Upgrading Home Theater and Need Advice and Wisdom

C

CastorTroy3

Enthusiast
Newbie here to this forum but am a regular on other enthusiast forums and have learned so much from the pros in other areas.

I am currently running a home theater built in the last 90s and early 2000s.

I currently have:

1. Yamaha RXV220 Receiver
2. B&W 601s (L/R)
3. B&W LM1s (2 Rears)
4. B&W 600 series center channel (don't remember the model)
5. Valodyne 1012XI Subwoofer

Blue Jean cables thought the whole system.

I am most interested in Movie sound but do use the system for music and am looking to upgrade (or I should say bring my system into the current state of technology). At the time of purchase I felt like my system was pretty good and I still think my speakers and sub perform pretty well.

My room is rather large (17x18) with and open floor plan and 18 ft vaulted ceilings. So bass is an issue.

I just put in an order for an 85" QLED (Q60t) and I want to outfit the sound and integrate some voice control, wifi controls, and multi room settings. In the near term I am planning on two zones but wouldn't mind having options in the future.

My plan is to (in the short term) bring my receiver into the current decade. I started looking around and the improvement in technology and performance at a reduced cost point seems incredible. My Yamaha which was 1200 back in the day can be matched at a much lower price point. Based on my research it seems like there's a lot of under $1k options out there that can provide great quality and maybe spending $2k or even $1k is more than is necessary (I would love your opinions here).

Through my digging, I found the NAD T 777 V3 that seemed to have a ton of bells and whistles that interested me (again that may be going overboard).

The things that peaked my interest in the NAD were:

1. Dirac auto correction: one of the biggest thing that bothers me about my current system is the change in performance when I switch between audio sources (I find my self changing the speaker levels so often and when my family is using it with out me and I walk in I can hear how off the system is. Plus my wife hates me starting a movie with a sound test).

2. BluOS: Which would allow me to integrate music into more rooms and actually start using my receiver more for music. (Understanding that there is others out there such as HEOS and Music Play that compete)

3. Full 80 watts per channel

4. 6 HDMI ports (although I don't know the everything really needs to run through the receiver rather than direct connect and then udio out to the receiver from TB - does this really matter?)

5. Ability to change cards and upgrade for the future.

I don't like that it's not 9 channels as it sounds like the adding of 4 channels to my system will really add quality.

All this sounds really good even though NAD (which seems respected) is a brand I have never heard of. Now I can afford it but this isn't cheap and I wonder if I'm just engulfed in the journey and getting more than I need.

At the end of the day what I really want is options to integrate new components, produce good consistent sound, ease of use, multi-source integration, and not have to replace it for another 20 years.

Other things I'd like to consider are:

1. What additions should I make for improved sound - I've read alot about adding additional subs but I think my wife will kill me and for proper placement wiring is going to be an issue. Additionally, is 9.1 channels really the answer and if so am I better off spending the money on speakers.

2. Is there really any need for improvement in my speakers and I just think they are good because they are a fancy name brand but old and technology has changed.

Lastly, since my audio knowledge is 20 years old are there features and technologies that I really should be considering since I'm updating to the connected world.

Thanks so much for your help and read of what is definitely a very long post. IMO I like when people do thoughtful research before asking for the professionals to tell them what to do.
 
tmurnin

tmurnin

Full Audioholic
The NAD777 is a fine AVR. It is also $2400 retail. That’s an awful lot of $ for what it is. If you’re really committed to Dirac and BluOS, I’d get the T758 instead and invest the $1k difference in speakers (You won’t notice the 20w power difference). However, if you aren’t locked in to Dirac or BluOS, you can probably find better value on AVRs from Denon/Yamaha/Marantz in the $1k range - use their room correction and buy a Sonos Port for the whole house extension (or use HEOS if you go Denon/Marantz).

I would design my setup with the AVR as the audio hub and connect everything through it with a single out to the tv. That’s what the receiver is designed to do. You don’t list your sources so do you need 6 HDMI inputs? If so, the 758 prob doesn’t work.

Hard to give advice on the speakers without knowing your budget. Are you happy with how the B&W’s sound but you’re just wondering what might be better? Or is there something you feel is missing today?

If bass is the big issue, and with an 18’ vaulted ceiling, it’s going to be a challenge, I’d focus on a sub. If the wife won’t approve, maybe look at the cylinder-shaped model from SVS. Not as “large black box” ugly as most subs. Ideally I’d get a pair of those for that space.

I’m not a huge fan of 9 speaker setups. I’d rather buy the best front 3 I could afford - especially if you want to increase your focus on music - and then add on surrounds and rears.
 
C

CastorTroy3

Enthusiast
The NAD777 is a fine AVR. It is also $2400 retail. That’s an awful lot of $ for what it is. If you’re really committed to Dirac and BluOS, I’d get the T758 instead and invest the $1k difference in speakers (You won’t notice the 20w power difference). However, if you aren’t locked in to Dirac or BluOS, you can probably find better value on AVRs from Denon/Yamaha/Marantz in the $1k range - use their room correction and buy a Sonos Port for the whole house extension (or use HEOS if you go Denon/Marantz).

I would design my setup with the AVR as the audio hub and connect everything through it with a single out to the tv. That’s what the receiver is designed to do. You don’t list your sources so do you need 6 HDMI inputs? If so, the 758 prob doesn’t work.

Hard to give advice on the speakers without knowing your budget. Are you happy with how the B&W’s sound but you’re just wondering what might be better? Or is there something you feel is missing today?

If bass is the big issue, and with an 18’ vaulted ceiling, it’s going to be a challenge, I’d focus on a sub. If the wife won’t approve, maybe look at the cylinder-shaped model from SVS. Not as “large black box” ugly as most subs. Ideally I’d get a pair of those for that space.

I’m not a huge fan of 9 speaker setups. I’d rather buy the best front 3 I could afford - especially if you want to increase your focus on music - and then add on surrounds and rears.
@tmurnin thanks for the advice. Overall I'm happy with the performance of the B&W speakers except that I do find that I have an issue with voices in movies being too low while the action sounds are too high. I correct. This by upping the center channel and do hope that the new room correction would fix this. If not, maybe it's best to get a better center channel.

The 6 HDMI is more of a nice to have than a must. Currently, I'm only using TV/Cable, BlueRay, PS4, FireStick, so four is enough. We do periodically swap out the PS4 for another gaming counsel.

Oh and btw, I'm able to get the NAD for about $1,800 (openbox) so it's. A pretty good deal but I'm sure if I look around I can still get some good Denon and Martanz for $800-$1000.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk
 
ellisr63

ellisr63

Full Audioholic
IMO Dirac is worth the difference. I have owned DIRAC in the past and Audyssey cannot touch the performance of Dirac. In my new HT I am looking for a new AVP with Dirac too.

Sent from my SM-T830 using Tapatalk
 
Kingnoob

Kingnoob

Audioholic Samurai
The NAD777 is a fine AVR. It is also $2400 retail. That’s an awful lot of $ for what it is. If you’re really committed to Dirac and BluOS, I’d get the T758 instead and invest the $1k difference in speakers (You won’t notice the 20w power difference). However, if you aren’t locked in to Dirac or BluOS, you can probably find better value on AVRs from Denon/Yamaha/Marantz in the $1k range - use their room correction and buy a Sonos Port for the whole house extension (or use HEOS if you go Denon/Marantz).

I would design my setup with the AVR as the audio hub and connect everything through it with a single out to the tv. That’s what the receiver is designed to do. You don’t list your sources so do you need 6 HDMI inputs? If so, the 758 prob doesn’t work.

Hard to give advice on the speakers without knowing your budget. Are you happy with how the B&W’s sound but you’re just wondering what might be better? Or is there something you feel is missing today?

If bass is the big issue, and with an 18’ vaulted ceiling, it’s going to be a challenge, I’d focus on a sub. If the wife won’t approve, maybe look at the cylinder-shaped model from SVS. Not as “large black box” ugly as most subs. Ideally I’d get a pair of those for that space.

I’m not a huge fan of 9 speaker setups. I’d rather buy the best front 3 I could afford - especially if you want to increase your focus on music - and then add on surrounds and rears.
Try cylindrical subs for that big of a room not sure if you considered diy . Who other then svs makes them ?
What is NAD an ultra premium brand ? Sounds exceptional


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
@tmurnin thanks for the advice. Overall I'm happy with the performance of the B&W speakers except that I do find that I have an issue with voices in movies being too low while the action sounds are too high. I correct. This by upping the center channel and do hope that the new room correction would fix this. If not, maybe it's best to get a better center channel.

The 6 HDMI is more of a nice to have than a must. Currently, I'm only using TV/Cable, BlueRay, PS4, FireStick, so four is enough. We do periodically swap out the PS4 for another gaming counsel.

Oh and btw, I'm able to get the NAD for about $1,800 (openbox) so it's. A pretty good deal but I'm sure if I look around I can still get some good Denon and Martanz for $800-$1000.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk
Many complain of this dialog vs action thing, and it may largely lay in the mix of the film rather than your gear. Is your center well positioned? Some avrs do have a dsp feature to accentuate dialog, tho (dialog lift or something like that). You might also try a dynamic compression dsp solution, that can help too.

Might be time to upgrade the sub or even move to duals.
 
C

CastorTroy3

Enthusiast
Many complain of this dialog vs action thing, and it may largely lay in the mix of the film rather than your gear. Is your center well positioned? Some avrs do have a dsp feature to accentuate dialog, tho (dialog lift or something like that). You might also try a dynamic compression dsp solution, that can help too.

Might be time to upgrade the sub or even move to duals.
My current AVR doesn't have the DSP but I have set me tv and BR to bring out the dialogue. However, BR is fine because it's a dedicated source. However, when I use my tv different apps (like Netflix vs Comcast) need differing corrections.

I can definitely use multiple subs and need to sell it to the wife.

I think my sole sub is pretty good. Its way larger than they are these days but performance is pretty good. When it was in a smaller room it was pretty clear.

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk
 
tmurnin

tmurnin

Full Audioholic
I would boost the center channel level before messing around with a DSP.

One caution - NAD doesn’t have the best reputation for quality anymore. I’ve never had an issue with the one I use, but I know a lot of people here have complained about units breaking pretty early in their life cycle. I don’t normally believe in extended warranties, but it may be worth checking into one here if you go with it.

You might consider looking into the Anthem MRX720 at that price as a comparison. A lot of people love ARC room correction as well. You won’t get BluOS on the Anthem, but the quality of the AVR is pretty solid.
 
Auditor55

Auditor55

Audioholic General
Newbie here to this forum but am a regular on other enthusiast forums and have learned so much from the pros in other areas.

I am currently running a home theater built in the last 90s and early 2000s.

I currently have:

1. Yamaha RXV220 Receiver
2. B&W 601s (L/R)
3. B&W LM1s (2 Rears)
4. B&W 600 series center channel (don't remember the model)
5. Valodyne 1012XI Subwoofer

Blue Jean cables thought the whole system.

I am most interested in Movie sound but do use the system for music and am looking to upgrade (or I should say bring my system into the current state of technology). At the time of purchase I felt like my system was pretty good and I still think my speakers and sub perform pretty well.

My room is rather large (17x18) with and open floor plan and 18 ft vaulted ceilings. So bass is an issue.

I just put in an order for an 85" QLED (Q60t) and I want to outfit the sound and integrate some voice control, wifi controls, and multi room settings. In the near term I am planning on two zones but wouldn't mind having options in the future.

My plan is to (in the short term) bring my receiver into the current decade. I started looking around and the improvement in technology and performance at a reduced cost point seems incredible. My Yamaha which was 1200 back in the day can be matched at a much lower price point. Based on my research it seems like there's a lot of under $1k options out there that can provide great quality and maybe spending $2k or even $1k is more than is necessary (I would love your opinions here).

Through my digging, I found the NAD T 777 V3 that seemed to have a ton of bells and whistles that interested me (again that may be going overboard).

The things that peaked my interest in the NAD were:

1. Dirac auto correction: one of the biggest thing that bothers me about my current system is the change in performance when I switch between audio sources (I find my self changing the speaker levels so often and when my family is using it with out me and I walk in I can hear how off the system is. Plus my wife hates me starting a movie with a sound test).

2. BluOS: Which would allow me to integrate music into more rooms and actually start using my receiver more for music. (Understanding that there is others out there such as HEOS and Music Play that compete)

3. Full 80 watts per channel

4. 6 HDMI ports (although I don't know the everything really needs to run through the receiver rather than direct connect and then udio out to the receiver from TB - does this really matter?)

5. Ability to change cards and upgrade for the future.

I don't like that it's not 9 channels as it sounds like the adding of 4 channels to my system will really add quality.

All this sounds really good even though NAD (which seems respected) is a brand I have never heard of. Now I can afford it but this isn't cheap and I wonder if I'm just engulfed in the journey and getting more than I need.

At the end of the day what I really want is options to integrate new components, produce good consistent sound, ease of use, multi-source integration, and not have to replace it for another 20 years.

Other things I'd like to consider are:

1. What additions should I make for improved sound - I've read alot about adding additional subs but I think my wife will kill me and for proper placement wiring is going to be an issue. Additionally, is 9.1 channels really the answer and if so am I better off spending the money on speakers.

2. Is there really any need for improvement in my speakers and I just think they are good because they are a fancy name brand but old and technology has changed.

Lastly, since my audio knowledge is 20 years old are there features and technologies that I really should be considering since I'm updating to the connected world.

Thanks so much for your help and read of what is definitely a very long post. IMO I like when people do thoughtful research before asking for the professionals to tell them what to do.
I don't think Q60T is way to go as it is not a FALD LED set so you might get some blooming in a dark movie viewing environment.
 

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