What sould I waste my $ on next

kmartin971 · February 2006

Take a look at my equipment below. What would you upgrade next that would have the biggest impact on my total system?

Anyone know where to find a good home receiver that does both HD radio and Sirius?

Ricardo · February 2006

You have a great system there. I would get the baddest SVS sub you can afford.

beardog03 · February 2006

yep...HTR hit the nail on the head..
A SVS Pc-Ultra or Utra 2 box sub like Doro`s is in order here...

shack · February 2006

Sell the Onkyo and get a dedicated HT pre-amp.

kmartin971 · February 2006

The sub is brand new. I am actually quite pleased with it so far. I do not really see a need for a new pre-amp.

shack · February 2006

You asked....

What would you upgrade next that would have the biggest impact on my total system?

A better sub or a better quality pre-amp (not a midrange AVR serving that function) would yield large benefits IMO.

Don't ask if you don't want answers.

wingnut4772 · February 2006

I agree with upgrading the Onkyo.

Shizelbs · February 2006

All the advice so far is dead on.

My recs would be 1) New Sub 2) New pre/pro.

Tour2ma · February 2006

+1... sub first.

Your sub is "cute", but you don't want a cute in a sub, you want a beast that'll give your cat a heart attack.

BTW... I like the linked EQ list in your sig. Good idea.

beardog03 · February 2006

+1 on the links...very cool..!!

gregure · February 2006

I agree a better sub would make a huge difference. You asked what would be most noticeable, I think a sub would do it. You will get a million SVS recommendations, but I can't sing the praises of Martin Logan subs enough. Tons of bass, very low, yet tight, clean and completely free of port noise or that bass lag that lesser subs produce, because it's a sealed box design. You seem like someone who likes nice equipment, that has a great build quality and high performance. You may be able to shake your house a bit more with a larger SVS, but it will take up a lot of space, and still not be a tight and musical as ML's. Check them out here.

You'll probably want to look at the Depth or Descent, as the Grotto probably won't quite be enough for you, although it's the best 10" sub I've ever heard.
The Depth is 3 8" drivers, and the Descent is 3 10" drivers. They're also damn sexy, as they don't just look like a big wooden box, and are a lot smaller than most other subs that yield similar performance results. Happy shopping.

Oh, and I also agree a better preamp would do you well. Onkyo just isn't reference quality. Will give you better detail for movies, and more detail, warmth and presence for music.

beardog03 · February 2006

I gotta admit...that little ML that Gregure has was damn sexy

small and actually looks like nice furniture

Tour2ma · February 2006

Sexy is just a notch above cute... (see above post #9)...

heiney9 · February 2006

shack wrote:

Sell the Onkyo and get a dedicated HT pre-amp.

+1

Why ask us if you are just going to tell us No.

I'll throw it back on you.....what do you think needs replacing ? You must have some idea or you wouldn't have asked and then shot down our suggestions.

H9

Tour2ma · February 2006

Approaching 1500 posts... 'bout time the attitude kicked in...

heiney9 · February 2006

Tour2ma wrote:

Approaching 1500 posts... 'bout time the attitude kicked in...

I try to stay on the "even keel" and pick my battles. One thing that always gripes me is people asking for a suggestion and then arguing why the suggestion is invalid. The proper way was to say, "other than my sub and pre-amp, both of which I like very much, what improvements could I make with $xxxx"? Thing is anyone who's followed his prior threads knows that the Aragon is very new and the Lsi's are somewhat new, so that leaves very little left to comment on.

Here's a suggestion...sell the whole lot and start over!!! Being sarcastic, of course

.

See if you like these suggestions. High quality interconnects and speaker cables, room treatments, and perhaps a source that's equivalent to your system (which an Xbox is not). Really, if you are happy with the pre and sub, a very high quality source will do wonders, but it may be limited by your pre-amp.

H9

louhamilton · February 2006

I would say upgrade nothing of yours. Instead, if you have money burning a hole in your pocket, PM me and I will give you my address where you can send the check for whatever amount you are willing to spend. I promise I'll let you know what your money bought.

Heck, I'll even send pics.

-Lou

Ferres · February 2006

Room acoustics is a valid recommendation

Good sound can become great with the right room treatment.

An audiophile grade powercord and speaker cables too.

Not as much on interconnects, improvements there can be subjective, as long as their good quality ones.

krabby5 · February 2006

wow...those are some nice components...

the thing that REALLY sticks out is the sub...it doesn't belong in that same group as your other stuff...

If you really have the extra cash (you must have one helluva job for all that stuff), I would seriously get a really nice sub..

kmartin971 · February 2006

I may actualy move the sub to my other system around the bar and pooltable. Can anyone give a specific recommendation on a sub? What chnages might I expect from a new pre amp?

heiney9 · February 2006

Is the Xbox your source for DVD and CD? If so, the more I thought about it you'd benefit more at this time from leaving the pre (AVR, right) and getting a good source. You can upgrade the pre down the line as the Xbox is definetly your weak link. You have a killer amp and excellent speakers, now feed them a worthy signal. Now if I missed where you are using a dedicated DVD or CDP then the pre-amp (AVR) should be replaced.

The big problem is finding a reasonably priced processing pre. I think Outlaw makes a decent unit as well as Adcom and I think Parasound and perhaps Rotel. Multi-channel A/V systems are not my forte' as I'm a 2-ch guy. A better pre will give you better definition, better dynamics (both micro and macro) lower noise floor, cleaner signal processing, less crosstalk, less haze (graniness) etc. As far as A/V pre's someone else will have to make rec. as I'm just not experienced enough in multi-channel to make rec.

H9

kmartin971 · February 2006

I have a Pioneer elite DVD player

shack · February 2006

heiney9 wrote:

The big problem is finding a reasonably priced processing pre. I think Outlaw makes a decent unit as well as Adcom and I think Parasound and perhaps Rotel. Multi-channel A/V systems are not my forte' as I'm a 2-ch guy. A better pre will give you better definition, better dynamics (both micro and macro) lower noise floor, cleaner signal processing, less crosstalk, less haze (graniness) etc. As far as A/V pre's someone else will have to make rec. as I'm just not experienced enough in multi-channel to make rec.

H9 covered the advantages.

Here are some pre-amps to consider:

Anthem AVM 30 MSRP $2,999

B&K Reference 50 S2 MSRP $2,398

Rotel RSP-1068 MSRP $1,699

NAD T-163 MSRP $1,499

Outlaw 990 MSRP $1,099

You would be hard pressed to best the Outlaw from a "bang for the buck" standpoint.

RuSsMaN · February 2006

Cable up.

F1nut · February 2006

Source, pre amp and cable up as Russ says.

shack · February 2006

F1nut wrote:

Source, pre amp and cable up as Russ says.

Jesse, I normally think the Pioneer DVD players are pretty good and would say that if he was primarily a HT guy his source would be OK. HOWEVER, the Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity DVD Benchmark test on this machine was not very good. Secret's Benchmark Test It received one of the worst "progressive scan de-interlacing" scores on any of the machines they have tested. Granted that is only one factor in determining the quality of a DVD player. Their conclusion based on that factor alone was as follows.

We get accused of being biased against Pioneer constantly, which we're not. Many of us at Secrets of Home Theater & Hi Fi are fans of many Pioneer products, including their audio gear, TVs, and laserdisc players. But it's hard to be fans of their DVD players when they produce players like this. It's not a terrible player, but given that several cheaper players are better overall, we just can't recommend this one, at least based on progressive video quality.

kmartin971 - Since you are happy with most of your components, maybe the source would be the best upgrade path.

kmartin971 · February 2006

Thanks for the DVD info. Maybe time to upgrade since it is four years old.

kmartin971 · February 2006

What other DVD players do you recommend?

shack · February 2006

kmartin971 wrote:

What other DVD players do you recommend?

If your #1 priority is DVD picture quality and performance, I would look to Denon and Panasonic (in that order). They generally get it right when it comes to DVD players. Denon also seems to do well with the multi-format "universal" machines. An interesting newcomer to the universal format would be the Cambridge Audio Azur DVD87. CA is not known for their great video perfomance, but their audio performance has always been very good. At the price, this might be a good choice if you are not real particular about video.

kmartin971 · February 2006

As of now my HD TV only supports component video. Does anyone know of a solid DVD player that will up convert to 1080i using component video?

DiscoMike · February 2006

I would upgrade the pre-amp and sub. For the pre-amp, I would recommend the Lexicon MC-8. Great detail and clarity, along with the low end - movie theatre quality sub output !!! I get decent lows on my Sony preamp with the RT3000p's, but I just dont get that low end movie quality feeling as I do with the Lexicon. The sub I have connected to the Lexicon is a PSW-300 which I have been happy with for 9 years now (it will be 10 this October). I might replace the Sony with possibly an Anthem pre-amp when I get a chance to audition them.

For the sub, I am surprized you did not go with a Polk or another high end speaker. Why is that ?

What sould I waste my $ on next

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