Just a thought for HT setup!

[chander]

Dear FMs,

I have been toying with this idea for a while, but I can't really make up my mind, so I am going to throw this out to you guys to pick your brains.

As I might have mentioned earlier, I have a dedicated HT setup where the front FS and the center are in dire need for replacement - because the fronts are old but primarily I am bored of their sound. It doesn't do anything. Still great to watch movies, but as this has become my temp office, music is kinda mehhh....

Now,my source being a PC and an Amazon firestick now and my AVR being a Denon X2300W, I was wondering, does it make sense to invest in a very good pair of speakers as your front in a setup which is being driven by an AVR. I understand, any better speaker will'most probably' sound better than my current setup but does it make sense to drive them using my AVR? To elaborate further I say for example - I can get myself the Wharfedale Linton heritages for 1.35L. I guess it will certainly sound better than my Diamond 8.4s, but does it make sense practically? The speakers will never be driven to their full potential and I am absolutely not looking at investing in a new AVR unless this one pops it.

So knowing the Lintons will be a huge upgrade, but they won't really shine or would they? Or lets say a D330 (though obviously not comparable to the lintons), would be a more practical solution given my electronics?

I do not want to own a hayabusa and live in a place where there are no roads for 100s of KMs to give you an analogy.

What do you guys think?

 

[fLUX]

I too am in a similar dilemma and had started a thread for the same. My AVR is a X2600H so not hugely different from yours in terms of audio performance apart from the beefier tech I believe. I have tried using Concept 20 as my fronts and Dynaudio Emit M20 as fronts, did not notice a very huge difference , probably because the center is still the 3090i. While the sudden burst of music or action scenes certainly seem to be improve with better Fronts, getting a matching center would be absolutely neccesary else the fronts would feel way too overpowering.

While a Hayabusa would be an overkill , Ninja would still be a smooth and better ride

 

[raghupb]

Get a preamp that has HT bypass, add a decent poweramp, buy moderately priced speakers that suits your ear.
For music you will have a good stereo, for movies AVR does the magic of channel decoding

Or try and source the Parasound 200INT from US
Cheers,
Raghu

 

[superczar]

Dear FMs,

I have been toying with this idea for a while, but I can't really make up my mind, so I am going to throw this out to you guys to pick your brains.

As I might have mentioned earlier, I have a dedicated HT setup where the front FS and the center are in dire need for replacement - because the fronts are old but primarily I am bored of their sound. It doesn't do anything. Still great to watch movies, but as this has become my temp office, music is kinda mehhh....

Now,my source being a PC and an Amazon firestick now and my AVR being a Denon X2300W, I was wondering, does it make sense to invest in a very good pair of speakers as your front in a setup which is being driven by an AVR. I understand, any better speaker will'most probably' sound better than my current setup but does it make sense to drive them using my AVR? To elaborate further I say for example - I can get myself the Wharfedale Linton heritages for 1.35L. I guess it will certainly sound better than my Diamond 8.4s, but does it make sense practically? The speakers will never be driven to their full potential and I am absolutely not looking at investing in a new AVR unless this one pops it.

So knowing the Lintons will be a huge upgrade, but they won't really shine or would they? Or lets say a D330 (though obviously not comparable to the lintons), would be a more practical solution given my electronics?

I do not want to own a hayabusa and live in a place where there are no roads for 100s of KMs to give you an analogy.

What do you guys think?

Oh, a speaker upgrade from those diamonds will make a huge difference to your music experience...

The notion of Integrateds being far superior to AVRs is a bit of an over-stretch..
True if you are trying to get a high end speaker from a subjective perception of 90/100 to 93/100 , not so much if you are running regular speakers driven at moderate volumes and 2 channels driven.
Your X2300 has a pretty decent amp section to begin with.

To sum it up, An upgrade from your current speakers to say a Oberon 7 or similar will get you a signifiant jump in stereo SQ..
Said jump will be of a much bigger magnitude than a subsequent (hypothetical) jump to a good Integrated amp (which will not be needed)

And yes, a PC or a firestick running spotify over HDMI is a pretty good source, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise

Edit: Just realized you have the 8.4 - I haven‘t heard them but given the size of the drivers, you may need to look at speakers in a segment above the Oberon 7 for a true upgrade.

 

[prateekatasniya]

Dear FMs,

I have been toying with this idea for a while, but I can't really make up my mind, so I am going to throw this out to you guys to pick your brains.

As I might have mentioned earlier, I have a dedicated HT setup where the front FS and the center are in dire need for replacement - because the fronts are old but primarily I am bored of their sound. It doesn't do anything. Still great to watch movies, but as this has become my temp office, music is kinda mehhh....

Now,my source being a PC and an Amazon firestick now and my AVR being a Denon X2300W, I was wondering, does it make sense to invest in a very good pair of speakers as your front in a setup which is being driven by an AVR. I understand, any better speaker will'most probably' sound better than my current setup but does it make sense to drive them using my AVR? To elaborate further I say for example - I can get myself the Wharfedale Linton heritages for 1.35L. I guess it will certainly sound better than my Diamond 8.4s, but does it make sense practically? The speakers will never be driven to their full potential and I am absolutely not looking at investing in a new AVR unless this one pops it.

So knowing the Lintons will be a huge upgrade, but they won't really shine or would they? Or lets say a D330 (though obviously not comparable to the lintons), would be a more practical solution given my electronics?

I do not want to own a hayabusa and live in a place where there are no roads for 100s of KMs to give you an analogy.

What do you guys think?

JBL stage bookshelves speakers are top buy..
Do consider them.
Perfectly suits your requirement.

 

[rsjaurr]

I would recommend keeping current avr and adding a multichannel amplifier provided avr has preouts especially dif you are upgrading your speakers.

 

[elangoas]

I have a dedicated HT setup

Since it is a dedicated HT room and if you have a full 5.1.2 set-up or less set-up, may be consider doing acoustics for your room, if you haven't already done..

I do not want to own a hayabusa and live in a place where there are no roads for 100s of KMs to give you an analogy.

True that, but if someone does have that liberty, then a multiple & quick 0-100Kmph (or) 0-150Kmph wherever possible should make one happy ..

So in that regard, a 11.2 capable AVR for your room is also possible ..

 

[chander]

Thanks @raghupb, @prateekatasniya @rsjaurr @elangoas I am actually not looking at an upgrade in terms of electronics and any treatments or so at all. I am pretty fond of my electronics for what it is. The PC is a decently high specced machine, twin GTX in SLI, Low Noise SMPS, high rpm extremely low noise fans, one of the top end MB from ASRock with LGA 1155 socket I think, all SSDs, M2s for OS and programs - this thing has great audio quality for games and movies for sure. I can't fault the AVR either, as it does perfectly with my 65 inch 4K, absolutely no issues yet. It is also extremely hard to come buy really good movies that have Atmos and even lesser sources to stream them from unless I go for physical media. So I am Ok not making that investment yet, till the streaming services start taking us a little more seriously here. My 5.1 (mostly 5.0) is used to it full potential mostly when I am gaming, when that surround sound is fantastic as games do have amazing effects, music was never a really high priority till now.

Thanks @fLUX and @superczar - bang on!

I have been seeing a bunch of posts here, where people are trying to get a speaker upgrade with no near future upgrade of their mid or entry level AVRs for example. The speaker suggestions (with all due respect) however seems to me like a bit out of the league of the AVR. See at this point I own close to 9 pair of speakers - passive and active (not counting portables) and 4 stereo AMPs + 1 AVR. I have tried a bunch of speakers to replace my fronts in the past, and they all change the sonic characteristic in my experience, but I can't really say one is hugely better than the other, and I feel, that somewhat the AVR might be responsible? Correct me if I am wrong please as that's why I am here. I just wanted to understand from your point of view that at what point a better speakers stops making a difference in a real world scenario where your low/mid fi AVRs are the drivers. Like I said I can sell a kidney and buy myself my 10th pair and let it be Harberths and be done with it, but does it make sense? Is it justifiable to drive a great pair of speakers at half or less of their ability given the AVR or it makes sense to get something mid level that can be driven to perhaps their best using your low/mid level electronics?

Edit: Just realized you have the 8.4 - I haven‘t heard them but given the size of the drivers, you may need to look at speakers in a segment above the Oberon 7 for a true upgrade.

Yeah the 8.4s are actually not bad at all, they are pretty much the prototype of the Wharfedale house sound, which I have started getting bored of in recent years and with my Q acoustics C20s now, I can see, that some real budget options can have incredible sound too.

 

[superczar]

better speakers stops making a difference in a real world scenario where your low/mid fi AVRs are the drivers

I don't have an experience with very high end speakers or amplifiers like some of the FMs here..
However I can speak for combos that I have tried.
I personally don't hear much of a difference between a mid-end Integrated Marantz PM17 vs a AVR (X3500 or SR6010) driving a Focal Aria 926 or a KEF Q300.
Things may change at the upper end of the spectrum though

 

[raghupb]

@chander
I understand that there are many folks who are quite happy with AVR driving speakers for 2-channel.
In my case, Marantz NR1605, very basic 50W AVR just cannot complete the stereo experience with my main speakers (KEF R300)
Not the AVR's fault, it is built for something different. This is why I went the pre+pwr (pre with HT bypass) in between.
All of these share the same listening space, so my options were very limited.
Speakers like Wharfedale Linton or Harbeths, you've listed above, will always leave you wondering, what if?
This bloody hobby is sometimes like a vampire

Cheers,
Raghu

 

[chander]

I personally don't hear much of a difference between a mid-end Integrated Marantz PM17 vs a AVR (X3500 or SR6010) driving a Focal Aria 926 or a KEF Q300.

Haha - I totally consider both of these speakers really high end , specially the Focals nice I always wanted to hear a pair of Focal Floorstanders. I get what you mean though. That's what I was saying, it is all as good as the weakest link.

This bloody hobby is sometimes like a vampire

Oh hell yeah, with no side effects of eternal life and beauty, only the insatiable hunger and a perpetually maxed out CC. I would love to have a setup with all things perfect, but essentially being an accountant I manage to make some economical decisions . Hence in the past I always stuck with used speakers only, the value was incredible, and if you can get a 2L speaker for 30K you don't care if you are driving it with a hand crank!

Now I am waiting for someone to sell their Focal Arias for 40K and I don't mind them with my AVR , you hearing this @superczar?

 

[superczar]

Haha - I totally consider both of these speakers really high end , specially the Focals nice I always wanted to hear a pair of Focal Floorstanders. I get what you mean though. That's what I was saying, it is all as good as the weakest link.


Oh hell yeah, with no side effects of eternal life and beauty, only the insatiable hunger and a perpetually maxed out CC. I would love to have a setup with all things perfect, but essentially being an accountant I manage to make some economical decisions . Hence in the past I always stuck with used speakers only, the value was incredible, and if you can get a 2L speaker for 30K you don't care if you are driving it with a hand crank!

Now I am waiting for someone to sell their Focal Arias for 40K and I don't mind them with my AVR , you hearing this @superczar?

LOL.. I guess I will have to give that a pass!
On a side note, I also am a value seeker - although I'd say that speakers are one thing that can be an exception given how long they last!

 

[raghupb]

<snip>

Oh hell yeah, with no side effects of eternal life and beauty, only the insatiable hunger and a perpetually maxed out CC. I would love to have a setup with all things perfect, but essentially being an accountant I manage to make some economical decisions . Hence in the past I always stuck with used speakers only, the value was incredible, and if you can get a 2L speaker for 30K you don't care if you are driving it with a hand crank!

<snip>

Perfectly valid approach in this hobby.
If one takes time to search (possibility wait for the planets to line up) there are good deals out there.
Disclosure: Most of my components (barring a select few) are either used/demo items.
And many of them quite old too

Cheers,
Raghu

 

[chander]

Perfectly valid approach in this hobby.
If one takes time to search (possibility wait for the planets to line up) there are good deals out there.
Disclosure: Most of my components (barring a select few) are either used/demo items.
And many of them quite old too

Cheers,
Raghu

While I was in Delhi, there were a few friends in the whole embassy circle, so before things went out for sale through dealers, I could get my hands on a lot of those components from the expat/diplomat owners directly. Now it seems things will never be the same.

 

[raghupb]

While I was in Delhi, there were a few friends in the whole embassy circle, so before things went out for sale through dealers, I could get my hands on a lot of those components from the expat/diplomat owners directly. Now it seems things will never be the same.

Interesting!!
So you have been a part of "musicians" bubble, "green" bubble, "diplomat" bubble.
If either have crossed paths, have they rendered you "stoned immaculate"

Cheers,
Raghu

 

[chander]

Interesting!!
So you have been a part of "musicians" bubble, "green" bubble, "diplomat" bubble.
If either have crossed paths, have they rendered you "stoned immaculate"

Cheers,
Raghu

- it was all a part of one big very hazy bubble - it was all the same -
the GREENED musicians were all in the diplomat circle, we were just the tails.
There was mostly bad jamming and 1000 BPM trails,
as the influence mostly entails,
I would have been a little Enterprising with the Free-Ones (Freedom),
But alas all the Free-ones were males
So yeah, there was a lot of getting STUNNED,
But doing it immaculately- was mostly epic fails.

 

[Drmedicaljournal]

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