What would you do first? Sub or reciever?

[Dieselboy]

I currently have an older (around 8 years) Kenwood reciever that is obviously pre-lossless sound and is 5.1 with 100 watts/channel. It sounds pretty good to me (especially if the tracks are in DTS), though I'm used to it too. I also currently have a POLK PSW10 subwoofer that basically sucks ass imho... now with that said if you were me, where would you spend your first $400-$600 or so? On a new reciever that will decode lossess sound and do 7.1? Or on a new sub something like an ed a2 300 or the svs/hsu equivalant? Feel free to chime in with specific recommendations for either choice please.

[Beta Man]

What is the rest of your equipment???? I may go with "none of the above" depending on the answer.

[Dieselboy]

The other speakers are older bic's (DV-62 SIB) that still sound acceptable to me for now. I have plans to eventually upgrade these to the PL-89 acoustech line from the same company in the future, but this will require more $ than I have available right now. The TV is a 65" Sony 1080i rear projection unit, which will also be replaced by a similarly sized plasma or led unit when the wife grants me the funds and permission necessary. The blu-ray player is a Sony bd350. The room is a dedicated 13x16x7.5 HT room in my basement that I only watch movies with (no music).

[Beta Man]

I'd go with a sub then...... get something beefy so you don't feel the need for "more" anytime soon.

good luck!

[Fors*]

Originally Posted by Beta Man

I'd go with a sub then...... get something beefy so you don't feel the need for "more" anytime soon.

good luck!

+1, I have an SVS sub and they are awesome. You can;t go wrong with eD, SVS or HSU, so of course I will recommend SVS. There is something about cylinder subs that I can't get enough of. Plus the performance is excellent as well, not to mention thier customer service too.

Its funny because I was in the same spot as you this past June (but with a good bit more $$, so I was able to get both my SVS sub and my Pioneer SC-05.) That made making the decision a good bit easier.....

[Uniquely]

I'm going to buck the trend and say a receiver. The times that I have changed receivers without changing speakers, I've always been pleasantly surprised at the new personality of the complete sound field. You already have a sub... maybe not your dream sub... but you don't have lossless audio yet

[Pelican170]

Originally Posted by robinandtami

I'm going to buck the trend and say a receiver. The times that I have changed receivers without changing speakers, I've always been pleasantly surprised at the new personality of the complete sound field. You already have a sub... maybe not your dream sub... but you don't have lossless audio yet

id choose this route also...

[Fors*]

robinandtami may be on to something, as I attached a poll i did with my thread when asking about a receiver, sub or both. You can see that getting a receiver won.

Receiver or Sub Thread and Poll

[progers13]

Originally Posted by mfarnswoth

receiver is the heart of your system. getting a good sub rather than a good receiver would be like putting rims and tires on a car that barely runs, thinking that later on you'll transfer them to a better car. a sub is definately important, but its easy to get something to shell out bass. the overall sound quality of the entire system is going to come from you receiver.

I second that.

[Dieselboy]

Well then for everyone who thinks I should do the reciever first, could you give me some good recommendations for my $600 price range please?

[simcal]

Originally Posted by Dieselboy

Well then for everyone who thinks I should do the reciever first, could you give me some good recommendations for my $600 price range please?

VSX-1019AH-K pioneer. $499 from amazon or best buy has it for $507

just got it yesterday, easy to set up and a great improvement over my yamaha but then again when you go to a receiver that does HDMI I am sure anything is better.
so far I noticed that voices are more clearer and I am hearing sound effects that I have not heard before (watched Ironman again)
was surprised how different things would be. even ps3 game sound better.
comes with a microphone so all you do is conect everything up and then place the mic at the level and place your head would be and it takes care of the rest.
120watts 7.1
Then best idea is to find a few different brands and compare features that you want need and maybe see if you can hear them in action, problem is unless the receiver is big money it probably wont be set up, let alone you being able to hear the same source on different receiver with the same speakers.



http://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-VSX-10...2455443&sr=1-1

[SDBlu]

I agree with getting the receiver first. Speakers and subs can be upgraded at a later time. As far as receiver recommendations, the following brands have good offerings: Onkyo, Yamaha, Pioneer, Marantz, Denon. Good Luck

[Fors*]

Originally Posted by simcal

VSX-1019AH-K pioneer. $499 from amazon or best buy has it for $507

just got it yesterday, easy to set up and a great improvement over my yamaha but then again when you go to a receiver that does HDMI I am sure anything is better.
so far I noticed that voices are more clearer and I am hearing sound effects that I have not heard before (watched Ironman again)
was surprised how different things would be. even ps3 game sound better.
comes with a microphone so all you do is conect everything up and then place the mic at the level and place your head would be and it takes care of the rest.
120watts 7.1
Then best idea is to find a few different brands and compare features that you want need and maybe see if you can hear them in action, problem is unless the receiver is big money it probably wont be set up, let alone you being able to hear the same source on different receiver with the same speakers.



http://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-VSX-10...2455443&sr=1-1

+1, a Pioneer receiver in this price range is an excellent choice for all of the above mentioned reasons. I don't think you can go wrong with this receiver.

[igotcabada]

I would also consider the Denon Avr 1910, Denon Avr 790 or the Onkyo 607 in this price range.

[Dieselboy]

OK so I started doing some research into a new reciever, namely the 1019 Pioneer or the Elite 03. So here's the thing, I read about a guy who bought an Elite 03 and when he set it up he wasn't getting any video to his TV via the hdmi cables...long story short, after calling Pioneer and some trial and error he was informed that because his tv is older and uses a DVI input rather than a hdmi input, the intermediary device (in this case his reciever), between the source, be it a BD player or his HD Sat box, interfered somehow and prevented the video from making it to his tv. This concerns me obviously as I too currently have an older TV that only has a DVI input. As I'm sure you can understand I don't want to spend $600 on a new reciever only to discover that I wouldn't be able to use it until I upgrade my TV down the road. Has anyone else ever heard of this happening before? Is it only with the Pioneer Elite stuff or is with any hdmi reciever?

[lojack1976]

Originally Posted by Dieselboy

OK so I started doing some research into a new reciever, namely the 1019 Pioneer or the Elite 03. So here's the thing, I read about a guy who bought an Elite 03 and when he set it up he wasn't getting any video to his TV via the hdmi cables...long story short, after calling Pioneer and some trial and error he was informed that because his tv is older and uses a DVI input rather than a hdmi input, the intermediary device (in this case his reciever), between the source, be it a BD player or his HD Sat box, interfered somehow and prevented the video from making it to his tv. This concerns me obviously as I too currently have an older TV that only has a DVI input. As I'm sure you can understand I don't want to spend $600 on a new reciever only to discover that I wouldn't be able to use it until I upgrade my TV down the road. Has anyone else ever heard of this happening before? Is it only with the Pioneer Elite stuff or is with any hdmi reciever?

I was also going to say go with the receiver first, but now I will say wait and upgrade your TV first. Without HDMI the receiver is not going to do you much good over your current receiver. Definitely get the TV first. I know you have to get the wifey on the same page first since this will be a larger amount of money to spend. I've just upgraded my sub and that was the very last thing I did. My front speakers were first, but initially it would've been my TV if the one I ordered at the time didn't turn out to be out of stock. It still worked out in the end though since I got the TV I really wanted a little later, but definitely upgrade your TV first. Just my opinion.

[syncguy]

I would go for a sub, if current AVR is reasonably good. This really depend on your satisfaction on current sub and the AVR.

If you delay AVR purchase for 6 to 12 months, you may be able to get a HDMI1.4 AVR which would support 3D TV.