I’m a total music freak & I love big sub woofers & heavy bass producing amps. There r very cool car audio shops in Dubai & I’ve installed neat audio systems from them in da past.
I want some advice from guppies as to da brand of audio system that I’ll build @ home. I have no budget problem so feel free from that perspective.
I want 2 know if I should buy a theatre system from Harmon Kardon or build a Yamaha system manually. I want a totally freaked out, mean system. My dream speakers r the McLaren speakers which cost a bubbly 75000 pounds…but that I cannot afford so might as well step in2 reality.
Which speakers r better
JBL
Infinity
Bose
Which is better
A theatre system with a simple amp & a DVD player or
Build a system eg. Yamaha amp, Harmon Kardon DVD etc…
It really depends on your room size. If you have vast, spacious room, then you may want to build your own theater system. If its a smaller cozy room, then pre-packaged systems are better.
Also, more importantly, its the placement of your speakers which will determine the quality of sound you get.
Search in this forum (Bazaar talk) on home theater systems. I am pretty sure these things were discussed in some detail, not so long ago.
Thanks fais & nomi, but I still need some further advice. I'll do a search on da forum. I dont want an internet comparison, rather a personal hands on Xperience.
No waleed, I aint lazy, I'm just asking advice. I dont like my music, I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE it.......I just love da sound of bass thumping on da beach.
I'll definitely look around. My preference is JBL & Harmon Kardon, although I want something which is totally out of sight & loud.
If u want it to be out of sight, u wont get it loud.
"Don't be seduced by those little speakers because they're so tiny and unobtrusive. They may look cute, but those tiny satellite speakers can't move that much air. When things start to get loud, those two-inch cones inside get rattled and edgy. Any speaker with a claim to high fidelity must divide the sound spectrum into two ranges: the bass/midrange for the woofer, and the treble for the tweeter. A single cone just can't do it. The best speakers divide the spectrum into three parts -- bass, midrange and treble -- and use multiple drivers to achieve very clean, high-quality sound.
The more surfaces near a speaker, the greater the likelihood of unpleasant sound colorations occurring. A speaker needs to operate more or less in free space. Smaller speakers sound their best on stands."
^ - My budget is between 5000 - 10000 dhs. That is equivalent 2 approx $1300 - $2800. I can pump in more cash if I want 2.
PR - Mak that is da kind of advice I was looking 4. I'm not interested in those cubicles coz they never interested me.
I get crystal clear music in my car, & I would love the same 4 my home. The difference between both of them is space & material. Cars r small & bass is bassmatic (super)....house have walls & I want pure fidelity, combined with loud music. I want 2 blow some balconies apart, lol, just kidding. I'm pretty sure that I can get a sound system in that budget, & I also want 2 know which brand does it best.
malk1: i will tell u about my cousins system. he had a 5.1 surround system. his back 2 speakers where i would say about 5" and had tweeters ( these r for the mid range high pich). his front 2 where bigger i would say about 6-8" with another smaller speaker in the same casing (for the tighter bass and act as woofer). on tv he had i would say two 4-5" speakers (head on effect). he has a sub 21" (ported) this thing was somethign like a table but the sub was on the under side.
it all depends on ur taste to eb honest the front 2 speakers (6-8") where more than enough to produce all the bass needed. infact with the sub turnd on all i did was get a headach because the frequency was so low. if i where u depending on ur taste..... if u liek loud boomy bass then get a ported sub but dont get 21" cause that is just over the top ... get somethign like 12" or 15"... if u want hard hitting and tight bass then get a seald 10 or 12".
usually the ported ones r louder and also more efficent.
spl is quite important. this is how efficently a speaker can produce the sound... hence its louder. for example i have got a infinity sub whish has spl of 94 DB.
the calculation is that as u double the number of watts u incrase ur sound by one db. considering that my sub is 300 RMS watts. that means 1 watts will do 94 DB, 2 watts will do 95 DB, 4 watts will do 96 DB, 8 watts will do 97 DB, 16 watts will do 98 DB, 32 watts will do 99 DB, 64 watts will do 100 DB, 128 watts will do 101 DB, 256 watts will do 102 DB.
the above calculation is only an example and may not be accurate.
usually the subs have much lower spl like 89 db so u can see hwo much less louder they may be. but dont just look at the spl look at the frequency responce and quality of the products as well.
Selecting your components individually is the best and most flexible route. You almost always end up with a better sounding system this way.
Be prepared to invest in:
A/V Receiver - $600-$800
DVD Player - $200-$300
Five Speakers - $1500-$2000
Sub-Woofer - $500-$800
Interconnets, Cables, SPL meter, Calibration DVD etc. will be extra.
Now the trick would be to find the right products in Dubai which usually offers the likes of only Kenwood and Bose.
A/V Receiver - Denon, Yamaha, Onkyo, Harmon Kardon, SONY (DB not DE series), Pioneer and Marantz all make great A/V Receivers. Beware of dubious watts/channel ratings.. Yamaha is usually very honest about theirs.. and Harmon Kardon always makes the beefiest despite the low power ratings. Denon and Onkyo have versatility with loads of features and deliver pretty much the rated power, plus their remotes are more user friendly. Marantz or NAD for that matter may be a little behind in providing a large feature set, but they 'sound' good.
DVD Player: I wouldn't recommend anything but a Panasonic.. shop around for what suits you within the budget... RP-91 is a good one.
Speakers -- the most subjective choice of all.. u may like one.. i may not.. so shop around and listen.. if you overshoot your budget do it in this department.. they make or break your HT system.
If loud is your main concern go for horn tweeters.. speakers from Klipsch will interest you.. very sensitive, very loud. JBL are good too.. they offer some nice 5 speaker HT setups but some have lower SPl so make sure to pair with a beefy receiver. Otherwise when you look around most theaters, clubs etc have JBL's or Klipsch.
Very accurate speakers aren't usually very loud... Energy, Paradigm, nOrh, NHT, B&W , PSB and Ascend Acoustics are all excellent brands. You won't see some of them in clubs or discos but they are as accurate as you can tell by ear.
Subwoofer - If you prefer Boxed designs make your selection between ported and unported.. Ported usually sound boomy but are louder. I'd recommend the Adire Rava.. excellent performer or subs from Velodyne. once again.. very deep bass. Paradigm subs aren't bad either.
If you want to experience the cylinder designs.. check subs from Hsu Research or SVS. some people say they never heard bass till they bought an SVS or a Hsu.
Get decent interconnects but don't go overboard.. contrary to what some audiophiles may say, they don't make a difference.. Buy decent guage speaker cables... I use 12 cuz i have longer runs. Do buy or loan a SPL meter to calibrate your system... just buying hardware doesn't insure a good HT system you need to be careful setting it up... positioning, placement. Invest in either Video Essentials or AVIA for setup help.
Paki abroad - Thanks mak, very informative. Dubai has come past the stage of kenwood & pioneer. The brands that u have mentioned r available, problem was comparing them. I'd definitely do my shopping & when I set up my system, I'll post pics of it.