Looking to upgrade - speakers or AV receiver?

[Valminuto]

Hello guys, I am looking for some advice on what to do in regards to upgrading home theater equipment. I currently have this:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B003IT49LG/ref=cm_cr_arp_mb_bdcrb_top?ie=UTF8

I got this in 2011, it was my first step into the HT world so I really didn't know much I have no issues with it I'm just wondering if upgrading would help me or not.

My question is: is getting a more recent receiver and using the same speakers I have better than getting three new front speakers and using my current receiver?

I mainly watch movies and play video games, my room is pretty small it's a bedroom 12x14 I believe. My budget is around $500. I have only looked at receivers and it seems I can get a decent one for that price. I'm not sure about speakers but I know they're expensive.

I appreciate any advice guys. Thanks a lot

 

[shibashis]

Changing the front speaker have the potential to change your experience completely, upgrade the front left and right and the center speakers. The receiver is powerful enough to drive nice bookshelves, listen to a few options before you decide on a pair.

 

[mshifi]

if you use is primarily to watch movies abt 70%, then the avr would suffice. you need to change the LRC only to bookshelf.

 

[elangoas]

Hello guys, I am looking for some advice on what to do in regards to upgrading home theater equipment. I currently have this:

Amazon.com: Onkyo HT-S6300 7.1-Channel Home Theater Receiver and Speaker System (Discontinued by Manufacturer): Electronics

I got this in 2011, it was my first step into the HT world so I really didn't know much I have no issues with it I'm just wondering if upgrading would help me or not.

My question is: is getting a more recent receiver and using the same speakers I have better than getting three new front speakers and using my current receiver?

I mainly watch movies and play video games, my room is pretty small it's a bedroom 12x14 I believe. My budget is around $500. I have only looked at receivers and it seems I can get a decent one for that price. I'm not sure about speakers but I know they're expensive.

I appreciate any advice guys. Thanks a lot

For Movies & gaming, satellites are more than enough... Retain the speakers, use your budget of $500 + if you can sell the current AVR alone for $250 Max ? YOu got yourself a good budget of $750..Invest that on good AVR, you will have good performance than upgrading your speakers..

 

[sash]

My 5 cent -
You won't hear any difference with those speakers if you upgrade your receiver. They are well mated anyway. If i were you, i'd just stick with them until i'm ready to upgrade everything including the speakers, receiver etc. I would then maybe audition more speakers and setups to see what i like. Eventually i'd know if i need to upgrade and then i would

 

[shibashis]

I'll still advocate changing the speakers, the best way to judge would be to audition a few speakers at dealers who keep Onkyo receivers, that way you can get a fair idea how the speakers will sound with your AVR.

You may have to increase the budget a bit to accommodate a matching center speaker as well.

 

[Valminuto]

Thanks for the responses guys. I started researching some speakers after making this post and I came up with a couple of different ones. I feel upgrading the front three would be the best option for me currently.

Pioneer sp-Fs52 and matching center

Polk Audio T50 and matching center

Of course there are a few others around that price range too. 100-130 per speaker, 300-350 for the three really appeals to me. I think I would prefer floor standing as opposed to bookshelf, I would need to get stands for the bookshelf speakers anyway.

I'll probably head out this weekend to see if I can find any of these in store to hear them.

What are your guys thoughts on speaker wire/gague? Something I ran into during my search that I didn't know was a huge deal. 16 gauge seems to the common? Thanks again for the help!