Upgrade assitance greatly appreciated!

admin_exported

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Aug 10, 2019
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Howdy all,

I'm a long-time admirer of the magazine and forum, hoping somebody can be so gracious as to give a man a hand!

I’m looking to be upgrading my kit over the next few months (before Christmas hopefully!) but could do with a nudge in the correct direction!

The important parts of my current set-up are as follows:


  • Sony 40V4000 TV (Got this last autumn for £670 including 5yr warranty! Bargain and its awesome for that money!)

  • Marantz SR-5400 Receiver

  • Sony PS3

  • Mission M71 front speakers

  • Mission M7C1 centre speaker

  • The rear speakers and sub are remains from a 2001 Sony receiver/Speaker package that I can’t remember the name of! Satellites are small rectangular silver boxes and sub is tall, upright 100w silver box with a Level dial and a switch to flick between ‘Movie’ and ‘Music’.

I already have full HD viewing and naturally, a full HD audio experience is now desired! I know that this means a new amp/receiver and preferably new rears and almost definitely a new sub!

Sadly, the budget isn’t a lot; these are the options I’m thinking of:

Sony STR-DA2400ES or Sony STR-DH800 or Denon AVR1910 or Onkyo TX-SR607.

Speaker-wise, I’m looking to upgrade the rears to a pair or two of Wharfedale Diamond 9.0’s and the sub is going to have to be a Richer Sounds £100 effort I think as that’s what the budget might allow! (Tangent Millennium springs to mind as an option)

Basically, the advice I seek is which would be the best amp/receiver choice? And will the new rears and sub be ok? Or if not, what’s another reasonable option? My blu-ray/dvd collection does consist primarily of action films, yet I also enjoy a lot of music, so which amp/receiver is best to suit those options?

Any advice is welcome! Sorry if this has gone on a bit!

Thanks
 

professorhat

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Dec 28, 2007
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Distinct lack of replies here so far, so I'll chime in with a seemingly not very helpful, I'm afraid you really need to audition. I'd rule out the DH800 if you can afford the other amps in your list, but between the Sony, Denon and Onkyo you mention, it really is going to be a question of your preference of sound and how much you rate the action home cinema side vs the music side. A demo is really the only way to tell that for sure. Clearly WHF favour the Denon, but you might have different tastes / needs.

For the rears, common sense says they should be okay, but until I'd heard them together, I wouldn't be happy to recommend them. See if you can get someone to do you the Diamonds on a a couple of weeks home demo, with the option to return them for a refund if you're not happy. A good dealer should do that for you (especially if you're also looking at buying an AV receiver from them...). For the sub, I'd really be tempted to keep the £100 for now and wait till you've got a bit more money to spend on it - it will be worth it in the long run.
 
A

Anonymous

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Thank you kindly for your reply! I was beginning to wonder if I'd posted something wrong!

My initial thinking (read want and desire!) was for the Sony 2400, but as you say, an audition should confirm that it is right for me. (I do like my Sony gear... never once had a problem and it allsounds sweet and operates nicely for me - XMB on the 2400 is a nice touch) HD audio is becoming a must-have in my 'see it, want it, get it' list of purchases! Also, the Marantz can heat a room in the depths of winter in about 10 minutes! The heat is phenomenal. (Not the best on a summers night - schweaty!)

Speakers-wise; the set-up now does sound pretty awesome (plenty of oomph and detail from the front and plenty of effects from the rear, if a touch 'vague' at times - cheap speakers I think are the cause of this) However, this I can live with. My biggest bugbear really concerns the sub. It really isn't the best, overly boomy and not very well controlled. Is there a decent sub for about £200? I could stretch for that if it would do the job, or is there something beyond this worth saving for (again, taking allowances for auditions)

Thanks again for the help.
 

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