Upgrade Time? (1 Viewer)

[Shane Acker]

Well my Kenwood VR-4090 is in the shop for some repairs and I don't know if I'm just jonesing for something other than the tinny sound from the tv speakers or if I'm really serious about upgrading the receiver to 7.1. I've been thinking lately about a Denon, Yamaha or Pioneer in the $1000 to $1200 range. I have an all Energy setup as follows

Mains E:xl 25
Center E:xl C-2
Rears E:xl 15
Sub E:xl S-10

I think the exposed tweeters on the E:xl speakers tend toward bright (which I like personally) but I don't want to go overbright with a new receiver. I would probably complete the 7.1 setup with a pair of Energy E:xl R speakers just so everything matches.

I would probably upgrade in the next 2 months or so.

Thanks for any help.

 

[MikeDuke]

I had an older Denon, the 3300, for a number of years and liked it very much. Not bright at all. A freind of mine has a 3805 and that sounds good to me also. Again not bright to me. I can not comment on the new Yamaha or Pioneer.

 

[Jesse Sharrow]

I own a yamaha rxv-1400. It isnt bright at all either. I have hooked up at one time or another, infinity, boston, sony and dunlavy's to it. They all, well maybe not the sony's, sounded great.

 

[John Garcia]

At that price point, I don't think you have to worry about any of those manufacturers. I'd also add Harman Kardon, Marantz and Onkyo to your list though.

The E:xls are bright to my ears, which is why I recommend some of these smoother sounding receivers.

 

[Himanshu_S]

HK 635 would be good choice. I have heard HK635 with Klipsch which are considered bright speakers and they sounded amazing with the HK 635. For the price(online), it's well worth the money.

 

[Arthur S]

Shane

On the other hand with HD-DVD and the newest versions of Dolby Digital and DTS apparently coming with HD-DVD, why not hold off a while since you are already committed to getting the Kenwood fixed.

The upgrade for now could be the additional Energy speakers while something that is a close match is available. Yes, you will be a bit frustrated having the speakers and not being able to use them, but if you put out $1,200 bucks now and then DTS Plus or DD Plus is viable in a year you might be frustrated then.

With a couple of new sound formats clearly on the horizon, this might not be the best time to put out $1,200 on a new receiver.

 

[Shane Acker]

Thats true. I pulled the trigger on the Kenwood a little too soon then DD-EX and DTS-ES came out a couple months later I felt a little burned for not doing better research.

Anybody have any links to info on the new formats?

 

[Jesse Sharrow]

To be honest with you shane. Its always gonna be that way. Lol. But I do agree. I may want to do research on if HD-DVD and Blu-ray are coming really soon, or 5years soon.