To be fair, you just got the point. I wouldnt buy an HTC because of the sound, of all the phones you said here, I found the Xperia L to be the best but it is too expensive

Eternal_Knight: If you are not fan of Big Brand names then try Xolo Q800 (4.5 inch screen,Quadcore media tech processor), Huawei Ascend G510 (its a good phone),Nokia Lumia 620(3.8 inch screen) or 520(4 inch screen)(if you have no problem with Windows),Htc Desire X(music speaker volume too low for my liking rest features a great),Sony Xperia L(if you can increase your budget a little,battery will last for day),
Xolo is going to bring out Xolo X910 with Intel Processor at 10K you could wait for it too ... Xolo Q700 is good phone too .. micromax's all phones are very big in this range..