I have $1K to spend .... what to Upgrade Next>???

[Pianist718]

So in the last 2 months have been upgrading my audio equipment.
Here is where I am at right now.

A/V Receiver - Yamaha rx-v465
L/R - Ascend Sierra-1 NrT
Center - Ascend Sierra-1 Nrt
Surrounds - HTiB Onkyo
Sub - Rythmik F12
TV - Panasonic TH50PX60U (Plasma)
Blu-ray/DVD - Sony BDP-S350


I got $1K ..... what would you upgrade next???

My thought were
a) better receiver (getting Refurbished $600-700 receivers that used to cost $1,100+)
b) better surrounds (Ascend htm-200 .... $300)
c) 2nd subwoofer (Rythmik F12 ... $900)
d) amp???
e) Room treatments? I got bare walls in front and in back of speakers, leather couch in front of speakers, glass table by the couch. A lot of things that screw sound.
f) New big Center Channel speaker from Ascend ($1,000)

I do 60% music, 40% movies.
Room is 18x13 with 8.5 ceiling.

thanks

[curtis]

Without experiencing your setup, a new receiver and HTM-200SE's for surrounds would be what I would look at first.

[lithoGENE]

hi pianist. my suggestion for you would be to do some treatments. for the money you have available, you can get a descent amount of general absorption bass traps, especially if you don't mind doing some diy work. i'm willing to bet that in terms of sq improvement, acoustic treatment will give most bang for the buck.

i'm actually in the process of an upgrade myself - getting a dedicated pre-amp. but i've already done all the traps and absorbers so i've shifted my focus back to electronics...

and good luck whatever you decide... :)

[Alleric]

How well does this room seal off, if at all? Is it usually closed? By your measurements you appear to have just shy of 2000 cubic feet of air to compress in there.

Just taking a look at your proposed options.

a. I don't know much about YPAO processing, as I'm way more familiar with MCACC. That model of receiver seems to have all the current "necessary" processing bells and whistles and normal receiver power, so to me... unless it's shorting you on inputs, outputs or ability to process signal... I wouldn't look at replacing it now. That is unless there's some night and day difference in sound filed calibration with MCACC or Audessy that buying another receiver would get you. I defer to someone else on that.

b. Right now this is hands down the obvious weak link in your setup to my eyes.

c. With just shy of 2000 cubic feet, unless you have room modes you simply cannot tolerate and cannot mitigate by placement, I would not spend this money here.

d. This is an entertaining option if your receiver has dedicated out channels post-processing, but the thing I immediately come back to is those surrounds. If you concede they're a weak link already... putting more power to them, or better power... isn't going to change that.

e. Is there carpet in this room or hard floors? If you have an acoustically shiny room, this can do WORLDS for your sound quality. But just understand, this will feel like the skin-itch-dirtiest option because it doesn't make things louder, it doesn't add any new tweaks or bells or whistles. It cleans up the environment (acoustically) so that the speakers don't have to fight it so much. Your receiver's processing SHOULD do some of this already (equalization, standing wave, etc), but again I dunno YPAO so good. The room treatments will help though, a ton, but like I said... it's SQ and nothing else.

Oh and as a side effect I've seen where once a room was calmed down (treated) it exposed bigtime a badly performing speaker (it, too, a surround). Room treatments strip things away... for good (because you have good stuff)... and for bad (because you notice you need better stuff).

f. I presume you mean the Horizon. I dunno, that small of a room... with that big of a center... on a dedicated stand in front of the television. So now you're already how many feet into the room before the sound field begins? And by keeping the Sierra 1 NRT's... slight timbre difference between L/R and C? Receiver could work this out to a degree, of course. I dunno. I'm a fan of having L/C/R being either the same speak or designed as a matched speak. Ascend folks would have to say if this would work from a timbre perspective.


Now having walked all of that out though... I guess if it were me I would use this workflow:

0. I will replace my surround speakers.


Go to 1.



1. Does my receiver give me the sound quality I want in its processing (YPAO)?


If "Yes", go to 2.
If "No", replace it with one that has the processing and input/output I want. Done.



2. How much does a dedicated 5 channel power amp cost?


If answer "more than 700 bucks", go to 3.
If answer "less than 700 bucks", buy power amp. Done.



3. Ok, the amp's out, so how much do room treatments cost?


If answer "more than 700 bucks", go to 4.
If answer "less than 700 bucks", treat room. Done.



4. How much do I need to save to add to my budget to trigger "Done" on point 2 or 3?


Save that amount of money, go through step 2 or 3 again.

[curtis]

From looking at the product page for your receiver, it does not appear to have pre-outs, so it would not support an external amp.

[raggededge]

Get an Anthem MRX-300. The room correction software on the Anthem line of receivers is incredible.

[steven1110]

Tough decision but I think I'd lean towards a dual upgrade. Get yourself a $700 receiver (with pre-outs if you feel an amp might be warranted in the future) and upgrade the surrounds to 200's as well.

You might be able to find an Anthem MRX-300 for $700 used but that might be a stretch. Otherwise, I think you'd need to stick with Yamaha or Onkyo to get pre-outs in a $700 receiver. Denon doesn't have model's with pre-outs until you get close to $1k

[Alleric]

I have high confidence that OP could find a solid receiver < 700. In fact, the successor to my reciver can be found on Amazon right now at the target price point (http://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-VSX-1121-K-Theater-Receiver-Glossy/dp/B004M8RPBS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1347396059&sr=8-2&keywords=VSX-1120-K). 7 channel post processing out + 2 sub outs. Other worthy candidates abound in that price range. Just simply referencing a product I'm familiar with.

[Dark Ranger]

Hi Pianist,

Some folks believe that the speakers, the room, and the source material have the greatest impact on sound quality. I agree with this line of thought. Obtaining quality source material is relatively easy, while installing proper room treatment can present a challenge depending on living constraints, WAF, etc.

Since you're in the middle of upgrading speakers, I think the next logical thing is to upgrade your surrounds. Of course, I'd recommend Ascend here, too, and it will also keep your system "timbre-matched."

As I mentioned in my last PM about a month ago, I'd wait on upgrading the receiver until you know exactly what you're looking for in a receiver. :)

[Pianist718]

I was thinking about receiver for mainly one reason ... Audyssey MultEQ XT32. I heard this thing does wonders for room correction.

another 2K upgrade would be to get towers and put my Sierra-1 NrT as surrounds

[raggededge]

I was thinking about receiver for mainly one reason ... Audyssey MultEQ XT32. I heard this thing does wonders for room correction.

another 2K upgrade would be to get towers and put my Sierra-1 NrT as surrounds

Do yourself a favor and make sure you test drive an Anthem receiver and see how it's ARC room correction works. It is really fantastic and IMHO does a better job than Audyssey.

[Pianist718]

Do yourself a favor and make sure you test drive an Anthem receiver and see how it's ARC room correction works. It is really fantastic and IMHO does a better job than Audyssey.

They make it a pain in the a** to buy their product. Got to go through dealer, etc. Can;t even find a price for that thing.

I can just go through Accessories4less and get myself a Marantz or Denon receiver at a huge discount. No?

[raggededge]

They make it a pain in the a** to buy their product. Got to go through dealer, etc. Can;t even find a price for that thing.

I can just go through Accessories4less and get myself a Marantz or Denon receiver at a huge discount. No?

Yep, having to go through a dealer is a hassle, but one that I feel is well worth it. I live near a big city, so go through a dealer wasn't a huge issue for me.