Help!! Do i need more power?

jarod

I have tsi series speakers 300 and 400 up front with a csi 10 center channel and until recently had older rt/fx out back. One was dropped and riuned! I have a pioneer vsx821-k reciever running 5.1 with a 10" klh sub. I have to turn my system up loud to really hear everything and my wife can't enjoy it that loud. Do i need more power to get better sound at lower volume or does my pioneer suck or what?

BlueFox

200 watts per channel @ 8 ohms is the generic answer.

jarod

Holy crap man thats alot less than i have. I was told to get a high current reciever such as marantz 5007 and i am sure its great bit its also almost 1000 dollars. I wonder if the power will make that big of a difference?

chumlie

Power does make a differance. I would look for a used Pioneer SC series 25 or 35. They have more power than the Marantz or Denon your looking at. Can be had for under $1000 and plenty of power for your setup.

tonyb

While power does make a difference, the speakers your running are pretty easy to drive....even with that receiver. Keeping things in perspective, your on the entry level side of things so don't expect a few more watts to transform your system.

That said, some movies are just recorded that way, the voices are too low and the explosions and bangs are too loud. Add to that personal preferences between you and the wife. I like movie theatre sound at home, my wife not so much and is always asking me to turn it down.
Go over the adjustments in the avr and see if some tweeking will help. Channel levels set at 0 and adjust from there, they maybe too low. What is the crossover set at ? Try somewhere in the range of 60-80 to see what floats your boat. Some also like setting smaller speakers to large instead of small to get a more fuller sound. As far as gear goes, the cs20 is the the better center for those speakers and will help on the voices,can be had on the cheap too. Also a decent sub might help your overall sound. Many decent ones out there, Polks DSW or micropro line, HSU, Epic, SVS, Rel, have some nice offering at any budget. Your receiver is OK for what you have, but once you start moving up the speaker chain, your gonna have to replace it so keep that in mind. Good luck to you bro.

dudeinaroom

Making multiple threads asking the same thing is frowned upon here. Not everyone is online all the time or at the same time. We all see the new post when they are made, and multiples will not get answered any faster, and a lot of times will get ignored. When you click on new posts at the top of the tread all new post come up and will be seen. Just a heads up for later down the road. You said you were trying to get a certain effect, but did not state exactly what the problem was, or the effect you were looking for in the other thread.

From your other thread, so everything is in one place.

jarod wrote: »

HEY GUYS I HAVE TSI 300 AND 400 TOWERS UP FRONT.ONLY THE 400'S RUN WHEN ON 5.1. I ALSO HAVE CSI10 AND A 10" SUB. HAD SOME SURROUNDS BUT FIXING TO GO TSI 100 OR 200 FOR THOSE TO KEEP EVERYTHING IN LIKE KIND. I HAVE A PIONEER VSX 821 AT 80 WATTS RMS SO THEY SAY. MY PROBLEM IS THAT WHEN WE WATCH A MOVIE I HAVE TO REALLY CRANK THE VOLUME TO GET THE EFFECT THAT I WANT AND ITS TOO LOUD FOR MY WIFE. I AM THINKING ABOUT A MARANTZ 5007 OR DENON 2313 BUT WONDER IF MY SPEAKERS WILL REALLY BENEFIT FROM THIS. THESE ARE EXPENSIVE RECIEVERS AND I WANTED SOME OTHER OPINIONS ON THIS MATTER. ANY FEEDBACK WOULD BE GREAT. THANKS :question:

dudeinaroom wrote: »

Well before we can point you in the right direction, we need to know what the problem is. Is there not enough bass? Are voices hard to hear? Is it something else? There is no need to yell, we can hear or should I say see your typing just fine. LOL.

jarod

yes i realized that and thought i might should have put my thread in the speakers forum so i did. Not meaning anything buy doing so. As i am sure you are aware with your obvious keen eye i haven't posted much and am new so i am trying to learn my way around so please bare with me. i will try and get it right oh yeah sorry about the all caps wasn't really paying attention. like i said bare with me i'm learning. But i do hope to meet some like minded people here that share my love for all things audio. And to answer your questions about my questions. The listening level in general to get all the surround ambiance and voices to my liking is generally loud but then if there is a quiet scene you have to turn it up or if there is an explosion i look like the guy in the chair on the old Maxell poster getting blown away. Which for me is not necasarrily a BAD thing:cheesygrin: i also am judging from hearing some other systems. From a complete Def Tech 7.1(which was awesome) to a sony HT in a box. I guess i really want to make sure that i am using everything my TSI's have to offer me ya know. I absolutely know i am going to start climbing the ladder to better speakers but i want to give thses a fair shake and if a new reciever with more power and better(for lack of a better word) sound will open them up and allow me to really hear what they have to offer me. I really do like how they sound but i want more!! who doesn't right. Anyway thanks for looking into it and giving me a heads up on my forum edicate.

decal

if there is a quiet scene you have to turn it up or if there is an explosion i look like the guy in the chair on the old Maxell poster getting blown away

This, unfortunately, is how most stuff is recorded now.

mantis

Check out the new SC-61 Pioneer Elite. It has plenty of power to run your speaker package and if you decide to upgrade to RTIA series , you won't have to upgrade your AVR.
Room correction by MCACC will drastically help with your voicing issue. Calibration is always key.

SugarmillMan

mantis wrote: »

Check out the new SC-61 Pioneer Elite. It has plenty of power to run your speaker package and if you decide to upgrade to RTIA series , you won't have to upgrade your AVR.
Room correction by MCACC will drastically help with your voicing issue. Calibration is always key.

I agree. Running Audyssey XT32 made a huge difference in my sound. Maybe you and r wife will enjoy the sound more after this.

cnh

jarod wrote: »

Holy crap man thats alot less than i have. I was told to get a high current reciever such as marantz 5007 and i am sure its great bit its also almost 1000 dollars. I wonder if the power will make that big of a difference?

mantis wrote: »

Check out the new SC-61 Pioneer Elite. It has plenty of power to run your speaker package and if you decide to upgrade to RTIA series , you won't have to upgrade your AVR.
Room correction by MCACC will drastically help with your voicing issue. Calibration is always key.

Great suggestion by Dan, as usual. BUT, it seems to me that pushing an $1100 dollar Elite and an upgrade of a couple of thousand dollars to RTi-A for a total of $3000-$4000 is not what the original poster is capable of?

"Context" is important here! To OP. You want to "keep" your original speaker set, right? And probably spend $500 or less on a new AVR! Am I right?

OK, here's what you can consider. A refurb Marantz 600X series, or an Onkyo 70X series (accessories4less.com)

Then do yourself a "favor" and get a better sub! Wait for a sale on newegg.com and get yourself a Polk PSW-505 for a couple hundred.

Clock that sub to an 80hz cut off and you're in business!

Not all of us can "upgrade" at the drop of a hat.

But this "will" work, and hopefully it won't cost you an arm and a leg!

cnh

newrival

Or, if you're on a budget and not running 3d bluray, you could look at buying something like the TOL for 07/08 Pioneer Elite VSX-84TXSi used for a song at $300.
4 HDMI ins
140W/ch all channels driven
3 zones
2 remotes
ipod dock
etc

(shameless plug for my unit for sale)

cnh

newrival wrote: »

Or, if you're on a budget and not running 3d bluray, you could look at buying something like the TOL for 07/08 Pioneer Elite VSX-84TXSi used for a song at $300.
4 HDMI ins
140W/ch all channels driven
3 zones
2 remotes
ipod dock
etc

(shameless plug for my unit for sale)

Why not? That would be the "best" of both worlds. A great AVR at a super low price! And there are other ways of configuring sound for blu-ray on that Pioneer.

cnh