upgrading Home Theatre... advice / opinions / help please?

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › upgrading Home Theatre... advice / opinions / help please?

mung

7 posts

Wannabe Geek

#70575 27-Oct-2010 02:53

Hi all.

looking at upgrading my Home Theatre to all new gear.

currently I have a fairly basic, but good setup,
Yamaha RX-V450 AVR
Yamaha DVD
Athena F2 Front
Athena F1 Rear
Athena Sub

good gear, but after 7 years, and new new house, would love to upgrade to newer stuff, and will keep it (old setup) for my other lounge,

anyways, looking at upgrading to some higher end gear, so far all I know what I want from the new system is B & W Speakers.

been looking at the following gear;

Onkyo TX-NR1008 AVR
SONY 5600ES AVR

and B & W speaker package consisting of - 600series 683 package - 683 main, HTM61 Centre, DS3 surround and ASW610xp 10in sub.

now, i want a system for both music and movies, i want something that can kick me in the a** when I turn it up, but at the same time I want something that is just crisp.

roughly for all that gear (speakers) with either one of the AVR's will set me back $10k, this of course is a fair wack of change for anyone, so leads me to my questions..

what Im wanting to know is, which one of those two AVR's would be the better bang for buck? or is there another one I should have a look at? both will set me back around $3.5K

what about the speaker package? should I run 700 series front speakers and match with 600 series for the rest of the speakers.? or should I have a look at another brand of speakers?

lastly, my new house, is 3 years old, you would have thought they would of at least have the bare basic's pre-wired, how hard would getting the lounge re-wired be? has anyone had any experience in this? looking at wiring up speaker jack points in each corner, networking, and while I am at it, pre-wiring for multi zone,

anyways, would love to hear from everyones thoughts on the gear I have my eyes on.

Mattv

242 posts

Master Geek

#396084 27-Oct-2010 06:25

Can't offer that much help but I am running the Onkyo TX-NR3007. I think the main difference is a slight power increase and a better video processor. All I can really say is, that like you, I wanted a good mix of music and home theater and I have been extremely happy with it. I have read some very good reviews about the 1007/8 too.

The thing that may make you cry is that I picked the 3007 up here in Dubai for the equivilant of about NZ$2400. NZ retailers really know how to add their markups!

geekiegeek

2513 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#396102 27-Oct-2010 08:24

I run a Sony 1200ES which is a couple of models down from the 5600 and the sound is lovely. Handles 2 channel very well for an AVR. The model before the 5600 (the 5400) is rated as one of the best in its class so I would expect the same of the 5600. http://www.whathifi.com/Review/Sony-STR-DA5400ES/

Speakers (700 mixed with 600) should be fine as the auto setup on the AVR will compinsate for any differences and the bigger fronts will be good for stereo sources.

Dingbatt

6758 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#396110 27-Oct-2010 08:52

I don't know how much you like to 'tweak' your setups, but I have helped install a couple of Sony AVRs in the ES series. My impression is that they are quite highly specified but are limited in how you can configure them. For instance they will not allow you to prefer digital audio over hdmi audio if both are connected (my latest 8 series Onkyo AVR suffers similarly - but I didn't realise when I got it). In the same realm the x-media menu (IMO) doesn't lend itself to simple adjustments and the CEC controls are just downright confusing. It appears to me that the engineers have to work within limits set to keep the Sony-ness at the forefront of their products. I believe the quality you are seeking is more likely to be found in Yamaha, Denon, Pioneer, etc, rather than a CE manufacturer that also makes AVRs.

“We’ve arranged a society based on science and technology, in which nobody understands anything about science technology. Carl Sagan 1996

elldizzle

91 posts

Master Geek

#396230 27-Oct-2010 12:47

I did wonder why you had omitted Yamaha and denon. Both make really great higher end AVR's.

mung

7 posts

Wannabe Geek

#396253 27-Oct-2010 13:17

Like I said very open to suggestions, very open minded.... as this is no cheap package I would take my time to make sure I get the best gear for my money.

Nety

2584 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#396258 27-Oct-2010 13:28

Can I suggest also posting up on AudioEnz forums. A lot of very knowledgeable people in this area and might give you a different perspective as well.

Media centre PC - Case Silverstone LC16M with 2 X 80mm AcoustiFan DustPROOF, MOBO Gigabyte MA785GT-UD3H, CPU AMD X2 240 under volted, RAM 4 Gig DDR3 1033, HDD 120Gig System/512Gig data, Tuners 2 X Hauppauge HVR-3000, 1 X HVR-2200, Video Palit GT 220, Sound Realtek 886A HD (onboard), Optical LiteOn DH-401S Blue-ray using TotalMedia Theatre Power Corsair VX Series, 450W ATX PSU OS Windows 7 x64

mung

7 posts

Wannabe Geek

#396288 27-Oct-2010 14:09

Ah Yup. Will do. Thanks for the link.

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Dunnersfella

4086 posts

Uber Geek

#396603 27-Oct-2010 23:18

To be honest, one of the biggest issues I see you facing, is that of choice.
You'll get dozens and dozen of opinions on here, and even more from the AudioEnz crew.
To ensure you actually get the system you want, make sure to set a cap and a 'must purchase by' date. This way, you'll have an enforced stepping off point.

Now my $0.02.
How big is your room?
What sort of music do you play predominantly?
Have you got hands on with either amp? That's one of the keys for me, as usability and intuitiveness within the GUI is an absolute 'must have' IMHO. Something that Sony may well lack. Personally, I prefer Yamaha for ease of use, but Denon and Marantz for power delivery.
You haven't said if you're going 5.1, 7.1 or even 7.2 - what's your preference?
I'd personally love to have dual subs, ideally something with a remote so you can quickly tweak the sub response for the genre you're watching / listening too. Velodyne are my favourites in this regard.
B&W are nice, but I do prefer their higher end speakers (obviously...) as the speaker cabinets offer a little bit more. But the $'s really start adding up. 7's at the front could work when combined with slightly lower specs elsewhere.
Phew...

mung

7 posts

Wannabe Geek

#397122 29-Oct-2010 01:17

Cheers for the response Dunnersfella

ill take your $0.02 :P

jsut answers to your questions
-4.5 x 4.5
-listen to anything, literately anything. if I had to pick a genre, rock.
-I live in Hamilton, and all the places I have been to don't stock Sony AVR, the Onkyo one only a few have it.
-7.1 minimum, my current amp is 5.1, would like the new amp to be able to do bi-amping, and also run multi zone. so couple of extra channels to run addition speakers will be nice.
-I havnt heard a system with 2 subs, might be my next port of call, ask for a demo with that setup.
-yeah, where do you stop with higher end speakers eh. was there any other brand speakers you would suggest?

Beany

7 posts

Wannabe Geek

#401654 8-Nov-2010 13:03

Hi, My 2 cents worth ....

One place where I start is what to I need the AV ammp to do
e.g. dual monitor out to TV and/or projector
7.1 channels
auto sound field setup
etc
The other is connections. i.e. what do I have that I need to connect what to I think I might what in the near future.

Once you have these constraints, your choices will get slimmed down and price brackets will start becoming obvious.

Then for final choice go and listen to them if at all possible. Sound is very personal. What one person likes another may not.
I once listened to a similarly priced Pioneer and Yamaha amp. The pioneer might have been fine for just Movies lots of bottom end etc but I didn't like the sound on music....again my personal preference as to what I like.

Hope this helps some, essentially narrow it down based on paper specs then make the choice via audition.

Ps I would consider the Yamaha RX-Vx67 range depending on price e.g. V667, V767 etc

Bolly

68 posts

Master Geek

#401743 8-Nov-2010 16:44

What would I do with 10K?

Hummmmmmm?

Yamaha RXV2067    $3000
Theopahany M3's     $3999

B&W
682 Centre              $999
686 Rears                $999

Velodyne
CHT-8Q Sub             $899

Not much change for cabling but pretty kick arse wee system

.

Awesome amp, guess you could go for the Onkyo either way both good amps.
Best floorstanders for the money, Have heard the M3's being compared to 704's
The 704's had nothing! As I always preach listen to the speakers and compare them whenever
you can & take your own music in with you to try.
The B&W centre and rear were just good speakers to keep things under budget.
Can't go past a Velodyne sub, 8inch for those action movies good as gold! But when listening to music push the pure direct button and sit back and listen to the Theophanys sing