Replace sub or speaker system first?

[blu-mood]

http://www.athenaspeakers.com/v2/cla...Micra+6+System

I have the above system (Athena Micra 6 in case the link doesn't work), which has performed reasonably well in my small apartment living room (just under 300 sf or roughly 15' x 19'). I have a 60GB PS3 that I use for movies, music, and gaming, I bought an Onkyo 705 and have been thinking of next upgrading the sub and speakers.

1st question: does it make any sense to upgrade now, given my space? (I'll be in the apt. at least another 1 1/2 years)

2nd question: I was thinking of first upgrading the sub (getting 1 or 2, budget around $1,000) and was looking at the av123 MFW-15, eD A2-300, SVS SB12-Plus, and a couple of others, but are those overkill for my room and overkill until I replace the speakers?

3rd question: am I better off simply upgrading to a better total package system, like the Energy Take Classic, or something comparable?

Thanks for any and all advice!

[mdabb]

I would upgrade to a better sounding package deal or speakers. I wouldn't upgrade the sub 1st in any case. Find the sound you like speaker wise and then find a sub to compliment them.

One thing I notice is I see a lot of people with too much subwoofer. Sure it is nice to have a capable subwoofer but I see a lot of unbalanced systems. If you chose front L/R speakers that are capable of full range you won't feel the need to have a subwoofer capable of producing "Brown Notes" !!!!!!!!!

What is the total amount of funds you could or want to allocate to the upgrade???

[allstar780]

agreed mdabb

theres a lot more to movies and music than the sub track, so it should be the 2nd priority after new fronts, but before new rears IMO

[Clark Kent]

With a room that small you should focus on getting good front speakers first. A sub would definitely be a secondary priority if that was my place.

[blu-mood]

Lately I really notice the amount of strain on the sub when I play games or watch action or sci fi movies, so my 1st thought was to replace the sub to solve that issue. Right now, I was only going to drop $1,000 (maybe $1,500), thus the choice of subs or Take Classic (or similar) system. Bottom line, if I replaced all the speakers 1st, I'd prefer to get them all in 1 shot, either via a system or reasonably priced matching set, AND I'd want to make sure I'd have enough boom in the sub to feel justified in making the purchase.

[allstar780]

for $1500 Driver King can hook you up with a good complete set... look for him!

[mdabb]

Well to be fair to your subwoofer there is only so much an 8" sub can do. If you upgrade to a 12" or 15" sub driven by 400-1000 watts your satellites will sound like walkie talkies. Not really their fault but they aren't designed to keep up with a large and powerful subwoofer.

Don't get me wrong bass frequencies are fun and add a lot of excitement. Every system deserves a great sub but I think if you upgrade the sub first your going to seriously unbalance the sound.

Your room is not too small and I think a nice set of full range speakers will go a long way in terms of adding the sound that will deliver the goods. You should be able to find a speaker package you like minus the sub however..... that will do wonders for gaming/movies.

Believe me when I say there are some nice speakers out there capable of some nice low end. A subwoofer will translate better with a capable speaker package/setup.


Let's say if you looked at the Revel concerta speaker series. They are not high priced but deliver great sound. Beautiful full range sound.
FRONT CHANNEL
http://www.revelspeakers.com/product...asp?product=19
CENTER CHANNEL
http://www.revelspeakers.com/product...asp?product=21
SURROUND
http://www.revelspeakers.com/product...asp?product=22 "OR"
http://www.revelspeakers.com/product...asp?product=20

You might have to piece this setup together but you will be in serious love. You will have to also consider a sub. The one "Driver King" picked up recently will deliver the sound you are looking for. This setup combined will produce sound that usually costs twice the price of this system. I know........I know, what's it gonna cost me?????????? You should have no problem slipping into this setup for around $2100-$2200 area. You might be thinking: "dude I said $1500's.


Well either way you look at it, it's gonna cost you and you can always piece it together. I would start with Front L/R channels and so on. Even if you didn't get the Revels you should still consider new speakers first. But then again it's your decision which that is all that matters. However I doubt very few setups at this price could deliver the awesome performance the Revels/ ED subwoofer could. When you upgrade this is an upgrade.

Hope it helps and I'm sure others can offer solutions as well but I don't think there are too many combos with this kind of performance at this price.



INFO ADDED: LINK TO SUBWOOFER....http://www.edesignaudio.com/product_...roducts_id=407

[blu-mood]

Totally forgot to mention that I have a 34" Sony CRT TV on a stand that eats up a chunk of the center wall and juts out quite a bit due to TV's depth, so I don't know that floor-standing speakers will necessarily work. I'd probably lean towards bookshelf speakers all around for logistical and FAF (fiancee acceptance factor) reasons. I'll try to get a pic up of my current set up Friday. Thanks much for all the advice so far.

[mdabb]

There are some nice bookshelf speakers out there as well. One thing to consider........where would you place the bookshelfs??? If they would be placed on stands they would take up the same amount of floor space.


Any good bookshelf with decent range and sound most likely has a larger cabinet than smaller less capable bookshelf/satellite speakers. I'm sure others during the day tomorrow will provide some good alternative choices to look at.

There are a couple of other brands I'll give you links to tomorrow That will sound great and aren't the usual offerings.

Still you would be lucky to own the Revel F-12s. I bet you won't hear anything negative about the sound quality and engineering behind them. I really think more people should own these speakers they really do sound that great for speakers that cost around $1200 a pair.

[mjbethancourt]

The whole speaker system you are replacing is low power, so in your case, you might be best off replacing the sub and the front left and right at the same time. The receiver you got puts out 100w/channel, so without an additional amp, any speakers you get are going to be powered in a range where even a good 500w sub would only need to run at 50% power to be in balance, and such a sub could easily be had for about $300; add $200 apiece for awesome fronts, and you've still got money to play with.

Here's what I put in a room even smaller than what you're working with:

four of these:

http://www.pcaccessories.org/JBL-Ven...B000FD3W1G.htm

(only paid $125 apiece for them from Amazon)

one of these:

http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Produ...PS212BG&tp=187

(paid $300 from Amazon; 400w rms; peaks at 800)

one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/JBL-LC2-Wall-Mountable-Channel-Loudspeaker/dp/B000ICXVK6/ref=sr_1_29?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1219985963&s r=1-29

(paid $200)

and one of these:

http://www.jbl.com/home/products/pro...at=BFS&ser=SLS

(also $200)

all for a 6.1 channel system, powered by this:

http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/...52921665200450

With that receiver, which has the same power output as yours, I'm only utilizing a fraction of the power handling of those speakers, and the result is already massive. My point is, with the budget you have to work with, you have no need to choose between upgrading the sub or the other speakers.

[Footloose301]

There are a lot of good points here that people are making but I'm going to go ahead and disagree with the order that you should upgrade. I personally would buy the subwoofer myself. This is what I've always done in the past and has worked out beautifully.

I started out with the Onkyo HTIB from Circuit City.
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Onkyo...oductDetail.do

That was my start. The speakers are actually pretty "good" IMHO, no distortion and supposedly can handle twice the power. Anyways, I then upgraded to the Onkyo TX-SR805 and man there was a night and day difference even driving the EXACT SAME speakers!! The clarity was great.

Now, I just got in my AV123 MFW-15 last Friday! The sub makes all the difference and I've got it set it around 1/3 gain. Since its a 15" driver, unlike yours and mine 8"(that I had) it can push more air and hit much lower notes! Therefore added more realistic explosions and etc... I play my stuff pretty loud but even at a normal level when we're just watching tv shows, it makes all the difference. IMHO I see no reason to for me to upgrade my speakers anytime soon unless I find a killer deal on some floor standing fronts that would be stupid to pass up. Before the MFW-15 my 8" 220watt wouldn't be able to keep up with how loud or deep explosions should be and would distort and movies would sound like crap. Just upgrading the subwoofer is the way I went, and have done this on a few other systems too in the past. Always the way to go IMHO.

Buy the sub first. It might be overkill for the apartment, but trust me when I say it'll blend in with the rest of your speakers. You just can't be turning the gain above 1/2 and expecting it not to sound over powering. because it is very powerful.

Good Luck

[blu-mood]

Thanks for all the help. I'm still really stuck on what to do, but at least I know that whenever I do buy the sub, I will get the eD A2-300 or the av123 MFW-15. I probably need to get my butt into a hifi shop to listen to speakers for myself before I do anything. Photo of my current setup coming later today...