Receiver and speakers upgrade

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I want to keep the towers around 2k give or take a little. Receiver around 1200 or so. The room is open to the dining room and kitchen. I plan on subs later when i start my Atmos install. But for the most part i want an awesome sounding tower for 2.0 direct mode music listening. Then I’ll work on my center and surrounds etc.....

Keep an eye on the Denon X4400 on Amazon. When the newer model (X4500) is released later in the year, the previous year model (X4400) will get a big discount for $799 brand new.

 

[Ken32]

Oh wow! I really don't know much about these speakers so I'm not the best person to ask. But from looking at the specs they look good: Frequency Response18-49k Hz - it's pretty cool that they have a built in bass radiator and subwoofer. Maybe check if they have an in home trial? You may love em & have found your perfect speakers. I said this on one of the other treads, it's really all about what you think sounds best. My advice would be to try to listen to as many speakers as you can, especially if you plan on keep them for a long time.

I don’t think def tech offers in home, but Best Buy has a return policy after a couple weeks i believe. The more i look at Salk, the more it worries. I just cannot fathom spending 2k on speakers and not being able to return them if i don’t like them. I think I’ll order the def tech and Aperion Audio and compare side by side! Send the lesser back and order a few more pair to demo.

Which kind of receiver do you all have in mind for a good upgrade? I do plan on adding an amp slowly..... lol (don’t want to overwhelm the woman!) i was thinking denon? Marantz? SR7012 or the x6300h on sale half off i think? I’ll have to check again...

 

[Ken32]

Keep an eye on the Denon X4400 on Amazon. When the newer model (X4500) is released later in the year, the previous year model (X4400) will get a big discount for $799 brand new.

Just now seen this! I’m leaning towards the denon! However the Marantz 7012 is also catching my eye! Overkill??

 

[CB22]

I don’t think def tech offers in home, but Best Buy has a return policy after a couple weeks i believe. The more i look at Salk, the more it worries. I just cannot fathom spending 2k on speakers and not being able to return them if i don’t like them. I think I’ll order the def tech and Aperion Audio and compare side by side! Send the lesser back and order a few more pair to demo.

Which kind of receiver do you all have in mind for a good upgrade? I do plan on adding an amp slowly..... lol (don’t want to overwhelm the woman!) i was thinking denon? Marantz? SR7012 or the x6300h on sale half off i think? I’ll have to check again...

Keep in mind a 2k price point it's going to be very hard to get a bad pair of speakers. I feel like it's more little nuances in HiFi audio when doing critical listening.
I think I’ll order the def tech and Aperion Audio and compare side by side! Send the lesser back and order a few more pair to demo. - yes yes & yes! Also, have a friend come over and do blind testing when these come in. There's a whole psychological thing that comes into play. it just human nature to have a bias. I think cost factor and looks play a big part in this. Happy listening .

To your other question, I would go with Marantz. I just have something against dennon . Was never a big fan of their products in terms of looks and had a bad experience when one of their receivers before. But if you can save some big cash by purchasing last years model do it. My bias aside, there're higher end models are good products.

Lastly, IMO there's no such thing as overkill here on the AA forum. Do you need the extra power probably not, is it bad azz to have the extra power? yes.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Just now seen this! I’m leaning towards the denon! However the Marantz 7012 is also catching my eye! Overkill??

Doesn’t matter if it’s Denon or Marantz since they’re the same underneath.

The X6300 is $1275 Open-box Very Good Condition from Amazon Warehouse with full warranty.

The X7200 is $1588 Like-New from Amazon Warehouse + full Warranty.

Both have 11Ch of amps. You won’t need external amps when you get the X6300 or X7200 for most speakers and rooms.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

On speakers, whatever you buy, don’t pay full price. Back when I was on a speaker buying spree, I usually got at least 25% off from Dealers.

Of course, you won’t get discounts from Internet Direct companies.

If you know what you want, might also buy pre-owned and save 50%-70%.

 

[Ken32]

Thank you all for your time and replies! Someone recommended to me a pioneer elite sclx 502 i believe.... they keep trying to sell me on them class D amps... big difference than AB? I think it was on sale for 599. I know they’re part of Onkyo now. So, i don’t know how the quality is.... if not, I’m loving the look of the Marantz 7012. I heard it paired with B&W 683S2 at magnolia and it sounded bad azz. Even my fiancé said they destroy my RTIA7. Listened to the eagles (hotel Cali) and the separation when he hits the bongos mid song was awesome.

 

[everettT]

Speakers first....

 

[Ken32]

Speakers first....

Definitely!!

 

[snakeeyes]

Definitely look at speakers first....,. The Revel F36 tower and the Revel M16 Bookshelf have received great reviews on this site. Many also like Kef and Ascend and Philharmonic.. Also every great system deserves at least one nice subwoofer no matter what speakers you go with. Good luck!

 

[Ken32]

Definitely look at speakers first....,. The Revel F36 tower and the Revel M16 Bookshelf have received great reviews on this site. Many also like Kef and Ascend and Philharmonic.. Also every great system deserves at least one nice subwoofer no matter what speakers you go with. Good luck!

Thanks! I’ll be buying a receiver same day as speakers. But for now, my concentration is def with speakers.

 

[MrBoat]

I see the JBL 590's are back in stock. These have gone on sale for around half price, IIRC. A friend of mine has them in a large room and they perform really well. If I was into buying instead of building, I would own these.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I see the JBL 590's are back in stock. These have gone on sale for around half price, IIRC. A friend of mine has them in a large room and they perform really well. If I was into buying instead of building, I would own these.

I wonder how these JBL towers compare to the Revel towers since both are owned by the same Harman company, which I guess is owned by Saumsung.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

You mention subs, but i listen to 2.0 in direct with music usually.... is this not the best way to do this? Have i been doing it wrong the whole time? Lol I’ve heard people say use stereo then eq and others say direct only.... so confusing!!

Depends on your preference. People usually will only tell you what to do based on their own experience without taking into consideration your personal situation.
FWIW, I listen to a lot of the stuff you do. I have towers that play into the mid to low 30s and I almost always prefer to listen with my subs vs 2.0. That’s just how I like though. Ymmv, but the beauty is that it’s up to you, and nobody can tell you what you like.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Oh wow! I really don't know much about these speakers so I'm not the best person to ask. But from looking at the specs they look good: Frequency Response18-49k Hz - it's pretty cool that they have a built in bass radiator and subwoofer. Maybe check if they have an in home trial? You may love em & have found your perfect speakers. I said this on one of the other treads, it's really all about what you think sounds best. My advice would be to try to listen to as many speakers as you can, especially if you plan on keep them for a long time.

Never trust specs directly from DT, as they tend to be inflated.
Wouldn’t really qualify the built in “subs” as such either but maybe in the right room. Also, subwoofer and speaker placement for best performance are usually mutually exclusive, so that makes finding the best place for each more difficult.

 

[snakeeyes]

I believe you can run the Def Tech with normal wiring and avoid LFE line in to them. Then they are a 3 way speaker with nice bass and a gain knob. (Probably close to 30hz not 18). I won’t go into placement of the towers but placement can be tricky. The LFE should actually go to a dedicated sub that can handle real 18hz output of over 100db for home theater. For subs, look at Rythmik, HSU, Monolith, and SVS.

 

[Ken32]

Definitely look at speakers first....,. The Revel F36 tower and the Revel M16 Bookshelf have received great reviews on this site. Many also like Kef and Ascend and Philharmonic.. Also every great system deserves at least one nice subwoofer no matter what speakers you go with. Good luck!

Those revel speakers are definitely in the mix to try out in home.

 

[Ken32]

I believe you can run the Def Tech with normal wiring and avoid LFE line in to them. Then they are a 3 way speaker with nice bass and a gain knob. (Probably close to 30hz not 18). I won’t go into placement of the towers but placement can be tricky. The LFE should actually go to a dedicated sub that can handle real 18hz output of over 100db for home theater. For subs, look at Rythmik, HSU, Monolith, and SVS.

You said exactly what i was about to lol. I knew with the 9060 it has 2 options, LFE or without, same as the matching center channel... i thought about running them with both to see how well they sound (placement wise) and then going from there... (dedicated sub or not) Svs and Hsu are defintely on my sub list if needed.

 

[snakeeyes]

You said exactly what i was about to lol. I knew with the 9060 it has 2 options, LFE or without, same as the matching center channel... i thought about running them with both to see how well they sound (placement wise) and then going from there... (dedicated sub or not) Svs and Hsu are defintely on my sub list if needed.

It’s likely if you got the Def Tech and Revel both in your home that you choose the Revel but if you can get them both to try, do that.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I want to keep the towers around 2k give or take a little. Receiver around 1200 or so. The room is open to the dining room and kitchen. I plan on subs later when i start my Atmos install. But for the most part i want an awesome sounding tower for 2.0 direct mode music listening. Then I’ll work on my center and surrounds etc.....

My opinion on speakers:

$2K/Pr speakers will not have great bass, so focus on dynamics, efficiency, accuracy, and of course good sound. Don’t focus on bass too much. That’s what Subwoofers are for.

In this $2K price range, I think Speakers like DefTech and GoldenEar w/ built-in powered subs are meant for people who don’t care for big subwoofer bass. These people want Towers with “good enough Subwoofer bass” and don’t want some additional big box Subwoofers.

I used to own the big $5,000 DefTech BP7000SC (14” woofer/1800 watts). These could “rival” smaller 10” Subwoofers, which are good enough for a lot of people.

But if you’re getting Subwoofers anyway, I don’t see the point of buying these speakers.