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Help Needed in A/V Receivers (1 Viewer)

djdownfawl

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Nitin
I just purchased a 50" HD TV and i am looking to get
- The BEST BLU RAY PLAYER ( The most top of the line, no jokes )
- The BEST A/V Receiver ( The most top of the line, no jokes )
- The BEST Speakers/Subwoofers to accompany the A/V Receiver.

I have been looking at Onkyo and Denon Systems, although i am not limited to purchase from only these two choices.
I just need you guys to point me in the right direction.

I just need the top of the line system setup.

Thanks
 

Jason Charlton

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Seriously? You don't honestly expect an objective answer to a question so innately subjective do you?

Without more specific information, I don't think you'll get many serious responses.
 

David Willow

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Hi Nitin,

Welcome to HTF.

What do you call "top of the line"? How much are you looking to spend on each item? Total? How big is your room?

Which TV did you get (just curious)?

We need a few more details before we can point in the right direction...
 

John Brill

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The most top of the line eh?

Ok, for processing, I'd begin with a Theta Digital Generation VIII Series pre/pro... should run you around $14k

Now, for amplification, no need to get crazy but 7 McIntosh MC1.2KW Amplifiers should do... and run you another $77k ($11k each)

Speakers, wow, lots of choice here. Personally I'd go with Snell A7 Towers's at a bargain $35k each and get the matching center and sub.

Finally, for a blu-ray player, I'd probably go with an Insignia NS-2BRDVD.
 

djdownfawl

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Hi David, thank you for replying to my post.
For me top of the line means something that sounds amazing.
To be honest with you, currently i own a 'HTIB' ONKYO HT-S9100THX
The room is 18' by 15' with leather furniture.
I own a Panasonic Viera TC-P50G10 50 inch.

I have been checking out the Denon AVP-A1HDCI and i was thinking it would be an excellent upgrade to the ONKYO HT-S9100THX head unit.

I do appreciate the other user's answer but yeah i mean seriously, i am not trying to spend over $100k on audio equipment.

I have the budget to get the Denon AVP-A1HDCI if that will be a good move for me?
 

John Brill

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OK, so $100k isn't your budget... we still haven't established what is... :D

What's your total budget for speakers, receiver, and blu-ray player?
 

djdownfawl

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Speakers - I dont know.
Receiver - Something in the range of the Denon AVP-A1HDCI
Blu-ray - Umm i currently have a PS3. I dont know whats better whatever is the best.
 

David Glen

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Just as a note, keep in mind that the AVP-A1HDCI is not a receiver. It's a preamplifier. You'd need to buy an external amp (or amps) to drive your speakers.

If you want an integrated receiver, the top Denon would be the AVR-5308CI(A)
 

djdownfawl

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Oh god, i didnt know that. Thank you.
So what would i wanna get? the AVP-A1HDCI or the AVR-5308CI(A)?
And is the AVR-5308CI(A) better than the Top Onkyo - TX-NR906?

How would you rate the HTIB HTS 9100THX Onkyo i have now?
How would you rate my TV?
I heard upgrading my wire on the ONKYO 9100THX to a 12awg will give me much better sound. If thats true then which one do i need to get? I mean any brand name like monster?

Thanks
 

Stephen Tu

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Don't overemphasize electronics. The speakers+sub(s) make by far the most difference, start auditioning those first, put as much money into getting the ones you prefer most (a subjective thing, and more expensive is not necessarily going to sound better to you).

And before spending extra multi-thousands on the top-end AVP-A1HD, I would instead look into finding/hiring a custom installer to put in room acoustical treatments and do room EQ like Audyssey Pro on a cheaper receiver like the Denon 4310CI (being newer than the 5308, a lot of the useful features have dropped down and are available for cheaper). That would make infinitely more difference than simply dropping in ultra-expensive electronics to replace your 9100THX receiver.

Don't spend money on wires, that would be worthless. Your TV is fine in terms of picture quality, but it's most probably too small for your seating distance. For good HD viewing you generally want size ~= half your viewing distance, and those with front projector setups tend to go even bigger.
 

David Willow

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OK, we still don't know what you have to spend, so recommending anything is nearly impossible. Based on your current setup, Even a $2000 to $3000 investment will be a big step up. While the Onkyo HTiB's are some of the best, they are still not even close to "top of the line" equipment.

And no, don't waste money on Mon$ter cables. The speakers are the problem with the 9100, not the wires.
 

John Brill

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Ok... let me try another question... how much money total do you want to spend?

If you are comfortable spending $7500 on a receiver, I would then recommend you spend in the neighbourhood of $30k for speakers (my general rule is 20-30% of cost on audio electronics, 40-60% on speakers, remainder on video). Is your budget really in the $40k range?

Even if you opt for the Denon AVR-5308CI(A) for $5500, you would still be looking at spending around $20k for speakers to do it justice.

In the $5k price range for the AVR, I wouldn't be wasting my time with the Denon, Onkyo, Yamaha's of this world and would seriously look at NAD, Rotel, Anthem, etc...

Either way, compared to your HTiB, anything will be better and for the most part, you need to set your budget because you can easily spend an almost unlimited about on HT gear (as I demonstrated above and that wasn't even the most expensive gear available, simply my dream system in the under $300k range :D :D :D ).

JB
 

djdownfawl

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I would say $8k on a receiver.
Speakers i have NO idea. Please recommend.
BLU ray player - $500-700
Also need a better TV than TCPG10 PANASONIC 50"
 

John Brill

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Ok, for $30k here is what I'd be looking at:

Electronics
A) Anthem AVM 50 pre/pro with Anthem MCA 50 and 20 amps
B) Rotel RSP-1570 pre/pro with Rotel RMB 1575 and 1562 amps

Speakers
A) Bowers and Wilkins (B&W) 800 or 700 series
B) Kef Reference Series
C) Paradigm Signature Series

Blu-Ray
A) Panasonic DMP-BD55K
B) LG BD390
C) Samsung BD-P3600

Good-luck.
 

djdownfawl

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I cannot spend $30k i am sorry if there is a misunderstanding.
Aren't sony players better than any others?
 

David Willow

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You are confusing. You want to spend 8 grand on a receiver but can't spend 30 grand on everything?

Unless I know how much you want to spend, I really can not help. Let me put it this way... My AVR retails for $800 and my speakers $4500. As you see, the speakers are 4 times the budget of the AVR. So if you can't do at least $30k, you are spending too much on the receiver.

Also, Sony is not necessarily better (or worse). IMO, Panasonic is the current leader in the BD player market. I am intrigued by the LG player with built-in streaming. This may be my next purchase....
 

Stephen Tu

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At a certain price point, it stops being sensible to recommend someone allocate x% of their budget on receiver/amp vs. n*x% on speakers. This is because at those price levels, quality has become divorced from price, plus the quality vs. price curve for amps flattens out at a far lower point than speakers. You are paying for things like exclusive brand names, and the art/furniture/fancy cabinet material aspect of speakers rather than the sound quality aspect. Speakers are the most important, and are highly based on personal preference, go to a hifi-dealer and listen to a bunch and get what you like.

For amps, spending more doesn't necessarily improve your sound any. Since your room is normal size, unless you get particularly unusually hard to drive speakers, extra power doesn't really help you. 500w/channel is useless if you are only going to end up using 60 watts and anything louder is going to cause hearing damage. Preamps/amps/receivers are supposed to decode according to specified algorithms (and all using common chipsets from a small group of chip makers), then linearly amplify; properly designed, in the absence of extra EQ/DSP surround processing, they give equivalent output in the power range they can handle. So just don't expect sound quality improvements here, focus on room treatments & room EQ.

I agree with the others that it's kind of pointless for you to dodge the question about how much total you willing to spend.

TV -- I'd go with a bigger Panasonic TC-PV10 series, 58" or 65" depending on your seating distance, they come out later this year.

Blu-ray -- there's really no particular reason why you'd want to replace your PS3. For Blu-ray performance you won't do any better. Spend your money on something like a TivoHD (if you have cable) instead. What are you unhappy with on the PS3?
 

John Brill

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I'm almost ready to give up :frowning:

The Rotel combo will cost around $5500 (at full retail... who pays that?)
The Paradigm combo will cost around $10000 (get the cheaper studio series if need be)
The Blu-Ray player will cost less than $400.

There you go. Awesome system for around $15k.

JB
 

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