|   newbie needs help with upgrade: here's my situation.........(I'm 17 so excuse my english) | Shammaflakes
May 16, 2001 11:31 AM | | This is what I currently own:
Kenwood VR-307 receiver
Interlude IL-10 mains
Old Jensen center speaker
Old Jensen Surrounds
Old Jensen subwoofer
All the Jensen stuff was part of a theater in a box that my dad bought about 7 years ago. I'm pretty new to home theater but have fallen in love with it. Up until yesterday I was completely happy with my system. I had always thought about upgrading but was not serious about it until I went to my friends house and heard a real system. Now I need to upgrade right away. The problem is I don't know where to begin.
I am happy with the reciever but would upgrade in a minute if you guys think I should get this component first. I am willing to spend up to $1000 dollars on a reciever but can't justify spending more.
My interludes are awesome. I actually really love them and would place them last in line as far as upgrading. The problem is that my friend had Maggies and Paradigms and I thought they both sounded much better than mine, although I think the Paradigms cost twice as much. I am willing to buy better main speakers because I can always switch my Interlude's to the rear,thus creating a double upgrade. I am willing to spend up to $1000 on the mains
Jensen center: Probaly the worst speaker in the lot, although I have never had a problem with it until yesterday. My problem with this speaker is if I upgrade it to match my interludes and then want to upgrade my mains I am worried that I will have to go through the whole timbre matching thing twice. I am willing to spend about $400 on my center
Surrounds: My surrounds are not that good but they get the job done. They were probably the one's I noticed least when listening to my friends set-up. I think I will upgrade these when I get new mains
Subwoofer: My subwoofer is bad, and boomy but again does the job for now. On second thought it may be my worst component. Everyone tells me to upgrade this last but I will take all advice. I am willing to spend up to $400 on my subwoofer.
My room is 12x16 if that helps, and I listen to about 50/50 music to home theater. My favorite types of music are accoustic(Dave Matthews), Jazz and soft rock. Action movies are my favorite, stuff with lots of action in the surrounds.
Any advice on the first upgrade, or equipment to buy is appreciated. I know all the usual suspects when it comes to recievers and speakers, but if anyone knows of speakers or recievers that work better for accoustical music I appreciate that advice as well. In a nutshell I appreciate everything.......Thanks and much appreciated |
| A few ideas..... | BK
May 16, 2001 12:30 PM | | 1000 dollars will get you a very nice receiver, like a Denon 3300, it has since been replaced by the 3801, which offers 7.1 channels of amplification. You should be able to find the 3300 for under $800, maybe even closer to $700. I'm not familiar with that Kenwood, but if it doesn't have DD, or DTS, I would upgrade.
1000 dollars for mains, will get ya something very nice. If you like Paradigm, I would look into the Monitor 7 (around $725, or so), or you could look into the Studio 20's or 40's, they are a bookshelf, but are the higher end line of Paradigm.
$400 bones will get you the CC370, the match for the Monitor 7. I believe the Studio CC from the Studio line is a bit more pricey.
For surrounds, you can get by with what ya got for now, I would upgrade those last.
For the sub, a few options here. I like the Definitive Pro Sub 80, or one of the Paradigm PDR subs.
With that budget, you should be able to put together 1 kick- a$$ system, maybe even better than your buddy's.
Good luck. |
| Perhaps | Bryan
May 16, 2001 12:55 PM | | The best system for you would be the Ascend Acoustics CBM-170 package with the HSU VTF-2 sub for $1,100. Get the Onkyo TX-DS696 for $650 and then you have $250 left over for a DVD player or whatever else you want.
or
nOrh 4.0 package - $850
SVS 20-39PC - $750
Onkyo TX-DS595 - $400 |
| re: newbie needs help with upgrade: here's my situation.........(I'm 17 so excuse my english) | igor
May 16, 2001 2:08 PM | | Hey Shamma,
You don't sound like a newbie to me, and your english was just fine :)First off, you have a very nice budget to work with. Since you want to upgrade, but already have most of the stuff (and just want better stuff) the nice thing is you can upgrade in steps, and do so with quality components.
Since your room isn't large, I don't think you need large speakers. While the heart of the system is the receiver (or amp/preamp) to me the biggest change in sound, is with the speakers, but they are also the most complex component in the system, due to the number, size, position, etc.
So let's look at receivers first. I will talk from some experience, and add my 2 cents if I were going to buy again (which I hope to soon, of course.) $1k for a receiver is plenty. Once you get much past that, you might as well go separates. The receivers I would give the most consideration to, are the new Onkyos, the 696, and up. The lower models (and I have the 575x which has been great) don't have pre outs to hook up an amp, something I now find I would want. I would also look at the Denon 3801, a lot of features for the money. Marantz makes some good models to, the SR8000, but getting kinda old. Hopefully they will have something new soon, so I would wait. The new Harmon Kardons seem like great models, inclduing the AVR 510, and the 7000. H/K has had some quality control issues in the past, so buy form an authorized dealer. Many who own them, who have had good luck, feel they have the best amps in the business right now. Worth checking out. Upper level Yamaha units are also worthy contenders.
I think I would do what you suggested, and put your Infinity's as rear surround speakers. Ditch the Jensens. If you spend less than $1k on the receiver, I would put that extra $ into a pair of ACI Sapphire IIIe. Check out their web site at http://www.audioc.com I don't own these, but people I have talked to absolutely swear these are some of the best speakers out there, regardless of price. Even better when you compare them to others given their price, about $1100 or so. If I had the $, I would go for these. Some day I will own their top speaker the Jaguars. Love them.
As for subs, don't skimp here. For around $500, I would look at the Hsu everyone raves about, and the ACI quake sub. Don't laugh, but the new Yamaha subs, $400 and $800 look to be some real powerful subs, check them out at Crutchfield's website.
As for center speakers, I would try to go with the same brand for center as the mains. I am not a huge worrier about timbre matching as some are, but I wouldn't want them to sound too different either. I don't think you will really notice whether your rears aren't matched with your fronts. If you do 7.1, save the Jensens for those extra effects channels (if you have any room left over).
I'm assuming you have a dvd player/tv, so I won't make any comments there. My general rule of thumb is to keep things even. I don't think it makes sense to have a state of the art receiver with Jensen speakers. Nor do you want to own power hungry Maggies with a Kenwood receiver. Doesn't make sense. A good powerful receiver like HK or Onkyo mated with high quality, generally efficient speakers makes for a nice system. The monitor/sub combo is the way to go for best imaging, and overall impact, at least for your room. If you want to save money, keep the Infinity as the mains, add their center speaker, another set of IL10s for the rear, and add a great sub. That would also work nicely. But if you want to outdo your friend, I would take a look at the ACI. Plus a 30 day return policy. Read their reviews on this site. Good luck. |
| A suggestion or two | Chuckster
May 16, 2001 2:37 PM | | Assuming you are willing to buy wholesale (except for the Paradigm Monitors)
Mains: Paradigm Reference Studio 40 ($900)
Center: Paradigm Reference Center ($400)
Pre/Pro: Onkyo TX-DS696 ($700)
Amp: Onyko M-282 (for bi-amping the mains) ($300)
Rears: Move your Interludes to the rears until you can afford to move the Reference 40s to the rear and buy another pair of 40s or maybe 60, 80, or 100s up front!
Sub: hmmm...you ought to save about $700-$800 for a sub to do total justice to low frequency sound (check out svsubwoofers.com), but for $400, I'd get a Velodyne CT-100, Velo CT-120 (actually $500 I think, but a nice step from the 10") or HSU VTF-2 (also $500).
Paradigm Reference monitors are beautiful, very musical and very well-built. They need gobs of CLEAN power in order to get first-class sound out of them, and that's why I recommend bi-amping your mains or at least saving enough cash for something better. Onkyo's amps are very clean, and the bi-amp components I recommened would sound incredible. Separate amps designed for audiophles (like something from Marantz, Anthem, Proceed, or Rotel) would astonish you; maybe you can add a 200x5 RMB-1095 (Rotel) 5-channel amp down the road!
Make sure you check out pricescan.com, jandr.com, etronics.com, onecall.com, and bestpriceaudiovideo.com
If you're gonna upgrade, go all out and do it right the first time! If you go over budget, oh well, there're are plenty of employment opportunities in America. If you live near Canada, buy the Paradigms there because they are cheaper THAN in the US. There are other setups I could recommend, but I haven't the time right now!....email me for more recommendations and advice
corsilcj@muohio.edu
Chuck |
| A suggestion or two | PJ
May 16, 2001 7:08 PM | | If you go with this system, I recommend spending the extra money on the sub, not on passively biamping the mains. Actively biamping is another story all together, but IMO passive biamping is a waste of money.
That extra $300 would get you an SVS....
also, IMO the nOrh LE monoblocks are a significantly better value for $400 the pair than the Onyko M-282 at $300. The LE's cost more to build, each, than the entire onkyo. |
| Agree with Bryan... go with the Ascend System | Ben M
May 16, 2001 3:19 PM | | I think the Ascend system Bryan mentioned offers you the performance you want at a price you can afford (I sound like a car commercial)
I own quite a few of the Ascend products and have liked them so much that I have slowly been purchasing more and replacing/upgrading many of my more expensive speakers..
BTW, the website is at http://www.ascendacoustics.com |
| I second the 2006TL's...they have beautiful piano black tops.... | Chuckster
May 17, 2001 7:42 PM | | and bottoms....they sound wonderful; I just saw and heard a pair today...$600/ea |
| re: newbie needs help with upgrade: here's my situation.........(I'm 17 so excuse my english) | Anime Guru
May 17, 2001 8:14 AM | | I agree... the Def Techs are great speakers. They can be very natural sounding and they tend to be very detailed on the highs. Also, the built in subs are nice and help to provide a very full sound stage. I paired my BP2006s with the Yamaha RX-V1000 and it is a match made in heaven. As Bob mentioned above, they will also pair well with the Marantz.
Plus, if you are strapped for cash, you can skip the sub for a month or so until you get the funds together. In the mean time you can use the powered subs from the Def Techs. I definately recommend a separate sub for an excellent HT experience, but the powered towers work well in a pinch.
Oh yeah, if you are seriously looking for a receiver to power the Def Techs, I saw a Yamaha RX-V1000 on the classifieds page for $650, you may want to check it out. |
| re: newbie needs help with upgrade: here's my situation.........(I'm 17 so excuse my english) | rileysan
May 17, 2001 1:48 PM | | You wil get a hundred opinions in here so take it for what it's worth. Ubid.com has been selling Klipsch KLF C-7 center channels for the past two weeks. They are a part of the Klipsch Legend series and are exceptional speakers!!! They retail for $600 and have been selling on Ubid for $269-$329.
You want this speaker!!!
rileysan |
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