i am on an audio hunt.

i've visited several stores selling speakers systems but i havent made my final decision yet.
First i visited the SM appliance stores in Mega mall.

At the SM Appliance store, the speaker set ups that interested me were the packages matching either an onkyo TX SR 601 or SR 501 with Bose Acoustimass Home Theater speaker Systems (Bose acoustimass 15-II, 10-III. Cash price ranged from 60k to 103k pesos.) A little steep, the price is.

The Onkyo TX-SR 601 HT receiver boasts of six (6) 150 watt channels while the 501 HT has six 6) 115 watt channels.
These systems still need a DVD player. The onkyo receiver is reputed to be a very good audio equipment. However, most dealers claim that it is not as good in Home theater systems as for example Yamaha is.

Then I went up to the SONY display room at the fifth floor of Mega Mall. I got interested in the Home Theater System worth 49,000. It already includes the DVD Player, the Amplifier, the subwoofer, main speakers, rear speakers and the center speakers. The sales clerk obligingly demonstrated the system to me using both DVD and audio CDs. The Sony modular systems is nice - they packed a lot of features inside the system. But then, audio enthusiasts tell me that by packing a lot of things in side the sony system, you get a little less in terms of the quality of the features added. Systems with separate receivers, players, amplifiers etc. cost more but packs more wallop in the devices. This is borne out by the differences in the sound of the various offerings that i have seen. However, on the positive side. The components of sony and pioneer is very user friendly.

I also went to Western Appliances at the Mega Mall basement. Here i viewed the Pioneer Home Theater systems and the Kenwood Hometheater systems.

The pioneer speakers were okay but the DVD players interested me most. I wanted a player that will also accept Mic inputs. These players boasted of the DVD audio and the SACD. The speakers i was interested in sold at 25,000 php.

The kenwood speakers were also okay.

Next i went to Daichi at the fifth floor also and requested for a demo of their latest home theater systems. They sounded good and were cheap to boot. There were basically three options ranging from 15,000 to 25000.

Then i proceeded to the Yamaha show room at the basement also. Here's where i ogled the Yamaha amplifiers...
The Yamaha V740 receviers sold at 30,000 php. These were packaged with Tannoy speakers easily one of the leading speaker makers in Europe. The Tannoy MX4 series speakers were mouth watering. I went to the Makati Display office ofYamaha several days later and got the following price offering:

YAMAHA V740 ampifiers (150 watts per channel.) ...29,691.
Tannoy MX4 Main speaker ((180 watts )..................17,982 a pair
Tannoy MXCM Center Speaker (150 watts).............6,291.
Tannoy MXRM Rear speakers (70 watts)..................5992 a pair.
Tannoy mX-Sub10 subwoofer (150 watts peak).......16,191.

I was also offered Yamaha speakers which were on sale. They had these original yamaha NS-34 speakers which were made in finland. The new ones arriving are made in asia. There are last year's model but sound very nice.

Yamaha Main NS-34 (180 watts)..........15,550 a pair
Yamaha NS P50....(150 watts center and 80 watts rear speakers).....6,100.
(no subwoofer...go for the Tannoy subwoofer)

Yesterday i went to AliMall and in one of the audiophile stores there was shown Acoustic Research's H6c Home theater system. The system rocks with four Satellites (100 Watts each) and a center speaker (also 100 watts), the Subwoofer is also 100 Watts RMS. The finish: Gloss Piano Black. The package sells at 55,000 with an onkyo 501 boasting 150 watts per channel.

I also visited audiophile, JBL. BOSE and the listening room in megamall so far the Yamaha/Tannoy and the Acoustic Research systems seems very interesting. I've checked with internet sites and the Tannoy speakers have been awarded by various sites with rave reviews. This is the same with the Audio Research speakers. However, the Tannoy speakers as quoted by Yamaha seems to be of a higher caliber and costs relatively lower than the internet prices.

My hunt is still ongoing.

:: Bing Tuesday, February 17, 2004 [+] ::
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