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View Full Version : Upgrade Speakers or Receiver?


kinggimp82
03-02-2009, 01:23 PM
Im trying to decide if i should upgrade my fronts from cbm-170s to ctm-340s or upgrade my reciever from a low-end pioneer to an Onkyo TX-SR806. Would one upgrade net more gain than the other? Which route would you suggest i take?
curtis
03-02-2009, 01:54 PM
Do you want to take advantage of the new codecs? Do you have a Bluray player? How big is your room? What do you find lacking now?
chas
03-02-2009, 02:46 PM
Which model Pioneer do you own?
kinggimp82
03-02-2009, 03:57 PM
Which model Pioneer do you own?

The pioneer is a vsx-d514. I think i paid like $180 for it like 5 yrs ago. It sounds pretty good to me but lacks in features. The lowest the x-over goes is 100 hz. I want a receiver that is hd ready. I will most likely upgrade both receiver and fronts eventually but i can only afford to do one right now.
chas
03-02-2009, 04:44 PM
I would go with the new receiver first. 170SE's are nice and you have a good subwoofer. Lowering your crossover to 80 will be a nice feature in a newer receiver.
Tushar
03-02-2009, 04:51 PM
I don't have experience with your specific receiver.
I had the Pioneer V-509S which was also a 5 year old $180 Digital 5.1 speaker but from Cost Co. Swapping the receiver to something better (in my case a $600 Denon) had a tremendous impact on the level of detail through the whole range I can hear from my speakers. If your V-514 has the same amplification as the V-509, I would strongly suggest you think about replacing it regardless of whether you buy new speakers. The V-509 was worst in surround sound, but both 2.0 and 5.1 sound way, way, way better. I have Sierra-1 and HTM-200SE and both sound way better without the V-509S...
bdfin
03-03-2009, 11:32 AM
Yep, I would replace the receiver, move the pioneer out to the garage........
DougMac
03-04-2009, 09:05 AM
Among other advantages, the Onkyo 806 has Audyssey. You may notice a bigger improvement in SQ by using it than by going from 170's to 340's. Start saving for the 340's or even Sierra's, though.
tntbigman23
03-06-2009, 06:50 PM
Brain first. Then the muscle :D. I've got the 340s running on a Pio 1018. They sound really sweet in a 10'H * 15'W * 34'L room. Plenty room to go loud and clean.
kinggimp82
03-11-2009, 03:05 PM
Among other advantages, the Onkyo 806 has Audyssey. You may notice a bigger improvement in SQ by using it than by going from 170's to 340's. Start saving for the 340's or even Sierra's, though.

If i let Audyssey calibrate can i manually set the sub hot if i want? I prefer to run the sub a little hot.
chas
03-11-2009, 03:28 PM
If i let Audyssey calibrate can i manually set the sub hot if i want? I prefer to run the sub a little hot.

Yes...you can tweak the levels after running Audyssey.
azanon
03-12-2009, 07:16 PM
Im trying to decide if i should upgrade my fronts from cbm-170s to ctm-340s or upgrade my reciever from a low-end pioneer to an Onkyo TX-SR806. Would one upgrade net more gain than the other? Which route would you suggest i take?

Looking at what you have in your sig, definitely the Onkyo. If you watch movies much at all, more the reason to do that.
scape
03-17-2009, 11:07 AM
i second the audyssey, turning it off and on is like night and day with my setup. onkyo's pretty good-- but i did hear of some manufacturing defects on some models from 2008, so look into the model you want first. i personally use denon for my avr, which has a few new features that model of onkyo might not (dynamic eq and volume).