7.1?

[RickH]

My local audio salesman tells me that I should get rid of my amp and preamp,
and buy a 7.1 receiver for my home theater. He says it will greatly improve the sound of my system. Here is what I am currently using, any opinions?
Front channel Accoustic research Phantom 8.3 (2)
Center channel NHT VS2
Rear channel M&K sattelite 2 (2)
Amp Carver 705 THX 5 channel amp
Pre amp Proton 2631 5 channel digital
RH lab subwoofers (2) I don't know which model, the damn things weigh 100
pounds each. (2)

 

[wire]

My local audio salesman tells me that I should get rid of my amp and preamp,
and buy a 7.1 receiver for my home theater. He says it will greatly improve the sound of my system. Here is what I am currently using, any opinions?
Front channel Accoustic research Phantom 8.3 (2)
Center channel NHT VS2
Rear channel M&K sattelite 2 (2)
Amp Carver 705 THX 5 channel amp
Pre amp Proton 2631 5 channel digital
RH lab subwoofers (2) I don't know which model, the damn things weigh 100
pounds each. (2)

Someone other ppl. will have good opinions on this . Your , sounds like a nice system to me .
Maybe try one of the new receivers out and make sure they have a return policy . See if there is a improvment .
Also is your system musical ?
I have built a 5.1 for movies and for music it just not there . My Stereo setups ( Amp /Pre ) , rock for music .

 

[majorloser]

A lot depends on your current room and setup. Adding a couple more M&K sats or in-walls may not be as easy as the salesman (saleshole) says. And to be honest, there's not a huge amount of DolbyDigital-EX or DTS-ES material out there.

Don't get me wrong, I have a 7.1 setup and really enjoy it. But I set the room up from the beginning for this.

 

[Takeereasy]

I really would disagree with that salesperson. You have some very nice epuipment. There is no way you should get rid of that Carver, any 7.1 receiver that can match the Carver power-wise will be pretty expensive. If you had to go 7.1 just get a pre that's capable and add a 2 channel amp. An alternative would be to pick up a Yamaha 2500 (or similar receiver) and use it's pre-out section in conjunction with your Carver. The pre-out section on that receiver is very highly regarded and should do a good job for you. As a bonus you can use the Yammies amp to power whatever speakers you go 7.1 with. Just out of curiosity, do you feel like something is missing in your setup, or was this just a case of upgradeitis?

 

[RickH]

No,I actually put it together over a period of time and there was no real "plan"
involved. It sounds great. Maybe I'm just concerned because I feel if I had actually put it all together at one time with a more "specific" plan, it would sound better. It's sort of like building a pair of speakers when you have no idea what you are doing, and somehow you get lucky and they sound great......but they shouldn't. This happened to me. I was rebuilding a staircase and had some wood scraps left,(hemlock) I took (2) 6" woofers out
of a couple of old Altec Lansing multimedia sets that were minus the sattelites. Then I took (2) infinity "emit" tweeters that I had in my "junk"
pile and put a 3.3 cap between the two drivers. I damped the boxes down with about 4 layers of that rubbery stuff that comes in rolls that you put in your tool drawer to keep things from rattling around. I used "liquid nails on all
the inside seams and then countersunk 2" wood screws around the frame of the boxes. I took these to some fairly high end, (Martin logan, Totem,etc.)
Dealers and talked them into listening to them. Oddly enough they concurred.
They all commented that the spekers sounded very neutral and transparent.
They only negative I received was to be carefull not to overpower the "emits". They said that if they had a "production" speaker that sounded like mine, that they would probably sell for aprox. $700 for a pair. The speakers are 14" high, 10" deep and 9 1/4" wide. I sprayed them out with some of that textured stuff that makes things look like stone. I guess even a blind squirrel finds a nut every so often!
Thanks for your reply!

 

[wire]

I really would disagree with that salesperson. You have some very nice epuipment. There is no way you should get rid of that Carver, any 7.1 receiver that can match the Carver power-wise will be pretty expensive. If you had to go 7.1 just get a pre that's capable and add a 2 channel amp. An alternative would be to pick up a Yamaha 2500 (or similar receiver) and use it's pre-out section in conjunction with your Carver. The pre-out section on that receiver is very highly regarded and should do a good job for you. As a bonus you can use the Yammies amp to power whatever speakers you go 7.1 with. Just out of curiosity, do you feel like something is missing in your setup, or was this just a case of upgradeitis?

I agree , that Carver is a nice clean amp . 1 day i will own one . Also just look on ebay and pick up another Carver 2 channel amp to finish off your 7.1 , if you upgrade the pre . ( i picked up a TFM-35 off Audiogone for $300 US included shipping ) .

 

[Sheep]

RickH,

Try not to start 2 threads. Put your thread in the appropriate forum and wait. I replied in your other thread.

SheepStar

 

[rak_32]

My local audio salesman tells me that I should get rid of my amp and preamp,
and buy a 7.1 receiver for my home theater. He says it will greatly improve the sound of my system. Here is what I am currently using, any opinions?
Front channel Accoustic research Phantom 8.3 (2)
Center channel NHT VS2
Rear channel M&K sattelite 2 (2)
Amp Carver 705 THX 5 channel amp
Pre amp Proton 2631 5 channel digital
RH lab subwoofers (2) I don't know which model, the damn things weigh 100
pounds each. (2)

I was told to get speakers from the same company. Your speakers do not look like they came from the same company.