$2,000 to spend on receiver & speakers...

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Mprezd

119 posts

Master Geek

#388732 6-Oct-2010 12:57

10 speakers is overkill unless you have a dedicated home cinema room (the big ones). Stick with a good 5.1 set now, then add two more rears when the time is right. Even a second sub is a good idea depending on room size. But those KEF will not be enough for a medium-sized lounge.

Thanks

I don't have alot of room in the bedroom so perhaps I will just go for the cheaper KEF's for now. If I move into another place and put it all in the lounge I can look at some better speakers and then maybe a cheaper amp to keep the KEF's happy in the bedroom.

elldizzle

91 posts

Master Geek

#389267 7-Oct-2010 17:07

I am Currently using the Onkyo SR507 from last year With a Jamo Sub-sat system the a402 Hcs5.
And have just bought some Diamond 9.5's to upgrade to 7.1. I have an older NAD stereo that im gonna use to drive the rears as the 507 is only 5.1 channel.

I have found the Onkyo's sound to be a little bit on the "safe" side of things. It's not bad but doesn't blow me away. Im also hoping the Diamonds (when I pick them up) will add a bit more mid range and flair to the sound. I was blown away with them on my audition. To the OP my total cost so far is just under $1900 and im wrapped with the system and im just starting to upgrade after a year.
Go with most of the suggestion's put forward and you won't go wrong.. Now to work hard to upgrade my receiver And then my Center then my Sub and so on, it never ends....lol

Mprezd

119 posts

Master Geek

#389414 8-Oct-2010 08:13

elldizzle: I am Currently using the Onkyo SR507 from last year With a Jamo Sub-sat system the a402 Hcs5.
And have just bought some Diamond 9.5's to upgrade to 7.1. I have an older NAD stereo that im gonna use to drive the rears as the 507 is only 5.1 channel.

I have found the Onkyo's sound to be a little bit on the "safe" side of things. It's not bad but doesn't blow me away. Im also hoping the Diamonds (when I pick them up) will add a bit more mid range and flair to the sound. I was blown away with them on my audition. To the OP my total cost so far is just under $1900 and im wrapped with the system and im just starting to upgrade after a year.
Go with most of the suggestion's put forward and you won't go wrong.. Now to work hard to upgrade my receiver And then my Center then my Sub and so on, it never ends....lol

would be interested to see how you find the upgrade to the Diamon 9.5's. How much did you pay for them/where did you end up getting them from?

elldizzle

91 posts

Master Geek

#389486 8-Oct-2010 11:03

Yeah will definitely will post my findings when I pick them up next week. Saw them at Harvey Norman the other day. There doing a big clear out of some old stock, They're floor models but only been display not demo use. Managed to get them for $625. Reduced from about $1099. I have heard of people getting them a few years back for $550 but with the G.S.T going up did'nt think that was too bad. I saw them while I was browsing so bit of an impulse buy, That why I cant pick them up till next pay. Was $100 short so had to put $525 down and pick them up next friday payday and pay the balance...lol. But wanted to secure them at that price.

I did see JB-HIFI had the 9.6's for $699 ex demo but there bloody huge would never fit in my small place.

Im very tempted to see how much they add to my setup!..

throbb

675 posts

Ultimate Geek

#392352 15-Oct-2010 18:53

I Just picked up a set of Diamond 10 series.

10.6 Floorstanders
10.1 Bookshelf
10CSCENB centre
10MXB Sub.

I just need a receiver to match now. (Accepting Recomendations)

Looks like my total is going to be closer to 3k than 2k.

After shopping around I think that $2k is definitly doable and would give someone a decent setup. I just dont have the willpower to resist spending a few extra $$ for the next model up and it doesnt take long for that to add up.

cgrew

860 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#392539 16-Oct-2010 12:16

Very nice throbb, my current speaker setup is the equivalent to yours but the Diamond 9 series. I'm currently using the Denon AVR-2310 receiver and the Diamonds sound primo, especially for Blu-Rays and 2ch music play-back!

Highly recommend this receiver.

throbb

675 posts

Ultimate Geek

#393265 18-Oct-2010 17:44

Just setup my system, ended up going for a Onkyo-608. Was a bit disapointed with the sound when I turned it on, then noticed I forgot to tell the receiver I was bi-amping the fronts.

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elldizzle

91 posts

Master Geek

#393450 19-Oct-2010 08:23

Hmm all this talk of Bi-amping...I think ive found what im doing tonight...lol

Dingbatt

6758 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#393464 19-Oct-2010 08:57

throbb: Just setup my system, ended up going for a Onkyo-608. Was a bit disapointed with the sound when I turned it on, then noticed I forgot to tell the receiver I was bi-amping the fronts.

How did you get on with running your HTPC into the Onkyo 608?
My setup uses HDMI and I had handshake problems initially. It may just be because of the mix of motherboard/graphics card and using MediaPortal but it wouldn't hold a resolution if you switched to another source and back again.
I resolved it in the end by using the front 'AUX' hdmi which isn't assignable like hdmi1-4. Must be the chip in the 608 not 'playing nice' with the chip in the graphics card.

As far as being disappointed with the sound, don't forget you need to run the speakers in before they will give a true sound.

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

Jaxson

8044 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#393493 19-Oct-2010 09:40

throbb: Just setup my system, ended up going for a Onkyo-608. Was a bit disapointed with the sound when I turned it on, then noticed I forgot to tell the receiver I was bi-amping the fronts.

Did you do the audessy setup process too?

Nety

2584 posts

Uber Geek

Retired Mod

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#393533 19-Oct-2010 11:15

Dingbatt:
As far as being disappointed with the sound, don't forget you need to run the speakers in before they will give a true sound.

I think that was more to do with not having the amp set to bi-amp

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

throbb

675 posts

Ultimate Geek

#393713 19-Oct-2010 18:11

Dingbatt:
throbb: Just setup my system, ended up going for a Onkyo-608. Was a bit disapointed with the sound when I turned it on, then noticed I forgot to tell the receiver I was bi-amping the fronts.

How did you get on with running your HTPC into the Onkyo 608?
My setup uses HDMI and I had handshake problems initially. It may just be because of the mix of motherboard/graphics card and using MediaPortal but it wouldn't hold a resolution if you switched to another source and back again.
I resolved it in the end by using the front 'AUX' hdmi which isn't assignable like hdmi1-4. Must be the chip in the 608 not 'playing nice' with the chip in the graphics card.

As far as being disappointed with the sound, don't forget you need to run the speakers in before they will give a true sound.

I'm running a ati5450 in the HTPC(did have a nvidia 9500gt but replaced that for the bitstreaming on the ati). When I first got it running the 608 only detected PCM being output from the HTPC. I updated my Arcsoft total media and now its outputting all correctly, Dolby TrueHD etc.

I've have them running all day while I was at work to run them in. Wharfedale recommends 50 hours at 50% power. I think they sound pretty dam good already, it was just my bi-amping mixup that got me worried at the start .

throbb

675 posts

Ultimate Geek

#393714 19-Oct-2010 18:13

Jaxson:
throbb: Just setup my system, ended up going for a Onkyo-608. Was a bit disapointed with the sound when I turned it on, then noticed I forgot to tell the receiver I was bi-amping the fronts.

Did you do the audessy setup process too?

Having run it yet, waiting for a time when I can get some quiet time in the house.

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