Upgrading my setup

[aesposito]

Hi everyone,

I love my home theater sound system, but looking to upgrade my sound fidelity in a significant way. I was on the website accessories for less and was referred to purchase teh canton series speaker system. Is this a substantial upgrade over my current setup below?

Current Setup
Yamaha Ns 777
Yamahan Ns 333
Yamaha Ns c444
Polk 10 inch sub
Integra DTR 30.7

Proposed setup

 

[shadyJ]

I doubt anyone has a reference point of comparison between those particular speaker sets. My guess is that the Canton stuff is a step up, but that is only a guess. You will really want to upgrade the sub as well. That Polk 10" is not on the level of that Canton stuff.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

I’ll echo shady here. The cantons are likely better, but it’s hard to say how much, or in what ways. The biggest offender is the polk sub. Upgrading that would help your Yamahas sound even better than they do now. I would start there, while also making plans to buy the Cantons at some point. Or if you have the money, do it all now.

 

[nbk13nw]

I was confused about the number of speakers to the types of speakers.

Sent from my SM-G988U using Tapatalk

 

[lovinthehd]

I was confused about the number of speakers to the types of speakers.

Sent from my SM-G988U using Tapatalk

Yeah that purchase seems to get three centers....

 

[aesposito]

Yeah that purchase seems to get three centers....

Yeah don't it was an erorr in the cart but just referencing the speaker series.

 

[aesposito]

I’ll echo shady here. The cantons are likely better, but it’s hard to say how much, or in what ways. The biggest offender is the polk sub. Upgrading that would help your Yamahas sound even better than they do now. I would start there, while also making plans to buy the Cantons at some point. Or if you have the money, do it all now.

What type of sub? SVS?

 

[lovinthehd]

Yeah don't it was an erorr in the cart but just referencing the speaker series.

Looks odd What center particularly comes with that set of towers? Subs I'd look to the specialists like SVS, Hsu, Rythmik, Power Sound Audio, and perhaps Monolith subs from Monoprice, Outlaw's subs....and others depending how much you want to spend. Or just DIY.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

What type of sub? SVS?

Yes. SVS makes excellent subwoofers. They have a couple models in the outlet at $699.99. Can also spend a lot more too.
Lovinthehd mentioned the other usual suspects as well. HSU is probably the value leader, but all of them make good subwoofers, and all of them better than any Polk.
How big is the space? I always recommend ported(unless it’s a special case), and depending on the air volume, we normally recommend two, to help smooth the FR across multiple seats. If you only have one seat to worry about(or don’t care about the others) one great sub is better than two mediocre ones. IMO.

 

[aesposito]

Yes. SVS makes excellent subwoofers. They have a couple models in the outlet at $699.99. Can also spend a lot more too.
Lovinthehd mentioned the other usual suspects as well. HSU is probably the value leader, but all of them make good subwoofers, and all of them better than any Polk.
How big is the space? I always recommend ported(unless it’s a special case), and depending on the air volume, we normally recommend two, to help smooth the FR across multiple seats. If you only have one seat to worry about(or don’t care about the others) one great sub is better than two mediocre ones. IMO.

To everyone's point:

- I have an open floor living and dinning room so figure is 280sq feet
- Is my Polk really that subpar? I mean I tested it the bass rocks the house. Maybe I am missing something. The link below to exact model :

PSW121 | Subwoofers| Polk Audio

Shop our subwoofer collection to learn more about the PSW121 powered subwoofer. Expect Great Sound™."

www.polkaudio.com

- The center speaker is:
Chrono SL 556.2
- Would sound quality make a difference if I connect the left and right towers in bi amping configuration?

 

[aesposito]

To everyone's point:

- I have an open floor living and dining room so the figure is 280sq feet
- Is my Polk really that subpar? I mean I tested it the bass rocks the house. Maybe I am missing something. The link below to exact model :

PSW121 | Subwoofers| Polk Audio

Shop our subwoofer collection to learn more about the PSW121 powered subwoofer. Expect Great Sound™."

www.polkaudio.com

- The center speaker is:
Chrono SL 556.2
- Would sound quality make a difference if I connect the left and right towers in bi amping configuration?

 

[Pogre]

I doubt anyone has a reference point of comparison between those particular speaker sets. My guess is that the Canton stuff is a step up, but that is only a guess. You will really want to upgrade the sub as well. That Polk 10" is not on the level of that Canton stuff.

That sub was the first thing that jumped out and bit me too.

To my knowledge yamaha is capable of making some pretty decent speakers, but I've been admiring the Canton speakers at AC4L for quite a while now and really like what I've read and seen of them. My guess is also that they'd be a step up too, but hard to say FOR SURE.

Back to the sub... I'd get that replaced ASAP, or even STASAP (sooner than as soon as possible ).

 

[Pogre]

To everyone's point:

- I have an open floor living and dining room so the figure is 280sq feet
- Is my Polk really that subpar? I mean I tested it the bass rocks the house. Maybe I am missing something. The link below to exact model :

PSW121 | Subwoofers| Polk Audio

Shop our subwoofer collection to learn more about the PSW121 powered subwoofer. Expect Great Sound™."

www.polkaudio.com

- The center speaker is:
Chrono SL 556.2
- Would sound quality make a difference if I connect the left and right towers in bi amping configuration?

Yes, it really is that sub par, especially with a big open area. Your sub is underpowered as well as low quality. Like Bill said, Hsu is probably the value leader for subs but the PB/PC2000s at SVS (scroll down a little) are priced pretty nice. I would probably nudge you toward a pair of those at minimum with a preference for a pair of HSU VTF-3 MK5s. Price in the HSU link is for 2 of them.

 

[lovinthehd]

To everyone's point:

- I have an open floor living and dinning room so figure is 280sq feet
- Is my Polk really that subpar? I mean I tested it the bass rocks the house. Maybe I am missing something. The link below to exact model :

PSW121 | Subwoofers| Polk Audio

Shop our subwoofer collection to learn more about the PSW121 powered subwoofer. Expect Great Sound™."

www.polkaudio.com

- The center speaker is:
Chrono SL 556.2
- Would sound quality make a difference if I connect the left and right towers in bi amping configuration?

Yeah your sub is indeed on the lower end. It's more about room volume than square footage, try this article https://www.audioholics.com/loudspeaker-design/subwoofer-room-size Before buying a whole set of speakers I'd at least upgrade the sub first, but that's me....you could well be satisfied with the performance of what sub you've got, but I think you could do much better there. Not sure what you mean by significant increase in fidelity....you do have gear of reasonably hi fidelity but the sub to me is the weakest of what you have.

Passive bi-amping IMO is a waste of wire and it wouldn't make the speakers better than they are. Here's an article on that https://www.audioholics.com/frequent-questions/the-difference-between-biamping-vs-biwiring

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Sorry, but yeah. The sub is just not good. To be clear, nobody’s taking shots here.(not that you thought that) It’s just that we’ve been around. Lot of gear for a long time. So when we’re saying that, it comes from experiencing entry level subs in person. If you like it, no reason to upgrade. But you did ask...so...as opposed to spending your money randomly, that is a place that we all prioritize, and thus we recommend accordingly.
And I’d skip the buy-wiring too.

 

[aesposito]

Yes, it really is that sub par, especially with a big open area. Your sub is underpowered as well as low quality. Like Bill said, Hsu is probably the value leader for subs but the PB/PC2000s at SVS (scroll down a little) are priced pretty nice. I would probably nudge you toward a pair of those at minimum with a preference for a pair of HSU VTF-3 MK5s. Price in the HSU link is for 2 of them.

When you say pair. Where would placement be for 2 subs in my room? I have never done a 2 sub setup. Is it worth it?

 

[Pogre]

When you say pair. Where would placement be for 2 subs in my room? I have never done a 2 sub setup. Is it worth it?

Placement is up to your room. Sometimes it can be tricky striking a balance between performance and practicality but there are some things you can do. A lot of us have used the sub crawl to find good 1st and 2nd (or 3rd) spots for subs.

Subwoofer Connection Guide For A Multi Subwoofer System

This subwoofer connection guide gives you placement options to get the best bass experience in your home theater. We also discuss the benefits of using multiple subwoofers in your home theater room.

www.audioholics.com

Crawling for Bass - Subwoofer Placement Tips

Do the Subwoofer Crawl. It's the easiest way to find the proper placement location for your subwoofer to get the best performance and sound.

www.audioholics.com

 

[aesposito]

Everyone thank you for your inputs! I am going to up my sub game to SVS sb16 ultra and take it from there. Last question below:

Upgrading my receiver (have about 1500 to spend) what should I get? Should I even upgrade?

Current receiver
Integra DTR 30.7

 

[lovinthehd]

Why the sealed sub particularly?

Do you need a different avr? Is there some feature you want particularly?

 

[aesposito]

Why the sealed sub particularly?

Do you need a different avr? Is there some feature you want particularly?

I'm a newbie to this sub game. Read great reviews on this sub. Should I consider an alternative with comparable performance to SVS sb16? Also for AVR, I have a pioneer elite; which I loved the app and the EQ capabilities. This receiver doesn't have any of those robust features but want to make sure the hardware is on par with what Integra offers.