Hello folks, it sure has been a while. Hope everyone is fine. As of late, I have been reading about the Pioneer speakers designed by Andrew Jones. That being said, I got the chance to audition them at my local BB store yesterday. I must say, that I was very impressed. For the money, I have NOT heard a better set of speakers. I was most impressed with the SP-FS52 towers. Very nice sound to me. The SP-C22 center channel and the SP-BS22 bookshelves were also quite impressive. Especially, using a 4" mid driver. Needless to say, I brought them all home. I now have a 5.0 set-up for the time being.
As some of you know, almost 4-years ago I moved into a small apartment and merely did away with all of my HT set-up. My living-room is NOT real big AND the walls are quite thin. My goal is to ascertain a decent HT on a very limited budget. As such, this is why I chose the Pioneer speakers designed by Andrew Jones. For now, I am borrowing an Integra 5.5 receiver that is more or less outdated. There is no hdmi switching or processing the newer codecs. I can, however, get DD via optical inputs on the Integra which for the time being will be fine. I can also purchase the Integra on the cheap. The problem is I have no calibration mic. Not sure what to do about that. Maybe contact Onkyo and see if they can sell me one they may have laying around. I will worry about that later once everything is set up. Due to my health, that may be a little while.
I also own a Sony BDP-S590 blu-ray player. Hopefully, I will be streaming with it soon. Just love watching blu-ray/dvd movies and listening to my cds. Currently, I own a 32" Insignia LED TV that is getting the job done because my living-room area is not very big. Well, at least it is good enough for me. There are plans to get a bigger tv AND a small powered sub. However, it will be a good while before any of that happens.
So, am I headed in the right direction? I know I need a receiver that is more up to date. But, right now I don't have the budget to do so. I have been looking at the Yamaha RX-V673. Chances are, if I do upgrade it will be something like the 673. I got the Pioneer towers for $160 plus tax. The center was only $80 and the bookshelves were $90 respectively. I thought it was too good of a deal to pass and I pounced on it. Anyone here get them any cheaper? The Pioneer 8" sub looks quite tempting. It is affordable and just might fit the bill for my needs. The towers will suffice for music listening, but I do need a small sub for some LFE when watching movies. The Hsu 8" sub is an over achiever, but it is also over $300 shipped. Just totally out of my price range right now. Any other suggestions? Thanks for taking the time and reading my post. Feel free to chime in as I am can always use some helpful advice. It feels good to be back!
Cheers,
Phil