Moving Towards Better Audio

UncleLumpy

Hey all,

I just resurrected my 30+ year old direct drive turntable running through a TCC TC-750 into a 10-year old Yamaha receiver and out through 30+ year old Synergistics Tower Speakers. The older gear actually dates back to my undergrad days.

Even the current equipment shows the difference in audio quality between vinyl and CDs, but I'm sure there is more to be had. I'm looking to upgrade my speakers initially...baby steps. Recommendations? I'm thinking about floor-standing speakers and spending between $1.5K and $2K. Polk RTIAs? Other Polks? Other brands?

Thanks for your thoughts!
Lumpy

tonyb

Welcome.....kind of a broad question your asking though. Speaker recommendations come with more info needed. Like gear used, exactly, room size, your likes/dislikes in the sound desired, genre of music you listen to. Movies too or just music ?

UncleLumpy

Thanks guys. Specific gear? I have a Pioneer PL-560 with an Audio Technica AT95E cartridge, a Yamaha HTR-5640 AVR and the Synergistics (old enough that the documentation regarding model is long gone and I can find nothing online). The room is 30x16 but for various reasons the setup is the "short way" in the room. Room has carpet but no room treatments. I'm guessing the usage is probably 90% music, 10% HT. All genres of music as long as something speaks to me in the music. I'm guessing my likes/dislikes would be summed up by great dynamic range and accurate reproduction.

Lumpy

marvda1

the thing is, changing out speakers may be clouded by the sound of the avr and other old equipment and going the other route you may not get the benefits of new equipment because of the old speakers.

what i would do is listen to as many new systems as i could and start narrowing down my choice of speakers, get an overall picture of what you want in your system. then start with pumping the most you can into the new speakers then amp/source. on the amp/source you can try both in your system and pick the one that makes the most difference first and get the other one second.
now you can look into room treatment and cables.

steveinaz

Often, you can get far more bang for your buck (quality-wise) by going with stand mount speakers. Something to think about. I don't say this lightly, as years ago I swore I'd never run anything but towers.