My home theatre setup...your views please

[admin_exported]

Hi,

Have been auditioning a lot of speakers and amplifiers for a good entry level 5.1 setup which can also handle music very well, and I have finally zeroed in on the following setup..I am new to the hifi world so would be great if you guys can share your views whether this is good or should I look at anything else..Remember, I am on a budget, and this setup is stretching it to the hilt almost..

Mordaunt-Short Avant 904i as front speakers

Mordaunt-Short Avant 905i as centre

Wharfedale Diamond 9.0 as the surrounds

Subwoofer MS Avant 309i or Wharfedale SW150 (these are front firing, would bottom firing be better for placement?)

Cambridge Azur 340R 5.1 A/V Receiver

Cambridge Azur 540D (V2) DVD player

Getting 16 gauge OFC cabling done for all the speakers

 

[fatboyslimfast]

Hiya, you might be better off posting this in the home cinema forum on this site, as the peeps here tend to be more stereo-oriented.

However, just a quick one - is there a reason for not considering the 902i's as the surround? Just thinking that it might be better to keep all from one manufacturer, as their "sound" will then be similar throughout...

As to the sub, it shouldn't matter whether it's bottom or front firing - both should be non-directional and can be placed pretty much anywhere in the room...

 

[Anonymous]

hi, thanks for the input..the only reason for not considering the 902i are that they can't be put onto brackets on the wall (thats what the retailer told me dunno whether right or wrong)..they are slightly heavy though 5.5 kg i think..and i will post this in the home cinema section, thanks for the tip..

 

[Anonymous]

Hi, I have got the mordaunt bi-polar speakers for my surround and they are very good. They disperse sound all round the rear of the room and they can be wall mounted too. I have also seen some people use the satellite speakers from the mordaunt short premiere package as surrounds as they do less work in the movie tracks.

 

[Gopi]

Koushik, I would try to stay away from mix and match. Particularly, Wharfedale and MS have totally different signaure and effeciency. This will make the system setup extremely tricky and you might still not get the best out of them all. So, if Wharfedale 9.0 is all that you can hang on the wall, then go for a Wharfedale Diamond 9.1 as fronts and 9CC/9CM/9CS for centre(pick the costlier one, forgot which one). I know that you are going for a floorstander, but you have nice subwoofer. In this budget I would rather save and spend on other stuffs than pushing for the floorstander. Music and movies - Diamonds are good choice. Mostly movies, then MS might be better, but still diamonds will be my choice. The DVD player is a nice one.

By any chance are you in India. I think so. If this is the case, the DVD player is the best choice as it comes quite a lot cheaper here in India even than its original cost in UK. But the receiver is costly here and I would stay away from that and get a Marantz SR4001 or Onkyo SR605 /505 if possible.

Whats your budget by the way.

 

[Anonymous]

Yes Gopi, I live in Mumbai India, the receiver is costing me 26k with warranty, I think the Onkyo is over 30k and I dunno how well will they go with the Mordaunts (Incidentally cambridge and Mordaunt-Short are part of the same group)...Well the Marantz is very well reputed but wont it be very costly?? My budget is 75k for speaker and amplifier...This combo is coming in at that price only

 

[Gopi]

Koushik, I would recommend you to go for CA 540Rv3 atleast. 340R gives out only 50W if all channels driven. This might be atleast fine with Mordaunt Short, but tough with Wharfedales. If the room is not small, then I would definetly recommend you against 340R. Also, the price difference is not much. For 32k you should get it.

But here is the catch , Whathifi gave Onkyo all the AV receiver awards this year. Compare the UK and India prices for these models.

Onkyo SR505 - 250 pounds - 23k

Onkyo SR605 - 400 pounds - 36k

CA 340R - 200 pounds - 26k

CA 540Rv3 - 300 pounds - 32k

All these prices can be negotiated further. This is why I said CA receivers are costlier in India.

Surprisingly the DVD player is just the opposite. Its 250 pounds there vs 15k here.

The beauty is that in UK the player costs 50 pounds more than the 340R, while in India the player costs 10k less than the receiver. I have no idea why. So, the player is a complete steal in India.

Anyway, the packages that I'll recommend are following:

CA 540R v3 32k + CA 540D v2 15k = 47k. Be sure that you get atleast 10% discount on this.

1. Diamond 9hcp (Diamond 9.0 + Diamond 9cc + diamond 9.0 + diamond sw150) is 33k. You can upgrade the fronts to Diamond 9.1 for better music for less than 3k. You can get this for 35k.

2. Mordaunt Short Alumni package can be got for less than 40k.

3. Mordaunt 914i is better than 904i. Given that you will go for a subwoofer, you dont need a floorstander, particularly when you are short of money. So, 902i + 905i + 903i + 309i will cost you less than 45k. you can wall mount the 903i as its less than 3kg.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Gopi

thanks for your suggestion, tell me something do you think a standalone dvd player and another standalone CD player would be better in terms of performance? I am hearing the samsung hd870 and 1080P7 are pretty good, in fact the HD870 was recommended against the mighty Denon 1740 by what hifi from value for money point of view.. if you think this is good, then which CD player around 10k should be giving me good performance?

 

[Gopi]

Koushik, Definetly a stand alone CD player will be better. but, you need to understand that 10k will be too less for this. The closest you can get is a CA340c for 13k I suppose. I would say don't bother much as anyway, anything like these will make things better only if you are making the remaining system even better. CA 540Dv2 is the thing. Of all the things you picked up, this is the one thing I wont change.