Replacement for Monitor Audio Mass 5.1 and Yamaha RX-V673

[hybridauth_Facebook_100000790962625]

Hi,

I am looking for recommendations on upgrading my current home cinema system.

I have LG C1 tv with Apple TV and PS 5 directly attached to it. Through eARC I have attached Yamaha RX-V673 AV receiver and Monitor Audi Mass 5.1 speakers to deal with the sound. The amp and speakers are about 10 years old.

The picture quality is amazing but the sound quality is uninspiring at most times, only waking up in some movies or specific scenes. I would like to upgrade the sound but am now sure of the best approach.

The setup and concealed cables limit me to smaller, wall-mounted speakers, I do not want to rip walls and joinery. I am not sure how good Mass speakers can be with a better amp, can I just change the amp and keep the speakers? This would solve aesthetic considerations.
Or are there other speaker packages that would work better without being too big and obtrusive?
I do not think I am too obsessed about the AV Receiver functions, seems connecting consoles and streaming boxes directly to the tv works better these days anyway, so all I need is speakers and amp to deal with sound.

I'd appraise all comments and suggestions, the forums helped me before and there are many much smarter people over here.

Thanks

Bart

 

[giggsy1977]

If you're looking for an upgrade in sound quality you'd get most improvement from new speakers (assuming your current ones are set up optimally at the moment). A better more powerful amp will provide more control and better sound but it's more subtle than changing speakers IME. The benefits of changing an amplifier are for newer sound formats or features required that your current amplifier doesn't have. The mass speakers are very small so an upgrade to something with a larger woofer will provide a better sound signature. The importance of a good subwoofer should not be under-estimated either. Made a big difference in my set up.

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_100000790962625]

Thank you for the response, I fully agree that Mass are on the small side and there are many better speakers out there. I would not mind changing for larger, more refined speakers, however, I am limited by the current living room and joinery layout. Satellites must be wall mounted and while they can be a little taller there is a limit on the width I can fit.

That limits me to "style" type of speakers, of which there is not a great choice and I am not sure how much better they would be than Mass.

The whole dissatisfaction with the setup started when I installed 2 Apple HomePods in the bedroom as a "makeshift" solution. It turned out that these 2 speakers connected to Apple TV outperform the Mass and Yamaha amp in the living room. Not sure how they manage to work around the size limitation.

Anyway, any ideas and suggestions are most welcomed.

 

[giggsy1977]

In all honesty I think upgrading to a small speaker package that isn't much bigger than the mass will be more of a sideways move. Might sound a bit different but not necessarily better. The next logical size up would be something like the Wharfedale DX2 or QAcoustics packages, but they may not fit the width restriction you have. Maybe wait until you can fit something larger in and upgrade the front and centre first to help with the outlay?

 

[hybridauth_Facebook_100000790962625]

Thanks, I have also written to Monitor Audio, it will be interesting to hear what they think about it.

A final thought though, could the lack of performance be due to Apple TV being connected to the TV and sound going to the receiver via eArc rather than Apple TV -> Receiver -> TV?

 

[giggsy1977]

I'm not familiar with the homepods, but suspect they will have some dsp wizardry to help them sound their best.

The mass are very small speakers and likely crossover above 100hz meaning the sub is doing a lot of the heavy lifting and its likely you can hear where the bass is coming from and therfore it makes it sound seperate from the speakers and a little disjointed. The homepods likely have a speaker that reaches a little bit further down the frequency range and therefore sounds a bit fuller.
Having not heard either this is speculation on my part.

Monitor audio do the radius range which would sound better than the mass, assuming you can accommodate them.

In addition music through an AV amp doesn't usually sound as good as through a dedicated stereo amp.