New to site! Looking for direction. Here's my setup. :)

jcbower

jcbower

Enthusiast
Thanks in advance for taking the time to skim my situation. I'll try and keep it concise. Eager to dive through the forums and absorb all that your big brains (& ears) have to offer. Apologies in advance for my newness and lack of proper lingo. :)

Here's the equipment I'm currently working with that I've had laying around for more then few years. I'm immediately looking to upgrade the aged AVR, but shortly thereafter looking to address obvious (not to me) weaknesses in the system & expand it to a 5.2.4 setup.

- Receiver Yamaha - HTR-6295 (she old)
- Fr L & R : Energy RC-70 towers x 2
- Center : Klipsch C-20
- Surrounds: Energy Veritas V-S x 2
- Sub: Klipsch: SW 112

1st: AVR upgrade thoughts:
Currently trying to decide between the Denon X4500H, Denon X3600H, or the Yamaha RX-A2080. The Yamaha appears to have the most power, but the least powerful X3600 has the greatest channel options down the road with added amplification. I know I've read that power differences this small aren't significant, but then I read reviews that seem to focus on the punch or power of one receiver versus the other with similar spec differences.

My current AVR has 20 Hz to 20 kHz, 0.08% THD, 8 Ω . 130 W. Am I stepping down in power with the X3600 to 105 W just to get all the updated feature goodness?

2nd: My towers specs show – Recommended Amplifier Power: up to 250 Watts. Does that mean per speaker? Or total amp power?

3rd: Just looking for an overall assessment of my kit & if there's specific components in it that you'd recommend upgrading (other then the AVR).
 
S

shadyJ

Speaker of the House
Staff member
Regarding the differences in power between the receivers that you are contemplating, the practical difference is negligible. Don't sweat those amp wattage differences too much, it amounts to nothing serious and probably not even audible.

As for the power-handling of the tower speakers, that spec doesn't mean a whole lot. Do you have enough power to get them loud enough for your tastes? That is all you need to worry about. I would be a bit leery of throwing an actual continuous 250 watts at those things.

I would take a close look at getting a better center channel speaker. The Energy speakers are fine, but that center is not a great design. Considering that the center carries the heaviest load in movie and television sound mixes, you should think about getting something better. I would be looking at a good three-way center. Here are a few good ones that are worth considering: Infinity Reference C263, Monoprice Monolith THX-365C, KEF Q250c or Q650c, SVS Prime Center or Ultra Center, Hsu Research CCB-8, or Paradigm Premier 500C or 600C. If you dont mind spending a bit more, look at Revel's three way-center speakers or the Polk Legend L400 center speaker.

The subwoofer is OK, but you might consider upgrading to something that can dig deeper and get louder sometime, and also moving up to a multi-sub system. Consider the subs from Hsu, SVS, Outlaw Audio, or Monolith THX. If you really want to get crazy, JTR subwoofers.
 
jcbower

jcbower

Enthusiast
shadyJ. Thanks for the quick reply!

I suspected the center channel would get singled out as I've been reading over the past week or so how integral that speaker is in the system for theater content. Appreciate you linking a few options. I'd already been peaking at the Paradigm line, may be time to snag the 600C.

I was considering adding a second sub to get better distribution across the room and to mask the origination of the lower frequencies better. My main concern there was in adding something that was too many steps up from what I have and throwing the room balance off. Should that be a concern?

I know this SW is relatively low in the range of options out there, but you can feel the rumble on the opposite side of a 3,000 square foot house during a strong base sequence with the gain set at the half way mark. I can't imagine what some of your systems must feel like with higher end kit.
 
S

shadyJ

Speaker of the House
Staff member
shadyJ. Thanks for the quick reply!

I suspected the center channel would get singled out as I've been reading over the past week or so how integral that speaker is in the system for theater content. Appreciate you linking a few options. I'd already been peaking at the Paradigm line, may be time to snag the 600C.

I was considering adding a second sub to get better distribution across the room and to mask the origination of the lower frequencies better. My main concern there was in adding something that was too many steps up from what I have and throwing the room balance off. Should that be a concern?

I know this SW is relatively low in the range of options out there, but you can feel the rumble on the opposite side of a 3,000 square foot house during a strong base sequence with the gain set at the half way mark. I can't imagine what some of your systems must feel like with higher end kit.
You don't need to be concerned about adding a sub that is a level above your existing equipment. It's not like it is going to make anything sound worse, and you can level balance the subs so that one isn't significantly louder than the other. If it were me, I would get rid of the Klipsch sub, and replace it with dual subs from a higher performing line. As for the performance of your existing sub, the gain knob doesn't tell you how hard the sub is being pushed. You may be pushing it to the edge of its performance even with the gain knob half way up.
 
Pogre

Pogre

Audioholic Slumlord
I agree with shady on all points, especially the sub situation. You might be getting rumble, but it's probably not that deep nor free of distortion. My experience on these forums has taught me that most folks underestimate the significance of a good, clean sub that actually hits sub frequencies (20 hz and down) with some authority.

My experience going from a pair of Klipsch subs to a pair of SVS subs was a real eye opener for me. I couldn't believe how clean everything sounded just by replacing my subs. My Klipsch subs were distorting, but it was subtle and not in my face. I thought at first my new subs were malfunctioning because they were so much quieter. Well they were quieter because the distortion I had gotten used to was gone. Then I discovered that 12" sealed subs are way too small for my room and bought another pair... that's another story tho, lol.

Whatever center channel you decide on I'd plan to eventually get the matching speakers that go with it up front. The front 3 are most important when it comes to timbre matching.
 
William Lemmerhirt

William Lemmerhirt

Audioholic Overlord
And remember a 30hz wave is 37’ long. 20hz(if the sub will do it) is 56’ long. Not hard to send those all the way through even a decent sized house.
 
jcbower

jcbower

Enthusiast
Appreciate the responses everyone! Found a great deal on the Denon AVR x6500H which seems to settle all the receiver concerns I had.

Center channel & sub are next, but I'll dedicate some time to research & plan for those before pulling the trigger. Thanks for leading me in the right direction!

Pogre. I think you might be onto something with the sub. It's likely I don't know what great low freq sounds & I'm mistaking distortion for proper output. :)
 
William Lemmerhirt

William Lemmerhirt

Audioholic Overlord
And not to steal pogeys thunder, but quality subwoofage will definitely elevate the entire system. He’ll be the first to tell you. He was happy with a pair of klipsch, and then SVS pb1000’s. Then he got a real pair...lol.
I’ll let him tell ya about it, but I agree with everything he’s about to say.
 
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