Updating my system from Pro Logic Advise me!

[dmoes]

Help me! I have not been in the AV market place for many years and have not kept up with who and whats good and whats not and its time for an update



My current Home theatre
1. NAD Surround sound processor 910 Pro logic only. preamp.
2. NAD multi chanel 906. 6ch amp,
3. Paradigm Export BP Bipolar fronts the cheep rears I have are dead no or Phantom centre.
4. 20" 18 year old tv
5. digital cable,
6.Samsung progressive scan DVD player
7. Yamaha Turntable
8. NAD CD Player.
9. NAD 7020 reciever (now used for Phono preamp and FM tuner only)

The Amp CDPlayer, turntable, and front Speakers are great. The preamp is great but outdated and the rest of the hardware ------ time for the yard sale

I haven't looked much at NAD to see what they have but I cant afford it anyway

I need

1. Rear and center speakers somthing that will work with the Paradigms
2. Receiver or preamp for Home theatre I have an awsome 6 channel amp but it looks like a compatible preamp might blow the buget. tell me if you have any ideas though. Phono input is a must I still have and play near a thousand vinyl LPs and a bunch of 78's I could use an external preamp but it needs to be good quality.
3. -32-37 inch HDTV the room is small and 42 inch would be just to big

I have looked at the Yamaha HTR5960 and Spec wise and price fits the bill and has Phono. Sound quality is important I dont call myself an audiofile I spend most of the time listening to music so sound quality is important but I am not looking for anything that is extreme single ended 300B tube amps are nice but not for me.

Can anyone advise me on what I should look for or avoid. Is the Yamaha a good choice? is the built in phono preamp any good? right now I am using an old NAD 7020 for a phono preamp and FM tuner. Id rather retire it and have the preamp built into the new reciever.
as for TV's well I have looked at a lot and I am realy not sure on a brand. Im not a real videofile but I dont want junk either.


Ive asked alot here but any advice on any part is much apreciated

[AudioBack]

Wow, just now making the jump to Dolby Digital. I currently own a Denon 2801, but I used to own an Onkyo that I loved as well. I've always been scared of Yamaha due to their bright sound reputation, suspiciously cheap price tags, and all those useless DSP modes that takes music to a whole new level of unrealistic. Not to mension that Best Buy sells Yamaha....enough said. They may be ok, but I never took the chance. I recommend the Onkyo 604 and up. I don't know about the cheaper Denons. However, Onkyo will give more of everything at a same priced Denon. Sound Quality wise, I believe the Denon would win, but not by a lot. If you consider an Onkyo, DO NOT buy the 303 model. I know it's cheap, but there is definately a reason.

Speakers that would work well with Paradigms might be hard to find depending on how picky you are. I have Paradigm Monitor 9s, and I tried the Paradigm Cinema series speakers that have the same drivers as the Monitor series, but much different cabnets. The center and the rear speakers are exaclty the same speaker and they run about 125 a piece. The center has a built-in pivot assembly to point the speaker in the desired direction. The plastic cabinets make the speakers alittle cheaper sounding, but like I said, just matters how picky you are. If you are picky, the Monitor series center and mini monitors might be better for you, but alot more costly. If not Paradigms, I suggest the Athena AS-B2.2 for the rears and AS-C1.2 for the center. I found that Athena speakers have that nice smooth midrage like Paradigms have, and I think they would make the closest match. They are also much cheaper than Paradigms. Onlyo problem is I have no idea who sells them anymore, but you can probably find out on www. athenaspeakers.com.

As for TVs, I think all the plazma, lcd, dlp technology sucks due to either reliability issues or picture quality issues or both. SED technology is supposed to launch next year which is picture tube technology gone flat. LCD can't do blacks, DLP needs a 200 to 300 dollar bulb replacement about every 1000 to 2000 hours of use, Plazma's picture degrades in about 2 years, and they're all just way too expensive to have flaws like those. If you absolutely need HD right now, I recommend the Sony XBR 34 inch CRT. It's 1000 bucks and has a beautiful picture, and will last for many years to come. The downside is that it is 200 pounds and as deep as any Trinitron CRT. If you can deal with that, I would buy that set. If I had 1000 bucks, it would be mine right now. Anyway I hoped this has helped you alttile.