the places I surveyed yesterday, AVX was giving the best pricing.Specifically for the Denon 1312, he was offering a price of about 27k (for a bulk purchase of 2-3 pieces) while everyone else (i.e Sound Factory, Audio Place, Reliance Mart, Mahaveer Elec) all quoted 33.5k for it.

I was wondering if i could buy the AVR and the Speakers separately but could not find a satisfactory combination within 30 k :(. I checked up JBL, and the starting range of 5.1 speakers they had was from 20k. Even the Denon 1513 AVR standalone costs 28k (w/ 4k passthrough) and 1312 is not even available stand alone according to AVX.

So I am thinking of a 1312 HTiB and prolly upgrade the front speakers later on. Ill take a demo before buying however.
 
Try looking at the Marantz NR1501, it will do HD audio formats and give you a decent 50W per channel with a pair of stereo speakers (a bit less when all channels are at full tilt - which is rare), which is plenty. Costs 22.5k at Hifivision and I suspect it will be a little cheaper offline. Though not the best choice for stereo it will allow a good upgrade path, and if the receiver holds up, will last all the way into a pretty good system. I have a SR5005 (playing now!) and it manages reasonably given what I paid for it. Not the greatest, but I can live with it till my main system comes back to life.

There is one even cheaper, it will do DVD audio (Dolby/DTS) decoding but no more. Not sure what corners have been cut there.

Trouble is, even with an entry-level stereo speaker, you're looking at ~40k for the setup. Which was the point of suggesting a stereo amp to begin with.

The 1312 is not a recommended system in your case - both the speakers and the sub are substandard, the receiver unit is made to a (low!) price and it doesn't perform very well. Denon also isn't really the last word when it comes to audio quality - even when it comes to their stereo gear, specially under 30k). It's a little flat and dull. Marantz is also laid-back, but the best for music are the older Pioneers and HK receivers. They had pretty good audio.
 
Just had a demo for the Denon 1312, and as suggested by all TEites , the performace was sub-par.

He did give me a demo of a Denon 1513 + JBL Cinema 500 which sounded superb even on low volume. He was offering it for a price of 55k.

I did give it a check on Amazon and the AVR goes for 200$ while the speakers go for 300$ which comes to around 35k (Considering 70 INR for a $). Is there a way to order it online from these sites and use shipping sites to get it to India ? Will the shipping turn out to be a deal breaker ?
 
Shipping heavy stuff is a deal breaker. Plus, you can never be sure about the customs. I mean @countrock managed to his A/V receiver and speakers via A/V excellence and thats as far as a I know. Maybe he can shed some light.
 
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! 0 t A said:
Just had a demo for the Denon 1312, and as suggested by all TEites , the performace was sub-par.

He did give me a demo of a Denon 1513 + JBL Cinema 500 which sounded superb even on low volume. He was offering it for a price of 55k.

I did give it a check on Amazon and the AVR goes for 200$ while the speakers go for 300$ which comes to around 35k (Considering 70 INR for a $). Is there a way to order it online from these sites and use shipping sites to get it to India ? Will the shipping turn out to be a deal breaker ?
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I would recommend only going through the shipping route if Amazon themselves ship it to India. Did you login and then check these products? The page will inform you if it cannot be shipped to India. If there is no message as such, add to cart and go to checkout to see final price for shipping+customs.
 
Shipping speakers from the US will be mighty expensive and will kill the deal! AVRs are heavy as well and unless you are getting an extremely good deal, I'd advise both of you to get one locally. Preferably with B&W. Some of them opt for the grey, since chances of issues cropping up within the first year of usage are remote just like the displays but there are chances that it may conk off - one off instance may be. Using them with a voltage stabiliser will be a good idea.

The NR1501 is a very capable entry level receiver and the best part being slim and not bulky like the rest. I had my eyes on this AVR before I ditched the plan since I did not have many rips with the HD audio formats encoded (Dolby Tru HD and DTS HD MA) nor do I intend to watch any blu-ray. When I was doing the hunt, HFV forums had a deal for the NR 1501 going for about 23k odd IIRC through their shopping portal - hifimart.
 
For the speakers try Energy Take Classic 5.1. They were selling these on futurebazaar. They are considered excellent performers.

For the AVR you may consider used one + media player. It would be 50% of the cost of a new AVR.
 
^^ They are not there any more :(. .

Even i was lokoing for a used AVR, but could not find any . .with 3D pass through anyways . .

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Gannu said:
Shipping speakers from the US will be mighty expensive and will kill the deal! AVRs are heavy as well and unless you are getting an extremely good deal, I'd advise both of you to get one locally. Preferably with B&W. Some of them opt for the grey, since chances of issues cropping up within the first year of usage are remote just like the displays but there are chances that it may conk off - one off instance may be. Using them with a voltage stabiliser will be a good idea.

The NR1501 is a very capable entry level receiver and the best part being slim and not bulky like the rest. I had my eyes on this AVR before I ditched the plan since I did not have many rips with the HD audio formats encoded (Dolby Tru HD and DTS HD MA) nor do I intend to watch any blu-ray. When I was doing the hunt, HFV forums had a deal for the NR 1501 going for about 23k odd IIRC through their shopping portal - hifimart.
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Well . .the AVR is still there for about 21k odd. .so thats cool. .so now basically need to set my eyes on speakers. .and I will not be able to buy in step. .wont have the time for that :( . .so will have to decide on a good 5.1 combo for a max price of 30k. .so is JBL Cinema 500 good for that price point ? Or is there anything better ?
 
Why not up the budget a bit more and get yourself the NR1501 and maybe a pair of bookshelves for now? You can add another pair for the rear surround, a centre channel and a powered sub later. But for now, this should be good I feel. Although you wouldn't be able to enjoy the 5.1 surround. But I guess patience pays off later on so you can either choose to wait until you get those components which will make for a killer setup or satisfy yourself with a budget 5.1 setup. If I were you I'd go with the first.
 
Gannu said:
Why not up the budget a bit more and get yourself the NR1501 and maybe a pair of bookshelves for now? You can add another pair for the rear surround, a centre channel and a powered sub later. But for now, this should be good I feel. Although you wouldn't be able to enjoy the 5.1 surround. But I guess patience pays off later on so you can either choose to wait until you get those components which will make for a killer setup or satisfy yourself with a budget 5.1 setup. If I were you I'd go with the first.
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Bah, I have spoken to him for around 45 minutes with the same suggestion. If he agrees with you guys now after disagreeing with me earlier, he'll get a kick on his rump.
 
! 0 t A - You can go in for this - MARANTZ NR1402 AV RECEIVER and couple it with a pair of bookshelves in the 14-16k range. The receiver has HDMI 1.4a inputs which support 3D.

sarang said:
Recently bought a Alpha B1 for a friend for ~16k. You can always get an AVR later and add other speakers (Center/Surr/Sub).
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Can we run this without an AVR/Amplifier? I remember reading a review about some set of bookshelf speakers that could be powered independently, but can't seem to find it now.
 
Nope these are not powered. You'll need an amp/avr to drive these. PSB has recently launched their active offering PSB Alpha PS1 which sounds good for the price. (20k in india), also I saw AVX' post that the Paradigm Shift A2 are available with them, they are about 25k. Listen to both, if you are not willing to spend on an AV/Amp right now, an active could be a better bet.
Sei said:
! 0 t A - You can go in for this - MARANTZ NR1402 AV RECEIVER and couple it with a pair of bookshelves in the 14-16k range. The receiver has HDMI 1.4a inputs which support 3D.


Can we run this without an AVR/Amplifier? I remember reading a review about some set of bookshelf speakers that could be powered independently, but can't seem to find it now.
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I am getting a good deal for a Denon 1513 + JBL Cinema 500 @ 55 k ? Is that worth it ?

I have personally heard the system and am satisfied with its performance at both low and high volumes. .
 
Again, at 50k I would definitely lean towards the Marantz NR1501 and Boston Acoustics speaker system I linked to earlier :)
 
I wouldn't worry too much about that, frankly - though I do understand the concern. If it helps, I bought my receiver and speakers unheard and unseen (using only blind judgement and a bit of guessing) and I spent quite a bit more than 55k :D. Marantz (at least my SR5005) is really good for music even without correction, and the MRAC is pretty good at ironing out most obvious kinks in the sound (Audyssey is better but there may not be any receivers in your price range that do have Audyssey). The 1513 doesn't have any sort of calibration, and frankly - I wouldn't get a receiver that didn't allow some form of it. At the kind of money receivers go for and knowing what they need to pack in to be able to compete, the calibration crutch is all but indispensable.

Besides, the sound quality of almost all Denon receivers is pretty lacklustre - though this is my memory and not based on an audition of the 1513, so take it with a pinch of salt. If you are to persist with the speakers, at least try and get a better AVR. In any case you have already breached the 2x cutoff (which in my experience is what the actual budget always is) so if you like the sound and can afford it, go ahead with the Denon/JBL combo.
 
! 0 t A said:
I am getting a good deal for a Denon 1513 + JBL Cinema 500 @ 55 k ? Is that worth it ?

I have personally heard the system and am satisfied with its performance at both low and high volumes. .
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Plz tell me which one you purchased and from where??? and at what price???
I am planning to buy DEnon 1713 with JBL Cinema 500. Kindly suggest. I want satellite speakers only.
Also going through various posts on other sites in which different speakers are mentioned by people:
1)Polk TL 1600 5.1
2)wharfedale ms 100 5.1
3)paradigm cinema 100
4. Osbian
 
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