[archaeous]

I am looking to replace my old receiver and speakers with something that actually works with a modern system. I am looking at a budget of around 1,000 for receiver / speakers for now.


The speakers and sub i have now are pretty underpowered and literally falling apart so I would like to purchase all at once but if spending a bit more money would get me a much better system I would be willing to just get the receiver now and wait a bit for all of the speakers.

The room it is currently in is 16' x 14' and I am in the process of replacing my entire A/V setup. I just replaced the TV, I have a ps3 and am looking for something that will last me for some time so am willing to go above budget and buy in two sets.


I am probably moving soon but am most likely going to wind up with a similar size room to put it in if not larger if i have an open floor plan. Any recommendations for the receiver? What kind of split should i do for receiver / speakers half and half more on speakers?


Also I have seen some of those "home theater" systems that are just blue ray and speakers. I imagine that these would be very low power output and more for a budget system? Not sure how good I can get with 1,000 maybe 1,250 since its kind of hard to judge just looking at specs.

 

[jmarken]

I am not an expert by any means. But from reading enough posts similar to yours, I can probably safely say that the most common advice you will receive is that you should invest more in speakers and less on the receiver.


You've given some specs on the size of the room and your future situation. A bit more on the intended listening situations would be helpful. You stated the you had looked at "home theater" systems. If you're looking to enjoy quality sound listening to music CDs, that is very different than trying to create a realistic home theater experience.


If you're moving soon, it might be worthwhile to wait until you get to your new location. I've purchased items for the home that would not be appropriate for my new apartment / house plenty of times and had to sell / donate them after moving. For example really expensive floor standing speakers that would take up too much room in my new living room (versus the very capable bookshelf speakers that I could have used later as surround speakers in a 5.1 setup).


Also, sometimes your underpowered and falling apart speakers might be much better than what you think you can buy brand new. I had a pair of really nice speakers for years that I "thought" were falling apart. I replaced them and it took me quite a while to find something to replace them properly.


So long story short, just a little bit more personal information (speaker info, listening preferences, etc.) might get you the answer you're hoping for (most likely it'll just confuse you - like it did me - for a while). If you're watching movies it will be completely different than if you just want to listen to music.


The bottom line is that my lesson from reading this board (which is good advice) is this, spend way more on good efficient speakers and then get something "sufficient" to send the sound to them.


Please feel free to disagree if I've missed the general consensus.

 

[archaeous]

My main goal will be for movies / gaming with music as a secondary. The speakers I have now were quite cheap and by falling apart i mean very literally one only is about half the volume as the other front, rear speakers are damaged the center works alright and so does the sub though its a tiny 6 inch.


I don't think room sizes I will be getting will make good use of a 7.1 system just due to space constraints.


As far as listening experience I do like some loudness too it but would vastly prefer clarity which my current system lacks, voices are muffled and the bass is just... well its just bass with no actual clarity. If I do go mainly for speakers that may actually work out better as I can replace my current receiver which is pretty much unusable. It only has rca jacks and i don't use those for anything anymore.


Then I could wait a fairly short time and get a nice set of speakers. Doing it this way I could do something like 300-400 on a receiver and 800 or so on a speaker set

 

[jonnythan]

3 Infinity P163s, $85 each, $255

2 Infinity P143s, $59 each, $118

Onkyo SR608, $300 shipped

HSU STF-2, $350


Total $1000.

 

[Knucklehead90]



Quote:
Originally Posted by jonnythan /forum/post/20878441


3 Infinity P163s, $85 each, $255

2 Infinity P143s, $59 each, $118

And free shipping on those speakers too.

 

[Five28]

For your budget, I'd recommend Definitive Tech speakers and a Pioneer receiver. Good performance at a decent price. Of course, you need to hear whatever speakers you are considering first to make sure that you like their sound. I did many, many speaker auditions before I decided to buy a Definitive Technology 5.1 speaker system. The sound blew away all others in my price range and some above it. I still enjoy my Definitive's and am amazed at their sound.

http://www.definitivetech.com/Produc...20600%20System

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PU...vers/VSX-921-K