A decent set of home theater

Hi all,

I have a budget of RM5000 for a decent set of home cinema speaker and home cinema amp. How would you guys suggest?

Did you visit the KLAVS ? You could have gotten a damn good system from there.

Glad to know we have a moderator now that is very happy with his new purchase of an AVR from Kenny that he is "helping" those in need after the KLIAV.

Now let see where this HT journey will take this moderator. More power to the video side of the AV sect.

I missed that.It's too bad i'm in UK currently. Only be back late September. so could it be possible for anyone give me some guidance?

Yah man, I am damn happy with my purchase.

I think if the OP can drop by HiWay Laser, he might possible still ask for KLAVS price from Kenny. Need to introduce himself or herself as h4s forum member. And ask nicely and be reasonable. Entry level AVRs can be had for as low as RM999. That leaves 4k from the budget. But the surround speaker set, I don't think HWL can supply as I don't recall seeing any offer from them. I think he/she could have gotten it from Desa Home Theatre or one of the many other 'bargain bins' around the show. But sadly I don't think h4s is influential enough at this stage to be able to ask for show prices AFTER the show is over from ALL dealers with any degree of success. I suppose there is NO HARM going over to Desa Home Theatre and asking. Never ask, never know !

It is a pity really as I definitely personally have been harping on this show for many months whenever anyone is asking for recommendations. I think I personally have written almost a dozen posts plugging the show to whoever was looking for hifi, AV, etc. It is exactly what the show has been organized and designed to do. Furthermore, I agree with others that this year's attendance definitely seems to be declining so we need to inject more interest to help the hifi/AV industry of ours.

As my friend Eugene (one of the organisers) mentioned, the KLAVS is 11 years old by now. If we trace back to the days where it was two shows instead of one, it was even longer than that. Having been at the very first show, I know for a fact that due to a much larger base of dealers and exhibitors nowadays, offers are a lot better. Back in those days, the number of dealers, even including A/V was much smaller. With a smaller base and less competition, bargains and offers are harder to come by. With a larger base, and naturally more competition, bargains and offers are naturally better.

I already had a fixed mind on what I wanted, mainly after consulting with the proper experts in this area (they know who they are). So I got it from HWL which I found the best deal. But another forumer (elhefe) bought his from Desa Home Theatre and I could see he had a hell of a great deal as well (he got a free DVD player somemore ! Though I already have 4 DVD players lying around). Heck, DHT was selling a Pioneer DVD player for RM99 !!!! There were also a few other rooms with great offers, I remember Onkyo, Pioneer, and Denon AVRs stacked to the ceiling on Level 7, with offer stickers all over the wall

It really is a pity because 5k really could have gotten the OP a great set. Heck even LCD TVs were going for a song, 599 for a 24" LCD from Toshiba, 799 for a full HD unit on Level 4 !!!

Unless of course the OP is not from Malaysia or couldn't visit the show for some reason. Then, sorry for making him/her feel more regret.

Now, back to the original question. Any opinions AV/HT experts ? I am not one as you can clearly see I get my advice from the experts for my AVR.

Wait for Raya Sale.....especially from you know where....? See them rolling out as thou there is no tomorrow.....

WKN...whats your AVR model....that's if you do not mind.

I was advised to go for the Denon's or the Yamaha's....

cheers

Ah, you should have said it early so I would not have make you feel frustrated !!

I think h4s is influential enough at this stage that you can probably get good offers, KLAVS or not, from both HiWay Laser -and- CMY (I think CMY depends on the shop).

You really need to define your requirements here. What is your preferred source ? DVD ? BluRay ? They define the specifications of the AVR you need to buy though at this point, most will be able to support the 'hi-res' formats : TrueHD by Dolby, and DTS-HD MA by DTS labs. Also the LPCM as well. I did not check if the RM999 AVR I saw on Level 7 (from more than 1 exhibitor in fact) supports all of these format as well. I would definitely recommend getting an AVR which supports all these format as if you are Malaysian and is coming back soon, you would know we have lots of BluRay choices here (discs were going for as low as RM60 at the show. OOPS, here I go again !)

For source, BluRay players are going for dirt cheap nowadays, so cheap that it actually doesn't make sense buying a DVD player. Even on normal days, places like Harvey Norman and BEST Denki are selling Phillips and Panasonic entry level BR players for as low as RM399.

It is the speaker system which I think you are likely to run into a problem. Assuming you can still get an AVR at RM999 and which satisfies your requirement and say you 'splurge' RM399 for a Phillips BR player, that leaves you around RM3.6k. A 32inch LCD TV can be had for as low as RM1k nowadays, again from the electronic supermarts. That leaves you RM2.6k. I am fairly sure you could have gotten something at the show. But now I think you probably should look out at our H4S forum, to see if anyone is selling these 2nd hand.

If not, you can do some shopping, Amcorp mall, SungeiWang (A&L station), CMY not sure if they have something at this price point. HiWay also I am not sure. Desa Home Theatre is located at LowYat Plaze and I am fairly sure they DO have something. But basically for the speakers, I am afraid I cannot offer any help.

OK, I am in fact a beginner in AV so I hope the experts will offer their help now that I have started the ball rolling.

inflexible_lim



My suggestion based on your requirement to be an amp and speaker set:



Amp - 2 choices:



1. Yamaha RXV-365 ~ RM1200 to RM1500

2. Yamaha RXV-1900 = RM3000 on sale in Desa Home



Speakers (5.1 channel) 2 choices:



1. Kef KHT2005.3 ~ RM3000




2. Tannoy HTS101 ~ RM2500.





Alternatively, if you are in the UK, with GBP 1000, you could visit one of the many Richer Sounds shop and you can definitely get a bargain for GBP 1000. Can claim VAT some more.



www.richersounds.com

WM, no issues. I bought a Marantz SR5005. I had two basic requirements in mind. 1) It needs to have pre-out as it is replacing my Proceed AVP which is used with a Parasound 5 channel power amp. 2) it needs to be as future proof as possible. Before KLAVS, shopping around gave me an idea of how much I need to pay. I also researched which models from the major brands which supports the features I want, Yamaha, Marantz, Onkyo, etc.

I shortlisted to Marantz, Pioneer, Denon and Onkyo. I consulted with htkaki and COS, the resident HT experts here. They are really very knowledgeable you know, I personally vouch for them. Firstly they highly recommend Audyssey for setup and Marantz/Onkyo has it while Pioneer/Denon uses another system which they feel is less effective. So shortlisted to Onkyo/Marantz. They know I have a great bias towards concerts, they advised Marantz which sounds better with music but less 'exciting' for movie. As my Proceed has a similar characteristic, I decided Marantz is probably the best choice. As I have already researched before the show, it was mainly confirming my choice at the show and then asking for best offer.

The Marantz was offered at RM2699, down from over RM3600 I think. Anyway it is going to be replaced by the SR5006 but I ddin't bother as I am not fussy about gadgets as long as my requirements are met. The SR5005 already has pre-out, support for all the hi-res sound tracks PLUS it is 3D ready PLUS I discovered it is able to control TWO ZONES. So I am using it as AV processor with the Parasound for HT/AV. Then I hook up the BMB speakers to ZONE2 (powered directly by the Marantz) for the Karaoke system. My HT/AV/Karaoke system is now so much more neater.

I actually just bought my Sony S380 BluRay player a week earlier at the Maybank Treats Fair (I actually redeemed it mostly as I had enough points for RM370 so I paid RM29 for the player !! ). The MTF was another great place for bargains btw.

For the future, I am thinking of getting one of the DUNE media players. The DUNE MAX is very interesting as it is basically a Blu-Ray + media player with a slot for a 3.5" HDD and 3 USB ports !! All for RM1.7k only !! If I had not bought the SONY S380, I would have bought it at the show. Actually, not really as I was buying a number of LPs at the show so I would have used up the money for LPs anyway !!!

Hari Raya sale. True. Another great opportunity for great deals. However the OP is only coming back in September so he will miss the sale. I suppose year-end Christmas sale la. But the KLAVS is much like PCFair where it is a buyer's market. Similar to PCFair, we are likely to get better deals as many exhibitors would like to sell as much as the stock they carted to the show as they can. No point having to cart them back to the shop again just for a few ringgits extra profit. By saving on the transport lorry, they probably save a lot of expenses !

Actually another option is that for anyone who is too intimidated by all these, you can probably give the whole job to the Maxx brothers. Be fair la, and ask them if they can supply what you want for your budget and if they say they can, then just pay them the money and ask them to supply the whole set to you. They really are EXPERTS of the first class when it comes to HT/AV. Of couse we MUST be reasonable and understand they have their constraints on price and that they also need to make a living la.

If you looking for Dune, do look up Kenny again. He have some "interesting" package for Dune. I think I should not mention this in the forum as its contraversal.

Look like we have another Marantz AVR kaki in the house. Do join us at LYN for Marantz AVR talk.

By the way, Kenny didn't suggest the SR6005? Slightly more powerful, more refine, better remote, bluetooth function, dual zone, dual sub and of course ... more $$$$.

How is it controversial ? Is he a parallel importer ? Because the TVX room seems to be the official DUNE importer. I know Raymond Wong as he was the supplier for my TVX. Actually Raymond also offered me a special deal if I am interested as since I bought my TVX from him, he considers me a repeat customer. Perhaps you can PM me the details and I can suggest if it is appropriate to put on this forum or not.

I would love to join you guys at LYN except that H4S has already taken up all my spare time and I need to also allocate for spending time listening (hifi), watching (HT/AV) and also I have a couple of other things/hobbies (like my writing for TOV). Why not discuss here in this forum ? I am sure there are lots of AV kaki's here. I know of two hard-core ones already, from the land of the siew-pau !

I did ask Kenny about the SR5006 and the SR6005 but he suggested that they have more power and more features. One of the things he mentioned was that it can do 9.2 but as my HT area is very small, that single SVS sub is already way too powerful already. At the introduction of Transformer-2 for e.g. (where we have the stars flying in from a distance), the SVS shook everything in the house, from the plaster ceiling, to the cutlery, to the glassdoor ! My main requirement was to be able to play all the hi-res formats (TrueHD, DTS-HD MA, LPCM) and to have 3D capability. So after consideration, I decided to save the money.

My budget was around RM4.5k at one point after visiting my friend at CMY 1-U and so the amount saved will come in very handy in the near future !! I think it also shows Kenny's sincerity (IMHO) as a friendly dealer because like you say, the SR6005 is more $$$$ and if all he's after is my money, he would have strongly pushed for that instead of the SR5005 which I am sure he could easily sell. After all, I was ready to splurge on the SR6005, even the '7-series' if necessary.

One thing I noticed and wonder if anyone can confirm, has HiWay lost the agency for BMB ? I visited the room just after the series of HWL rooms, which was stocked full of BMB and was telling my wife I bought the BMB karaoke speakers from Kenny, then noticed that the name of the exhibitor was NOT HWL but another name.

Think Kenny have been in the business long enough to know how to "evaluate" what type of customer we are. He know when is the right time to pluck the ripe fruit.

I know Maxx and the SVS potential. Just that I am not a Bass Kaki like them. I enjoy concert like you as well. Presently I am running my Sub-woofer "cold" unlike most of the gang that run at optimal and some even running "hot".

Anyway, for AVR upgrading is poisonous. You started off on the journey and I think you can ask Maxx how many AVR had he "upgraded" along the way. Kenny also waiting at the side and patiently wait until you feel the "itch".

In actual fact, I have only owned less than 10 avrs in my 18 years into this hobby. Not many but I am fortunate enough to have fiddle and tested many other models throughout the years.

The SVS sealed sub esp the new SB is subtle. Very nice for concert as it blends in well. For movie, I still prefer ported sub. Correction, I am hooked to dual subs; 1 ported and 1 sealed. Both (combined) being calibrated to 75dB.

If you get the placement right (you need to spend many hours / days to get the perfect placement), it is very rewarding.

Recently, I spend more time on hi-fi than HT. Partly thanks to WongKN. This week, NSAG shall gather again.

htkaki wrote:

Recently, I spend more time on hi-fi than HT. Partly thanks to WongKN. This week, NSAG shall gather again.

This is what happens when u "kena poison".

Itch ? Ah, for HT/AV I manage that very well indeed. Can't say the same for HiFi though, esp LPs.

Now that the question pops up, it is indeed interesting to think about how many AV Amps have I owned. Actually its only three, if I include the old Arcam pre (which has Dolby ProLogic). The Arcam was the first true AV type equipment I owned, bought I think close to 8 years ago. It is a useful and intelligent equipment, fitted to drive 3 speakers : center plus surround and a pre-out into a stereo power amp for the main speaker. It's design was meant for those who mixes their music with their AV requirements. I.e. the main speakers are meant to be dual-role, music and AV. So the provision is to drive them with a dedicated power amp for maximum fidelity while the center (popular perception at one time, that the center is not important, unlike the more common opinion now, that there are indeed lots of 'information' in the center channel) and surround are 'by the way'.

Thereafter I wanted DTS as I was into DVD (BluRay & HD-DVD are just starting their war and I did not want any part of that). So I bought the Proceed AVP used. That was almost 5 years ago I remember. Was initially using it with a mixture of power and integrated amps for 'make do' until I found my Parasound 5-channel, from Ampang Park.

Now that Blu-Ray has won and the war has ended, I decided its time to change to 1080p HD and needed DTS-HD and TrueHD and thus this current upgrade. The Parasound has given stellar performance will is now used to pair with the Marantz which has become an AV 'Processor'.

Unless the next standard above 1080pHD and 24/96spec DTS-HD/TrueHD comes out, maybe 'ultraHD' with 24/192 soundtrack ? otherwise I won't change. This I am very confident of.

Can't say the same for the hifi though. But that is another story, with another dealer.

Actually I still have the Arcam pair and intend to deploy it into the bedroom AV set soon. And the Proceed AVP as many forumers know, has had its firmware upgrade and can now play 24/96 'high-ish res' digital so that will go into the Audio Research/Apogee hifi system. The focus will then shift into how to feed the AVP. Is it worthwhile to get an old CD transport like a Micromega Duo ? I don't feel like investing into one of those multi-format music server like the Bryston at the moment. If I am to commit on the DUNE MAX, then my current multi-media player the TVX M-6000 will become the music server to feed the AVP.

Seems like I have been lucky and have been able to 'redeploy' or 'recycle' most of my equipment.

mugenfoo wrote:

htkaki wrote:

Recently, I spend more time on hi-fi than HT. Partly thanks to WongKN. This week, NSAG shall gather again.

This is what happens when u "kena poison".

The chinese has a very appropriate saying for this matter.

"Cow doesn't want to drink water, we can't force the cow to bend his head".

Give in Max. Give in to the dark side. Join your friends like mugen and me who are already in deep shit inside there !

Inflexible_lim, can I suggest to look out for NAD AV Receiver while you are still in UK.

Their recent new model comes with modular design which allow future hardware upgrades should there by any new audio standard that comes along. One of the latest lower powered AV receiver is the NAD T 757.

That will be futureproof enough.

peter32 wrote:Inflexible_lim, can I suggest to look out for NAD AV Receiver while you are still in UK.

Their recent new model comes with modular design which allow future hardware upgrades should there by any new audio standard that comes along. One of the latest lower powered AV receiver is the NAD T 757.

That will be futureproof enough.

Thank you for your advice and i've checked for the price for NAD T 757. It's around 1000pounds which equivalent to RM5000. So it's really out of my budget. What i can afford is RM5000 for both home cinema speaker set together with an AV receiver.

elhefe wrote:inflexible_lim



My suggestion based on your requirement to be an amp and speaker set:



Amp - 2 choices:



1. Yamaha RXV-365 ~ RM1200 to RM1500

2. Yamaha RXV-1900 = RM3000 on sale in Desa Home



Speakers (5.1 channel) 2 choices:



1. Kef KHT2005.3 ~ RM3000




2. Tannoy HTS101 ~ RM2500.





Alternatively, if you are in the UK, with GBP 1000, you could visit one of the many Richer Sounds shop and you can definitely get a bargain for GBP 1000. Can claim VAT some more.



www.richersounds.com

Thanks for your info. I got my hifi set from richersound previously. But i am not sure whether the price over here could be cheaper compared to Malaysia. For Cambridge Audio azur 550A paired with Mordaunt Short Mezzo 1 for RM2750. Since i'm a student here, i might not able to claim for the VAT.
So could the price here be cheaper if compared with Malaysia?

No issues with student claiming VAT. Most of my of hifi equipments were purchased during my student years there and I claimed VAT on every single one of them. The only problem is you need to show the items to the customs at the airport. So, you cannot ship them back via seafreight.



For brand new and latest model of AV or hifi stuff, UK is definitely cheaper. For old models, yes, maaaaayyybbeee you can get it cheaper in Malaysia.

WongKN wrote:

mugenfoo wrote:

htkaki wrote:

Recently, I spend more time on hi-fi than HT. Partly thanks to WongKN. This week, NSAG shall gather again.

This is what happens when u "kena poison".

The chinese has a very appropriate saying for this matter.

"Cow doesn't want to drink water, we can't force the cow to bend his head".

Give in Max. Give in to the dark side. Join your friends like mugen and me who are already in deep shit inside there !

Wong Suk, I am slowly getting into this hi-fi blackhole (hope ain't a**hole ) I am thinking of selling my pre to get a newer one in near future. Slowly upgrade. I better not hang out too often at poison den.

One day, you should come again and I shall let you sample the HT system again.

I am putting away my hifi stuff into boxes and putting in a mini-compo at its place. I am following the method by the Hong Kong guy (the one on 8/7 floor in one of the rooms) ; putting those wood stuff on top and under the mini-compo and by miracle its achieving Hifi sound. (Ok, its in my head, still trying to wake up from this crazy dream)

By the way, if using mini-compo cannot upgrade power cord, change speaker cable, use interconnect or such.. cheap cheap hobby...

It's SQC Audio on 8th Floor.

WongKN wrote:WM, no issues. I ............living la.

WKN...



Thanks for sharing and the very very very detailed view points. Getting the AV poison slowly seaping into my veins.....



But its going to be slow and enjoyable process and would be seeking your viewpoint along the way.



Guess you would be enjoying your new purchase....do let us know the progress as it gets worked in....?



cheers

HTKaki, it would be soon because I need to return the HDD to you. Also to collect my 'thingies' once I have compiled the list for you to work on.

JSoo, dream on....

WM, no problems. But always bear in mind that I am a newbie in this AV stuff. The real experts that you want to listen to are the Maxx brothers. However, these two guys have just learned a new skill which is very harzadous to your health. It's called 'poisoning'....

On Sunday the rooms my wife stayed longest were the Maxx audio, Joki, HWL (she was treated as a VIP there, thanks to the max brothers, Joki himself and Kenny) and also the Tropical Audio room (TA because she knows the owners personally). Other than those, she stayed longest at all the AV rooms. She was really enjoying KingKong and the animation on Owls movies. So I promise her that this coming long Raya break, we will enjoy our own movies at home, with the just updated system ! This is one advantage AV has that hifi is difficult to match. Hifi often turns into a selfish hobby, with only ourself listening alone. With AV, it's often a shared experience. Best of all is karaoke because it is interactive as well. It makes sense to share our passion and hobby because as the saying goes "good things should be shared with those important to us"

I agree WongKN with your comments on sharing is caring with AV hehe.



Thats why I set up my home cinema separately from my hifi set up so that it can be shared with the family. Nothing beats the feeling of lazying around with the Mrs and the kids while watching our favs movies. Also, when the karaoke session starts, it usually turns into a havoc because of how bad I sing hahahaha.



I wish I can accomodate BMB in my system as well like you, but the looks on BMB speakers are not to my wife's liking. So, I settled with Magic Sing.

I only bought the BMB speakers. I wanted the low-end BESKARA ones but Kenny advised me that with karaoke speakers, it makes sense to have some safety margin, LOTS of safety margin, since we all knows what the biggest harzard with karaoke is (people singing at the top of their voice, overloading everything !)

I was using it with my old Arcam amp but now with the new Marantz, I am driving the BMBs from the ZONE2 speaker terminals (this was a huge bonus to me as I didn't expect this feature/expect this as a criteria for the AV amp). I bought an original Nikkodo mike amp (made in Japan) a few years ago. Plus splurged on one of those latest computer based karaoke system. So now karaoke is better at home than at places like RedBox !! My whole family (parents, brother, sisters, kids, etc) would come over and we would have a huge family gathering with karaoke for the whole day before breaking for dinner. THIS is one of the big difference between us asians and the westerners. We are very family-centric and it is something I feel we should be proud of and should nuture. Like how cpt Kirk said of Mr. Spock, similarly for us, this makes us more 'human'....

Ok.. wake up and start unpacking the box and putting back the mini-compo into the spare-room.. haha dreaming on a tiring work day.

Yeah, AV is indeed a more social thingy, not just limited to family but extend to more people. People tend to be impress with the big tv and big sound. Hifi is indeed can be a lonely pursuit as not many understand the experience as they say.. my mini-compo also product similar sound.. haha.

There was once when I need to send my AVR for firmware upgrade (Older Marantz need to be send to WKH for upgrade) and the other half say how come sound so different the Astro, the TV not like before .. blah blah.. When the AVR around she say "have or not have same only mah, only can turn loud loud, bising somemore" Keep on nagging and say when they can be done with the upgrade as she say Windows update also even faster...

Waaahhhh u went all out with karoake. You must have some hidden talent in singing.



So the BMB speakers can be driven by non-karoake amps then. I always thought that it needed a specific karoake amp.



My parents in law are into karoake as well. I remembered the first day I bought Magic Sing, they came by with the intention to check out the Magic Sing. That was at 730 pm. ended up ordering pizza and they stayed till 1 am.

WKN / elhefe...

Spot on with your comments.....my home Hifi is in a No Fly zone with Firewall rules in place for the kids. But occasionally will play their favourite CD's,after which the living area turns into a dance floor. All the pent up energy....kids. It's fun...watching them make their moves.....creative thinking....

As both of you have said AV is where the family congregates for a together session of movie watching.....so we decided to focus on the AV portion and I have got where I want with the Hifi setup.

Now my AV is driven by Computer speaker setup, 2,1,1 configuration; 2 speakers, 1 centre and 1 subwoofer. A halfway setup until we get the right gear....which is really going to be slow progress. But the kids enjoy it...with all the loud thunderous sounds when watching Transformers, Avatar or Too Fast Too Furious....

Good that my wife is into the similar interest as well...makes things easy. She is my reference point for testing and any purchase related to Hifi....gives me a ladies viewpoint...without the sugar coating....

In sync with your views on family and sharing with loved ones.



cheers

WongKN wrote:HTKaki, it would be soon because I need to return the HDD to you. Also to collect my 'thingies' once I have compiled the list for you to work on.

JSoo, dream on....

WM, no problems. But always bear in mind that I am a newbie in this AV stuff. The real experts that you want to listen to are the Maxx brothers. However, these two guys have just learned a new skill which is very harzadous to your health. It's called 'poisoning'....

On Sunday the rooms my wife stayed longest were the Maxx audio, Joki, HWL (she was treated as a VIP there, thanks to the max brothers, Joki himself and Kenny) and also the Tropical Audio room (TA because she knows the owners personally). Other than those, she stayed longest at all the AV rooms. She was really enjoying KingKong and the animation on Owls movies. So I promise her that this coming long Raya break, we will enjoy our own movies at home, with the just updated system ! This is one advantage AV has that hifi is difficult to match. Hifi often turns into a selfish hobby, with only ourself listening alone. With AV, it's often a shared experience. Best of all is karaoke because it is interactive as well. It makes sense to share our passion and hobby because as the saying goes "good things should be shared with those important to us"

I will get ready the poison for you. One do not always get to revenge.

I was so nervous that my system will not be able to impress your missus since she got used to an even better sounding system. Anyway, thank you for the help. Next year, I bet you will be busy helping the other exhibitor who will make a comeback.

Heheheh max; - the poisoner's apprentice

You will always get my help as long as you feel I can be helpful with whatever limited abilities I have. I mean, the other two guys I am very close with, JoKi is a master himself. He don't need any help from me. If that 'other exhibitor' is to exhibit next year, well he is my sifu, so I suppose I will be around, but only as the coolie. What help can I give ? But if he really do exhibit next year, who knows, he might come over and 'chap-chap' a bit for you. Next time we meet up, remind me to tell you a story his wife told me, about the time they visited Penang.

If you still have not gotten agency for a digital source next year. And you don't mind a 12year old (13 years by then) equipment, next year we do 'high-ish res' digital !

I will also start earlier with my 'special projects'. I find the contrasting opinions between Jo and my friend on the Cai Qin very intriguing. I gave them different files, from different processing but they are processed from the same source. So IN THEORY, they -should- be the same as it is all processing in the digital domain and I didn't resample or even change word/sample size. This is the problem with computing. The results can often be not what the theory says. This I am very familiar with after more than a quarter of a century working with them computer thingies ! Next year we will have 'hai shang lang shau'.

JS, E, WM,

Happy we share the same opinion as to the goodness of the AV and the karaoke. Me, although I know music, I don't really sing. My wife is the one who does the singing. Plus almost all the other members of my family. I love it when my little nephew and niece sings. But the problem is that the niece will ask "you got SHE ? you got twins ? Beyounce ? How come everything also don't have one ?" So a visit to HiWay is in the works in the near future !

Wong Suk, no papa americano Kah? This one is on behalf of Jinjang Foo

Oh yah, cannot forget papa amaricano. Also wonder girls 'nobody but you', 'don't hate me cause I'm beautiful', etc. These songs are horrible. They are so catchy sometimes they get stuck inside my head !

At least that it stuck in your head

WongKN wrote:Oh yah, cannot forget papa amaricano. Also wonder girls 'nobody but you', 'don't hate me cause I'm beautiful', etc. These songs are horrible. They are so catchy sometimes they get stuck inside my head !

The head shaking dance performed by our friend comes to my mind.

OK guys, an update from me. The AV fans really needs some boost around here, too much focus on purely hifi !!

I have had the chance to watch some movies and listen to some concerts -properly- with the Marantz AV amp and in short, I am really happy with the amp. What I am really happy about is the Audyssey function where the amp more or less calibrates itself to my listening area. I used rubber bands to secure the calibration mike onto the end of a long piece of wood (a leftover I collected when my built-in wardrobe was installed years ago) so I was able to put the calibration mike practically in the middle of empty air so I was able to get good calibrations from all 6 positions as recommended.

Properly calibrated, 5.1 is VERY different and A LOT better than manual calibration (even when using my high-end Proceed AV processor) especially for a newbie like me. The amount of details from the movie soundtrack is a lot more apparent and makes for a much more satisfying watching of movies.

The other day when we were having lunch with the guys, Max (htkaki) told me he prefers something like a Pioneer or Onkyo rather than Marantz. I 'taruhed' him "then why did you recommend Marantz to me ??!!!!" He told me Marantz is too 'soft' so it is not exciting with movies but is more musical and warmer so very good for concerts. So he reckons my bias towards concerts will be better served with the Marantz.

Well, basically I think Max is wrong ! Actually it's just that my standards are different, probably a lot lower, than Max's because I find the Marantz to be fine even with hollywood blockbusters and wonderful with concerts. In the AlanTam ultimate concert Blu-Ray for e.g., the SQ was really first class. And yet with movies like 2012 and Battle: Los Angeles, the excitement is still there. Of course I am a newbie to H/T compared to Max so the positions are now reversed (as compared to hifi).

One idiosyncrachy that I find about the Marantz is that some of the functions do not work during certain times. E.g. I usually want to check the actual specs of the HD soundtrack from concert Blu-Rays and it is possible to do this by calling up the input setup menu during playback and then there is the information, for e.g. Dolby HD (which is TrueHD) which often is 16/48 or 24/48. I remember doing this for DTS HD MA a couple of weeks ago but yesterday, couldn't bring the menu up, the Marantz basically just ignored the remote control.

Going to re-watch more movies this holiday, and getting a new experience by finally being able to watch it with the HD soundtrack.

Waaaahh wongkn congrats on your new found love towards home cinema.

I was about to write an update on my pruchase as well but because I have not fully set it due to some technical 'errors' which was just rectified before hari raya, will have to do the review after raya.

WongKN wrote:Oh yah, cannot forget papa amaricano. Also wonder girls 'nobody but you', 'don't hate me cause I'm beautiful', etc. These songs are horrible. They are so catchy sometimes they get stuck inside my head !

I'm gonna tag your phonebook entry to this Papa americano ringtone permanently....

Papa americano ar? I tot you prefer "pretty girl rock" ?

WongKN wrote:OK guys, an update from me. The AV fans really needs some boost around here, too much focus on purely hifi !!

I have had the chance to watch some movies and listen to some concerts -properly- with the Marantz AV amp and in short, I am really happy with the amp. What I am really happy about is the Audyssey function where the amp more or less calibrates itself to my listening area. I used rubber bands to secure the calibration mike onto the end of a long piece of wood (a leftover I collected when my built-in wardrobe was installed years ago) so I was able to put the calibration mike practically in the middle of empty air so I was able to get good calibrations from all 6 positions as recommended.

Properly calibrated, 5.1 is VERY different and A LOT better than manual calibration (even when using my high-end Proceed AV processor) especially for a newbie like me. The amount of details from the movie soundtrack is a lot more apparent and makes for a much more satisfying watching of movies.

The other day when we were having lunch with the guys, Max (htkaki) told me he prefers something like a Pioneer or Onkyo rather than Marantz. I 'taruhed' him "then why did you recommend Marantz to me ??!!!!" He told me Marantz is too 'soft' so it is not exciting with movies but is more musical and warmer so very good for concerts. So he reckons my bias towards concerts will be better served with the Marantz.

Well, basically I think Max is wrong ! Actually it's just that my standards are different, probably a lot lower, than Max's because I find the Marantz to be fine even with hollywood blockbusters and wonderful with concerts. In the AlanTam ultimate concert Blu-Ray for e.g., the SQ was really first class. And yet with movies like 2012 and Battle: Los Angeles, the excitement is still there. Of course I am a newbie to H/T compared to Max so the positions are now reversed (as compared to hifi).

One idiosyncrachy that I find about the Marantz is that some of the functions do not work during certain times. E.g. I usually want to check the actual specs of the HD soundtrack from concert Blu-Rays and it is possible to do this by calling up the input setup menu during playback and then there is the information, for e.g. Dolby HD (which is TrueHD) which often is 16/48 or 24/48. I remember doing this for DTS HD MA a couple of weeks ago but yesterday, couldn't bring the menu up, the Marantz basically just ignored the remote control.

Going to re-watch more movies this holiday, and getting a new experience by finally being able to watch it with the HD soundtrack.

Your high-end Proceed avp has already passed its time lah . The new generation avr have a lot more resolution and finesse when it comes to HD audio as well as room correction s/w particularly Audyssey MultEQ XT and above.

Wong Suk, I said that the Marantz is 'soft' on LFE compares to the brutal Onkyo and the more balanced Denon's signature. It is just a bit too safe to my liking. Marantz really excels when it comes to musicality. Period. I think you need to sample the prowess of Onkyo when it comes to movie excitement.

Did you do any fine tuning after the Audyssey? You need to do so esp speakers setting, LPF for LFE, the channel level (if you have SPL meter), as well as individual XO.

Btw, you do not have tripod to secure the cal mic? Did you follow the correct steps to put the mic? The mic is very sensitive and it is quite crucial to get it done correctly.

Actually the Proceed sounds a -lot- better than the Marantz. It did cost RM29k 12 years ago. But its true that it does not do DTS-HD or True-HD and supports up to 24/96 only for music (2-channels). The core track of DTS-HD MA actually sounded very good though less resolution as expected, as the core is lossy and we need the MLP extension to restore the lossless.

Actually my friend at CMY 1-U quoted me around 4.8k for the Onkyo so besides the issue of musicality, it is also the price factor as well. 2k is a lot of money !

The way I mounted the Audyssey mike allowed me to position it in places a normal tripod will not work, e.g. ear-position which means a couple of inches floating above and another couple of inches in front of the top of the sofa back-rest. How to place a tripod there ? I am not planning to do any manual adjustments just yet (the manual actually advises not to for the newbies like me) but I am not entirely happy with the tonal balance for the center speaker so I will probably adjust for it soon.

Reading the owner's manual is actually very interesting. It talks about many things we audiophile talk about and which have been ridiculed by others. For e.g. the manual advises about interference from the handphone, even when it is not in use.

So, did you buy anything back ?

Yes, I agreed that Onkyo is all about brutal force. Its slam and dynamics are very suitable for action movies and often attracted ones attention. Denon is more of , warmer, balanced sound and is good at re-produced live concerts too. Those with audiophiles background will most likely find Onkyo sound a little too harsh and uncontrolled at times. :-)

WongKN, another thing to note when carrying out audyssey calibration testing is to ensure the surrounding ambiance is completely quiet (some even turn off the ceiling fan, lowering the air-cond speed ), I think the audyssey settings are quite accurate and pretty close to the SPL meter reading, being a variance of 0.5dB. You need a SPL meter to measure the sub though. Many will also find the centre channel a little too conservative by audyssey. We usually bump 1~2dB to get cinematic feel. A common flaw by audyssey is it sometimes will set average front spkrs as BIG. You need to manually set it to small and you are good to go. Oh, it is recommended to run the test each time you move the speakers.


Enjoy the lossless audio.

Maybe its time to re-consider the Marantz SR6005. The 6005 is more refined compared to the 5005 and just slightly more powerful. Power is not the main consideration here, but the higher end model is smoother and have slightly more gimmick to play around with.

Of course, there is the problem of it being more expensive.....

I am using the Marantz as a processor actually and it is driving a Parasound 5-channel power amp so power is not that much of an issue. I would prefer to have a Krell 5-channel poweramp or something of that calibre as my main and center speakers are Apogee hybrids and these guys really really suck power, lots of it. But the Parasound works quite well. Hmmm.... so fast already suggesting I change amp already, now this is what I call 'poison' !

If you looking at using Marantz as the processor.. then its time to look at SR7005....

WongKN,

Any particular reason why you have never shortlisted Yamaha AV amps? I have tried a few like Denon, Marantz, Sherwood, Sony, but I still went back to Yamaha.

Just curious why not many are into Yamaha products?

elhefe wrote:WongKN,

Any particular reason why you have never shortlisted Yamaha AV amps? I have tried a few like Denon, Marantz, Sherwood, Sony, but I still went back to Yamaha.

Just curious why not many are into Yamaha products?

Simple. Room calibration software YPAO is not as efficient as Audyssey mulit-EQ.

Mikapoh,

Thats an interesting comment. How do we measure the callibration software?

I had an interesting experience with YPAO A few weeks back in which I find that it was very sensitive callibration system.

Will explain further in my next posting.