Would I Benefit From An Upgrade

[kkx3nt7]

HI folks, looking, like most on here, for some advice about my current set up. In short I have:
Yamaha RX-V677, 7.2 Receiver
Kef 3005.1 5.1
Kef Q3 floor standing fronts
Project Turntable via pre amp
Sony Blu Ray
SKY Q
Samsung 65" 4K TV
5.1 covers the front high mount and surrounds, with the Sub and the Floor standers are the front L & R
Now, I'm aware this is all quite a few years old now and I'm wondering if I will benefit in replacing the whole package with something more modern.
Movies are important ( obv ) generally 5.1 or Dolby True HD is the current output and the turntable through the stereo function ( well 2.1 )
Any wisdom taken into careful consideration

 

[giggsy1977]

Depends what you're 'unhappy' with in your system I guess.
Speaker technology hasn't changed much, but a change of speakers usually illicits the biggest change in sound
You could upgrade your Yamaha to a Dolby Atmos receiver for a subtle upgrade to the sound (processing as opposed to quality), and add some height effects speakers.
Your screen - depends how old and the technology it used as to whether you would see an improvement in picture quality or not.
If your blu-ray player is HD only, upgrading to a 4K one will show improvement.

 

[ultraminiature]

After looking into surround and having five passive speakers, an active sub-woofer and Meridian 5 channel power amp I changed to active floor standing speakers with a HDMI debedder from the computer. I no longer have a TV but a 65" touch display panel. In the passed two years I am using WiSA speakers with a usb WiSA transmitter. The speakers are powered but I don't need signal cables to them.

Analogue passive and active speakers are easier to install and mix and match. The advantage of active systems is that the designer has put the best electronics into the speaker and take out trying to find the best amplifier speaker combination and whether this cable to that one makes a difference. When I got my active speakers in 1980 I stopped hunting for a better system. Even 20 years later a brief survey of the market and I couldn't find anything better, different, just as good but not better even for several times the cost of my original purchase. I did upgrade my Linn Sondek in 1990 and 2022 (mostly a new cartridge and new motor/bearings). My 2022 speakers are not as good as the 1980 speakers but close enough.

To get an improvement I have found that I had to upgrade everything. To then pick the units that matched and made a real difference. All the tweaks shew up that the amp or the speakers needed to be changed as well.

Depending on your budget it might be worth spending some time to see what you might get, even for silly money and then decide what you want to aim for but if doing the upgrade piece by piece you could have to live with an inferior system until you changed the other components as well.

 

[Jasonovich]

Very recently, I upgraded my 15 year old Denon AVR-2807 for the excellent Denon AVR-X1800H.
The older Denon in it's day was top tier, the replacement Denon is aimed for the budget conscious. Got mine from Peter Tyson via eBay, good price.

This gave me Atmos and great quality sound, which was an improvement on the old AV.

Setting up was seamless and user interface was intuitive. The built quality on 2807 was better, had larger dimensions and heavier. The smaller 1800H allowed me to move the cabinet closer to the wall.

I also upgraded my Panasonic UMP something something 4k Blu-ray to WHF favourite Panasonic UMP820. A small improvement in the picture quality, the biggest improvement was the sound.

I've just received my HDMI 2.1 cables and these will replace the HDMI 1.4. The former can operate at higher bandwidth, so hopefully this will bring incremental improvements to the sound and picture.

I'm not sure I want Atmos speakers, currently my speakers are 5.1. This will make it 7.1 or 7.2 if I add another subwoofer.
Atmos speakers don't do very much, I wonder is it worth the investment?

 

[R2D2]

Very recently, I upgraded my 15 year old Denon AVR-2807 for the excellent Denon AVR-1800H.
The older Denon in it's day was top tier, the replacement Denon is aimed for the budget conscious. Got mine from Peter Taylor via eBay, good price.

This gave me Atmos and great quality sound, which was an improvement on the old AV.

Setting up was seamless and user interface was intuitive. The built quality on 2807 was better, had larger dimensions and heavier. The smaller 1800H allowed me to move the cabinet closer to the wall.

I also upgraded my Panasonic UMP something something 4k Blu-ray to WHF favourite Panasonic UMP820. A small improvement in the picture quality, the biggest improvement was the sound.

I've just received my HDMI 2.1 cables and these will replace the HDMI 1.4. The former can operate at higher bandwidth, so hopefully this will bring incremental improvements to the sound and picture.

I'm not sure I want Atmos speakers, currently my speakers are 5.1. This will make it 7.1 or 7.2 if I add another subwoofer.
Atmos speakers don't do very much, I wonder is it worth the investment?

Peter Taylor? Do you mean Peter Tyson? I like the cheap new Denon amps too.

 

[Jasonovich]

Peter Taylor? Do you mean Peter Tyson? I like the cheap new Denon amps too.

Yes Peter Tyson I have a colleague from work named Peter Taylor, a Freudian Slip!
Thank you, I'll go back and correct the error.

The Denon AVR-X1800H really punches above its weight. Retail price is about £700, Peter Tyson is selling these for £399, no brainer if you're looking to get yourself a bargain.

Also got a good deal from Peter Tyson, Polk Audio Signature Elite ES10 Atmos speakers, including ex-demo Panasonic DP-UB820EB 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Player on eBay, this completes my audio-video upgrade.

Denon AVR-X1800H 8K AV receiver could deliver an Award-winning recipe – for less

The more affordable sibling to the 'Product of the year' X2800H

www.whathifi.com