Added $2,800 worth of Upgrades to my Home Theater (pics). How noticeable will it be?

[bizmord]

The Before system
A/V Receiver - Yamaha rx-v465
L/R - Ascend Sierra-1 NrT
Center - Ascend Sierra-1 NrT
Surrounds - Ascend HTM-200
Sub - Rythmik F12
TV - Panasonic TH50PX60U (Plasma)
Blu-ray/DVD - Samsung BD-ES6000
Cables - decent 16 or 18 Gauge i believe


So, yesterday, 9pm till 12am, spent time connecting new stuff ....

Receiver = Marantz SR7005
Cables = All Monster, thick, analog for CD player.
Power = Monster HTS 5100
CD Player = Sony C222ES

all but Receiver, got for free from a friend.

Since we were done at midnight, only today I'll be able to hear if there is a difference .... AFTER I play around more with the receiver. .... though he (friend) said he heard better sound even at low volume we had it on after.

The question I had was .... sometimes people want to hear things and they hear them. Me ... I try not to imagine improvement if I can't hear it.

From your experience ,.... out of things that I added to my current sound (with which I was pretty happy by the way), what would be your expectations if you did this upgrade for yourself?


Added the following:

Marantz SR7005
View attachment 11851

Power thing (Monster HTS 5100 power center)
and a CD player (Sony C222ES)
View attachment 11852


$400+ cables, cables cables




center channel cable


Subwoofer cable


Cables for the new Sony C222ES CD player (will my CDs really sound better than when I play them through Samsung BluRay via HDMI???)


Left and Right speaker cables.


Thanks for any input you can give.

 

[Pyrrho]

With AV receivers, different processor settings can make very noticeable differences. And it could be just about any setting, such as exact channel balance or delay times or whatever; if any of that sort of thing is different, you may hear differences. Obviously, more power can make a difference as well, though it depends on whether you need it for your particular speakers. I used to run a receiver that retailed for about $600 and replaced it with one that retails for about $1700 (because I wanted more and newer features), and unless I engage a feature that affects the sound (of which there are many), it sounds the same as before. The newer one can put out about twice as much power as the old one, but the old one was powerful enough to drive my easy to drive speakers to painful volumes with crystal clarity, so more power is not needed in my case.

Also, if you moved any of the speakers when you switched the wires, that could make an audible difference. Or if you moved any furniture.

If any of your connections had come loose or corroded, changing wires could make a difference, without the new wires being in any way superior to the old ones. Or if you had the phase wrong before with one or more of your speakers.

If there is something wrong with your electrical system in your house, a regulated power supply could make a difference, though I doubt that this is actually the case.

Since you are not going to be able to switch back and forth between them very easily, you are not going to be able to do a proper test.

 

[bizmord]

With AV receivers, different processor settings can make very noticeable differences. And it could be just about any setting, such as exact channel balance or delay times or whatever; if any of that sort of thing is different, you may hear differences. Obviously, more power can make a difference as well, though it depends on whether you need it for your particular speakers. I used to run a receiver that retailed for about $600 and replaced it with one that retails for about $1700 (because I wanted more and newer features), and unless I engage a feature that affects the sound (of which there are many), it sounds the same as before. The newer one can put out about twice as much power as the old one, but the old one was powerful enough to drive my easy to drive speakers to painful volumes with crystal clarity, so more power is not needed in my case.

So why do people go nuts about buying those expensive AMPs? I am trying to figure it out. for no reason?

.[/QUOTE]

 

[j_garcia]

So why do people go nuts about buying those expensive AMPs? I am trying to figure it out. for no reason?

For people who have difficult to drive speakers and large rooms, more power is required. If your speakers are easier to drive or you don't have a huge room, then you probably don't need a big amplifier.

 

[jinjuku]

So why do people go nuts about buying those expensive AMPs? I am trying to figure it out. for no reason?

With my HK 3600 I felt I needed an external amp (Adcom GFA 5503). When I picked up my Denon 4308Ci it had a good bit stouter supply. I sold my Adcom. I have a decent sized room (17X23X9.5) with a seating distance ~14-15 foot away.

 

[jinjuku]

Cables for the new Sony C222ES CD player (will my CDs really sound better than when I play them through Samsung BluRay via HDMI???)

There is a pretty long thread at AVSForum about higher jitter with audio over HDMI vs Analog single ended or balanced out. I imagine for the purist they wouldn't do two channel over HDMI

 

[Pyrrho]

With AV receivers, different processor settings can make very noticeable differences. And it could be just about any setting, such as exact channel balance or delay times or whatever; if any of that sort of thing is different, you may hear differences. Obviously, more power can make a difference as well, though it depends on whether you need it for your particular speakers. [emphasis added] I used to run a receiver that retailed for about $600 and replaced it with one that retails for about $1700 (because I wanted more and newer features), and unless I engage a feature that affects the sound (of which there are many), it sounds the same as before. The newer one can put out about twice as much power as the old one, but the old one was powerful enough to drive my easy to drive speakers to painful volumes with crystal clarity, so more power is not needed in my case.

So why do people go nuts about buying those expensive AMPs? I am trying to figure it out. for no reason?

.

Others have answered the question above, but your question is already answered in the part of my post that you quoted that I have emphasized in bold. At least, that is the good reason to want an external amplifier, that one has speakers that require it. Some people imagine that they need more power or greater capability in lower impedances when they don't, and they may waste a lot of money on amplifiers that don't help them. That is still better than wasting money on magic wires, because if one ever replaces one's speakers with ones that do need the more power, one will have it, whereas magic wires do nothing but waste money.

 

[bizmord]

............I imagine for the purist they wouldn't do two channel over HDMI

I usually listen to music through all speakers. "Stereo all channels"

 

[bizmord]

Others have answered the question above, but your question is already answered in the part of my post that you quoted that I have emphasized in bold. At least, that is the good reason to want an external amplifier, that one has speakers that require it. Some people imagine that they need more power or greater capability in lower impedances when they don't, and they may waste a lot of money on amplifiers that don't help them. That is still better than wasting money on magic wires, because if one ever replaces one's speakers with ones that do need the more power, one will have it, whereas magic wires do nothing but waste money.

Valid point, so what you're saying is that even if you got these wires for free, since you believe they are 0 improvement, you wouldn't even bother replacing your current ones for these. Just curious. They do look cool though

 

[Pyrrho]

Valid point, so what you're saying is that even if you got these wires for free, since you believe they are 0 improvement, you wouldn't even bother replacing your current ones for these. Just curious. They do look cool though

Right, I would not bother with replacing my wires with anything else, unless one of my wires got damaged somehow. And I listen to some pretty good equipment. For my main stereo, I use Apogee Stage speakers. For my home theater, I use Aurum Cantus Leisure 2SE (original U.S. version) and SVS CS-Ultra subwoofers. The ribbon drivers are very "revealing," but ordinary wire does not audibly affect the sound, so there is no point in spending extra money for special wires. No one, EVER, has demonstrated that they can hear a difference between comparable gauge wire in normal conditions. For more on wire, see:

Speaker Wire

However, I would imagine that the wires you have been given would work fine, so I would save them for future use, if I ever needed them for connecting more gear. I have a box of extra wires that every now and then I dig into to connect some new thing that I have acquired, or to give to someone else. If the wires were visible somewhere, then I would select the prettiest ones I had. But I would not spend crazy amounts of money instead of just using ordinary wires.

If actual sound quality is what matters, put your money in your speakers. If you use analog sources, they can make a big difference as well (as, for example, some turntables are much better than others). If whatever speakers you select require it, then get a good amplifier. My Apogee Stage speakers are 3 ohms nominally, so I do not drive them with a receiver and instead use a robust amplifier. But I would not bother getting a robust amplifier if I did not have a reason to have one, as it would be a waste of money with something easy to drive like my Aurum Cantus speakers.

 

[ichigo]

I usually listen to music through all speakers. "Stereo all channels"

I think you will lose a lot of audio information with All Channel Stereo since all speakers are creating the same sound, there will be cancellation of sound waves. Have you tried some of the DSP modes like Pro Logic IIx?

 

[bizmord]

I think you will lose a lot of audio information with All Channel Stereo since all speakers are creating the same sound, there will be cancellation of sound waves. Have you tried some of the DSP modes like Pro Logic IIx?

I've tried different settings with my old Yamaha rx-v465. Seems like All channel out did the best. Kinda filled the room.
With 2ch or 2.1 it was OK but maybe a bit too harsh on highs.

Now testing my new Marantz SR7005 receiver, so will see what works best for it.

 

[j_garcia]

All channel stereo sounds horrible to me. They are not all playing the same signal - the center is matrixed not unlike PLII.

 

[slipperybidness]

All channel stereo sounds horrible to me. They are not all playing the same signal - the center is matrixed not unlike PLII.

I would only use all channels stereo if I'm doing stuff around the house and want quantity of sound over quality of sound. Critical listening for me is 2 or 2.1 only

 

[mtrycrafts]

... I imagine for the purist they wouldn't do two channel over HDMI

Yeah, well......

 

[mtrycrafts]

So why do people go nuts about buying those expensive AMPs? I am trying to figure it out. for no reason?

.

[/QUOTE]

Well, some itch is just impossible to ignore

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Some AVR may implement bass differently. Some AVR may have cleaner Stereo modes than others. But Pure Direct/ Direct 2.0 mode will probably sound the same with most processors.

Amps, cables, CD players, DAC probably not much difference most of the time.

 

[markw]

That depends on ow you gauge the sound.

All else being equal, changing speakers makes the most impact on the sound of the system.

As for changing the amp, if the speakers had enough clean power to drive them to begin with, upping the power won't really make too much of a difference. In any case, the difference in power between these two receivers is negligible.

Changing the source unit will not have an audible effect, assuming decent quality to begin with.

Cables? Ha!

But, since you say you do your listening in one of the DSP processed modes instead of a pure pass-through mode, the final result will be determined by which receiver mushes up the sound more to your liking. That's like comparing two hamburgers while slathered with catsup, and you're comparing the catsup.

 

[fmw]

I agree with Mark. What you did should make no difference at all in the sonics of the system. Anything you hear is either signal processing or listening bias. Audiophiles get equipment crazy. I know that from personal experience. I've spent over 6 figures in audio gear over the years. There is nothing wrong with that as long we understand why we do it and what we should expect from it. I'd return the cables if you can. It is a shame to give a disreputable company like Monster any money at all.

 

[mtrycrafts]

.... I've spent over 6 figures in audio gear over the years. ....

Figures of what? Who is selling for figures? Maybe I need something too.