Oct 26, 2008 01:18 PM
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Ok, here you are, either you are searching for some tips before purchasing a new system or getting confused about which one to buy or trying to get a generalized idea about what the hell people keep talking about. whatever the reason is, just go through the thread and whether you require or not, might be of some help, if not now, may be later someday. I am not an acoustic engineer, but found certain important things, which evryone knows but always do get ignored.
I am just trying to pin point those basics of which will make you apply your common sense when you think of music system/home theater. Lot of posts are there here, so I will speak from layman point of view.
Always keep in mind that what will be the source of listening. That is extremely important. Whenever the music is recorded in studio, that is the best quality you get which gets released in cassetes/cd/dvd whatever. If you are listening mostly to copyrighted original products, everyone knows quality will be the best. But most of us do attach our systems to tv's or computers for mp3. Tv signals can never reproduce the original quality. The recent DTH systems like tata sky or Big Tv are a better bet but still what tv you are having, do matters. You cannot expect a good output in your 1 lakh rs home theatre with a portable b/w TV. So expect accordingly.
Mp3's are just the short cut form to save space. If you listen to a mp3, someone in this world has encoded the original sound track to mp3 for you. Whenever you are encoding, no matter whatever encoding software/engine/bitrate you use, there is the loss in quality. So, stop thinking that my sound system is not playing well in mp3. Just think of it like the difference between compaq/HP/Dell original PC and assembled PC.
That's why you need to be very sure of what you are expecting your sound system to deliver. Crappy source gives you crappy output.
Now, if we apply a little common sense, we can make much better systems in limited budgets. How? Just give a try to answer the following.
As I told whatever source it is, output quality will vary. What happens if you place something between source and output to enhance/improve the signal before it enters your ear?
Any sound signal, rather than directly giving to your home theatre system from dvd/tv it's better if you can pass this through a computer/sound card for digital processing. Even the cheaper digital sound cards have got the capacity to enhance your listening experience. This is not possible everytime, since computers and home theatres are placed apart in our homes, generally.(in 2 rooms)
Also use of fiber, enhances the sound quality than normal cables with those red/yellow RC jacks.
I personally use Creative Audigy sound card and plugged in a cheap Big Bazaar(koreo) 1500rs system in it. Even my neighbors hear every word clearly, when played a proper dvd. That's exactly what I mean. People do spend thousands in the speaker system but very few give a look as to how my speakers can deliver the best with minimal.
Tell me one thing, if you spend 50, 000 in a system, how much of it you will be utilizing actually, if you tune some pirated dvd's with mp3 soundtraks(that's why u get 3in one, 20 in one dvd's)? good quality need space and that's why we compromised it in 4-in-1 dvd's and mp3's. Reduction of space reduce quality in sound(video also), remember this, because you need to shrink/compress at the cost of something, which is - less data means less quality.
Whenever you go to en electronics shop, did you ever hear the salesman playing ghazals or tabla for demo? They always play hard rock/pops/sunidhi chauhan. Why? Our senses are reactive to sounds. So the more jargon you hear, you get an adrenaline rush to buy it. Seldom you notice/compare that the sound is the noise or the sweet music. Just ask him to tune in a tabla or sitar and a good sytem will deliver the correct sweetness/notes to your ears. Forget the brand and enjoy the output. Make sure salesman is not playing any 2in one dvd or mp3.
Also, sometimes people do complain, my all speakers are not playing the same. It's not to be. Proper 5 channel system will deliver different output for different notes. The 5 speakers are not there to play everything everytime at the same vol. Each sound frequency has got it's own range which is delivered through the intelligent system/circuit embedded into the amplifier/subwoofer, into the corresponding speakers.
Always try to build up your home theatre system rather than purchasing it. Let me clarify.
If you buy a 7in 1 or 5 in one system that is a bundled package. Very rarely you will be able to suit that to your needs. e.g room space or listening space directly matters when you listen to sound. A hi fi system requires bigger space while a cheaper one does not scale well in a big hall. So if you are in a rented house with 10x10 room, a 50000 system will definitely not scale well. So what do you do?
Don't ever look at PMPO ratings in the box, those are meaningless. Always look for RMS(root mean square) capacity. 5-10 RMS is enough for your small living room. PMPO(peak mode power output) means how much power it can deliver before it's fried, which is useless. Actual capacity is determined by RMS and hence very few systems denote that tag. Your speaker always deliver the best in 60%-70% volume. The more volume you gives, the more current pass through, damaging the coil in the speakers(for cheaper systems). Onkyon/Bosch/altec lensing are somewhat better.
The first and foremost thing is buy an amplifier from Onkyon. Keep in mind what your requirements are. If you think, you will go for a hi fi system someday, invest in it. It will protect your investment. Whatever system you will be having in future, this will be worth of it.
Then comes the turn of speakers. I presume you will be out of money with the amplifier. So buy one or two speakers(ratings should match the ampli) which can be with/without woofers. You can buy the woofers later.
Then after a year or two, buy a couple of twitters and then again buy some more speakers and in this way you will end up building a super system with unparalleled listening experience. I will recommend onkyon throughout, since it provides super integration capacity.
Generally a multivendor integration does not give you the best quality. So keep it uniformed throughout the integration. Try to avoid a bosch speaker with onkyon ampli with an altec lensing woofer. That sucks!
For such type of periodic additions, according to requirements, okyon delivers a superb product line. Even, after 10 yrs if you want to listen music throughout your home, just the addition of a network distribution box and bunch of small satellite speakers will serve the purpose without wasting any of your past investments.
Just be passionate about music, and if you have the ears, you will sure find the best suited pattern/product for you. But as I told, in the long run, building up of the system in modulare way gives you the best output at a reasonable cost over a long period of time. Music will never die and so should be your system, which you want to build.
Best,
Surajit
