What is the right receiver

[aparvata]

Just moved into a house that has 10 yr old Bose pre-wired speakers/amp system. Have 4 in the corners and two center speakers and sub-woofer
What is a good low-end receiver to get the best out of my setup?
DO these systems last that long and is it worth keeping?

Thanks
A

 

[mikemorrow]

IMHO I would buy new speakers, I have no time for Bose speakers

 

[Leprkon]

IMHO I would buy new speakers, I have no time for Bose speakers

I wouldn't waste anything more serious than this on your speakers:

http://www.ubid.com/actn/opn/getpage.asp?AuctionId=10624253

 

[aparvata]

Are they really that bad

after 10 years. If the old ones are bad, should I go for an entire new set?

 

[Leprkon]

after 10 years. If the old ones are bad, should I go for an entire new set?

if you have a full surround set (left rear, right rear, center rear), you could probably use them for a while. The fronts and sub would be better replaced with any number of other quality brands.

Let me qualify that by saying, keep the backs if you only use them for movies. If you have any kind of DVD-audio or SACD collection, you are in for a let-down.

movies don't work the rears too hard, and you can get by with marginal quality until the budget allows something better. make the fronts a priority.

if you really want to find out, the THX optimizer on movies like Star Wars will do a frequency sweep for you. It runs downward from 20 KHz to 20 Hz. try it with the Bose... I would expect you hear the tone for a while, and then it goes away, and then comes back. Bose systems are notoriously weak in the 100-200 Hz zones, which is, unfortunately, the frequency at which most male voices happen. The result is very muddy dialog during your movies.

 

[aparvata]

Movies is what i'd be using it for

Thanks for the tips. It is a 5.1. I guwss i'll replace the speakers.
I have a pioneer plasma with HDMI inputs. Should I look for a receiver with HDMI output and inputs as well?

 

[Leprkon]

Thanks for the tips. It is a 5.1. I guwss i'll replace the speakers.
I have a pioneer plasma with HDMI inputs. Should I look for a receiver with HDMI output and inputs as well?

I'm the wrong guy to ask that. I (heresy ! heresy!) personally believe you send video to things that look pretty and audio to things that make noise.

There are two reasons to look for such a receiver.

1) you want to make switching between inputs on the TV and receiver to happen at the same time, with as little fuss as possible. This cuts down on your effort and, normally, number of remotes needed. (what kind of man wants LESS remotes ?)

2) you have more than one HDMI device to input (ie X-tendo-Station 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 Ultra Gold Plus) and need more inputs than the TV has. In which case, you will probably burn Laura Croft's slinky behind into the middle of your shiney new plasma screen.

Just for the record, look verrrryyyyy closeley at whatever receiver you do pick to do these jobs. Several models out right now are having HDMI-incompatibility issues. Search the forums for which ones. It's not like I care to know.

 

[aparvata]

Thank you

Thanks a lot guys. Will update once I figure out something

 

[aparvata]

What will be a good starting pre-amp

Finally figured my system out. I connected my TV stereo out to the jacks in the wall and all the speakers started booming and quality is good enough. I have a set of questions to understand this better
1. Is my amp converting the stereo to 5.1 surround sound ? That means I do not need a receiver. Is that right?
2. If 1 is true, all I need is a passive pre-amp to be able to control the volume remotely. Right now, I have a wall-built volume knob. Is this accurate?
What is a good starting passive pre-amp?
3. If I were to buy a cheap receiver and use it just as a pass-through and use its remote, will the sound quality degrade?

Thanks for all the inputs

 

[jcPanny]

Current speaker setup.

Since you connect a stereo source (TV) and have sound from all speakers, you must have an amplifier some place (in the wall, closet, etc.) which takes the line level input and connects 3 speakers to the Left channel and 3 speakers to the right channel. This amp might all ready have a volume control.

This is not surround sound. It is stereo audio comming out of 3 pairs of speakers. Verify for youself that all speakers are playing the same thing.

If you are happy with the current setup, then leave it as is, wire in a volume control, and connect all audio through the TV.

If you want 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound, you will need a receiver with speaker wires from each speaker to the back of the receiver. With this configuration, you can play a 5.1 Dolby DVD with special effects that pan around the room, etc.

As others have suggested, you should consider a speaker upgrade if you are buying a receiver and rewiring. Check out the bookshelf / sub systems from SVS and AV123.

 

[aparvata]

It already has a volume control

wired and in the wall. I am trying to get a remote volume control. Can I attach an external device to get it?
BTW, your description of my setup is very accurate. However, there are some sounds that seem to come onl from a particular speaker. Maybe, I am wrong.