Upgrade suggestions

[Akshit2111]

I currently have a 3.0 system. Initially i thought of buying htib but instead thought of buildimg my own system slowly. Since i was on a tight budget initially, i got towers and AVR as my first purchase. I didnt know much about audio at that point of time as i feel i got a little underpowered avr compared to my speakers. I added center therafter( though did not feel much of a difference). Now the question is what should be my next target.. like should i get a sub first, should i upgrade my amplifier, should i get sattelite speakers and complete my 5.0 system.. i am confused as to what should i save for initially.
Towers- polk RTI A7
centre- polk csi a4
AVR-- pioneer vsx 831

 

[efernand1]

if you have a friend with another similar power or more AVR....then borrow it and test with your speakers for a week....

You need to either use a powerful yamaha or marantz....

 

[MaSh]

I currently have a 3.0 system. Initially i thought of buying htib but instead thought of buildimg my own system slowly. Since i was on a tight budget initially, i got towers and AVR as my first purchase. I didnt know much about audio at that point of time as i feel i got a little underpowered avr compared to my speakers. I added center therafter( though did not feel much of a difference). Now the question is what should be my next target.. like should i get a sub first, should i upgrade my amplifier, should i get sattelite speakers and complete my 5.0 system.. i am confused as to what should i save for initially.
Towers- polk RTI A7
centre- polk csi a4
AVR-- pioneer vsx 831

In my opinion get a budget to mid budget Sub. What that will do is take away a chunk of load from your amp. Low End is where the most power is needed. When that is handed over to the Sub which is has its own amp designed to handle low end, you receiver gets better head room to power your other speakers. You speakers too would sound a bit cleaner. For rear surrounds, you can get basic 8 Ohm satellites or bookshelves from Polk.

MaSh

 

[Akshit2111]

In my opinion get a budget to mid budget Sub. What that will do is take away a chunk of load from your amp. Low End is where the most power is needed. When that is handed over to the Sub which is has its own amp designed to handle low end, you receiver gets better head room to power your other speakers. You speakers too would sound a bit cleaner. For rear surrounds, you can get basic 8 Ohm satellites or bookshelves from Polk.

MaSh

Thank you sir. That was quite helpful. Now the next question comes as to which sub should i get. Like is their any requirement for pairing or anythinv like that? If i get a budget sub will it produce similar bass if not better as compared to my rti a7's. Also any good suggestions. Can i get any entry level sub from polks? Or you suggest some other brand?

 

[MaSh]

Thank you sir. That was quite helpful. Now the next question comes as to which sub should i get. Like is their any requirement for pairing or anythinv like that? If i get a budget sub will it produce similar bass if not better as compared to my rti a7's. Also any good suggestions. Can i get any entry level sub from polks? Or you suggest some other brand?

He he buying a Sub is a different type of nightmare. Trust me, if this is going to be your first sub, it will not be you last. So buy one that fits your budget, fits the space you have in your room, driver is at-least 10", Line Inputs to connect to your receiver's sub out and most importantly goes as low or lower in the frequency range compared to your towers. The towers have Mid Bass drivers and the Sub has a larger and a real Bass driver. So they are going to sound different. How good or how bad, only you can tell after you have placed it correctly in your room. One thing for sure, it will definitely be an improvement over what you have now. Dont think too much for now, get one and you will learn what to look for in your next Sub.

For Sub, I would not look at Polk unless you are getting one for free. They are not bad, but will not complement your towers. Take a look at the Wanted and What to buy threads where people are discussing Subs. That should give you an idea. I use a very simple and basic Pioneer sub. It goes well in my setup upto a certain volume, after which it starts bottoming out. This same sub in a smaller room of about 10x11 is a monster, in a 16x12 room, just good enough. So you need keep such things in mind too.

MaSh

 

[Dr.Lakshay]

Thank you sir. That was quite helpful. Now the next question comes as to which sub should i get. Like is their any requirement for pairing or anythinv like that? If i get a budget sub will it produce similar bass if not better as compared to my rti a7's. Also any good suggestions. Can i get any entry level sub from polks? Or you suggest some other brand?

Since you are in Delhi, you could have a look at these second hand options :
https://www.olx.in/item/brown-jamo-sub-200-active-subwoofer-ID1e0dTz.html

https://www.olx.in/item/jamo-sub-250-active-subwoofer-woofer-home-theatre-ID1ejqTR.html

 

[Akshit2111]

Since you are in Delhi, you could have a look at these second hand options :
https://www.olx.in/item/brown-jamo-sub-200-active-subwoofer-ID1e0dTz.html

https://www.olx.in/item/jamo-sub-250-active-subwoofer-woofer-home-theatre-ID1ejqTR.html

I have a contact in delhi for second hand options. But ia Jamo good when it comes to subs?

 

[Akshit2111]

He he buying a Sub is a different type of nightmare. Trust me, if this is going to be your first sub, it will not be you last. So buy one that fits your budget, fits the space you have in your room, driver is at-least 10", Line Inputs to connect to your receiver's sub out and most importantly goes as low or lower in the frequency range compared to your towers. The towers have Mid Bass drivers and the Sub has a larger and a real Bass driver. So they are going to sound different. How good or how bad, only you can tell after you have placed it correctly in your room. One thing for sure, it will definitely be an improvement over what you have now. Dont think too much for now, get one and you will learn what to look for in your next Sub.

For Sub, I would not look at Polk unless you are getting one for free. They are not bad, but will not complement your towers. Take a look at the Wanted and What to buy threads where people are discussing Subs. That should give you an idea. I use a very simple and basic Pioneer sub. It goes well in my setup upto a certain volume, after which it starts bottoming out. This same sub in a smaller room of about 10x11 is a monster, in a 16x12 room, just good enough. So you need keep such things in mind too.

MaSh

When we say it wont compliment my floorstanders what basically are we looking at. So that i can get an idea as to what should i avoid while buying a sub. Coz polk as you said are not that great in subs(i have heard the same) but to my curious mind it seems bizarre as to why they wont pair well with floorstanders manufactured by the same brand.

 

[tuff]

On one hand , your current speakers put out ample bass if used with a proper powered amplifier. On the other hand, if you add a sub, the amp will drive the speakers more efficiently as the bottom frequencies will be handled by the sub. Brands like Velodyne, SVS, Sunfire, and a few others are preferred but they tend to be much more expensive.
If you can replace the amp, it would be the best suggestion as efernand1 made. Like of the Yamaha Aventage series would be well suited.
Mind you, before you go out and buy another amp, see what can be done to your room, as it is one of the biggest culprits to make or break a system.

 

[Akshit2111]

On one hand , your current speakers put out ample9811256782 bass if used with a proper powered amplifier. On the other hand, if you add a sub, the amp will drive the speakers more efficiently as the bottom frequencies will be handled by the sub. Brands like Velodyne, SVS, Sunfire, and a few others are preferred but they tend to be much more expensive.
If you can replace the amp, it would be the best suggestion as efernand1 made. Like of the Yamaha Aventage series would be well suited.
Mind you, before you go out and buy another amp, see what can be done to your room, as it is one of the biggest culprits to make or break a system.

See this becomes all the more confusing now.
I cannot do much for my room but i guess it is not that big a culprit coz i have sofa bed carpet curtains.. so it needs very little treatment or in other words not much i can do about it. This out of the way next question comes--- since the sound is not upto my liking you guys have suggested to go for a separate sub or buy a powerful amp to drive my rti's. Now the choice is btw these two..whether to get a sub first or an av upgrade.. obviously down the line both will happen but looking what avr i have and what i am being suggested theres a huge difference.. like huge! So what comes in proximity of my budget as of now is a subwoofer.
Also an avr this expensive would be way out of my league for long!
So then coming down to the answer....start saving for an AV upgrade( maybe denon x2400 or pioneer lx series), get a power amplifier( this is not an option currently as i dont have pre outs on my AVR..this means down the line ill have to add an AVR and an amplifier both) and finally just get a subwoofer...
Sorry if i may seem too confused coz i am quite new to this game and i really want to have good knowledge regarding this!

 

[tuff]

you are rightly confused, I get confused sometime's myself. That is exactly what this forum is for...LOL! I am sure everyone of us have made wrong choices and regretted later. but we have to start somewhere. Is there anyone near you who might lend you an amp that is more powerful than the one you have? That would be an awesome way to check if you need to save up for the amp. Even a stereo amp like Norge should be great to test the speakers potential out. But if you can change neither the amp or the speakers, subwoofer might be a possible option to get somewhere near the line of expectation. And yes, please do not hurry. Try to tweak the settings in your avr as sometimes certain default settings are not the most optimum for all scenarios.

 

[dinesh1201]

See this becomes all the more confusing now.
I cannot do much for my room but i guess it is not that big a culprit coz i have sofa bed carpet curtains.. so it needs very little treatment or in other words not much i can do about it. This out of the way next question comes--- since the sound is not upto my liking you guys have suggested to go for a separate sub or buy a powerful amp to drive my rti's. Now the choice is btw these two..whether to get a sub first or an av upgrade.. obviously down the line both will happen but looking what avr i have and what i am being suggested theres a huge difference.. like huge! So what comes in proximity of my budget as of now is a subwoofer.
Also an avr this expensive would be way out of my league for long!
So then coming down to the answer....start saving for an AV upgrade( maybe denon x2400 or pioneer lx series), get a power amplifier( this is not an option currently as i dont have pre outs on my AVR..this means down the line ill have to add an AVR and an amplifier both) and finally just get a subwoofer...
Sorry if i may seem too confused coz i am quite new to this game and i really want to have good knowledge regarding this!

Sound is a very subjective topic and the tastes differ from one person to another. Folks have been mentioning getting a Sub or a powerful amp for your movie setup (I'm sure because you mentioned 5.1). A good sub and a good amp will do but the way you got confused now, audition is the only way to solve your issue.
In this confusion you can't guess what matches with what and it's a hard situation I know and it also eats a lot of time and brain we spend money and what if the stuff won't match is the main concern.
You are in Delhi and you are lucky to have access to some of the Hifi showrooms unlike Lucknow , go get some auditions and hope you'll will be in ecstasy asap.

PS: For stereo setup don't forget to get an stereo/integrated amp and the same suggested to me by some great folks here and I'm happy now. AVR is not suited for music but for moviews only.

 

[elangoas]

See this becomes all the more confusing now.
I cannot do much for my room but i guess it is not that big a culprit coz i have sofa bed carpet curtains.. so it needs very little treatment or in other words not much i can do about it. This out of the way next question comes--- since the sound is not upto my liking you guys have suggested to go for a separate sub or buy a powerful amp to drive my rti's. Now the choice is btw these two..whether to get a sub first or an av upgrade.. obviously down the line both will happen but looking what avr i have and what i am being suggested theres a huge difference.. like huge! So what comes in proximity of my budget as of now is a subwoofer.
Also an avr this expensive would be way out of my league for long!
So then coming down to the answer....start saving for an AV upgrade( maybe denon x2400 or pioneer lx series), get a power amplifier( this is not an option currently as i dont have pre outs on my AVR..this means down the line ill have to add an AVR and an amplifier both) and finally just get a subwoofer...
Sorry if i may seem too confused coz i am quite new to this game and i really want to have good knowledge regarding this!

Adding subwoofer to your system will give you the oomph for movies than considering AVR upgrade for now..

Until & unless you already own a multi-channel power amplifier, there is no point upgrading your AVR just for pre-outs since you will be spending significantly for the AVR & then for multi-channel power amplifier.. Skip the AVR upgrade & enjoy the movies with subs..

 

[Akshit2111]

Sound is a very subjective topic and the tastes differ from one person to another. Folks have been mentioning getting a Sub or a powerful amp for your movie setup (I'm sure because you mentioned 5.1). A good sub and a good amp will do but the way you got confused now, audition is the only way to solve your issue.
In this confusion you can't guess what matches with what and it's a hard situation I know and it also eats a lot of time and brain we spend money and what if the stuff won't match is the main concern.
You are in Delhi and you are lucky to have access to some of the Hifi showrooms unlike Lucknow , go get some auditions and hope you'll will be in ecstasy asap.

PS: For stereo setup don't forget to get an stereo/integrated amp and the same suggested to me by some great folks here and I'm happy now. AVR is not suited for music but for moviews only.

Point is neither can i carry my speakers to nor will anyone give me their amp to chevk the performance. And i would like to ask the members here as to if they know good hifi stores in and around delhi.

 

[Akshit2111]

Adding subwoofer to your system will give you the oomph for movies than considering AVR upgrade for now..

Until & unless you already own a multi-channel power amplifier, there is no point upgrading your AVR just for pre-outs since you will be spending significantly for the AVR & then for multi-channel power amplifier.. Skip the AVR upgrade & enjoy the movies with subs..

Will adding a sub make the dialogue more loud and pronounce. As this is one of the main issues i jave currently. I feel the dialogues in movies are not that loud. The bass i feel ia there but not the dialogue clarity/ loudness..

 

[tuff]

Have you tweaked the settings in the avr? you can look into the levels of each speakers and bring up the center channel where most of the dialogs are anchored. I have a suspicion there is some problem with the levels or some DSP setting is really mucking up the sound.

 

[MaSh]

When we say it wont compliment my floorstanders what basically are we looking at. So that i can get an idea as to what should i avoid while buying a sub. Coz polk as you said are not that great in subs(i have heard the same) but to my curious mind it seems bizarre as to why they wont pair well with floorstanders manufactured by the same brand.

You have very good Towers which by themselves can go fairly low in the frequency range. A sub on its own can do nothing, it has to work with other speakers to get it all right. Polk Subs in my opinion are not at the level to keep up in pace and depth with the Rti series. Hence the suggestion to look at other brands which specialize in Subs.

Will adding a sub make the dialogue more loud and pronounce. As this is one of the main issues i jave currently. I feel the dialogues in movies are not that loud. The bass i feel ia there but not the dialogue clarity/ loudness..

Hmm no not directly. Which center do you have? Are you running it Large or Small with a Crossover? try running it Small with a crossover set at 80. Also, see that the center has enough space around it. Getting a Sub will not make the center speaker go louder. As mentioned in an earlier post, it will take the load away from your other speakers and make them sound cleaner. So in that way the Center could sound cleaner.

MaSh

 

[Akshit2111]

Sound is a very subjective topic and the tastes differ from one person to another. Folks have been mentioning getting a Sub or a powerful amp for your movie setup (I'm sure because you mentioned 5.1). A good sub and a good amp will do but the way you got confused now, audition is the only way to solve your issue.
In this confusion you can't guess what matches with what and it's a hard situation I know and it also eats a lot of time and brain we spend money and what if the stuff won't match is the main concern.
You are in Delhi and you are lucky to have access to some of the Hifi showrooms unlike Lucknow , go get some auditions and hope you'll will be in ecstasy asap.

PS: For stereo setup don't forget to get an stereo/integrated amp and the same suggested to me by some great folks here and I'm happy now. AVR is not suited for music but for moviews only.

 

[Akshit2111]

Have you tweaked the settings in the avr? you can look into the levels of each speakers and bring up the center channel where most of the dialogs are anchored. I have a suspicion there is some problem with the levels or some DSP setting is really mucking up the sound.

My fronts are at +9db( range is -12 to +12) with centre being +11db. So i really dont have muc room left here. And what do you really mean by Dsp settings?

 

[Akshit2111]

You have very good Towers which by themselves can go fairly low in the frequency range. A sub on its own can do nothing, it has to work with other speakers to get it all right. Polk Subs in my opinion are not at the level to keep up in pace and depth with the Rti series. Hence the suggestion to look at other brands which specialize in Subs.



Hmm no not directly. Which center do you have? Are you running it Large or Small with a Crossover? try running it Small with a crossover set at 80. Also, see that the center has enough space around it. Getting a Sub will not make the center speaker go louder. As mentioned in an earlier post, it will take the load away from your other speakers and make them sound cleaner. So in that way the Center could sound cleaner.

MaSh

Thanks Mash for your support.
See initialy u asked me to get a budget sub. I wanted to ask you when u say budget then what does basically budget mean. Coz i can see the companies which specialise in subs their sub usually costs around 50 60k which is quite high and definitely nit budget for me. With rti's which sub do you really suggest? Like any good sugestions..

I have polk audio csi a4 as my center. It is set to small with crossover at 80. And i dont feel space to be an issue, it hs plenty.