time for an small upgrade

[Andrein]

@Andrein @shadyJ - thanks a lot for your suggestions. today i had some free time at work so decided to visit a richer sounds store near work. The guy hooked in a pair of Dali zensor 7 and KEF Q550 and played. But i dont know, i was so hooked into Focals, everything else seems way below.
So i asked the guy - do i really need a £849 worth Yamaha RXA 1070 or anything else is fine. He said, its really good, else you go for a £549 worth Yamaha RXV585
This is the set up I am planning
Aria 926(to begin with),Will add CC900 centre and Aria 906 over the time. May be a nice sub as @shadyJ suggested.
Now my last question would be - which Sub, any suggestions?

I would not buy anything less than a1070 tbh. Your room is not small and if in future you would like to add an amp you would need avr to have preouts. 585 model seems to have only sub preouts. A870 likely to have the same issue as a860 - you can find review by audioholics. So in Yamaha aventage lineup a1070 is the first real model. Maybe you can try to find new or used last year model a1060?
Also heard that 767 model though not Aventage, still better than the first Aventage model with preots which is this year a870. 767 has all 7.2 preouts.

 

[talkingfoodie]

@Andrein : You are a STAR!! Makes sense. tried couple of searches, but 1060 is not available other than refurbished models which is probably 120 cheaper than a 1070. I might as well go for a 1070. I really appreciate for your time. I am assuming you are in UK(if not you need to sleep ). I have asked Richer Sounds to give me a full quote. They suggested me to go for this speaker cable - QED XT 400(28 GBP/m). @shadyJ suggested to go for 14 AWG for short runs and a 12 AWG for long runs. But the ones i see in amazon and couple of places, these one cost only like 3-4 GBP/m. Are these guys trying to rip me off? or is it because i was originally considering Dali and Monitor Audios and now Focal?

 

[Andrein]

Hi.
I live in UK but on holiday in US now))) Would you consider Denon instead of Yamaha? Can see new x3400 for 549 and used as new x4400 for 450 on amazon uk. Also i ordered bluejeans cables from Seatle. Good quality and cheapper than anything in uk even including customs.

 

[PENG]

@Andrein @shadyJ - thanks a lot for your suggestions. today i had some free time at work so decided to visit a richer sounds store near work. The guy hooked in a pair of Dali zensor 7 and KEF Q550 and played. But i dont know, i was so hooked into Focals, everything else seems way below.

So i asked the guy - do i really need a £849 worth Yamaha RXA 1070 or anything else is fine. He said, its really good, else you go for a £549 worth Yamaha RXV585

This is the set up I am planning

Aria 926(to begin with), Will add CC900 centre and Aria 906 over the time. May be a nice sub as @shadyJ suggested.

Now my last question would be - which Sub, any suggestions?

As suggested, KEF would be a great alternative especially if you prefer more accurate speakers. In your case, I would definitely go with the Focal because it looks like you can get good price for their speakers in the UK.

For receiver, the RX-A 1000 series are good but I think you can do better with Denon or Marantz that comes with Audyssey XT32 Sub EQ HT for better in-room low frequency response. The AVR-X4400H price should be dropping fast as the X4500H is coming soon, may already be available in the UK. The comparable Marantz 2017 models are the SR6012 and SR7012. The Denon/Marantz models would do better with the Aria 926 that will likely draw a lot of current in the 40-200 Hz range. Your room is quite big so if you like to listen louder than average, you may want to add an external power amplifier, at least fro the 926s.

For subwoofer, good powerful ones are heavy so I suspect you can do better going with those truly made in England ones, such as MJ Acoustics.

 

[talkingfoodie]

@Andrein @PENG Thats a good suggestion. I am flexible about the receiver. I went for Yamaha, just because i have been using one for last few years. Denon seems reasonable as long as i have the flexibility to expand in future.

bluejeans cable seems awesome - seems like we have that in uk now. so these are the choices they have
TypeBJC Ten White (5T00UP) (White jacket, 10 AWG)
Belden 5T00UP (Gray jacket, 10 AWG)
BJC Twelve White (5000UE) (White jacket, 12 AWG)
Belden 5000UE (Gray jacket, 12 AWG)
Canare 4S11 (Star Quad cable, 14 AWG)

So i would assume Canare 4S11 for the long runs and Belden 5000UE for the short ones?

 

[Andrein]

@Andrein @PENG Thats a good suggestion. I am flexible about the receiver. I went for Yamaha, just because i have been using one for last few years. Denon seems reasonable as long as i have the flexibility to expand in future.

bluejeans cable seems awesome - seems like we have that in uk now. so these are the choices they have
TypeBJC Ten White (5T00UP) (White jacket, 10 AWG)
Belden 5T00UP (Gray jacket, 10 AWG)
BJC Twelve White (5000UE) (White jacket, 12 AWG)
Belden 5000UE (Gray jacket, 12 AWG)
Canare 4S11 (Star Quad cable, 14 AWG)

So i would assume Canare 4S11 for the long runs and Belden 5000UE for the short ones?

I think you meant less awg for the long runs))) The less awg the thicker the cable, the less resistance, the better for the long runs.

 

[PENG]

Thats a good suggestion. I am flexible about the receiver. I went for Yamaha, just because i have been using one for last few years. Denon seems reasonable as long as i have the flexibility to expand in future.

The AVR-X4400H can process 11 channels, that allows you to "expand"..

bluejeans cable seems awesome - seems like we have that in uk now. so these are the choices they have
TypeBJC Ten White (5T00UP) (White jacket, 10 AWG)
Belden 5T00UP (Gray jacket, 10 AWG)
BJC Twelve White (5000UE) (White jacket, 12 AWG)
Belden 5000UE (Gray jacket, 12 AWG)
Canare 4S11 (Star Quad cable, 14 AWG)

So i would assume Canare 4S11 for the long runs and Belden 5000UE for the short ones?

As Andrein mentioned, the lower the AWG number the thicker the cable, so the 10 AWG is for much longer runs than the 14 AWG.

You have to define "long run" in order to get a meaningful response. Regardless, it is safe to say 12 AWG is more than enough for up to 30 feet.

It is better if you read the article linked below:
https://www.audioholics.com/audio-video-cables/speaker-cable-gauge

 

[Verdinut]

If you haven't made a final decision about the loudspeakers, the Danish brand "Jamo" is a very decent line of speakers as well. They are also distributed in UK.

I had the opportunity to hear a pair of their enclosures and I found them really dynamic and natural. I don't remember the model though.

 

[talkingfoodie]

The AVR-X4400H can process 11 channels, that allows you to "expand"..

I was thinking of X3400H. AVR 4400 will put in range closer to 1070 so unless the richer sounds guy give me a superb deal i will stick to 3400

As Andrein mentioned, the lower the AWG number the thicker the cable, so the 10 AWG is for much longer runs than the 14 AWG.

You have to define "long run" in order to get a meaningful response. Regardless, it is safe to say 12 AWG is more than enough for up to 30 feet.

It is better if you read the article linked below:
https://www.audioholics.com/audio-video-cables/speaker-cable-gauge

makes sense. That helps thanks.

 

[Verdinut]

Interesting. found this in henley audio - way cheaper than Focals - considering you get the entire 5.1 kit for £825
https://www.henleyaudio.co.uk/products/Jamo-S-809-HCS?DepartmentIds=1&BrandIds=27

Had you seen my post #28 before going to verify the Jamo's ? I'm glad you like them too.
Congratulations ! A good choice.

 

[talkingfoodie]

If you haven't made a final decision about the loudspeakers, the Danish brand "Jamo" is a very decent line of speakers as well. They are also distributed in UK.

I had the opportunity to hear a pair of their enclosures and I found them really dynamic and natural. I don't remember the model though.

Interesting. found this in henley audio - way cheaper than Focals - considering you get the entire 5.1 kit for £825
https://www.henleyaudio.co.uk/products/Jamo-S-809-HCS?DepartmentIds=1&BrandIds=27

 

[talkingfoodie]

Had you seen my post #28 before going to verify the Jamo's? I'm glad you like them too.
Congratulations ! A good choice.

No No - i found this one through your post only, but posted as a wrong reply. I need to listen to them to decide tbh. But cost wise its way cheaper.

 

[talkingfoodie]

@shadyJ @PENG @Andrein

Hey Guys - good news!! ordered my focals - 926, 906 and 900. Its on its way. As for the AMPS i decided to go with Denon AVRX 3400H but then Richer sounds was selling it at a decent price, but it got sold by the time i wanted it so thought of spending extra 150 to get AVRX 3500H this saturday. I just received a call from the richer sounds shop saying that apparently that they have a customer at their shop and he bought AVRX 3400H in April for a charity he was working(he has bill). The speakers they had was not compatible so they ended up gettig a new one.

So this unit was never plugged in but unboxed. He said he can do it for £250 which is way cheaper than what i would be paying for a AVRX 3500H which is £619. Can you guys please suggest if this is a good idea or do I really need to go for AVX 3500H?

Whats the key difference between AVRX 3400H and 3500H?

 

[Drunkpenguin]

I dont know how the money conversion works but they sell for 599 US dollars, so that seems like a pretty good deal to me.

The 3400 is last years model, with the 3500 being current. They are both pretty similar as far as i can tell. The only real difference I see is alexa support on the 3500. Maybe someone can point out what Im missing.

 

[PENG]

I dont know how the money conversion works but they sell for 599 US dollars, so that seems like a pretty good deal to me.

The 3400 is last years model, with the 3500 being current. They are both pretty similar as far as i can tell. The only real difference I see is alexa support on the 3500. Maybe someone can point out what Im missing.

The 3400 also has Alexa support, the 3500 adds almost nothing useful except the webbrowser interface that some people wanted Denon to bring back and they did.

 

[snakeeyes]

The 3400 also has Alexa support, the 3500 adds almost nothing useful except the webbrowser interface that some people wanted Denon to bring back and they did.

Didn’t they add a DTS THX mode in the newer model? Maybe that is on both though.

 

[PENG]

Didn’t they add a DTS THX mode in the newer model? Maybe that is on both though.

If I remember right the X4500H and above supports the new IMAX Enhanced (if that's what you referred to), but the X3500 does not.

 

[snakeeyes]

If I remember right the X4500H and above supports the new IMAX Enhanced (if that's what you referred to), but the X3500 does not.

Yes IMAX, and my understanding is that is a DTSX setting? Probably just a slightly enhanced version of DTSX is my guess.

 

[talkingfoodie]

Managed to grab is at £250 and turns out it was never opened. I am all set except the last one. Any recommendations for 906 speaker stands. I thought of getting the focal ones but it’s £250 for a pair which is quite expensive.