Home theater

[Leongsam]

I am still using KEF speakers, they are still better than many speakers.

I honesty don't think there is such a thing as "better" when it comes to the top brands.

Each system has it's own characteristic sound which is best suited to a particular kind of music.

A system that is great for violin concertos probably won't perform well when playing Deep Purple's Machine Head.

 

[me005]

I honesty don't think there is such a thing as "better" when it comes to the top brands.

Each system has it's own characteristic sound which is best suited to a particular kind of music.

A system that is great for violin concertos probably won't perform well when playing Deep Purple's Machine Head.

better to my ears. i have said in my earlier posting. different brands, model have different appeal. what matters is that you like the sound. if not, no matter how much it cost or how good the review is, it is not worth it.

 

[garlic]

I bought a pair of Bose 901's. Big Mistake!

Avoid Bose. Google "Bose FAQ"

Wah lau, a quick search of bose on home theater related forums seem to condemn this brand to bits. Have not audition it yet, but today went to adelphi to look at AV receivers. You guys wont believe the prices there and the prices at courts, best denki etc...

Price for this Denon 1912 at courts is $1,149 http://www.courts.com.sg/Products/PID-IP053129(Courts).aspx
Price for this at most Adelphi shops is $820. WTF! 329 bucks cheaper!!!

Auditioned energy, q acoustics, polk audio and mirage satellites and book shelf speakers... Cant really pin point what is wrong, but feels something is lacking. Velodyne woofers are top pick but seems to be too boomy and overkill for a pigeon hole living room. This company manufactures nothing but woofers. Don't really like those bookshelf speakers as they look so ugly, imagine hanging a speaker the size of a tissue box on the TV console beside the flat panel tv.. doesnt work for me imo.

Well, at least learnt that AVRs dont go to courts buy... bros here can U-turn if you have plans to go these departmental stores. (perhaps you guys know earlier already, so shocking to me lor)

 

[GOD IS MY DOG]

I agree. Pioneer has caught up with the rest. for the same budget, i went testing, pioneer is better than the rest. my whole hi-fi budget is SGD 10k for 7.1 system.

wahhh......................you also buying AV system ah..............

for your budget must buy a receiver at least $2K+...............if not more.............

 

[GOD IS MY DOG]

I honesty don't think there is such a thing as "better" when it comes to the top brands.

Each system has it's own characteristic sound which is best suited to a particular kind of music.

A system that is great for violin concertos probably won't perform well when playing Deep Purple's Machine Head.

KEF is nowhere near top brand mah....................now owned by Hong Kong battery company liao...............


even their Reference speakers is disappointing......................

KEF is a brand still relying on reputation of year gone by...................


now all the top brands from US, France, Holland................

 

[johnny333]

My set up now is

1. Accuphase Amp E210
2. Energy XL 250 speakers
3. Rel Storm sub woofer.
4. Onkyo CD player.

An average system but I like the sound. The weakest link is the CD player but I've never upgraded as I have no idea how much longer CDs are going to last.

I thought of going back to vinyl but only weird shit is released on that format.

For those interested in the Accuphase brand. The dealer is Atlas. They are also the dealers for Bose

 

[Fook Seng]

My set up now is

1. Accuphase Amp E210
2. Energy XL 250 speakers
3. Rel Storm sub woofer.
4. Onkyo CD player.

What is your crossover frequency with the Energy?

 

[Fook Seng]

bro...............KEF has not been competitive at all in the last 15 years...............

KEF is considered a has-been brand now................almost dropping to JUNK status liao............

They have new owners and Uni-Q drivers from new design teams are well regarded.

 

[garlic]

so minus LED tv........................what's the budget ?


for AV receivers...............Denon and Onkyo................though Pioneer receiver is very good for music

about 5k without TV... for LED TV, i dont need 3D... cant imagine myself wearing the 3D specs at home.. you have views on this?

 

[Fook Seng]

Wah lau, a quick search of bose on home theater related forums seem to condemn this brand to bits. Have not audition it yet, but today went to adelphi to look at AV receivers. You guys wont believe the prices there and the prices at courts, best denki etc...

Price for this Denon 1912 at courts is $1,149

For your budget, mirage is probably the appropriate choice as they specialise in satellites. If they have KEF, listen to that as well as the Uni-Q drivers have well-controlled distribution patterns for most homes. As someone has said, if the dealers will allow it, bring the speakers home for listening in the real environment.

For amplifiers, we are not talking about exoteric brands which are more for stereo and monaural use. Japanese brands will do with Denon and Onkyo in the top bracket followed by Pioneer and Yamaha. The prices of these four are not really very different, maybe only a couple of hundreds one from another. Denon, I understand, has a dryer sound, Onkyo, a little stronger in the bass, probably due to power supply design. Not much to chose between these two. But choosing the right model and power is probably the main issue here. Anything above 100 continuous W per channel should give a lot of headroom for low distortion playing. Depending on whether you are going to have 3D for your TV and your BD player, you might need Hdmi terminals that are 3-D compatible, hdmi 1.4, I believe. My recommendation is why not as you have already spent so much. It would not make that much of a difference in price.

For bass woofer, a powered one (100 to 200W) is preferred so as not to stress the receiver and because of your room limitation, I would go for one with a higher cross-over rather than one with a lower bass extension because you are using satellites. Again it all depends on the bass extension of your satellite. More expensive satellites normally have better bass extension and can therefore work well with a bass woofer at a lower cross-over frequency and with a deeper bass extension. For your budget, I don't think your cross-over should be anything much below 120 Hz.

This is so much I can give you on some of the considerations.

 

[GOD IS MY DOG]

They have new owners and Uni-Q drivers from new design teams are well regarded.

Uni-Q drivers.........sigh..........nowadays, high-end people don't talk about KEF at all liao lor.........

the last good speakers KEF had were the super old Ls3/5a that kind of grandfather models.......

 

[GOD IS MY DOG]

about 5k without TV... for LED TV, i dont need 3D... cant imagine myself wearing the 3D specs at home.. you have views on this?

5k...........the receiver, blu-ray player and cables should account for 2k...........

3k for speakers..........your best bet still those i suggested to you..........

nowadays, you need to spend above 1k for a okay subwoofer..........

 

[Fook Seng]

Uni-Q drivers.........sigh..........nowadays, high-end people don't talk about KEF at all liao lor.........

the last good speakers KEF had were the super old Ls3/5a that kind of grandfather models.......

You are outdated my friend. Anyway for this budget range or even a bit higher, their speakers are very well regarded without carrying the high price bracket of exoteric speakers which got their cult status more from small kinks in the right places in their response rather than true scientific application.

KEF's original speaker team's design philosophy was matched pair and matched components to achieve exemplary stereo performance and flat response coupled with well-designed composite cone material to reduce distortion.

The present team emphases unisource to achieve a consistent radiation pattern across the frequency range and phase coherency for stereo performance. Both are good design concepts but different.

Probably the present state of the art of technology is such that the design philosophy of the earlier period is now given and you need now to look at something else for product enhancement. The Ls3/5a was not an original KEF product but a Roger with historical link to the legendary BBC monitor if I remember correctly.

I have high regard for British speaker designs for their adherence to scientific principles.

 

[Leongsam]

What is your crossover frequency with the Energy?

Absolutely no idea. I've long since moved on from looking at specs. I just put CDs into the slot and listen.

 

[oli9]

obviously you know NOTHING about audiophile products...................


B&O looks good........................sounds very very ordinary...................

Correcto..only novices will go for B&O & BOSE. Crap overpriced system. With that kind of money think Sonus Faber, Martin Logan or Harbeth....

 

[oli9]

Bose makes use of reflection to provide the complete sound. If you know exactly the specs of the walls and floor used in their design assumption and will not spare the expense to replicate that, it is a suitable choice. Most hifi reviews don't view these speakers favorably. On the other hand, if you like a big sound and wouldn't care for high fidelity, Bose could be right for you.

B = buy
O = Other
S = sound
E = equipment

Worst system ever.

 

[GOD IS MY DOG]

You are outdated my friend. Anyway for this budget range or even a bit higher, their speakers are very well regarded without carrying the high price bracket of exoteric speakers which got their cult status more from small kinks in the right places in their response rather than true scientific application.

KEF's original speaker team's design philosophy was matched pair and matched components to achieve exemplary stereo performance and flat response coupled with well-designed composite cone material to reduce distortion.

The present team emphases unisource to achieve a consistent radiation pattern across the frequency range and phase coherency for stereo performance. Both are good design concepts but different.

Probably the present state of the art of technology is such that the design philosophy of the earlier period is now given and you need now to look at something else for product enhancement. The Ls3/5a was not an original KEF product but a Roger with historical link to the legendary BBC monitor if I remember correctly.

I have high regard for British speaker designs for their adherence to scientific principles.

now hi-end people where got talk about KEF bro.....................


the British are also dead.................B&W is stil laround becoz of their sheer size and advertising power...........


now people talk about mostly US brands and a few European brands from Holland, France............

 

[GOD IS MY DOG]

Correcto..only novices will go for B&O & BOSE. Crap overpriced system. With that kind of money think Sonus Faber, Martin Logan or Harbeth....

not Sonus Faber lah......................looks very very good.................sound not that great............

some more now China-owned liao.................

 

[oli9]

not Sonus Faber lah......................looks very very good.................sound not that great............

some more now China-owned liao.................

Youre obviously not a audiophiler....have u listen to their Amati Futura?

 

[GOD IS MY DOG]

Youre obviously not a audiophiler....have u listen to their Amati Futura?

aiyah...................i'm very familiar with Sonus Faber lah...................

they keep using those Scanspeak drivers that you can find in cheaper models of other brands.................


you will always find better sounding speakers than Sonus Faber at cheaper prices...................becoz it cost a lot of money to make those cabinets so beautiful...................


Italian speakers are more about the beautiful cabinets than the sound...................they always sound slower, fatter in the bass and with treble rolled-off...............