Home Theatre Experience

Me and my cousin, recently planned for getting one home theatre. This article just tries to put whatever we have come to know during this.

Important point : Liking a system can be very much like enjoying a cuisine from a favourite restaurant. There are tons of cuisines and restaurants and everybody have their unique taste and preference. The best way to judge which one you like is to just eat or listen and find it out. Hoping my experience will help you out in your quest.

Background:
So, few points first about ourselves which are very related to the search.
* We are Software engineers in our 20's and have only experienced home theatre in places outside and never owned one. So, this will be our first purchase and we are newbies to this.

* We are based out of Hyderabad,India. Beleive me this makes life lotta simple. You have problem when you have choices, we had only few. Even then we were confused too much within the choices we had. So, if you are anywhere in India, this would be the same case for you. We checked couple of places in Chennai as well.

* We live in a huge apartment with our owners right below us. Definetly, not the right time in life to look out for one. Even if I own an apartment, still it will not be any different. Which means, I can never buy one until I own an independant bunglow. What the hell, let me better get started now itself.

* Budget, obviously the biggest constraint. We really didn't have much in our mind. We know we can't go for the best. But a pretty decent model.

* We are not audiophiles. Neither am I a kind of guy, who can't spot good sound quality. The closest good sound that I have been hearing for 2 years is with my 2000 rupee Sony Headphone.

* We were only looking for the audio because of budget constraints. So, we didnt go through this whole plasma-lcd-hdmi-projector confusion. We just have a normal 21" Onida TV. Fine for now.

Components of an HT Audio:
The basic difference between a music system/ dvd player is that you will have a player, which has an integerated decoder and a 2 speaker system thats connected to it. But, with a home theatre, you go for a receiver or a pre-amp and amp setup. This will do decoding, amplifying, multiplexing and lot more. The player can be built-in with the receiver or have to be got standalone. But, except for the basic models, I always see that the player is not integerated. Player integeration can be a bad thing. The reason is, you get an integerated DVD player and you never know, blu ray can become the standard in a year or you might need a HD player. So, its better that the input sources are not integerated. Then you have the speakers. Many know of 5.1, but we had 6.1 and already 7.1 is in the market. The latest Denon receiver is a 10.1. Ok, Now 5.1, would mean 5 speakers and a sub woofer. The 5 speakers are positioned as 2 in front left and right, one in the front center, 2 in the rear left and right. In 6.1, you add one to rear centre. In 7.1, you don't have rear centre, instead you add one each to your left and right of your seating position. Lets just leave anything above than this.

Basics of Speakers:
Everybody, I hope remember what they learnt as a child that human ears can listen from 20hz-20khz. Now, the low frequency, thats towards 20hz, is the bass component and its your sub woofer that gives this. The higher frequenceies are the sharp ones. This job is done by the tweeters. You could have heard them, in your cars. The small 1" speakers that are placed in the front left and right corners. The system should cover this whole range of frequencey for it to reproduce every sound possible. While almost all HT can easily reproduce 20khz, its the bass component where systems will vary. Now, front centre speaker is dedicated for Vocal. Front left and right, will be the one used during stereo.

Usage Pattern:
Its very critical what will be the kind of things that you will use your system for. Some like it to be very crisp and clear. Typically for carnatic music or hindustani, vocal is the most important thing. I understand, vocal is always important. But still, there is a difference as to how much important it is for carnatic music vs an action movie. If you use your system for music extensively, then you have to be very careful about your front speaker choices. These will be the ones that will play for music. You can have all speakers running for music, but the recording you will get (even in DVD's) will be in stereo only. Enhanced 5.1 is good, but still given that the original recording was in stereo, I find its better played in stereo mode. If you like the earth shattering effect, then woofer has to be powerful. However, for an apartment, basic woofer should do. You can even do without a woofer for a small room, if your 5 speakers are choosen accordingly. If you are a DTS movie buff for all the surround effects, then your rears should be almost as powerful as your front speakers. So, the best thing to do is to take your favourite music and movie DVD's when you are checking the system. Always, the pieces they play using the DVD's with sequences specifically made for this will be great. So, you hear using your DVD's and your type of music or movie. Thats when you can judge the best.

Room Accoustics:
One of the first questions that was asked when I wanted to an HT was, wether the house was built already. Was there a dedicated room for this etc; Its so important that it can change what the HT can do. When you audition you will find that most of the showrooms will have a dedicated small room for this. Its done for a reason. As soon as we take this system and put on a bigger room, it can just loose the power. So, make sure that you dedicate a room for this. So, one of my bedrooms have to give way for this. My hall is too huge for an entry level system. Particularly when it has any open space connected to it, it will affect the output a lot. So, anything less than 15 X 15 feet, roughly 300 to 400 square feet, can be considered small room. Now, wooden walls , carpeting (not for beauty) all these can enrich your experience. But, definetly not in question for our setup. So, other than giving a dedicated room, we didnt do much. Sizes of the speaker is the next thing. Definetly, this can play a major role. You might not have enough space for the big ones, but then satellites mean compromise on performance for same cost. Also, some might consider wireless, but they are just way too costly. Example, Sony's particular wireless model was rs.39000, while the non wireless model costed just rs.15000. Infact, out of the 5 speakers, only the rear speakers where wireless.

Receivers:
For entry level or even till mid range a receiver should be fine. The 2 device setup of a pre-amp and an amplifier, might be an over kill for us. So, we didn't check that one at all. The first thing is the output per channel it offers. You should go for the rating done as conitnous and not the Peak Rating. Typically it is like 75W Per Channel Continuos. It is important to notice at how many ohms was this wattage noted. Its given in 6 or 8. So, a 90W output at 6 Ohms is roughly same as 75W at 8 Ohms. Its better if you get the rating in the exact Ohms you need. Most of the speakers come in 8 Ohm rating. Now, how much power do you need. Even, I dont have much of an understanding on this. There are 2 problems here. For one, its very clear that one brands 75W is not same as another brands 75W. Sometimes people say you can compare certain 40W system's output clarity with even an 80W system. So, which will be the one you need will depend on which speakers you choose and how much power do you need to drive them. Apart from output, input is another thing to consider. Are you going to have HDMI TV or player, would you want direct iPod connectivity, how many systems would you connect simultaneously.
Take into account all of these to determine whether the inputs are sufficient. Obviously, you can't go a change wires whenever you decide to play some different device. Now, for those who think how many devices I can have - DVD player, (HDMI) TV, XBox 360/PS3, FM or Worldspace Radio, Auxilary (laptop or walkman or tape player), iPod. There are certain good features that you might want to think about:
* Audyssey or Auto Calibiration - Its very tough to setup a home theatre. Depending on your seating position and your room accoustics, the output get distorted by the time you hear. So, few people have come up with this very good thing. You play some music and then use a mic to tap the output as it reaches you and then feed that back to the system. System the sees how much different the original input and the feedback input is, and corrects itself accordingly. Without this, it can get tough for setting it up.
* Multi Zone facility - You can have 2 systems being played at the same time. So, while in one room a movie is played, in another room you can hear a music system
* 5.1 or 7.1 - Now, I find that most receivers have started coming up with 7.1 instead of 5.1. So, even if you are not going for a 7.1 system, I think its better to go for a 7.1 as this gives 2 major benefits. One, you don't have to change your receiver if you want an upgrade. Secondly, it allows you to do something called as bi-amping. This is a way in which you use the 2 extra output lines to feed your front speakers which are already connected. Essentially, instead of one set of wire going for a speaker, you have 2 wires for front speakers. This means almost double the input power instantly and so, better output from your speakers.

The quest for the right system:
Brands Checked : Bose, Sony, Onkyo, Philips, Polk, JBL, Harmon Kardon, Elac, Jamo, Denon, B&W, Yamaha, Infinity, Klipsch, Energy, Monitor Audio, Paradigm, Wharfedale, Athena

Some concepts explained before we go further as per my understanding:
bright - if speakers are bright, that means the sounds are too sharp, that people might find it unpleasant. In fact, there can be a different problem. If it causes even slight strain in your ear, you can get tired of listening. But there is no say as to how bright is right for a person.

tight bass - This kind of bass is something that you would typically require for music. That is not an earth shattering bass like in action sequences of movies or partying music. This is the kind of bass that you find it smooth and spread out in the room and right amount for music.

seperation - in this context, we should be able to hear every different instrument seperately. We should be able to distinguish them, unlike all of them coming together.

direction - bass has no direction. So, the woofer can be kept anywhere. Preferably, in a corner. While sharp sounds are pointed. So, for best output the speakers should be facing the listener.

bi-amping - this means that we give 2 inputs instead of 1 for a speaker. this will increase the input power fed in for the speaker and definetly, better output.

bipolar - speakers will be off a triangle shape, instead of the normal 4 sided figure. the reason is that there will be drivers in 2 side of the speaker, instead of one side. This gives more seating position flexibility than the normal one active subwoofer - a woofer which has a seperate electric power connection. output will be better than the passive sub woofer.

downfiring subwoofer - the hole(driver) that you can see in a subwoofer will be present in the bottom. This can give very good effect on wooden floors, particulalry can cause the floors vibrating.

The real story starts now.
HTIB - Home Theatre in a Box :
This is for those folks who prefer things to be simple. And this can be good in a home theatre search. Its because once you step in you can find that its very very tough to decide when so many factors are there. So, here all you have to do is, go listen and pick one. Typically these come literally in a box. So, this means that they are all satellite speakers only or rather small speakers. I bought an extremely basic Philips Home Theatre for Rs.13000 a year back. Once taken to home, I just found that it simply never could give surround effect. The centre speaker was the only best thing. So, on my first day, when I checked Sony and Philips, one thing was very clear. They are like school kids compared to rest. Now, obviously I am talking about the models that were available in India, these are all meant to be listened, just like how they are demoed. You sit a couch thats not even more than 2 mts from TV, you have the rear speakers,
placed less than 2 feet from your ear. They will definetly sound good. Take it to your home place them where you can, you then sit where you will normally and then you will understand whats lacking in the system. My Philips exactly taught me this. It was so bad, that I put my rear speakers back into the box and almost never used it. These models entirely (some include player as well) will cost you max Rs.30000. A decent entry level receiver will cost about that much. So, you would know what I am talking about. But, however I did find couple of good HTIB.

* Athena Micra 6 and Paradigm Cinema 70
These are 5.1 speaker packages that I had a chance to listen to. We were simply amazed with the kind of output they gave compared to the other HTiB's we have heard. They do sometimes sound a bit too sharp and hence probably might not be that good for music. Actually, music was decent through them, but they will fall short compared to a decent stereo setup. They both cost about 27k and combine them with an entry level Yamaha/Onkyo receiver for another 16k, you will have an awesome setup that can hands down beat the Sony/Philips.

* Onkyo HTS990 and HTS790 - The first THX certified HTIB in the world. Priced at around Rs.70k http://www.onkyoindia.com/products/HT_Packages/home_style/emperor/hts990.htm
Its a 7.1 system and was pretty impressive. You can check even HTS790 or HTS590. HTS790 is almost same as 990, except that it comes without the THX certification. But it costs about 15k less and only Rs.55k. There is the HTS590 which is only Rs.27k See, before we started, we know only 2 names in this business - Onkyo and Bose. So, with all high hopes we went in, but we weren't happy about the output. Reason, we find that the speakers weren't as crisp and clear as we wanted. It did have bright sounds. But then the mid was lacking a lot. Also, the bass wasn't tight. But still a pretty good deal for someone who is not an audiophile. Onkyo has been right up in the top for receivers, only second to Denon. But, speakers doesnt seem to be their forte. That was kinda double confirmed when we came to know the following. In the 70k HTS990 system, the receiver alone will cost us 50k if bought seperate. So, that leaves them a budget of about 20 to 25k for speakers. We are then grossly under utilising the receiver. Obviously, the better the speakers they want to give, the overall cost is going to shoot up. Typically, whichever configuration we chose, the 5.1 speakers costs about 1.5 times the receiver. So, typically to get a matching speaker set for a 50k receiver, you have to shell out about 75k. I know, price is not probably the right way to check the output. But then, I really doubt you can run a 50k receiver, using 25k speakers. However, in other places when we hear different speakers with Onkyo, we found it very good. Bottomline, is that Onkyo receiver seems to be very good. But then its very tough to say how good the receiver is. Unless you use the exact same set of speakers and then compare receivers. Unfortunately, we didn't have that luxury.

* Harman Kardon HKTS 14 - This one probably had one of the best bass that I have checked. They however didn't do a good job as far as mid and high frequencies. But decent overall. The woofer had really awesome looks and even the receiver. I really wanted the woofer alone. But then, they don't sell that way.

Bottomline - Somehow, we were not impressed by the cheap HTIB's. They had something lacking. Simply, because each will have a different preference for low,mid and high. So, getting them all right in one package is tough. But, then its always said that mix and match can be very tough and can screw up the system. So, for somebody who chooses to just walk and get one,
these are the HTIB's that can be checked.

Speakers Mix and Match:
Lets classify the speakers in different ways.

By Position: Front, Centre, Surround , Rear and Sub Woofer

By size: Floorstanding, Bookshelf, Satellites
Floor standing really requires lots of space.
As far as size and output is concerned, there seems to be quite some controversy on this. Its very general understanding that the bigger the speaker is the better it can give the output. But then, you can see that satellites do a pretty good job. But, if compared side by side, bigger speakers win. So, if you have space my take is go for bigger speakers, atleast for front.

Satellites(In Wall/Ceiling):
In general, none of the satellites impressed us. We did check few of them. The only ones that were good was Bose and the one system that stood out was the following:
Bose Acoustimass 5: This is a 2.1 system. The speakers are too small and the woofer can be placed anywhere. Even under the bed, while the satellites are very tiny, size of 2 Coke cans. This makes this system almost invisible. Now, when it comes to the sound, I really found the bass was decent, not earth shattering though. The highs were slightly lacking, that is it wasn't that sharp. But then, mid was very full. So, for music it sounded really good. This costs about Rs.22k, add a basic amplifier for 12 to 15k. For about 35k you will get a very good music system, that can beat any standard Sony, Philips CD Systems outright. However, this would not give you the surround movie experience. So, only if a music listener and living in a small room.
Beware of 2 things - Bose has been bashed left and right in the net. People hate them and people love them. So, listen for yourself and judge. Typically the accusation is that they are overpriced and poor build quality. Another thing is that, the Bose salesman talks you into an idea that you can buy just these and then upgrade to a 5.1 system piece by piece. But the problem is that there are many catches in that. But for a music system, this will be one thing that I would want to buy, for sound quality and size.

Bookshelf:
Once, I have decided that I am not going to have a satellite, bookshelf or floorstanding was almost the same. The reason is that, for bookshelf I would need a stand that can support the same. So, space wise its no different. As far as output was concerned, I found that these served definetly good enough for rear or surround speakers. But when it comes to competing with floorstanding, I think it can't.

Floorstanding:
Now, sometimes its good if the speaker is tiny and could do magic. But sometimes, you love to be next to a tall speaker. This is where we spent most of the time in. You play one and then another and then another, it just doesnt end.

Now, some more dilemas decided:
Satellites for all 5:
As said earlier, we found none so impressive that we dropped this idea. More over, it would mean drilling holes and in wall wiring etc; that we can't think off. Also, there is really no constraint for space.

Bookshelfs for all 5:
Since, floorstanding was sounding better and given that bookshelf will take almost the same space and probably might even have some extra cost coming through the stands, we dropped this idea as well.

Floorstanding for all 5:
Might be , given a chance we can. But then the floorstanding are quite costly and since its not a 100% movie use, the rear need not be as powerful as the fronts. So, having floorstanding for rear will be an overkill for sure for us.

7 instead of 5:
Why should we have only 5 speakers when 7 is better. Its because the room size if small, doesnt require 7. Its said if the room length is less than 20", then definetly 5 speakers are sufficient.
Particularly, if you are not more than a couple of feet away from rear, then surround might not be needed.

Bipolar instead of Normal:
Bipolars are more costly. So, going for something basic in bipolar can mean that you are better off getting a more powerful normal one for the same price. If you can shell out extra and go for the powerful bipolar, they are better than the normal definetly. So, for my budget I decided I can skip this one.

Same brand for all speakers or mix matching the brand for different speakers:
We already had too many thing to decide. So, being a newbie going around differnet places and then see if this centre is better than the other or not and then would this centre match with that rear, was just too tiresome to even think off. This is more tricky than this. Thereis something as
crossover. This has to be right between different speakers that movement of sound from one speaker to another has to be smooth. If one of the speaker is more powerful or of different type, this can mean serious problem. So, you have to very careful and we thought we are better of going for a recommended combination from the same brand rather than mix matching it ourselves.

Single shop advantage:
There is one more crucial thing. Its preferrable if you buy all from a single shop. The reason is that they can come and install it and set it up for you. Also, they seem to take ownership and agree to fiddle around with different models at your home before the final one can be decided. So, a mix match of shops, can leave you a bit alone.

Configuration decided:
5.1 with 2 floorstanding for front, 1 centre, 2 bookshelf for rear and a small subwoofer plus a 7.1 receiver so that I can bi-amp my front 2 speakers.

Budget decided:
We started with a budget of Rs.50k in all. We soon realised that we would get something which is very basic. Hence, shelling out Rs.50k and compromising on quality didn't seem right. Also, the upgrade idea might not work in India. Reason is that the stores dont take them back like in US. So, if I buy one now, either thats final or I have to entirely upgrade it later by something else. If I am going to buy them in pieces in 2 or 3 years, then I found that even speakers themselves get outdated soon. Also, a very good receiver itself might cost 50k. So, in parts really didn't seem to work out. Now, that we have decided to shoot up the budget, how far can one go. Soon, we realised one more thing. Its very tough to tell which speaker and which receiver you like. Which means we are better off buying entry level products and try it out before going for a perfect home theater setup that will cost us lakhs. So, we decided that our budget will be increased but not more than a lakh. 80k will be comfortable. In short a decent mix match entry level HT can cause somewhere above 75k atleast. You will be lucky if you found something interseting at a lesser cost.

Final Twist (this portion added after few months) :
I am pretty sure all the hifi shops in Hyderabad will have my photo put against the walls as a sign of warning for them. I think the universal mentality over here (atleast in India) is that people will just walk over and listen to whatever the shop guy has to say and buy it. You ask them questions , they are happy to answer only if the questions are few and if they are sure you will buy something. The moment you talk about comparison, cross questions and tell them you might buy this or not, somewhere after the second visit to the shop, they not only loose interest on you, they start to get annoyed. Now, why this crib from me. Its pretty simple, all you can do being here in India with limited resources is following. Each city has a couple of hifi shops. They carry few speaker, receivers etc; So, in the price range and model you are looking at, you will be lucky if you can get to hear a couple of them. That too, you have to listen to some songs in one shop drive few odd kilometers, to the second shop and listen another there and then compare them. There is no way you can do an A/B comparison of your favourites and pick one. So, it all became too confusing and with one thing clear, that its gonna cost a lot and with the strict budget constraint I was not in a position to finalise something that will be best for the money and be able to upgrage. Then somewhere from nowhere, came this idea. I needed a good stereo setup now. I listen to more music than movies. So, given the budget and other constraints, this sounded the best for me. So, started a new search for a stereo setup.

Bye bye 5.1 for now.