Home Theater upgrade help

[AZHT]

Looking to upgrade my HT. Should I upgrade my front speakers, subwoofer or receiver first. I only have enough money to do one for now. If I upgrade the receiver I would also get 2 small speakers for the 7.1 rears.
Thanks for your help!

My system currently:
Denon AVR-2800
Denon 910 DVD
Toshiba 57" rear proj.
Fronts: Paradigm 9seMkII
Center: Paradigm CC-350
Surrounds: Paradigm ADP-350
Subwoofer: Klipsch KSW-12
Moster cables and Powerbar 1100

[kexodusc]

Well, before we can really offer meaningful advice, we need more info from you. What is it about your current system you don't like, or that you find most inadequate? What features are you looking (or craving) for specifically? What is your reason for going to 7.1 instead of 6.1 or remaining at 5.1.

[AZHT]

Well, before we can really offer meaningful advice, we need more info from you. What is it about your current system you don't like, or that you find most inadequate? What features are you looking (or craving) for specifically? What is your reason for going to 7.1 instead of 6.1 or remaining at 5.1.

I want to have tighter & deeper bass as well as either the 6.1 or 7.1 for a more enveloping sound watching DVDs. I do 80% HT and 20% music. My Denon 2800 is only 5.1. My mains are 12 years old and figured a higher end speaker would give me better quality sound, especially if mated with a better sub.

[TinHere]

I want to have tighter & deeper bass as well as either the 6.1 or 7.1 for a more enveloping sound watching DVDs. I do 80% HT and 20% music. My Denon 2800 is only 5.1. My mains are 12 years old and figured a higher end speaker would give me better quality sound, especially if mated with a better sub.

What size is your room? Having a better 5.1 might be better than adding channels. If you are unhappy with the bass the first place I would look is the subwoofer. I had the KSW-12 and now have an SVS 20-39 PC. It was a definite improvement however I think the difference is greater with music than HT. After I did some research I found that even members at the Klipsch forum didn't speak fondly of that particular subwoofer. Do you like the mains without the sub running? If so the new sub may be the way to go.

The important thing is to have a plan. Getting just new mains will leave the center weak by comparison [assuming an upgrade], and in HT the center channel is where most of the info comes from. If your time frame allows you to upgrade the center in the not to distant future you could use a phantom center which will probably sound better than what you have, until you get a matching center to the new mains. A new receiver that does DPLII will also give you improvement in 2 to multi-channel conversion. Knowledge of your budget [now and later] will help in making recommendations. And I'll say it again, IMHO a better 5.1 will sound better than a not as good 6.1 or 7.1 system and allow you to use your resources to get better gear. Tough choices.

[alexthegreat]

well ILL tell you what I did to get a nice sounding HT system I bought a THX certified Receiver ran everything from a SACD DVD player to the receiver then back out to a PAS 3 then to a Dynaco ST 70 for the front then I ran the muti and the rear out to AN Ecio ST 70 I can use the reciever to switch back and forth between what I want to listen to oh I forgot to say front channels are klipsch lascala and rear are also with the sides being a klipsch speaker made for surround as the other guy said you need to have a plan consider the size of your room ,speaker placment and so on but I will say this for the best sound go for the tube sound it is much better than solid state and in your case I would start with a THX with pre-ins and pre-outs you might look at a onkyo TX DS797 if you can find one I think they go for around 2500 now thats what I use I think it won some award for being one of the best THX receivers hope this helps IM new at this so forgive me for just going on and on

[Woochifer]

The upgrades I'm suggesting have more to do with optimizing what you already have before dumping more money into components.

First upgrade if you haven't done so yet, is to verify your setup with a test disc and SPL meter. Also, reposition the speakers so that they're closer to the reference configuration (see below). Beauty of these upgrades is that they don't cost anything, but can often make more of an improvement than other measures like receiver upgrades or cables.

http://www.axiomaudio.com/global/images/diagrams/dolby_digital_pro_logic2.jpg

Your room acoustics are the second most important part of your audio system. Most people completely ignore this part of the system, yet it plays a huge role in determining what you hear. The acoustical problems in most rooms center on two primary areas -- the time domain and the boundary effects.

The time domain issue is caused by echoes that smear the coherency of the sound and make it seem harsh. You test your room by standing in the middle and clapping your hands together. If you hear a slap echo, then your room has a problem. Approaches to solving this issue include getting a thicker rug, adding cushy furniture, hanging draperies from the walls, or more focused approaches like acoustic panels and/or corner bass traps.

The other upgrade that I would propose for your setup would be to add a parametric equalizer to the subwoofer. The room boundary effects basically reinforce the bass frequencies at the low end. They also cause the bass waves to reflect and interact with one another, resulting in frequency-specific peaks and nulls at the listening position. The parametric equalizer deals with the peaks that make the bass seem overly boomy sounding at certain frequencies. By flagging the problem frequencies using a SPL meter and test tones (or RTA software and a microphone), you can dial down the boomy peaks and create a fuller sounding and more accurate bass. It's basically like listening to a new subwoofer because you can now set the levels more accurately rather than letting the boomy peaks dictate your subwoofer settings.

If you got the upgrade bug, try these approaches first. They might actually yield a bigger performance improvement than swapping out components.

If you're deadset on spending some money, the most logical place to start is always with the speakers. "7.1" will not matter one bit if your sofa is pushed against the backwall. If you got some space behind the listening position, then going with a "7.1" receiver might give you improved backfill on the surround effect.

[csukasem]

To upgrade HT, in my experience, first, Center Speaker. Then, Subwoofer,.... (Room Setting is a must if you have time.)

Good luck.

Sukasem