Upgrade Path Suggetions

S

soccerTOOLsu

Audiophyte
Speakers:
Polk RTiA5 (L/R)
Polk CSiA6 (Center)
Polk FXiA6 (Surrounds)
HSU VTF MK5
HSU VTF MK4

Electronics:
Blu-Ray Denon DBT-3313UDCI
AVR Denon AVR-X7200W
Plasma TV Panasonic TC-P50ST60
AMP Parasound HCA-1500A
MINIDSP 2x4HD

Plasma is calibrated using X-Rite i1 for Gamma and Red, Blue, Green
Subs are time aligned and parametric equalized
Speakers have Audyssey Multeq xt32

The system is great and I am really enjoying it at the moment. However I do find myself asking whats next?

I want to try Dirac Live and was planning on buying a 5 channel Emotiva XPA-5 Gen3 and add the minidsp DDRC-88A for processing. Then I figured it might be easier to just find a pre that had D.L. built into it.

Then I started to wonder if the price of all my equipment exceeds the price of the speakers, should I upgrade speakers next.

95% of the use is for Movies. 40 % Blu-ray and the rest streaming services.

I am looking for advice on the next logical upgrade path to take. This year the upgrade was room treatment and acoustic panels. Next year is still up in the air, as well as subsequent years.
 
M

Movie2099

Audioholic General
Speakers:
Polk RTiA5 (L/R)
Polk CSiA6 (Center)
Polk FXiA6 (Surrounds)
HSU VTF MK5
HSU VTF MK4

Electronics:
Blu-Ray Denon DBT-3313UDCI
AVR Denon AVR-X7200W
Plasma TV Panasonic TC-P50ST60
AMP Parasound HCA-1500A
MINIDSP 2x4HD

Plasma is calibrated using X-Rite i1 for Gamma and Red, Blue, Green
Subs are time aligned and parametric equalized
Speakers have Audyssey Multeq xt32

The system is great and I am really enjoying it at the moment. However I do find myself asking whats next?

I want to try Dirac Live and was planning on buying a 5 channel Emotiva XPA-5 Gen3 and add the minidsp DDRC-88A for processing. Then I figured it might be easier to just find a pre that had D.L. built into it.

Then I started to wonder if the price of all my equipment exceeds the price of the speakers, should I upgrade speakers next.

95% of the use is for Movies. 40 % Blu-ray and the rest streaming services.

I am looking for advice on the next logical upgrade path to take. This year the upgrade was room treatment and acoustic panels. Next year is still up in the air, as well as subsequent years.
What's your total budget?
 
BoredSysAdmin

BoredSysAdmin

Audioholic Slumlord
I'd start with upgrading your LCRs. If you prefer to stick to Polk (I won't) then be on the lookout for deals on LSiM speakers.
 
M

Mpsafranski

Audioholic
Speakers. Nothing else will have anywhere near the impact to the system. But, keep in mind the budget. My advice is, come up with the max dollar amount you’d be willing to spend on front 3 and wait until you’ve saved enough for that. In the mean time go listen to as many speakers as you can in that price range. Did I follow that advice? Not really. I had a 3k budget and flexed it up to 4.5k to get ascends. I also was so fixated on going ID that I didn’t listen to very many other speakers. It ended up working out for me but I will not lie there are days where I wonder if I might’ve missed something I’d have liked better (maybe I’d have liked KEF, Focal, etc etc). Not often, but it happens.
But yeah. Speakers first ;)
 
ryanosaur

ryanosaur

Audioholic Overlord
@Mpsafranski
Dave’s designs at Ascend Acoustics are great, by all accounts. Though his gear is pricey, you are near the top of the chain with those and wouldn’t expect any significant improvement over with anything else near that price point. ;)
You did good!
 
S

soccerTOOLsu

Audiophyte
Right now i'm thinking $1500-$2000 per year


Yes, I saw the LSiM on sale already now that the NEW Polks are out. The Legends I think.

What other brands do you recommend?

I've thought about Tekton Double Impact, Golden Ears. Haven't been to any good audioshops and evertime I go to Best Buy/magnolia I get blown off because I don't look like I'm there to purchase anything other than a HTiB.

I hear the Focals, the KEFs, Elacs and get some great reviews.

I'll have to look at the Ascends, have not heard or read much about those yet.
 
ryanosaur

ryanosaur

Audioholic Overlord
Speakers:
Polk RTiA5 (L/R)
Polk CSiA6 (Center)
Polk FXiA6 (Surrounds)
HSU VTF MK5
HSU VTF MK4

Electronics:
Blu-Ray Denon DBT-3313UDCI
AVR Denon AVR-X7200W
Plasma TV Panasonic TC-P50ST60
AMP Parasound HCA-1500A
MINIDSP 2x4HD

Plasma is calibrated using X-Rite i1 for Gamma and Red, Blue, Green
Subs are time aligned and parametric equalized
Speakers have Audyssey Multeq xt32

The system is great and I am really enjoying it at the moment. However I do find myself asking whats next?

I want to try Dirac Live and was planning on buying a 5 channel Emotiva XPA-5 Gen3 and add the minidsp DDRC-88A for processing. Then I figured it might be easier to just find a pre that had D.L. built into it.

Then I started to wonder if the price of all my equipment exceeds the price of the speakers, should I upgrade speakers next.

95% of the use is for Movies. 40 % Blu-ray and the rest streaming services.

I am looking for advice on the next logical upgrade path to take. This year the upgrade was room treatment and acoustic panels. Next year is still up in the air, as well as subsequent years.
Yup. Budget. Then speakers.
Knowing the problems inherent with the Polk designs, I would move on from them.
For all the options available, I concur that getting out and listening to speakers is important. You need to be able to identify what sound qualities you like. Then budget accordingly to avoid a lateral upgrade. If you are going to spend the money, then best buy something that will tide you over for the next 10 years! :)
Beyond that, reading reviews (with a grain of salt...) can be a great way to learn, not to parrot what the writer says but to learn the vocabulary so to speak:
See what they say about a speaker, compare that to other reviewers opinions, read the reviews for the speakers that are used as comparisons, listen and cross reference with your own experience, and so on.
 
M

Movie2099

Audioholic General
Right now i'm thinking $1500-$2000 per year


Yes, I saw the LSiM on sale already now that the NEW Polks are out. The Legends I think.

What other brands do you recommend?

I've thought about Tekton Double Impact, Golden Ears. Haven't been to any good audioshops and evertime I go to Best Buy/magnolia I get blown off because I don't look like I'm there to purchase anything other than a HTiB.

I hear the Focals, the KEFs, Elacs and get some great reviews.

I'll have to look at the Ascends, have not heard or read much about those yet.
If you can bump that speaker budget up to say $2500-$3000, that would open up way more options. Since you're using these mainly for home theater, you're going to need a solid center channel. The KEF Q750's are $800/each, The Bowers and Wilkins 603's are $1000/each. The center channel with B&W is $750 and the KEF center is $700. Both are very good speakers companies and you'd most likely be able to hear them at your local Magnolia. Either would be a significant upgrade from what you currently have. In my opinion. Klipsch also has a wide variety of tower speaker that would work as well. If you wanted to go down the horn loaded speakers road.

Obviously there are more brands out there, but just throwing in my two cents based on companies i'm familiar with.
 
ryanosaur

ryanosaur

Audioholic Overlord
I've thought about Tekton Double Impact
I was very interested in Eric's gear when I was shopping around a couple years ago. While his stuff gets good praise from many, I have yet to see much in the way of third-party testing... which concerned me THEN. There still isn't much available to go by!
Moreover, I really want to know the inside scoop about what happened with the New Record Day video reviews and measurements. I watched the videos not to long ago, and was left with a lot of questions about those speakers: more than I had 2 years ago when I was talking to Eric. And that's not good.
To be fair, I have talked to several people that completely dig his gear and are very happy Tekton customers. One guy owned a pair of Pens and was going back to pick up DIs plus the DI Center to take over up front and put the Pens on Surround duty. Repeat customers are a very good sign.
But still...

My instinct is that for a meaningful upgrade, you should be ready to spend up to $4000 on the Front 3. I'm not saying you need to, or should spend that much. But when it comes to shopping OEM brands like Focal, KEF, Monitor Audio, etc, you should be looking beyond the entry level class.

Also, consider that with the other gear you are talking about (upgrading to Dirac, using the DDRC 88, etc...) you are still going to be limited by the quality of the speakers first and foremost. Spend the money where it matters now, and then worry about the electronics later if you really feel like you need to. Most hear I think would agree that pursuing Dirac as a means of upgrading SQ is foolish. Yes it's possibly the best room correction available, but it's not going to take you to the mountain top on its own. ;)
 
BoredSysAdmin

BoredSysAdmin

Audioholic Slumlord
Right now i'm thinking $1500-$2000 per year


Yes, I saw the LSiM on sale already now that the NEW Polks are out. The Legends I think.

What other brands do you recommend?

I've thought about Tekton Double Impact, Golden Ears. Haven't been to any good audioshops and evertime I go to Best Buy/magnolia I get blown off because I don't look like I'm there to purchase anything other than a HTiB.

I hear the Focals, the KEFs, Elacs and get some great reviews.

I'll have to look at the Ascends, have not heard or read much about those yet.
Skip Tektons. Golden Ears aren't very popular. I think not everyone is ready for powered sub-built-in to speakers.
Focals and KEFs generally good speakers, but expensive. Elac, are solid, but someone yet to floor the reviewers.

The Ascend audio would be one of my top recommendations, now that unfortunately, Denis Murphy closed the shop due to health. Other strong options to consider are NHT, RBH, SVS, and HSU.
 
Cos

Cos

Audioholic Samurai
Skip Tektons. Golden Ears aren't very popular. I think not everyone is ready for powered sub-built-in to speakers.
Focals and KEFs generally good speakers, but expensive. Elac, are solid, but someone yet to floor the reviewers.

The Ascend audio would be one of my top recommendations, now that unfortunately, Denis Murphy closed the shop due to health. Other strong options to consider are NHT, RBH, SVS, and HSU.
As a GE user, the Triton 5s do not have integrated subs, measure and review well. I would at least try to demo those speakers and pair with a solid subwoofer.
 
AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
What is your room size and total spending budget?

Why a 50" TV and not a 150" Screen and Projector?
 
2

2channel lover

Audioholic Field Marshall
Yup. Budget. Then speakers.
Knowing the problems inherent with the Polk designs, I would move on from them.
For all the options available, I concur that getting out and listening to speakers is important. You need to be able to identify what sound qualities you like. Then budget accordingly to avoid a lateral upgrade. If you are going to spend the money, then best buy something that will tide you over for the next 10 years! :)
Beyond that, reading reviews (with a grain of salt...) can be a great way to learn, not to parrot what the writer says but to learn the vocabulary so to speak:
See what they say about a speaker, compare that to other reviewers opinions, read the reviews for the speakers that are used as comparisons, listen and cross reference with your own experience, and so on.
Agree with this.

It's very easy to lateral, or very slight (really which is really lateral) on speaker upgrades.
 
John Parks

John Parks

Audioholic Samurai
Agreed the unorthodox driver placement raises a few questions.
For the tekton’s
Tekton and, similarly, Zu Audio, either have rabid fans or folks who are "meh". I have not heard the former, but had a chance to hear the latter. While they are indeed "wow" speakers (as I suspect the Tektons are) I just could not see myself living with them long term as their sound is rather "niche". Go to their website and check out pictures on their blog, employees and music selections - this is exactly what the speakers sound like.
1582317817030.png


Taking inventory of the last ten years, I can attest to the excellent sound quality of Ascend Acoustics as I had the Sierra-1 NrT, KEF as I had the Q750 then R500 and Focal as I currently have the Chora 806. All excellent speakers and fine examples of ID vs standard sales practices. With Ascend you get uncompromising sound quality that belies the price, with KEF and Focal great sound quality and design (if that is important to you) muscle that ID companies cannot touch (without ridiculous prices).
 
BoredSysAdmin

BoredSysAdmin

Audioholic Slumlord
As a GE user, the Triton 5s do not have integrated subs, measure and review well. I would at least try to demo those speakers and pair with a solid subwoofer.
T5's are over 2k/pair. I won't recommend doing just LR without changing center at the same time. LCR will break op's up to 2k budget by too far I feel.
 
CajunLB

CajunLB

Senior Audioholic
Several members talk highly of the JBL studio 5 series. Also the Infinity reference series. Both go on sale several times a year and represent a great price to performance ratio when they do.
 
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