Would like help with AV [Archive] - Audio & Video Forums

PDA

View Full Version : Would like help with AV



scamp_89
12-04-2006, 08:23 PM
hi recently purchased 45" Sharp lcd.and a Onkyo tx-sr674 7.1 AV receiver. I also have a pair of very old Marantz imperial 7 speakers I bought when i was a kid early 70s and would very much like to keep. (will refurbish) room size is 15 by 20 and 9' ceiling. viewing will be 75% tv and 25% music. volume low ( i'm old now)

My question is what would be good speakers to go with the new 7.1 av receiver and my old marantz speakers would prefer smaller floor speaker since my marantz speakers are quite large.

also any advice on a dvd player and hdmi cables.

and will have it professional installed

any advice would be appreciated just not sure of the speakers to buy
oh price range around a $1000 for speakers dvd 200 to 300

thanks
steve

icarus
12-04-2006, 10:07 PM
Well if you are planning on a surround sysyetm while using your current marantz speakers, I would recomend Polk audio to complete your system, speakers such as the FXi3 ($400) and the CSi3 center channel ($240) most people on this forum probably would recomend you pick up a sub as well.

as for a DVD player, for that price range i personally like Samsung.

elapsed
12-04-2006, 10:23 PM
For the DVD Player, the top two models in your price range are the Oppo 981 and Denon DVD-1930CI. Personally I would pick up the brand new Oppo 981. The last generation Oppo 971 was the highest rated budget DVD player on the market (under $300).

2005 DVD Benchmarks: http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/shootout.cgi?function=search&articles=all

scamp_89
12-05-2006, 05:11 AM
thanks for the help then maybe I should ask the question do you think it is a mistake keeping my old marantz speakers

SlumpBuster
12-05-2006, 08:44 PM
thanks for the help then maybe I should ask the question do you think it is a mistake keeping my old marantz speakers

Absolutely.

Take it from me. First, note that I am a fan of vintage speakers, but vintage speakers at have their place. And a state of the art HT is not it. There are other vintage oriented boards out there where you will find guys with home theaters completely comprised of thirty year old speakers and they will tell you the exact opposite.

However, I think some of those guys are deluding themselves. I'm sure your marantz speakers were once fine and impressive speakers, but they are from another era. There have been leaps and bound made in loudspeaker development over the last 30 years. THis is especially true in bass management and the wide spread use of subwoofers. When your Marantz were designed, they were supposed to reproduce the entire musical spectrum. There are alot of tradeoffs in speaker design as a result. In HT, they will not be called on to reproduce the lowest bass octaves. Your sub will do that. In the 70s and 80s speakers were dominated by big, wide, floor models with 15 and 12 inch woofers and 3, 4, 5, and even 6 way designs. By comparison, the biggest woofer in my set up is a mere 8 inches (subwoofer). And my mains are 2.5 way 6.5inch towers. You will be hard pressed to find any speakers anymore that even look like your marantz, and there is a reason why.

Now, mind you, I'm not trying to be anti-vintage, afterall my "ultra modern" speakers are driven by an amp over 20 years old. If you like the marantz, then keep them. I'm listening to some 25 year old Akai equipment right now. But you owe it to yourself not to commit to speakers you chose 30 years ago as a kid whithout doing a little shopping. You can actually do quite well with a full 5.1 set up and still come in at approx $1000.

kelsci
12-06-2006, 03:00 PM
I remember the Marantz line of speakers from 1974 because I bought a pair of Imperial 6's. I auditioned the the Imp. 4,5, and 7s. I choose the six's even though they were a two way system while the 7's I believe were 3 way with a 12 inch woofer because I felt the 6's sounded better than the 7's.

Have you tried the 7's in stereo with your bass management set to LARGE on the Onkyo on the main left and right? If you did, how did they play? If not, I would suggest you try this to see how those Marantz units handle themselves.

Lets suppose you liked the bass from the 7's on the Onkyo. If you do not want to go with a sub, they all you would need is a center and two surrounds if you are going 5.1.. If you are going 7.1, you would need two additonal surround speakers for the center back. The only thing that bothers me is that the 7's had a 3 way assymetrical design. This can work well with DPLOGIC-2 but might give an imaging problem to D.DIGITAL and DTS. recordings. Unfortuantely, I do not have a means to try different designed speakers such as the assy. design of the 7's in my home to give a definitve answer particually when the top of that speaker would be at ear level. It might be great and it might not.

You could also apply the Marantz speakers to a B speaker set-up and use that for music. You would need to purchase a 5 speaker satellite system and sub for your primary 5.1 listening or a 7 speaker satellite and sub system for 7.1 sound. You would also have to check in the manual of the 674 if in fact what I just said particually if this involves a 7.1 set-up. I am sorry if I seem to be writing a confused scenario here, but I am trying to figure a way of saving the use of the Marantz units for you.

scamp_89
12-06-2006, 07:57 PM
Thank you very very much for all of the advice much more than I ever expected. the last time i upgraded the amp was over twenty years ago I tryed new speakers and there was no comparison to the marantz speakers. But that was twenty years ago and know things improve.

So i will take both your suggestions I have a floor model of the Klipsch Quintet III to try out. I will try them with the marantz speakers and without them. Again I'm having a professional installed satuarday, things are much more complicated than they used to be. kinda like trying to work on a new car lol

again thanks for your help

steve

Daedilus
12-06-2006, 10:21 PM
I am currently running a vintage home theater system, with a pair of Altec Lansing A7 santana 16 voice of the theaters for mains, they are being driven by a Nikko 400 wpc soundstage amp, which is getting its front channels processed by a Denon 3805 amplier.

The Denon powers the center (Def-tech CLR 2300) and the 2 surrounds Heil ESS AMT-1 monitors. im an running 2 Def-tech super cube 1's front and rear subs with it.

The sound is.. thunderous, frightening, exhilarating, deafening.. all at your fingertips.

So yes, by all means, vintage audio equipment can and is used in some very outstanding home theaters. Don't be afriad to use the older speakers, they are capable of producing far greater audio range than what is being sent to todays speakers in a DTS environment.

But be sure to use the modern equipment where it is applicable, primarily your reciever or processor. And subs. for the love of god man, make sure you spend money on the subs. Woofer technology, and the monoblock amps that drive them have come a long long way since the woofers of yesteryear.

If money is an issue on your speaker purchase right now, and you only have the 1k cash to spend on all your speakers, do yourself a favor and buy the sub now and add the surrounds later. you will get damn good performance out of your marantz's with a really nice sub in stereo mode until you save up for the surrounds.

Make sure you buy a premier line, Velodyne, Definitive technologies supercube line, are a couple of my favorites. expect to pay about 1k to 1200. both of these lines have onboard monoblocks rated in the 600 to 1200 watt range.

It was my intention from the start to create a theme system, based around old theater equipment, and it worked out well, i install home theaters for a living, have worked with the best, Martin Logan, B&W, Mark Levinson, Carver, Bang & Olufsen... and while i have heard some with better tonal clarity, i havent heard any that equal my antique system for soundstage, brillinace, or sheer in your face thunder.