Upgrading my AV system for £1,000

[scene]

I've got an Arcam AVR250 as my AV amp, driving a set of KEF 2005.2s, except I'm using a Monitor Audio RS-LCR for the centre as I found the KEF Egg a little indistinct/muffled. I've got an A85 + MA Silver 8is for Hi Fi duty, and I love them. So, on a £1,000 budget, what would be my best way to upgrade my system? There are some cracking deals to be had on amplifiers at the moment. With the introduction of 3D, the prices of old non-HDMI 1.4 compliant amps has crashed. Should I get a new amp? (In an ideal world, I'd want to keep my A85 and maybe power it from pre-outs from the AV amp.) Or would I be better to upgrade the speakers, maybe getting a matched set of some nature? My listening room is 6.25 x 6.4m. Or would upgrade interconnects, etc. make a bigger difference and leave me with change to spend on other stuff? Or should I just save the money and spend more, later? BTW: I'd use the money made from selling any redundant kit towards the £1,000.

 

[Anonymous]

i think that getting MA rs rears , and MA rs sub , 2nd hand or maybe even new , they are heavily discounted if you can find em , and a denon 2310 would be a good idea ? sell the kefs ? what part of the uk are you in scene ?

 

[scene]

maxflinn:i think that getting a MA rs centre and rears , and MA rs sub , 2nd hand or maybe even new , they are heavily discounted if you can find em , and a denon 2310 would be a good idea ? sell the kefs ? what part of the uk are you in scene ?

Hi Max - Hertfordshire.
I've already got the MA rs-centre - so just the sub and rears
Question is: Would the Silver 8is gel with the RS speakers?

 

[Anonymous]

id say so , arent they from the same range ? rs siver 8s , rs silver brfx rears ?

 

[scene]

maxflinn:id say so , arent they from the same range ? rs siver 8s , rs silver brfx rears ?

These are the much older MA Silver 8i from about 2001 (I've had them from new). So I'm not sure how well they'd integrate with the new RS-series...

 

[Anonymous]

well you have the matching centre , so id say a pair of these should work fine , from what little i know i think its more important that the front 3 match tonally ?

 

[scene]

maxflinn:well you have the matching centre , so id say a pair of these should work fine , from what little i know i think its more important that the front 3 match tonally ?

So do Silver 8is match tonally with the RS-LCR? I don't know - maybe this is a different question / topic?

 

[Ronald Archiebald]

scene:

I've got an Arcam AVR250 as my AV amp, driving a set of KEF 2005.2s, except I'm using a Monitor Audio RS-LCR for the centre as I found the KEF Egg a little indistinct/muffled. I've got an A85 + MA Silver 8is for Hi Fi duty, and I love them.

Scene,

By your own admission, you love your system, so why change anything? Save the £1k.

Ronald

 

[scene]

I must admit there is an element of upgrade-itis here

But, that aside, although I love the musicality of my system(s), I'm not convinced that I'm getting the full oomph of HD surround sound - as I'm decoding them on my Blu Ray player and sending them to my amp. Or maybe the root cause is the mismatch of speakers (MA RS-LCR + KEF2005.2 mix), or maybe the KEFs, especially the Sub, aren't up to filling my room...
I don't know, it just doesn't feel quite there, if that makes sense.
When I had the Arcam+Pure KEF system in my old house (Victorian Terrace, much smaller room), it seemed more purposeful, now it seems a little lost...

 

[Ronald Archiebald]

Scene,

In that case, get the Denon AVR-2310 for under £500.00 and save the other £500.00.

Quick before they all vanish!

Ronald

 

[Anonymous]

scene:maxflinn:well you have the matching centre , so id say a pair of these should work fine , from what little i know i think its more important that the front 3 match tonally ?

So do Silver 8is match tonally with the RS-LCR? I don't know - maybe this is a different question / topic?hi scene , i assumed the centre you had was a match for your speakers , still though , its ma , so shouldnt be far away , id say a bigger more powerful sub , ma rears and a new amp (the 2310 seems great value) would fit the bill ...

 

[scene]

Ronald Archiebald:
Scene,

In that case, get the Denon AVR-2310 for under £500.00 and save the other £500.00.

Quick before they all vanish!

Ronald

maxflinn:and a new amp (the 2310 seems great value) would fit the bill ...
Yes, I thought about getting the Denon AV-2310 and even posted a thread on it hear a few days ago, but a number of people (including a well known poster whose company stocks Denon AVR2310s...) recommended against it, saying it would be a side-ways step. So now I don't know...

 

[professorhat]

When I first read your post, my thought immediately was an upgrade of the speakers - good though the KEFs are, I think they are the limiting factor and using the MA centre with them is probably just adding to that "not quite there" experience you are getting. However, I can also see your point of view on getting a new AV receiver with HDMI inputs to allow the processing to be done onboard.

How are you set for being able to audition things? I'm thinking we should take advantage of your MA Silver 8is, but the immediate issue is will they match the centre you're using - can you hook the Silvers up to your Arcam AVR250 to test how they sound with the centre? Just the KEFs for surrounds for the mo, or unhook them completely and just listen to the front three.

Once you've done that, if they sound like they gel well together, I'd say add the RXFX rears in and audition those to see how they're performing with your system (hopefully you have a friendly local dealer who'll allow you a home demo). My guess will be though if the front three are gelling well, the RXFXs will fit into the system nicely too. This is about £400 of your budget.

Finally, and bear with me here, I'm thinking how about adding one of the older Onkyo's as your AV amp, with your A85 stereo amp attached to the pre-amp sockets for your stereo duties? You can pick up an Onkyo SR-876 or an Onkyo TX-905 for about £600 - £700 now (re-furbished admittedly) and, for movie performance, I think they're fantastic. Given your musical needs will still be satisfied by your A85, all your AV amp needs to be able to do is movies and this is definitely something which could be worth a go if you can find dealers nearby who can help you test this out.

I have just realised that we haven't mentioned the sub yet though and we've run out (or maybe exceeded) the budget...

 

[scene]

Thanks Professor for your post! That's a lot of info to digest and really, really helpful.
OK - I'm off to wire the Silver 8is into the AV setup and see how well they sound with the centre (where did I put the SPL meter?) I'll go with no surrounds to start, just the front three for a bit, so I don't get any distraction. Mrs. Scene has got the girls round tomorrow for film night - I've got the perfect captive audience - see what they think as well, they've been round before, so more viewpoints. Then I'll take it from there...
I'll post an update (though I'm on holiday next week), so may be a few days.

Have to look into the Onkyos - OK I know the 905's not so good for music, but as you say I'll still have the A85 for that. Don't know much about the 876 - will have to look at that. There is still the Sub, but I suppose if I go for an MA setup with the 8i's, then maybe I can get away without one for a while...

 

[daveh75]

professorhat:
When I first read your post, my thought immediately was an upgrade of the speakers - good though the KEFs are, I think they are the limiting factor and using the MA centre with them is probably just adding to that "not quite there" experience you are getting. However, I can also see your point of view on getting a new AV receiver with HDMI inputs to allow the processing to be done onboard.

How are you set for being able to audition things? I'm thinking we should take advantage of your MA Silver 8is, but the immediate issue is will they match the centre you're using - can you hook the Silvers up to your Arcam AVR250 to test how they sound with the centre? Just the KEFs for surrounds for the mo, or unhook them completely and just listen to the front three.

Once you've done that, if they sound like they gel well together, I'd say add the RXFX rears in and audition those to see how they're performing with your system (hopefully you have a friendly local dealer who'll allow you a home demo). My guess will be though if the front three are gelling well, the RXFXs will fit into the system nicely too. This is about £400 of your budget.

Finally, and bear with me here, I'm thinking how about adding one of the older Onkyo's as your AV amp, with your A85 stereo amp attached to the pre-amp sockets for your stereo duties? You can pick up an Onkyo SR-876 or an Onkyo TX-905 for about £600 - £700 now (re-furbished admittedly) and, for movie performance, I think they're fantastic. Given your musical needs will still be satisfied by your A85, all your AV amp needs to be able to do is movies and this is definitely something which could be worth a go if you can find dealers nearby who can help you test this out.

I have just realised that we haven't mentioned the sub yet though and we've run out (or maybe exceeded) the budget...

Totally agree-And as is usually the case, good advice from the prof

 

[Anonymous]

good advice for sure from the prof , cant help thinking that the rsfx rears at £180 would suffice though ? as opposed to the newer rxfx at £400 , which could possibly be less well matched tonally to the older rs range that scene has ? that would free up £220 towards a sub too ?

edit .. btw the denon 2310 is only £469 at the moment from hifix , in silver only afaik , said to be warm sounding , arguably a better match for the rs speakers which are considered a little on the bright side , as are onkyos amps iirc ....

 

[scene]

maxflinn:
good advice for sure from the prof , cant help thinking that the rsfx rears at £180 would suffice though ? as opposed to the newer rxfx at £400 , which could possibly be less well matched tonally to the older rs range that scene has ? that would free up £220 towards a sub too ?

A good point max. though I'm not sure Mrs. scene will go for the rose nut

edit .. btw the denon 2310 is only £469 at the moment from hifix , in silver only afaik , said to be warm sounding , arguably a better match for the rs speakers which are considered a little on the bright side , as are onkyos amps iirc ....

Another good point. hmm more thinking to do while re-wiring the speakers...

 

[Anonymous]

what colour does mrs scene require mr scene ? sevenoaks may have em in one of their branches ? ill google tmw , something to do

 

[scene]

Ay, there's the rub... Mrs scene is keen on natural oak, to match the 8i's and LCR. However, the new Salamander AV cabinet is Walnut (and hides the centre), so I'm starting to think walnut. Oh, curse this indecision!