Some advice please on upgrading my home theater.

[Langalore]

I thing I forgot to mention is the smell from the finish of the speakers. It’s very strong and I hadn’t counted on that. My wife just realized that could be part of her headache. I’m sure it’ll air out in a day.

 

[2channel lover]

OK. Big news, they came today! We don’t have the speaker stands and we haven’t agreed on an entertainment center for under the tv yet, so I’ve had to really mix things up to get them on. I know this setup is awful, but it’s what I’m doing until we get the stands.


Impressions, as many reviews have mentioned, they are “bright” or at least brighter than what I had, which was really bad compared to these. We listened to some music first - just Spotify, so not a high quality recording, but it was great. We were picking up instruments and even though we were 2.1 and not using the center channel, I had to make my daughter check if the center speaker had sound coming out of it. It was great! The left to right sounds on some tracks was excellent. My daughter sitting 90 degrees to me said she thought the music was coming from the middle of the room, not from the speaker just 6’ in front of her (which used to be all you could hear on the old system from that seat).

Then, I played the title sequence from Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse. Please try this at home if you haven’t yet. It’s amazing for checking the bass on this.The 3rd bass drop in the beginning was exactly what I was looking for out of my home theater system. We all sat up worried because our couches shook. On later listens of this sequence, with the volume turned up, I could understand how the bass was working like I’ve never understood before. The actual best spot in the room for it was behind the couch by a couple of feet. I have the sub pointed at the wall and it’s definitely creeping along that wall and hitting the back of the room. The wall was obviously shaking.
We then watched The Greatest Showman as the 5 of us. We listened at -10 on my Yamaha 880. It was much louder than we usually listen. The vocals were excellent, clearer than I’ve ever heard vocal before. But, they definitely were on the high side. I did turn the center channel down (-2) and the sub up (+4) compared to the YPAO settings. I might try the neutral YPAO or but I don’t know yet. It’s currently set to Flat. I’m not sure why to be honest, that’s just what it picked for the parametric eq.

We all did come away after about 3.5 hrs of listening with some ear aches / headaches. I had it up very loud compared to where we used to play movies and music. I don’t regret it one bit but I know I’ll have to have it turned down when my 6 year old goes to bed at night.

I don’t know anything about speakers, but I knew enough to get a lot of opinions and read a lot of reviews. These are amazing and I’m so happy with them and so happy with HSU sales who were quick to answer any question I had and put up with some every basic questions from me because I’m such a neophyte.
Thank you to everyone here who helped me pick these out! I can’t wait to watch and listen more.

The photos are my LCR & TV setup andthe HSU sub compared to the very old JBL I was using.

Congrats!!!

It's like Xmas in April!

 

[martinoermando]

Hi everyone. I’m new here and looking for some advice.

I watch pretty much everything - from MCU to the best picture noms every year. We love animated movies, too. I want the best experience but Nox Vidmate VLC am not willing to put out $10k. What should I do for this ~$5k max budget But would really like to stay sub-$3k if possible by not upgrading the tv.
I listen to them frequently for background music while working from home but the main usage would be home theater.

Here’s what I currently have:
LG 65UH615A
Yamaha RX-A880
Cerwin Vega floorstanding Re 30
Athena Audition AS-C1-1 center
JBL PSW-1000 sub
Pioneer SP-BS22 LR bookshelf

The CVs have an odd sound that is repeatable depending on the song or movie I’m watching. It seems to happen at a bass level - when there’s a loud boom, for example.
We got them from my wife’s parents and I know they’re great speakers but they weren’t taken care of. There was rat or mouse poop in them that we cleaned out. Things like that. We tried rehabbing them with a kit to replace the rubber seals around the cones but it didn’t change. I hate watching something and hearing that crackle and I know it’s going to happen when I hear certain music in a movie, like when there’s about to be a jump scare.

The sub, I don’t understand it. Also got it from my in-laws. I don’t know why it has rca right and left input. I have a 1 to 2 rca cable plugged in there now but whenever I move the sub around, there’s a horrible noise / humming from it. I think it’s the connections.

The Pioneers, we just bought. I like them for surrounds.

The Athena, I know nothing about, got it from my wife’s parents. Seems serviceable.

What I’m thinking about (~$2500 cost)
Klipsch rp-8000f floors ($525 each)
Klipsch rp-504c center ($562)
Klipsch SPL-120 ($517)
Keeping the Pioneers

Maybe I’d get the Klipsch Atmos R-41sa ($344/pair) but I’m unconvinced.

I have a huge room but we cut it in half with the couch. I think I can figure out placement and I won’t have the speakers up against the wall. I have room for 1 to 2 ft away for the floorstanding.

My questions
-are those good for the price or is there something else I should be looking at?
-is the tv ok for this setup? I really would love a 75 ($1800) or 86” LG but I think I’m ok with what I have for now. I just wish the colors and contrast were better.
-will my receiver be ok for this setup? I know it’s not a $1500 received but it seems good enough. I see a lot of people recommending an amp and I have no idea how the receiver and amp work together or how costly it is.
-what is everyone using for best streaming or do you need to buy a blu ray? We have an older Xbox one and a firestick 4K. I’ve done some research and seems like Apple TV 4K is the best for streaming 4K and Atmos from the major streamers. I could build that into my budget for $180. We have the highest subs to everything except apple (Netflix HD, Hulu, prime, Disney+, and I have a plex server).

What's your timeframe like for your Upgrade? Do you have any space or WAF issues to deal with? Personal aesthetic constraints?