Purchase possibility

B

BRIAN E THOMAS

Audiophyte
I have been posed to upgrade my home theater system and wanted to know your thoughts.

My current setup is as follows:

Yamaha rx-v579 receiver
Sony towers (lower end cant remember the models) single connector.
Polk tl1600 minus 2 satellites in a 5.1 setup.

I am posed with upgrading my speakers. I am offered 2x polk monitor 60 sII a cs10 and onkyo skw 550 for only $150 and i found polk selling on ebay the monitor 40 new for only $100.

Thoughts on this setup in this price range?
 
slipperybidness

slipperybidness

Audioholic Warlord
I have been posed to upgrade my home theater system and wanted to know your thoughts.

My current setup is as follows:

Yamaha rx-v579 receiver
Sony towers (lower end cant remember the models) single connector.
Polk tl1600 minus 2 satellites in a 5.1 setup.

I am posed with upgrading my speakers. I am offered 2x polk monitor 60 sII a cs10 and onkyo skw 550 for only $150 and i found polk selling on ebay the monitor 40 new for only $100.

Thoughts on this setup in this price range?
Meh, likely not much of an upgrade.

But, there is absolutely no chance that I would trade a Yamaha for an Onkyo!
 
KenM10759

KenM10759

Audioholic Ninja
I wouldn't consider that an upgrade, rather it's a level move.

Save more, get more.
 
B

BRIAN E THOMAS

Audiophyte
Meh, likely not much of an upgrade.

But, there is absolutely no chance that I would trade a Yamaha for an Onkyo!
The onkyo is a 10" subwoofer from what i found it has 230w power where the polk blackstone i have only produces around 50w. Would the monitor 40 for surround be much upgrade compared to the polk tl1600 satellites?
 
slipperybidness

slipperybidness

Audioholic Warlord
The onkyo is a 10" subwoofer from what i found it has 230w power where the polk blackstone i have only produces around 50w. Would the monitor 40 for surround be much upgrade compared to the polk tl1600 satellites?
I gotcha. I didn't look at the model number, and Onkyo is not known for their subs.......

I'm not a Polk fan, someone else will have to answer that question for you
 
B

BRIAN E THOMAS

Audiophyte
I wouldn't consider that an upgrade, rather it's a level move.

Save more, get more.
I do live in a townhome, so i can only go so big before it becomes an expensive waste for the extra. I do want to upgrade my center and satellites as i noticed they have been muddled out some since i got the towers.

One thing i do have the ability to use now is the biamp setup but have to upgrade my towers for it. That is what made me think about the offer i found.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
I do live in a townhome, so i can only go so big before it becomes an expensive waste for the extra. I do want to upgrade my center and satellites as i noticed they have been muddled out some since i got the towers.

One thing i do have the ability to use now is the biamp setup but have to upgrade my towers for it. That is what made me think about the offer i found.
Can't judge subs by amp power alone (without sensitivity rating doesn't mean a lot), altho a 10" driver with more power is likely an improvement but they're both HTIB subs (much better out there).

Bi-amping, especially passive bi-amping with an avr, does pretty much nothing (but now I understand your comment about your single connector on the Sony)....try reading this https://www.audioholics.com/frequent-questions/the-difference-between-biamping-vs-biwiring
 
B

BRIAN E THOMAS

Audiophyte
Can't judge subs by amp power alone (without sensitivity rating doesn't mean a lot), altho a 10" driver with more power is likely an improvement but they're both HTIB subs (much better out there).

Bi-amping, especially passive bi-amping with an avr, does pretty much nothing (but now I understand your comment about your single connector on the Sony)....try reading this https://www.audioholics.com/frequent-questions/the-difference-between-biamping-vs-biwiring
Thanks for that! Sounds like it would be better to leave out the 2 channels and let the system breathe on the power, or even simply add to the speakers making it 7.1

Im definitely not spending the amount of money for active so this definitely makes a difference.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
Thanks for that! Sounds like it would be better to leave out the 2 channels and let the system breathe on the power, or even simply add to the speakers making it 7.1

Im definitely not spending the amount of money for active so this definitely makes a difference.
Leave out the 2 channels?
 
B

BRIAN E THOMAS

Audiophyte
Leave out the 2 channels?
I had 2 satellites hooked up but due to my room layout i can only really setup a 5.1 i didnt really notice any difference with or without the 2 satellite speakers. Maybe it is due to their small form? Thats why i was thinking about replacing with some bookshelf speakers for the surrounds. Maybe i will go with 4x bookshelf and a canter upgrade?
 
slipperybidness

slipperybidness

Audioholic Warlord
I do live in a townhome, so i can only go so big before it becomes an expensive waste for the extra. I do want to upgrade my center and satellites as i noticed they have been muddled out some since i got the towers.

One thing i do have the ability to use now is the biamp setup but have to upgrade my towers for it. That is what made me think about the offer i found.
Towers should never "muddle out" your center or surround!

If we are talking about 5.1 setups, the center channel typically contains dialogue, while the satellites provide the surround effects and ambience. Towers would typically have the soundtrack info, etc.

Furthermore, there is a very distinct difference in audio for quality (detail, resolution, imaging) vs quantity (volume)

In my system, when I increase the volume higher, I start bringing out the subtle details that may be lost or less noticeable at the lower volumes. But, the audio quality doesn't increase with increased sound pressure levels.

If it were me, I think I would try to tweak what I already have to see if I can make improvements, or I would save my $ until I have enough for a substantial improvement.

I highly suspect that if you buy this other gear, you will likely just find that you didn't improve much. On the other hand, perhaps that is $ well spent to gain knowledge in the hobby.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
I had 2 satellites hooked up but due to my room layout i can only really setup a 5.1 i didnt really notice any difference with or without the 2 satellite speakers. Maybe it is due to their small form? Thats why i was thinking about replacing with some bookshelf speakers for the surrounds. Maybe i will go with 4x bookshelf and a canter upgrade?
So 3.1 vs 5.1 you didn't notice much difference? Surrounds depending on source may not have a lot of content, they're mostly about ambience, could be partly setup, hard to know. Bookshelves can also be considered satellites, fwiw, neither are very precise terms. I'd concentrate on two good speakers for L/R, maybe a matching center, then a good sub....
 
slipperybidness

slipperybidness

Audioholic Warlord
So 3.1 vs 5.1 you didn't notice much difference? Surrounds depending on source may not have a lot of content, they're mostly about ambience, could be partly setup, hard to know. Bookshelves can also be considered satellites, fwiw, neither are very precise terms. I'd concentrate on two good speakers for L/R, maybe a matching center, then a good sub....
Right, GOOD stereo (2 Channel) beats out MEDIOCRE multichannel (5.1) every time!!!

He did also mention some 7.1 setup. And 7.1 is a waste unless you happen to have several rows of theater seating. Take the $ that you would spend on those extra 2 rear surround speakers, and re-allocate it to the towers or to a sub instead.
 
B

BRIAN E THOMAS

Audiophyte
So i ended up getting a steal today.. (figuratively not literally) some people were moving and picked up a definitive prosub 800, promonitor 800x2 and a procenter 1000.... for $80.. no im not missing a number in there either. Sorry for the gloat, i dont have many friends who care about audio. I also nabbed some klipsch surround s-3 for $60 and for surrounds like them better than the definitive (as always subjective to the listener) so far my towers are the low end now running sony ss-f6000. There is someone locally who has a pair of klipsch f3 towers to match the surrounds for less than 200 i might pick up. Any thoughts?
 

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