Time for a change

[gagagaga]

I've currently got a Pioneer LX75 feeding a Quad Lite set for movies and music. Music and films are fed over HDMI from XBMC (Windows), all my music is ripped as FLAC files on a fileserver (wired network).

Looking to get something a little more music focussed (without losing the movies) - i've got a dedicated room 5m x 3.75m and currently have seats arranged facing one of the longer walls (so sit about 3m from the speaker (and pj screen).

Will take any and all suggestions - top end budget would be £2-2.5k but would prefer to keep it down if possible. Music is mostly what would have been called indie/alternative in the 90s so covers anything from very loud guitars to experimental electronic stuff.

A few options spring to mind....

1. Replace the speakers for a new 5.1/7.1 set

2. Keep the current setup for films, get a pair of speakers for just stereo, driven by Zone 2 on the amp

3. Get a full new stereo setup with a streamer or USB amp and stereo speakers, leave the existing for films

Has anyone made this kind of change? How much of a limitation would the Pioneer amp be?

 

[the record spot]

What do you feel the issue is with music playback off the Pioneer?

 

[steve_1979]

A few options spring to mind....

1. Replace the speakers for a new 5.1/7.1 set

2. Keep the current setup for films, get a pair of speakers for just stereo, driven by Zone 2 on the amp

In my opinion your existing Pioneer LX75 receiver is exellent and you should keep it because any other similarly priced AV reciever is going to sound and perform very much the same.

The biggest improvement to the sound quality is likely to come from changing the speakers. This gives you two options - either buy a new 5.1 speaker system or keep your existing 5.1 movie setup and add some new stereo speakers just for music listening.

Option 1. A new set of 5.1 surround sound speakers such as the KEF R100 5.1 or the B&W MT-60D would be the best option for movies. There are plenty of options regarding size/sound/looks for 5.1 systems so it's well worth doing a bit of auditioning yourself first to see which ones sound the best to your ears.

Option 2. Keep your existing 5.1 setup and add new pair of stereo speakers just for listening to music. Again there are lots of options for speakers in your price range but the best that I've heard for around £2-2.5K would be the AVI ADM9 speakers together with the matching AVI subwoofer.

 

[stevebrock]

If your amp has front pre-outs the a new stereo amp???

Your stereo amp will power the fronts for movies,

 

[AlbaBrown]

Save a little longer and audition a Naim SuperUniti.It will blow the Pioneer/PC combination out of the water for networked 2ch music replay, and will integrate with the Pioneer's Front channel preouts for movies.The only problem will be that it will be that the Quad's are simply a very mediocre speaker package and will hold them both back.If you value musical involvement, a move to B&W/KEF will be a step sideways not truely forward.But as ever audition before you part with your hard earned cash!!!

 

[gagagaga]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll probably try the new speaker route first and look at somthing like the Naim SuperUniti going forward. How do they deal with big libraries (ease of navigation, speed etc) - that's one of the reasons i've stayed with the PC source.