New Speakers.

L

l rumble l

CAGiversary!
Hi, this is my first request so be easy on me. I now have a Sony Surround system about a year ago. And now i just want to upgrade the speakers. I belive i got the whole system a while ago.
http://www.nextag.com/SONY-HT-DDW790-Home-541269531/prices-html
That one. And now i want to upgrade the speakers. So i was thinking that i would just get new front left and right speakers and a new center speaker. So any opinions are welcome. I was looking for something relativly cheap. I have never bought speakers befor so i dont know what to expect in price. And if its not worth it to buy new speakers and i should just buy a new system let me know too. Thanks.
 
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Don't worry about the L R for now. Find a good Center and get a new sub. You'll be suprised how much of a difference it'll make.
For speakers I like Polk. Good sound and you won't break your wallet. You can get a good center for around $100-200. And almost any sub you buy will be better than what you have.
#1 rule of all in 1 HT systems, the sub and wires that come with it will always suck.
 
I have to diasgree about the center channel. If you have good LRs, you can remove the center and the receiver should be able to route the sound to the mains creating a phantom center. A good stereo setup will sound better than a crappy surround one. It would be better to get good mains now and add a matching center later. You can get some pretty good stuff around $200.
This
http://www.av123.com/products_product.php?section=speakers&product=82.1
or
http://www.vanns.com/shop/servlet/item/details/542120815
or
http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product_Code=POK+MONITOR30BK&JRSource=zdnet.datafeed.POK+MONITOR30BK

I would also suggest not rushing out and buying a cheap sub to replace yours.
You would do better in the long run to wait until you can get something good.
HSU and Velodyne make some good, affordable subs.
 
[quote name='Imperator']I have to diasgree about the center channel. If you have good LRs, you can remove the center and the receiver should be able to route the sound to the mains creating a phantom center.[/quote]

Put down the crack pipe and step away from the equipment, sir. ;)

Seriously. Stereo over Surround? When he started off with surround???? That could be the worst advice I've seen in a message board, and that is quite a feat. Like, epic level feat.

A vast majority of the activity on a movie or game is going to come out of a center channel. That is its raison d'etre! I'll agree that if you are only listening to music, that the front L R speakers are key, but unless the OP is sitting around listening to old Grand Funk LPs he needs a good Center. He originally bought a surround system for a reason. Hearing stuff fly around your living room is cool! (BTW OP go get the DTS copy of Die Hard from WallMart for $10 and you'll know what I'm talking about.)
Converting an All in One system piece by piece goes in this general order:
1. Center
2. Sub
3. Fronts and wires
4. Receiver
5. Rear channels.
This is how you get the most milage out of what he started with. For anyone not willing do drop $2000+ right away but wants to have good sound to "get them thought" this is the road map.
 
[quote name='l rumble l']Lol, thanks again. I guess i will search the internet for a decent center speaker first. Since i am not to worried about the sub at the moment. Thanks again.

Well i searched amazon and i found this. It seems a little to cheap. Let me know what you think.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000BMXIU6/ref=ord_cart_shr/105-5358665-3356426?%5Fencoding=UTF8&m=A1J7WSBJHTGUFA&v=glance[/quote]

WOW! Thats a pretty amazing deal. Retail is around $150. It would definately be a step up. I did some quick review searches and so far so good.
 
You misunderstand me, I am not saying that stereo is better than surround, I am saying that GOOD stereo is better than BAD surround. And while yes, a majority of the dialog in movies and games are coming from the center channel, it would be a bad idea to get a good center channel before the mains. If your watching a movie or playing a game, most things other than dialog will be going to the mains (and to a much lesser extent the surrounds). The main reason you need a center channel is for off axis listening, if you are sitting in the sweet spot of a properly setup stereo system, sounds that are supposed to come from the center will sound like they are coming from between the left and right speaker (hence phantom center). I am not trying to downplay the center channels importance, but to say you should get a good center before good mains is ridiculous.

Go to any audio website or publication and they will agree, getting good mains is always the first step.

Some other things to know to get the best bang for your buck.
You don't actually have to have a so called "center channel speaker" to use for your center channel speaker. It is actually both cheaper (usually) and better sounding to use the same exact speaker for your center as you do your mains. That is if space will allow. The reason center channels lay down horizontally is a compromise between sound quality and convinence. This is not to say you can buy a bookshelf speaker and lay it down horizontally.

Also, when looking at subs, make sure your receiver has a sub pre-out, if not you will want to make sure to get a sub that has line level inputs. And while you will want good wires, there is no need to pay for overpriced Monster cables, just get good, 14 or 12 gauge, 99% oxygen free copper. Home Depot is a good place for that.

I think you should get:
1. Mains
2. Sub
3. Center

after that it would be up to you wheather you want better surrounds or maybe a better receiver.

A good resource is www.avsforum.com
 
Why would running a 5.1 source over a 4.1 system be a good idea? It just doesn't make any sense! There is no way you'll find someone who will tell you its a good idea to use fronts instead of an actual center channel. Why would they even make it, if that were the case? The center channel is where most of the dialog for a movie will come from and specificly designed center channels are made with that in mind.
 
Running a 4.1 would be better than running a 5.1 if the 4.1 was using good front left and right speakers as oppsed to running a 5.1 with just a good center and mediocre (compratively) LRs. It's like saying what would be better, good sound all the way across the front, or just in the center up front.

The way your brain orients where a sound comes from in relation to you depnds of the difference in time from when a sound reaches your left ear versus your right ear. Thus is a sound reaches both ears at the same time your brain deduces that it came from in front of you. So, if you have two speakers, each an equal distance from your head, and they both play the same sound, it will sound like it is coming from directly in front of you. This is how stereo imaging works.

So if the OP were to get two good speakers for left and right, lets go with the Polk Monitor 30s that were $130. If the OP setup the speakers properly, it would sound to him as if he had three good speakers.

On the other hand if the OP got the Polk center channel for $100, he would have 1 good speaker.

Now obviously the best thing would be to get the left, right, AND center speaker, but given the choice between one or the other, the LRs are a better choice. Not to mention how weird it sounds to have a front row of speakers that are not timbre matched.
 
Listen to Imperator.

If you're serious about wanting to upgrade your sound go for...
1. Mains
2. Sub
3. Center
3. Surrounds

The fronts are going to do most of the heavy lifting for anything (Movies, Games, Music) and are no doubt the major priority.

And you can always use your existing surrounds until you're able to upgrade them, and its not as crucial to match their sound, so worry about them last.

As far as center and sub goes, a good sub will have a huge impact on how you experience movies and games. And like Imperator said, if you get solid mains, you can get them to do the work of the Center pretty adequately. At least until you can afford a seperate center.

But subs can get pretty expensive, so depending on how your budget allows you may want to go ahead and get a center to match your fronts. For the most part, you'll want to make sure to get the same brand and series as your fronts so the sound matches correctly.

So again...

#1 get some good fronts/mains
#2 get a good sub if you can afford it, or a matching center
#3 center, or save up for a good sub
#4 surrounds

And like Imperator stated, www.avsforum.com is the best site for this stuff. Specifically I think this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=809777) would help you a lot.

Hope that helps.
 
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