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Is it worth updating my home theatre?


pHEnomIC69

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I posted this in the updating speakers and got no responses so I am posting it here as well, as it is more active. To sumarize, is it worth getting a new receiver and speakers? I would like to get some klipsch quientets. You don't really have to read the whole thing, it's just information on what we currently have.

I have a 8-10 year old home theatre setup in my family room, my parents bought all the stuff just to have it but they never used it. I am putting this in here because I have the klipsch promedia 4.1 and it seems like you guys know what you are talking about. I am not really into home theatre stuff I am more into computers and gaming. First off, for speakers, we have an older set of bose diamondbox I believe, They are the small cube like ones, we have 3 of those in the front and a bose sub and in the rear, we have two inwall speakers, I cant tell what kind they are but they are terrible. We have a very nice new bigscreen tv by but I don't know the exact size. The receiver is a older Pioneer vsx-d703s it only supports dolby prologic, and I don't think the quality of it is that good. We have an older hitachi f462 vcr. We have a cd/laserdisc player that is a pioneer cld-m403. We have a cassette tape by pioneer also by pioneer it is a ct-w503r. We also have a record player by pioneer but its too high up for me to get the model number. We have a big room, but my parents got a wooden encolsure for all this stuff so we can't use any big speakers. And as a last note, I use my xbox with the dvd remote to play dvds. I don't know if anything is worth upgrading and what. I would like to get a digital receiver and some better speakers but I am still in highschool and I can't spend too much but my parents said they also want to update some of the stuff. If there is any new prologics or whatever coming out I would like to wait for them first before upgrading. I am posting in the klipsch forum because I've seen a few sets of quintet speakers and that is about the only thing that would fit in our wooden enclosure. I might post some pictures soon but for now, this is about all I have. Is it worth upgrading the receiver for digital sound and new speakers. The bose speakers we got only sound decent at their quietest sounds and past normal listening, they sound very crappy. What receiver do you guys recommend and what speakers, keep in mind the speakers can't be big because the room was built for small speakers. When I am older I will most likely get an awesome ht setup, but for now this will have to do. We use the stuff mainly for xbox games, dvds, some computer videos, and television. Sorry about the long post but I want to make sure its worth upgrading before I do. I really appreciate your help if you hgave any questions ask here, ill check back often for the next few days.

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My gut reaction is that you're pretty much in a bad situation in that there is no clear solution.

One bad part is that you're stuck with small size. Maybe the new small Reference will fit the bill. However they are not going to be inexpensive.

My guess is that these with a sub would be a better investment than new electronics. Set the crossover from the sub to the mains as high a possible.

Just as a writing tip, You've posted a block of text which is very, very difficult to read. And we here on the forum want to read about any newcomer's problems questions and compose a response. However, readers see this sort of thing and their minds wander.

Put down two, three, or four sentences for each thought. Hit the return key to start a new paragraph. This simple thing will get you read more and your teachers will like it. It can turn a B paper into an A paper. Lack of it can turn a B paper into a C paper.

Gil

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Well, The room isnt all that small, we have wooden furniture built and we dont have enough room for floorstanding speakers or bookshelf ones. I uploaded a picture of it, I don't think the picture is a good one because I had someone else take it fast.

How do the reference speakers compare to the quintets? If I want the quintets I could probably get them with a nice sub easily because they are cheap, The reference speakers will take some serious sucking up, and a lot of chores and stuff. I want to go with klipsch because I love my promedias and they are a good reliable company.

Is there any real advantage in upgrading the receiver for dolby digital and all the new sound technologies I don't know anything about receivers?

This may be a little bit of a stupid question but what exactly is the crossover, I've seen the word many many times and never was sure. Is it just the circuitry inside?

You are right on the formatting of my post, I was wrong typing a big block, I just wanted to type it fast and get it out of the way, thanks for the reminder, it's good to separate statements.

I really appreciate all posts because I want to make an enjoyable home entertainment system.

post-9924-13819248809146_thumb.jpg

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On 8/17/2003 11:26:31 PM pHEnomIC69 wrote:

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On 8/17/2003 11:26:31 PM pHEnomIC69 wrote:

Is there any real advantage in upgrading the receiver for dolby digital and all the new sound technologies I don't know anything about receivers?

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Yes. dolby digital is far better then prologic watching dvd's.

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On 8/17/2003 11:26:31 PM pHEnomIC69 wrote:

This may be a little bit of a stupid question but what exactly is the crossover, I've seen the word many many times and never was sure. Is it just the circuitry inside?

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A crossover consist of filters that let through certain frequency range.

This is necessary as a speakers has more then one driver to cover the full ear frequency range (20-20000Hz). Each driver has its working frequency range. Other frequencies might damage the driver.

For a tweeter (2000-20000Hz) you need a high pass filter that bloks every frequency under the crossover point.

For a woofer you need a low pass filter that bloks every frequency above the crossover point.

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The Quintets will definitly be a step up from the older Bose speakers you currently have. However, is it all possible to find a dealer in your area that has any of the newer Reference satellite speakers, such as the RSX-4 and the RCX-4? If an RCX-4 wont fit as a center, than perhaps another RSX-4. These look like they will sound very nice for not a whole lot more than what the Quintets go for. If there is absolutly nothing else you can get, than the Quintets are worth checking out at the very least. Also, perhaps check one of the smaller

bookshelf models like the aformentioned SB-1s or even the RB-15s or RB-25s.

Now about the newer reciever. Yes, it is definitly worth upgrading to one of the newer models with all the newest digital formats. Most likely, you'll also be gettting better/cleaner processors and perhaps even better amps, thus resulting in an overall sound improvement.

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Whats your budget? that will determine what you pay.

Shop the 'Net to get a good price as well as the retail stores.

You will need to get at least these specs:

5 Channel support (6 or 7 would be much better)

Dolby Digital

Dolby Pro Logic II

DTS

75 Watts per channel.

Component Video In and Out

Digital Coaxial input

Digital Optical Fiber input.

S-Video Support

You can get some decent Dolby Digital/DTS AVRs out there for under $500.00

Some decent entry systems:

Pioneer Elite VSX-41. $359.00 (MSRP $800.00)

http://hometheaterphiles.com/vsx41.html

Denon AVR-1604. $399.00 MSRP

Good Guys or Tweeter or someplace that sells Denon in your area.

Denon AVR-1804 $499.00 MSRP

YAMAHA RX-V440 $299.00 MSRP

That should give you some ideas and some price ranges.

I personally don't like SONY stuff. They are overpriced for what you get, but some people swear by them. I think if you get a Pioneer, a Denon or a Yamaha, you are probably in good shape. Good luck.

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