Impression of new speakers

[curtis]

I think onecall.com has the HK 330 and HK 325 a little cheaper than the prices Brad listed....worth a look. Also worth giving Ascend a call and see what kind of deal they have.

-curtis

[december11]

yup, stands too low on the fronts. Get higher stands.

[trekkerj]

OK, now I am using the rear stands up front, which improves the front sound field a bit.

The rears are on the smaller ones facing up, which I don't like. Needed to recalibrate and raise the volume of them a bit.

Those Ascend stands look ideal for front and surround, but $100 a pair? Isn't that on the expensive side?

[Quinn]

Will those short stands go on your end tables?

[trekkerj]

No, nowhere near enough room.

I like the 3 foot stands in the front. Circuit City has adjustable bookshelf stands for $79 a pair which I will pick up.

http://www.circuitcity.com/detail.js...3693&oid=69314

While there, I'll see if they have any good open box deals on receivers. If the return policy is good, maybe I'll pick that up also. I'll report back, thanks for the help everyone. Never expected so many responses.

[JohnnyCasaba]

Trekkerj,

I was only able to do a really quick listen with 2 170's on the Pioneer, speakers were set to small and crossed over at 100hz, and I even used the same cheap speaker wire that came with the H/K sats. Could not get wild with the volume because someone was sleeping, and keep in mind this is a small room, but thought things sounded fine. I don't know if this has been asked already, but how do you have your DVD player hooked up to the AVR? With the analog or digital connections? Do you have the DRC option on in the AVR?

[trekkerj]

Everything is a digital connection to the AVR. DRC is set to min, but I've tried all the settings. Now that you've tried it with the Pioneer, i'm not sure what to think. Perhaps my expectations were too high...

[JohnnyCasaba]

Ok I just checked, as for the DRC, the only options are Mid, Max and off. Check again and see if you do have it off. If you are using a Coax Digital connection, are you using a proper 75ohm cable?

[trekkerj]

All the cables are fine. I like to turn on DRC at night to keep the volume fluctuations down. It doesn't have an effect on the sound quality. There's no 'warmth' to the sound, or at least, not as much as I anticipated. If I can get a good deal on a receiver at CC (and it's returnable) then I might give it a try just to see what happens.

[JohnnyCasaba]

Maybe your expectations were to high. I know with the pics you posted, and it has already been said, the stands you had up front are to small. But it also looks (not really sure) like your surrounds are right up against the wall, since the 170's are ported, they really should not be placed right up against the wall. Maybe the 200's would be a better option for you.

Trying to help, out of options at this point. Maybe give a new AVR a try, as long as you can return it for a full refund, worth a shot.