New Pioneer Elite Receiver... Now what?

[Hoystidd]

New Pioneer Elite Receiver... Now I'm stumpped

So old man is looking for a new system for his house and asks me to go with him to look over some systems and get him going. I wasn't sure how much he wanted to spend so I showed him some HTIB's. Afterall, that's what I (was) running in my Living Room...

Anyways... He falls in love with the Pioneer Elite VSX-82TXS Receiver, and quite frankly... So did I. They played a really good 5.1 Concert and the sound was amazing over the Def Tech speakers... So he ordered one. With the Def Tech Speakers... He got the ProMonitor 1000 for Mains; ProMonitor 800's for Surrounds; ProCenter 1000 Center; SuperCube III for the Sub... I would have to venture a guess and say that he is most likely all set.

Now here is the thing... I got the same receiver. It's gorgeous... 130 Watts per channel. The problem is, I am using some old Onkyo speakers that came with my HTIB. They sound 'ok'...

So I would like to start upgrading my speakers... slowly... carefully... and retain my marriage... I was going to start with the mains... We love movies and love watching HD TV shows. It will be mostly used for these 2 purposes... 10% of the time will be used for music. So... I'm trying to figure out how to do this...

Do the speakers need to match? Can I get speakers from say Axiom for mains and go with RBH for surrounds in the future? Anyone have any suggestions for some decent budget speakers that will sound good with the Pioneer? There are so many to choose from... Should I be worried for my Dad that the Def Techs aren't reviewed here on this site?

Thanks in advance!

Stidd

 

[nav]

Do the speakers need to match? Can I get speakers from say Axiom for mains and go with RBH for surrounds in the future? Anyone have any suggestions for some decent budget speakers that will sound good with the Pioneer? There are so many to choose from...

I would prefer matching speakers. Not just for aesthetics, but for voice-matching. That is excepting the subwoofer. With most non-satellite systems as speakers and a good receiver, most subwoofers can integrate with most speakers.

If you like Axiom, you can use those all around. AV123's X-series is also inexpensive and well-reviewed. Then there's also Ascend Acoustics and SVS to round out the Internet-direct sellers.

If you liked Definitive Technology's speakers, go back to that store and hear them side-by-side with some of their other offerings and see if they're up to your standards for the price range you've decided on. If you're really taking your time, check some other stores for additional makes to listen to. If the stores will allow you to try them at home, think about taking them up on it.

If you post your exact budget and requirements (2.1, 5.1, 7.1, et cetera) I'm sure all of the happy-owners on the forum will find their favorites to recommend you as well.

Should I be worried for my Dad that the Def Techs aren't reviewed here on this site?

No. If he's happy, he obviously made a good choice.

 

[MDS]

It's a good idea to have at least the Left, Center, and Right speakers match so that as the music or dialog pans across the front from left to right it sounds smooth and continuous. If the speakers don't have the same 'timbre' you can sometimes notice that it sounds like the music is coming from the left, then changes slightly as it hits the center, then changes again when it hits the right. So ideally you'd want the LCR speakers to be from the same model line from the same manufacturer.

The surrounds are less critical but it can't hurt to have them match the LCR as well because some sound effects in movies will pan from the front to the back.

The subwoofer doesn't have to match any of the other speakers as it just plays the low frequencies.

 

[Hoystidd]

If you post your exact budget and requirements (2.1, 5.1, 7.1, et cetera) I'm sure all of the happy-owners on the forum will find their favorites to recommend you as well.

Thanks for the responses...

Well... I think that a good number for the mains and center would be around 6 - 700... I am most likely going to replace these 3 first and eventually get some really good surrounds and sub. My room size is 12 x 12 with a 50" RP-LCD. It's a small room so hooking up decent sound should be pretty easy. The only thing is that I currently have my surrounds on the wall directly behind the seating... They are steeply angled down and I think that right now they may be a little too high at 3 feet above our heads. I am leaning towards sticking with a 5.1 setup. If I grow into a bigger room in the future, at least the receiver can go to 7.1 and all I will have to do is get 2 additional speakers.

I would love for the mains to handle Bass well so I don't have to rely heavily on my sub.

I went to a store today and looked at some Klipsch RB-51's and a RCX-4 Center Channel. They sounded ok... It was hard to judge based on the setting in the store. There was tons of background noise... I've gotta get into a store where I can really listen to these...

Stidd

 

[zumbo]

My advice. Can the Klipsch idea. Also, throw out the Def Tech as well.
Now, I feel better. How about you?

Find a Monitor Audio or B&W dealer. You will be glad you did. These two companies seem to know how music should sound.

I would recommend MB Quart, but you would have to make a blind purchase. Also, your receiver might not be up to the task of driving them.

So, do yourself a favor. Find a B&W or Monitor Audio dealer. Let me know what you think.

http://www.bwspeakers.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/products.dealer

http://www.monitoraudiousa.com/distributors.htm

 

[Hoystidd]

Went with Axiom Audio

Thanks for the responses everyone...

Here is what I went with...

Bookshelf
Axiom M3 V2

Surrounds
QS4 V2

Center
VP 100 V2



They are coming in about 3 weeks and I am going to have a friend that sets up systems for a living come by to help me with speaker placement and setting up the receiver...

He mentioned that he may be able to set up the surrounds to hand the 5.1 and 7.1 info... Anyone ever hear of this?


Stidd

 

[MDS]

He mentioned that he may be able to set up the surrounds to hand the 5.1 and 7.1 info... Anyone ever hear of this?

If you bought one pair of surrounds, then you'll get 5.1 simply by hooking them up to the surround terminals on the receiver.

If you bought two pair of surrounds, then you'll get 7.1 by hooking up one pair to the surround terminals and one pair to the rear surround terminals.

If he is implying that you can magically get 7.1 when you only have 5.1 speakers then he would have to hook up both the surround and rear surround terminals of the receiver to *the same pair of surrounds*. Don't do it.

 

[Hoystidd]

Understood

Got ya... Thanks

He mentioned that it was a setting in the receiver not wiring. I wouldn't let him wire the speakers to 2 separate terminals on the receiver for fear of blowing the speakers. I just thought it was interesting when he said that there may be something in the receiver that would allow it...


Thanks!

Stidd

 

[Hoystidd]

Zumbo...

Go figure... I just found a dealer near my work for Monitor Audio's. I am going to audition them tomorrow... Is there a series that you would recommend? What's good is that if these sound precious... Perhaps I could cancel my order with Axiom Audio and just go with these...

Hmmm

Stidd

 

[ForumShopper]

The Panny Has Virtual 7.1

Stidd,

The Panny Elite Receiver's have virtual 6.1 and 7.1 which allow you to mimic 6/7.1 on a 5.1 system (never tired it on mine). By the way, I have the Axioms, and for the money, they are a great bang for your buck.

Cheers.

 

[Tetonmtnbiker]

Monitor Audio silver rs6

Hoy,

The silver series from Monitor Audio is where I would start if you are auditioning them. For front speakers the rs6's specifically. At $1000 they are a bargain. A complete setup with sub will run ~ $3000.

 

[Jayballs]

Another vote for the MA RS6's. I purchased a pair a few weeks back and they sound amazing! Plus the finish of the cabinets help with WAF.

-Jason

 

[metalsaber]

I have the VSX82 and have it paired with the Axiom M50v2 towers, VP100 center, QS8v2 surrounds, and Polk Monitor 40s Surround Backs.

Hopefull will upgrade the Polks at some point. I'm quite pleased with Axiom and the sound is awesome paired to the Pioneer Receiver.

 

[jrd5853]

zumbo

Zumbo,

your killing me, I have done extensive research,pondering,inquiries and i have pink urine from my ulcers on wanting to make the right choice so i ordered Def Tech RLS II and the 2002 center and you say throw them away. could you please explain why. I know everyone is different but i am just curious. sorry feel alittle sick to my stomach.

 

[BamaLAB]

I had a chance to listen to the Def Tech Pro Cinema 800 when I was shopping for my system. I gotta tell you that I was way impressed with the way they sounded. The fronts and center were hidden from view and I was expecting something larger when I actually got to see them after the demo.

Def Techs probably are not the best choice if you listen to a lot of music. But, for watching movies they sound great. I think you would probably be real happy with them if that is what you decided on.

And.. I would make sure everything is matched.

 

[AVRat]

jrd5853, not to worry. There are a lot of very happy, but somewhat quiet, Def Tech owners here. They/we don’t feel the need to defend our purchase, but instead are content to simply enjoy them. We understand that they don’t suit everybody and are happy to offer other options without disparagement, just constructive criticism. You should be very happy with your purchase, kick back and enjoy. Let us know your observation.