Out With Old System, your help for new

[Dreadnaut]

just looking for help i have recently got new speakers, to replace my old home theater in a box system. but now i have new speakers, i am still using old reciever. looking for some info into what reciever i should buy to go with my new speakers. any help would be appreciated thanks.

My Old Reciever: Yamaha HTR-5650

and my new Speakers:

Cerwin-Vega CLSC -6C (Front Center)
Cerwin-Vega CLSC -12S (Subwoofer)
Cerwin-Vega CLSC -12 (Front Floor)

Mission M3C1I (Rear Center)
Mission M3DSI (Rear Surround)

Now what kinda reciever should i be looking into getting, or is my old one fine?

thanks everyone....

--Dreadnaut

[paul_pci]

Your old one may be fine if you feel that it is powering all your speakers adequately and if it still has all the features that you desire. The upgrade bug often lurks outside the realm of rationality, so if you're trying to rationalize an upgrade, it may be difficult. Hoever, if, like most folks, you don't have much use for rationality, look into the latest models of the usual suspects: Yamaha, Denon, Harman Kardon, Marantz.

[GMichael]

You may want to just look into a separate amp. You have pre-outs right? In HT mode you should already have all the power you need. But a 2 channel amp may be just what you need to satisfy that upgrade bug for now.

[Dreadnaut]

Thanks for the ideas,

Only reason im thinkin of another amp/reciever is cause when I picked up my Cerwin-Vega CLSC -12 (Fronts) the guy at the dealer asked me what kinda amp I was running, and he told me I might wanna move up, i have a Yamaha HTR 5650 now it was around $500 Canadian , he said I should look into gettin one around $1000 - $1300 , they have some killer looking Denon, Harman Kardon recievers for around that price, but I wanted to come on here and get some good honest opinions.

So keep em coming

--Dreadnaut

[PAT.P]

Thanks for the ideas,

Only reason im thinkin of another amp/reciever is cause when I picked up my Cerwin-Vega CLSC -12 (Fronts) the guy at the dealer asked me what kinda amp I was running, and he told me I might wanna move up, i have a Yamaha HTR 5650 now it was around $500 Canadian , he said I should look into gettin one around $1000 - $1300 , they have some killer looking Denon, Harman Kardon recievers for around that price, but I wanted to come on here and get some good honest opinions.

So keep em coming

--Dreadnaut

I have the Yamaha HTR-5760 and I have 2 sub,using a/b ,centre and 2 more for presence and lots of power .Bought this receiver 2 months ago for 399 CND .Pat.P

[Woochifer]

Save your money. Cerwin Vegas are some of the more efficient and easily driven speakers on the market. Upgrading to a midlevel receiver probably won't give you too much audible benefit. If anything, matching the surround speakers with Cerwin Vegas in the back should be your next priority.

Your receiver is probably less than two years old. It may have been packaged with a HTIB, but it's still a full featured and viable receiver. You've already upgraded the speakers, so enjoy them for a while.

Before you make a determination that you need to upgrade the receiver, you need to make sure that you've optimized everything else in your system. That includes voice matching the speakers, using a SPL meter and test disc to calibrate the level settings, arranging the speakers so that they are in the optimal positioning (see diagram below), etc. Once you've done all of that, THEN you're ready to look at upgrading the receiver. Right now, I don't think you're at that stage yet.



In general, the speakers will give you the most variation in their tonal characteristics, whereas amplification will give you much more subtle differences in sound quality, unless you include tube amps into the discussion or you're going with more demanding speakers with lower efficiency and/or more variation in the impedance.

[Dreadnaut]

That includes voice matching the speakers, using a SPL meter and test disc to calibrate the level settings

Now this is the only thing that I have no clue about, where can I pick this meter and disc up to try it out, I have always been a bit weary if i have setup my speakers lvls right.

As for all the settings in my reciever i dont understand but I still wanna set them to the right thing, how do I go about doin that, if I dont undersand what they are talkin about?

thanks again

---Dreadnaut

[paul_pci]

Now this is the only thing that I have no clue about, where can I pick this meter and disc up to try it out, I have always been a bit weary if i have setup my speakers lvls right.

As for all the settings in my reciever i dont understand but I still wanna set them to the right thing, how do I go about doin that, if I dont undersand what they are talkin about?

thanks again

---Dreadnaut

Go to Radio Shack and pick up an analog or Digital spl meter. There are a few calibration DVDs to choose from. Smokey wrote a good overview of them in the articles/review forum. A lot of us use Digital Video Essentials; however it can take a while to learn how to navigate through to the test tones you need. You can get DVE through Amazon for about 20 bucks. Both are defnitely a must have. Basically, you want to hold the spl meter exactly where you sit without your body interfering with the sound getting to the meter. As the test tones make their rounds you want them to all be at the same level. It is usually recommended that you crank up the volume so you can get an initial reading of your front main speakers at 75dbs. As the fronts will be the reference point, you then want to bring the center, surrounds, and sub into line with them.

Good luck.