Going from 10Yr Old HTiB ($500) to Dream System ($1,995). Or is it??? Help plz.

[bizmord]

Hi guys,

So about 12 years ago I got a HTiB
Onkyo HT-S650
Paid $550

Now ... I am a perfectionist and a musician by hobby so I value good sound. It's my drug.

Reason why I did not upgrade is:
1) Thought it will be too much hassle. Throwing out my old system (kinda feel sad).

2) I have the money and can afford $5K+ systems, but don't feel like paying so much to listen to some music 2 times a week or watch a movie once a week. I do however watch TV every day (reality, shows, news, etc).

3) I was worried that the upgrade won't be enough of a sound difference for me to be truly happy.

So .............

My room and my dream system.

The room is about 19 x 13.
I sit about 9-10 Feet away from front speakers

I do about 70% movies & TV shows, 30% music.
I want human voices to be crystal clear. I want sound effects to sound real. I want music to come alive and feel as if I am at the concert hall.

NOTE: ... from HTiB I changed Receiver to Yamaha RX-v465
(105 watts x 5 into 8 ohms (1k Hz) at 0.9% THD
Dolby® TrueHD, DTS-HD™ Master Audio, Dolby® Digital Plus, DTS-HD™ High Resolution Audio, DTS-Express, Dolby® Digital EX, DTS-ES™, Pro Logic® IIx, and DTS Neo:6 decoding)

System I am eying.

L/R/C speakers = Sierra-1 ($1,328)
Subwoofer = STF-2 ($319)
Surrounds = CBM-170SE ($348)

TOTAL = $1,995

QUESTIONS:

1) What do you think???

2) If I wanted to save a bit of money, what can I live without? Maybe skip Sub or surrounds?

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Imo if you are a audio perfectionist on the budget and don't care much about HT stuff. there are only one speaker you should get and it's philharmonicaudio.com

Also I'd like to add - You're going to need a bigger sub - STF-2 is good, but not big to fill your room

VTF-2 MK4 Subwoofer

I do like your choice of Ascend, but imo if you want to build full 5.1 get new 3.1 from ascend/(hsu/rhythmic/svs) and use onkyo for rears

 

[templemaners]

I do about 70% movies & TV shows, 30% music.
I want human voices to be crystal clear. I want sound effects to sound real. I want music to come alive and feel as if I am at the concert hall.

L/R/C speakers = Sierra-1 ($1,328)
Subwoofer = STF-2 ($319)
Surrounds = CBM-170SE ($348)

TOTAL = $1,995

QUESTIONS:

1) What do you think???

2) If I wanted to save a bit of money, what can I live without? Maybe skip Sub or surrounds?

1.) Sounds good. I have Sierra-1's L/C/R and I'm pretty happy with them overall, although I am looking to upgrade to something a bit more substantial.

2.) If you wanted to save money, you should not skip the sub, especially if you're going to be using it 70% for movies. Some people don't care for center channels, so you could eliminate that or get a CBM-170SE for the center channel instead. Eliminating the surrounds is also an option for saving a few $'s as well, but having surround sound especially for movies is pretty awesome... You could try HTM-200's for surrounds (or something similiar) instead.

The most radical option would be to just get L/R's and a bigger sub. Overall that would be cheaper, but you'd lose a lot in terms of surround sound.

 

[bizmord]

Strange .... I thought a lot of "voice - speech" in movies comes from center channel. That's one of the things I definitely want to improve. Why would I skip that? just curious.

Also ... is my Receiver powerful enough to push sound through the bigger 200+ Watts subs?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

You can also buy 5 identical NHT Absolute Zero for $875 total plus a Rythmik FV12 for $550 ($60 s/h) = total $1485.

The NHT Absolute Zero measures +0.94/–0.82 decibels from 200 hertz to 10 kilohertz, which is extremely, extremely accurate.

The Absolute Zero is now on sale for $175 each on Amazon. Won't last.
http://www.amazon.com/NHT-Absolute-Bookshelf-Speaker-Single/dp/B000BYNP7K/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343058688&sr=8-1&keywords=nht+absolute+zero

That new HSU VTF-2 MK4 sub (with Q=0.3) recommended by BoredSysAdmin looks good.

 

[templemaners]

Strange .... I thought a lot of "voice - speech" in movies comes from center channel. That's one of the things I definitely want to improve. Why would I skip that? just curious.

Also ... is my Receiver powerful enough to push sound through the bigger 200+ Watts subs?

Search for "phantom" center channels... if you don't have a CC, your left and right speakers would handle that part. Supposedly, if you sit dead on to your screen, it works great, but not so much if you sit off axis. I personally like having a center channel...

In most cases, your receiver doesn't power the sub - often times, a plate amp is used for commercial models. The receiver powering the sub is usually a HTiB feature. So the receiver power is irrelevant in terms of sub powering.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Strange .... I thought a lot of "voice - speech" in movies comes from center channel. That's one of the things I definitely want to improve. Why would I skip that? just curious.

Also ... is my Receiver powerful enough to push sound through the bigger 200+ Watts subs?

subs have their own amps, the receiver only supplies low-level input .. so yea - not worries about your receiver power. theoretically even ipod is "powerful" enough to "push" sound through any active sub...

There are passive subs out there, which require dedicated external amps, but never by the receiver...

 

[zieglj01]

I have the money and can afford $5K+ systems, but don't feel like paying so much to listen to some music 2 times a week or watch a movie once a week. I do however watch TV every day (reality, shows, news, etc).

NOTE: ... from HTiB I changed Receiver to Yamaha RX-v465

System I am eying.[/B]

L/R/C speakers = Sierra-1 ($1,328)
Subwoofer = STF-2 ($319)
Surrounds = CBM-170SE ($348)

TOTAL = $1,995

1) What do you think???

2) If I wanted to save a bit of money, what can I live without? Maybe skip Sub or surrounds?

You were maybe, looking at spending up to $5000. I would upgrade to a
good 500 to 600 dollar sub - and go with the system. It will pancake the
HTIB systems, and you will still be way-under $5000 >> If I were to skip
something, it would be the surrounds.

The weak link may be the 465 Yamaha - the Yamaha receivers below the 6XX
or 7XX series, tend to be less efficient in surround mode - however, start with
what you have.

 

[bizmord]

By the way ............ is it an issue that I use Metal speaker stands for my Left and Right speakers? Does it play on the sound?

thanks

 

[shadyJ]

As others have said, your proposed setup is pretty light on the bass. I would go with a more powerful sub, like a Hsu VTF3. The Sierras are nice, but, in my opinion, they are eating too much into your budget where you should have more substantial bass. A nice speaker which measures well and doesn't cost nearly as much is the NHT Classic two. Combine that with a Classic Two center speaker, and you are at $1k for the front stage. Your surrounds are overkill too, I might replace them with something like these EMP bookshelf speakers, $175 a pair. To me, that is a more balanced setup, but, if you aren't big on bass, your previous setup might be more pleasing.

 

[bizmord]

As others have said, your proposed setup is pretty light on the bass. I would go with a more powerful sub, like a Hsu VTF3. The Sierras are nice, but, in my opinion, they are eating too much into your budget where you should have more substantial bass. A nice speaker which measures well and doesn't cost nearly as much is the NHT Classic two. Combine that with a Classic Two center speaker, and you are at $1k for the front stage. Your surrounds are overkill too, I might replace them with something like these EMP bookshelf speakers, $175 a pair. To me, that is a more balanced setup, but, if you aren't big on bass, your previous setup might be more pleasing.

No I am actually not too big on bass. I can;t have my floor rattle. I don't listen to HipHop, etc. I need bass where it's needed to provide depth of sound. Even the sub I have right now, I have it turned on at about 45% on the dial.

 

[bizmord]

what do you guys think about these???

Products

"3 way bookshelf loudspeaker
Passive 5.25" midwoofer/ 1" tweeter Coincident coaxial driver and 8" active long throw subwoofer.
Sealed cabinet.

FR: 38-20,000 Hz +/- 3db, 100-10,000hz +/- 2db. Typical in room extension to below 30hz.
Nominal impedance 6ohms, 4 ohm minimum.
Sensitivity (2.83V): 86.5 db
Crossover frequencies: 200hz and 2.5Khz.
300 watt rms rear mounted BASH plate amplifier and banana plug speaker terminals.
Recommended amplifier power: 20-200 watts rms
Size: 17" H x 10" w x 12.5" d
Weight: 35 lbs (39 lbs shipping)
Available in Maple, Cherry and Black (piano) finishes.
Price: $1300/pr"



they are just $300+ more per pair. Better than Sierra-1 ?

 

[bizmord]

So, finally ... after deliberating for quite some time I pulled the trigger and got the Sierras-1 L/R/C speakers.
Also got $100 discount over the phone. So grand total $1,350 for the expensive color

I'll first listen to these babies before I spend another $550 for Sub and $350 for surrounds.

Should I also buy better wire? My speakers are close to the Receiver (6-8 feet of wire.)

Should I upgrade to 12-14AWG ???
my current wires are supper thin that came with the HTiB system


thanks

 

[cschang]

Better/thicker wire would not hurt, but at that length, you probably will not hear a difference IMO.

That said, monoprice.com has excellent prices on speaker wire.

 

[KEW]

On wire I just believe in K.I.S.S. Unless you need a smaller wire to wedge under carpet or something, just buy a big spool of 12 ga. from Mono-price.
Will it be over-kill? Undoubtedly!
But you'll never second guess if you should have used a larger gauge and buying from monoprice, it's just not enough money to worry over.
$30 buys 100 ft. and it is not stiff like some of the other inexpensive wire I have seen.
For only $27.12 each when QTY 50+ purchased - 100ft 12AWG Enhanced Loud Oxygen-Free Copper Speaker Wire Cable | 12AWG Loud Speaker Cables