How often do you upgrade your receiver? (1 Viewer)

[elMalloc]

I don't go for so expensive receivers that's why I have the luxury of upgrading quickly...I spend $500 tops per receiver.

Went from the philips home theater in box to the harman kardon avr120 and now to the onkyo sr600. Really though I don't need all the extra stuff I just needed component switching and 3 optical audio inputs. I'm sure once I get a 6 speaker setup though I'll be wanting a 7.1 or more.

-ELmO

 

[Arthur S]

I've been able to go about 6 years. Fortunately, the Nakmichi AV-1 has 5 channel inputs and outputs. So when I got a DVD player several years ago, I was able to add DD and DTS with a Technics SH-AC500D decoder slipped into the input/output loop. I was also able to go to 6.1 using a spare DPL receiver that was just boxed up in the closet. This make-shift 6.1 should keep me happy for a while.

One of the things that keeps me on the sidelines is the seemingly steady emergence of new features/formats. As in if you bought a receiver more than 6 months ago you probably don't have DPLII.

Trying to keep current can be difficult and can be costly.

Sometimes trailing edge technology is good enough.

Besides, buying into HDTV can't be put off for ever and $2,000 - $3,000 for that helps me keep the audio quest quiet.

 

[Reece]

I'm the real "new jack" to this hobby, but I see that I'm not alone when it comes to upgrade fever.

I bought one of those all-in-one rack systems back in '93 when DPLl was all the rage and was content until my reciever blue a circuit (what a suprise). When I entered the local electronic store to "just replace a reciever" I was inundated with all the advancements in audio/video equipment that was available. As soon as I auditioned 5.1 in their reference room, I was hooked like a $2.00 ho.

I now own 3 dedicated rooms of high end audio/video gear and I've only just begun.

Man, it's good to know I'm not the only one.

 

[Arthur S]

Reece
Please keep me in mind when you start uprgrading your 3 rooms of gear.
Artie

 

[Christian Speights]

I guess I'm slow. I bought a Denon 3200 back in May, 1997...and I still have it. I bought a separate amp about a year ago, but the receiver only has pre outs for the L/C/R channels...and it "only" does Dolby Digital...and so on...and so on.
I have been looking for a pre/pro so I can replace the receiver...get the remaining 2 channels on the amp into action...and hopefully eliminate some of the hiss in my rear speaks.
It's the receiver, I know it!
Christian

 

[WesleyHester]

Too damn often.

 

[Brian Kleinke]

More then I want to think about.... damn this is a curse.
I'm into the pre/pro world and I still plan on not stoping to upgrade anytime soon. :frowning:
Brian

 

[Larry Chanin]

Rob:
There's a bunch of great advice in this thread, most of which I can directly identify and commiserate with.
I discovered serious home theater (and began my upgrade addiction) when my trusty old rear projection TV died, and I was forced to make the decision whether to replace it with a standard TV or one of the HDTV's that had just hit the market at more than twice the price. I guess I turned out to be an early adopter since I ended up buying a first generation HDTV with all the pains that that entails.
As Arthur so astutely remarked, buying an expensive TV helped keep the audio quest quite for a while. However, it unfortunately rekindled my interest in A/V gear. After buying the TV I realized that my cable TV reception was totally inadequate and I had to upgrade to HD digital satellite. However, there wasn't a lot of HD content, so to get the most out of my set I had to buy a DVD player. That's when the digitally challenged nature of my system finally became all too apparent for me to ignore. I just had bought three digital devices and I didn't even own a digital receiver! :rolleyes
My problem was my old receiver was just too damn reliable! I had no good excuse to replace it like I did for the TV.
To deal with this I ended up going down an upgrade path that greatly extended the useable life of my receiver. To this day I still don't know if it made any sense from an economic point of view, but it certainly deferred several receiver iterations. What I did was I brought a digital surround adapter and amplifier. This gadget turned my Dolby Prologic receiver into a Dolby Digital receiver, and it furnished three 100 watt amplifiers to power the front center and side surrounds. I could connect all of my digital sources to it. The effect was wonderful. Ahh life was good!
Until Surround EX came along, that is. So, I continued my ADD-ON approach and instead of upgrading my receiver which was still going strong, I bought another surround processor to extract that rear center channel. Initially this didn't work out so well. I won't bore you (more than I already have) with the details, but suffice it to say I needed to get to the AMP IN connections of the digital adapter, and it didn't have any!
So… that lead me down the path to separates and the used amplifier market. I started buying some really nice Parasound amplifiers for the side surround channels and now the rear center channel sounded wonderful! Ahh life was good!
But...I unfortunately discovered separates and eBay. Now my surrounds were sounding so good, I just had to upgrade the amplifiers powering my more important front speakers. So I bought another three-channel Parasound amp. Now the fronts sounded wonderful. Ahh life was good!
[NOTE: I won’t go into all the countless other upgrades, the upgraded speakers, more amps, etc. I’ll just jump to the last upgrade.]
But.. then I heard about processors that could magically create 7.1 discrete channels on playback even though the soundtracks weren’t even recorded with 7.1 discrete channels. They could even do this with sources with as few as two channels. I just had to have this.
So…A DECADE OR SO LATER I FINALLY REPLACED MY RECEIVER, with a Lexicon MC-1 (and bought another amp). Now everything sounds wonderful. Ahh life is good.
But, then I heard about...
Whew, sorry for the long post, but I found it very therapeutic to get all this off my chest. :b
Hopelessly addicted to upgrading,
Larry

 

[Steve Morgan]

Funny I followed Larrys path. Started with Onkyo receiver then a Yammy DSP-A1 then added a Carver amp then to the RX-V1.This sounded sooo goood that I thought I need to replace my Paradigm reference 7.1 set-up then it was the Parasound amps and the Ref 30.This sounded awesome! Woops,MC-12 came out which dropped the MC-1 to a great price. Hello MC-1.Now what do I do with the RP-91 and DVD-A? Sony TA-p9000 and ICBM to the rescue.This all in the last 36 months. To fricking often.Does the madness ever end?

Cheers,

Steve M.

 

[Larry Chanin]

...Woops,MC-12 came out which dropped the MC-1 to a great price. Hello MC-1.Now what do I do with the RP-91 and DVD-A? Sony TA-p9000 and ICBM to the rescue.This all in the last 36 months. To fricking often.Does the madness ever end?

Hi Steve:
Yeah you must have been reading my mind!! That's precisely what I was thinking about when I wrote "But, then I heard about..." in my last posting.
The good news is I've run out of space in my equipment rack.
Your fellow member of A/V anonymous,
Larry

 

[Scott_Sylke]

Being a Sunfire owner, it is pretty easy to decide when to upgrade.....whenever they come out with a new processor. Sunfire has a trade in policy where you send in your old pre/pro and $1000 and you get a new $3500 unit. I also don't have to worry about unloading my old unit. Works out nice!! I never need to upgrade my Cinema Grand amp. Although, now that Sunfire has added 6.1 on the new Theater Grand III, I will probably be adding a Sunfire Cinema Stereo amp to run the mains and then use the Cinema Grand to run all the other channels.

 

[matthew_rm]

I still need to buy my first "reciever":b

 

[MikeHalder]

I bought my first receiver in '96 and it served me well.....until I caught the bug. Since my affliction began I have gone nuts:
October: Sony STR-DA333ES
KLF-C7 center to math my KLF-30 mains
2 KLF-10's to match my mains and center
November: 2 Velodyne SPL-1200's
Sony DVP-NC600 DVD
December: Upgraded to a Sony STR-DA777ES
January: Sony SCD-CE775 SACD....slow month
February: Sony SLV-R1000 VCR....another slow month
March: Dual SVS 20-39CS+/Samson 1000
April: Parasound 1205A
Just upgraded to a Parasound 2205AT (in the mail)
The bright side is that I am using all of the equipment and enjoying it very much, on the other hand my neighbors hate me. Now I have a dilemma, should I keep the 1205A for future reference/expansion, or sell it to post bail for my wife.
Mike

 

[Steve Morgan]

Larry,

The solution is easy. Buy another rack that is expandable. I received a rack for X-mas from Audio Advisor which you can add shelves to.This was my second rack.I guess I will have to put the BFD and the Vansevers 85 on the same shelf to make room for the Sony and ICBM.

Cheers,

Steve

 

[Matt Weldy]

This is probably not the right way to buy anything. I do it with computers and recievers. When I decide I need a new on I go out and buy the most expensive one I think (notice I said think) I can afford. Figuring if I buy the latest and greatest they cant change anything drasticaly. So I can stay satisfied longer. Usualy about 4 years.

 

[Larry Chanin]

Hi Steve:
Thanks for the advice, but As a fellow member of A/V anonymous you should know better than to encourage another addict's habit!
However, it's not all that simple as adding an expandable rack. Most of my gear is housed in a wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling entertainment center. You can get an idea by clicking on my signature below and viewing some of the photos. (As I mentioned, my last upgrade was the Lexicon, but I haven't gotten around to updating the photos to show it and the additional amplifiers yet.) All the open shelving is filled leaving only the glassed-in display space. I suppose I could eventually displace the African Art and move in some more components, but that would probably entail ventilating the space and adding some sort of through the cabinet IR sensors and associated emitters, etc.
Besides there's talk about Lexicon coming out with an intermediate processor somewhere between the MC-1 and MC-12 that is supposed to be able to accommodate DVD-Audio. Trading up might be a better upgrade path.
Larry

 

[Michael Marklund]

How often???

7 year old sony receiver broke down. So my dad (semi-audiophile) gave me his Yamaha int. amp/tuner. (gave him an excuse to upgrade). 6 months ago bought great 65" Mitsu hdtv, then found this forum. Got the upgrade bug big time. (thanks guys.) Then the Yamaha broke 2 weeks ago. Was all set to start transition to separates (Sherbourn 5/1500A was about to be ordered). Found out 2nd baby is on the way. Big budget HT got shot down in a hurry. Bought Denon 3802 to get by. Am already planning on replacing it, just want to replace all other parts first. Bought MC hts3500 last weekend. Will order PSB image 6's in 2 weeks. Replacing DVD player w/ progressive one after that.

Aaaaaaaargh!!

What the heck, at least the wife is happier/enjoys the HT improvements more than the watches I was buying for myself.

MM

 

[Reece]

Artie,
I'll keep you in mind
I'm planning on buying a new house in 2 years and I already have plans for my recycled gear.
It never ends....
Reece

 

[elMalloc]

choose your words wisely man.

Getting a denon 3802 to "GET BY" offends many people like me!!

Grrrrrrrrr...............:X

 

[Alf S]

Seems like I switch receivers out ever 2 years or so.
I'm currently auctioning my Outlaw 1050 in favor of the Pioneer 811S.
Two years from now, I will hopefully be switching from 35" direct view TV to a nice HDTV big screen.