What to upgrade first?

PTJONES
PTJONES Posts: 21
edited November 2012 in Speakers
Hello,

I had asked for some help on my system, and have concluded that it may be beneficial for my movie watching to upgrade my receiver, to have an output, so that I could then get an amp to run my front and center channel speakers on. At first I was thinking of replacing my rear klipsch speakers for a set of Polk monitor 40's or I had thought about getting another set of monitor 70's and using them for my rear too. Please give me some advice on my situation, because I think my mind is a little fried and I just need a little direction.

This is what my current system looks like:
**46" Phillips LCD 1080p
Sony PS3
**Receiver- Pioneer VSX-821-K
Front speakers- Polk Audio Monitor 70's
Center Channel- Polk Audio CS2
**Rear Speakers- Klipsch Icon 5 1/4" 2 way bookshelf
Subwoofer- Polk Audio DSWPRO 440wi 8" (I have it facing downward)
**Monster Cable for my speakers

**What I'm thinking about upgrading

Please shoot me any ideas. I want my Movie watching to be Awesome! and if I need to turn it up then you can hear me down the street...clearly :)
Post edited by PTJONES on
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Comments

  • thsmith
    thsmith Posts: 6,082
    edited November 2012
    Whats your budget?

    Do you care about 3D?

    Everyone has their favs for AVRs, I like Denon but really just find one with the features you want and price you can afford.

    Cables, Signal cable or BlueJeans are good choices.

    Seperate amp, again budget and number of channels you want to drive need to be understood. I like the Outlaw monoblock for the center and a seperate 2 channel amp allowing the AVR to feed everything else.

    Research and take your time.
    Speakers: SDA-1C (most all the goodies)
    Preamp: Joule Electra LA-150 MKII SE
    Amp: Wright WPA 50-50 EAT KT88s
    Analog: Marantz TT-15S1 MBS Glider SL| Wright WPP100C Amperex BB 6er5 and 7316 & WPM-100 SUT
    Digital: Mac mini 2.3GHz dual-core i5 8g RAM 1.5 TB HDD Music Server Amarra (memory play) - USB - W4S DAC 2
    Cables: Mits S3 IC and Spk cables| PS Audio PCs
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  • ravaneli
    ravaneli Posts: 530
    edited November 2012
    Polk Monitor 40 will be a downgrade from the Icon W bookies. Frankly for surrounds the only way to get a significan upgrade is to go dipole or bipole. Polk has great offerings in those - look at A4 and A6 if you can afford them. There are cheaper ones, but better stay all polk. If you must save money i think BIC america has cheaper ones that are pretty good.

    The rest of the speakers are a good match so you should upgrade all or just keep them all.

    You receiver leaves a lot to be desired though. Go to accessories4less.com and pick something older that is 65% off and packs plenty of juice and has preouts. Don't look for the latest models, all you need is HDMI and 2 preouts for FL and FR.
    BlueFox wrote: »
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    jeremymarcinko wrote: »
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  • PTJONES
    PTJONES Posts: 21
    edited November 2012
    thsmith wrote: »
    Whats your budget?

    Do you care about 3D?

    Everyone has their favs for AVRs, I like Denon but really just find one with the features you want and price you can afford.

    Cables, Signal cable or BlueJeans are good choices.

    Seperate amp, again budget and number of channels you want to drive need to be understood. I like the Outlaw monoblock for the center and a seperate 2 channel amp allowing the AVR to feed everything else.

    Research and take your time.

    I'm not allowed to go to crazy, as I would still have to prove to my wife why it would be better...LOL. But I'm going to stay away from 3D, only because It hasnt proven anything to me yet. Plus my kids are younger and its hard enough to make them wear the glasses in the movie theatre. So you suggested in an ideal system world, to look at getting 2 amps. 1 for my center and another for my front speakers. Now when you asked me that it depended on the amount of channels I wanted to drive, is that stating that meaning of my current 5.1 system, that if I get an amp, that it would have the capabilities to supply extra power to my other speakers as well as just my monitor 70's. I always worry about blowing my speakers! So the increase in watts means the increase in loudness, right.
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  • PTJONES
    PTJONES Posts: 21
    edited November 2012
    ravaneli wrote: »
    Polk Monitor 40 will be a downgrade from the Icon W bookies. Frankly for surrounds the only way to get a significan upgrade is to go dipole or bipole. Polk has great offerings in those - look at A4 and A6 if you can afford them. There are cheaper ones, but better stay all polk. If you must save money i think BIC america has cheaper ones that are pretty good.

    The rest of the speakers are a good match so you should upgrade all or just keep them all.

    You receiver leaves a lot to be desired though. Go to accessories4less.com and pick something older that is 65% off and packs plenty of juice and has preouts. Don't look for the latest models, all you need is HDMI and 2 preouts for FL and FR.

    What do you think if I was to just get another set of monitor 70's for my rear. Is that not a good idea or I they not built to be used as rears?
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  • cfrizz
    cfrizz Posts: 13,415
    edited November 2012
    PT, don't worry about the surrounds, for right now. Concentrate on getting a better receiver because without that, you can't upgrade to more power since yours doesn't have preouts.
    Once you have the receiver in place, then you can start looking at 3-5 channel amplifiers. I suggest getting a 5 channel and be done with it. Then start thinking about upgrading the surround speakers. Don't worry about the cables at all, those should be the last things on the list.
    Marantz AV-7705 PrePro, Classé 5 channel 200wpc Amp, Oppo 103 BluRay, Rotel RCD-1072 CDP, Sony XBR-49X800E TV, Polk S60 Main Speakers, Polk ES30 Center Channel, Polk S15 Surround Speakers SVS SB12-NSD x2
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  • jbooker82
    jbooker82 Posts: 1,627
    edited November 2012
    I would say an extra pair of 70's would be a down grade for the whole system because it is taking power away from your front 3 in order to drive a pair of surrounds.

    An amplifier would be an upgrade, but I do not know if your AVR has analog pre outs though.
    AVR: Onkyo Tx-NR808
    Amplifier: Carver A-753x 250 watts x 3
    Fronts: Polk RTI A7 (modded by Trey VR3)
    Center: CSI A4 (modded by Trey VR3)
    Rear: FXI A4
    Sub: Polk DSW Pro 660wi
    TV: LG Infinia 50PX950 3D
    Speaker Cable: AudioQuest Type 8
    IC: AudioQuest Black Mamba II
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  • Loud & Clear
    Loud & Clear Posts: 1,538
    edited November 2012
    Unless your theater is in an arena, I think adding amps is a waste of money. Today's AVRs are have more than enough power to handle a polk monitor home theater. If you really want to upgrade, investigate your choice of speakers. But these are just my opinions based upon my own experience.

    Two Channel Setup:

    Speakers: Wharfedale Opus 2-3
    Integrated Amp: Krell S-300i
    DAC: Arcam irDac
    Source: iMac
    Remote Control: iPad Mini

    3.2 Home Theater Setup:

    Fronts: Klipsch RP-160M
    Center: Klipsch RP-160M
    Subwoofer: SVS PB12NSD (X 2)
    AVR: Yamaha Aventage RX-A2030
    Blu Ray: Sony BDP-S790
    TV Source: DirecTV Genie
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  • boomhower
    boomhower Posts: 14
    edited November 2012
    I'd upgrade the sub and then receiver. BiC f12 and Denon 1612 from accessories4less would be $400 for both and a big upgrade for your system. That 8" sub just isn't doing justing to the rest of your system. Action movies in particular will be night and day.
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  • gce
    gce Posts: 2,158
    edited November 2012
    I would start with your AVR and then add a better sub.
    Anaheim Hills CA,
    HT 5.1: Anthem MRX 720 / BDP-Denon DBT1713UD / Polkaudio LSiM703 / W4S mAmp's / Polkaudio LSiM706c / Polkaudio LSiM702F/X's / SVS PC12-NSD / Panasonic TC P55VT30

    2 Channel: Rogue RP-5 / WireWorld Electra power cord / Marantz TT-15S1/ Ortofon - Quintet Black MC / Marantz NA8005 DAC / W4S mAmp's / Synology DS 216+ll-4TB / Polkaudio LSiM703
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  • jeremymarcinko
    jeremymarcinko Posts: 3,785
    edited November 2012
    I think monitor 40s is great idea. Not a downgrade at all. Just a different beast. I have had the klipsch b3s as surrounds to my monitor system. Replaced them with monitor40s definite improvement. Its much more difficult to localize the sounds now that all the speakers are timbre matched makes for a seamless surround experience.
    Oh, Listen here mister. We got no way of understandin' this world. But we got as much sense of this bird flyin in the sky. Now there is a lot that bird don't know, but it don't change the fact that the world is happening to him all the same. What I am tryin to say is, is that the course of your life, well its changing, and you don't even see it- Forest Bondurant
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  • cfrizz
    cfrizz Posts: 13,415
    edited November 2012
    Loud & Clear wrote: »
    Unless your theater is in an arena, I think adding amps is a waste of money. Today's AVRs are have more than enough power to handle a polk monitor home theater. If you really want to upgrade, investigate your choice of speakers. But these are just my opinions based upon my own experience.

    We all know that receiver manufacturers play games with the numbers as far as wattage goes. Until you add a separate amp, you will never hear what your speakers are truly capable of because the vast majority of receivers today will not give speakers the power they need to operate at their full potential. It doesn't matter if the they are Polk's monitor speakers or my 22 year old RTA-8Ts.

    Too many people rush to condemn their speakers of not sounding good when in fact it is the fact that they have yet to be given the power that they need to sound their best.

    So having the proper building blocks for current and future speaker upgrades is essential. That means a better reciever with preouts and then an amp to make them sound their best.

    Then looking into a sub (I love my Polk DSW pro 400) and surrounds to finish up. Calibrate everything in and he would be a very happy camper.
    Marantz AV-7705 PrePro, Classé 5 channel 200wpc Amp, Oppo 103 BluRay, Rotel RCD-1072 CDP, Sony XBR-49X800E TV, Polk S60 Main Speakers, Polk ES30 Center Channel, Polk S15 Surround Speakers SVS SB12-NSD x2
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  • jeremymarcinko
    jeremymarcinko Posts: 3,785
    edited November 2012
    I see you want to be heard down the street. Just set it up outside. Problem solved :)
    Oh, Listen here mister. We got no way of understandin' this world. But we got as much sense of this bird flyin in the sky. Now there is a lot that bird don't know, but it don't change the fact that the world is happening to him all the same. What I am tryin to say is, is that the course of your life, well its changing, and you don't even see it- Forest Bondurant
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