What components make a good start up system?

[chiefwalk3]

I like to listen to jazz, some classical music, R&B oldies- Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Earth, Wind, and Fire, Sly and the Family Stone, Celine Dion and the like. But I read all the good postings here and wonder if my system is enough to get the optimum sound from all the different music I listen to. I'm on a tight budget so I'm conscience of costs. Any advice? Current system Yamaha RX-V461 Receiver, Sony DVD NS55P, Boston Acoustics CR67 front, CR57 rears, and Center B/M MRCB Micro Center, Sony 8" sub. with neightbors I keep things at a medium roar but like Sly loud. I am wondering if I need a larger sub or need a Boston sub to replace the Sony. I was told the Sony was okay. Just wondering if I need to upgrade, if so to what????

[02audionoob]

I like to listen to jazz, some classical music, R&B oldies- Aretha Franklin, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Earth, Wind, and Fire, Sly and the Family Stone, Celine Dion
I was with you until that last one.:sosp:
What the heck does that emoticon mean?

But aside from that...I like this as a budget system. If I were looking to critique, I don't think I'd start with the sub. I'm of the mindset that the sub is of lesser importance for music than the other devices are. If anything, for music...I might start thinking about better front speakers. But then again, within the context of this system, the speakers seem like an excellent choice. Same for the receiver...maybe worth considering an upgrade for music purposes, but still seems like a nice choice for this setup.

[Mr Peabody]

True, the system components seem to be balanced based on performance range. If I was ready to experiment with the system I might add a better power amp if preamp outs were available. One of the best values in a power amp are used Adcoms. I'd also, and probably first, buy a better CD source. Hard to say what without knowing your budget. I'm talking about a player with good DAC's so you can use the analog outputs into your receiver's analog input and use the "direct" or "bypass" mode which would bypass all the internal decoding stuff of the receiver. For a "warm" sound, the various Marantz are well regarded in a wide range of prices. I recommend Arcam which is an incredible sounding player. They started new at about $699.00 but you can usually find good deals on the used market.

Also, depending on budget, there are more revealing speakers than the Boston. Where to go on speakers is largely dependent on your taste. I'd recommend Paradigm as a starting point. There are so many ways to go......

The thing is, are you looking for change, or overall improvement in sound? Improvement will most happen with your source upgrade by providing your system more detail. If it isn't brought off the disc, nothing you do from there will allow you to hear that detail. If you want change, speakers will most likely give you the most radical swing.

One other thought, there is always going to be better out there, and different, so, if you are currently satisfied with your system, then that is what counts. But, if you are like most of us here, you probably have the disease, I hope the suggestions will help you feed the fever.

[chiefwalk3]

Thanks! for the input. I did a search on the Manantz and Paradigm speakers and with being furloughed at the job I will have to be satisfied at the moment with the sound I have. Appreciate the insight, makes a lot of sense that the sound source improvement would improve the sound.

[This Guy]

Just don't forget that a change in speakers will yield the biggest sound difference. A $700 upgrade in speakers will be Much more noticeable than a $700 Cd player, if there is a difference at all. So what you have to do is decide what you want in an improvement before you buy anything.

[Mr Peabody]

You used "change" and "improvement" interchangeably. There's a big difference. Speakers may yield a large noticeable difference but not necessarily an improvement. Moving into a higher quality source will yield an undenyable improvement as long as the rest of the system is good enough to reveal the extra detail.

Here's what I mean in general. Let's say you have an Arcam CD player, Arcam because I know from experience that you gain in performance as you go up in models, and you have a certain pair of Dynaudio speakers, Dynaudio will give a definite improvement in refinement as you go up but their overall character holds fast. With everything else remaining the same, stepping up in source will yield the most increase in performance. Although going up to a higher level of speaker you may get some additional refinement you haven't really added anything. Going up to a higher model of CD player adds not only refinement but more detail, more information off the disc about the original performance.

In the same example, if I take the Dynaudio away in favor of Klipsch there will be a wildly different sound, big "change", definitely noticeable, but definitely not an "improvement", and in my opinion a degradation, even if the Klipsch cost more money. If you added Maggies opposed to Dynaudio, a definite change, improvement, I doubt it but that would be up to the listener. But the addition of the Maggies just changes how the music is presented, it really is not improving on it so to speak. The Maggies may be "preferred" but I doubt if anything added.

In some instances adding a higher level of speakers could actually degrade your system if the amp isn't up to the task of driving them. Can't think of any way a better source could hurt anything.

[This Guy]

Yes, that is why I said the speakers will yield the biggest difference in sound. I told the original poster that he has to decide what "kind" of improvement he was looking for. He sounds like he doesn't really know what he wants, or what he wants to change. A different speaker will make the biggest difference, as I believe we both agree on. I also agree with you that certain speakers will need an adequate amplifier to power them sufficiently so they sound the way the manufacturer intended, his Yamaha is probably fine though. But in this guys set-up, his $250 bookshelf speakers have little to gain in sound from a very expensive ($700) cd player. Maybe your multi-thousand dollar setup may yield a minor gain in audible improvement from such a cd player, but it would be foolish to spend that much money for a cd player on such low end speakers. I personally would recommend a better subwoofer for this setup if he was to upgrade anything at all, because an 8" Sony probably just detracts from the setup. But, I personally don't recommend upgrading anything until you know what you're looking for.

[JoeE SP9]

Upgrade what you are most dissatisfied with. If it's electronics you can't go wrong buying used.