Made a rationalization, it’s not worth it to upgrade my receiver… (1 Viewer)

[Matt_Smi]

First off let me just say that if it was not for this forum I probably would have never considered upgrading it in the first place as I have been fairly happy with it, “It” being my three and a half year old Sony STR-DE545 receiver that I paid $300 for. This summer I was planning on upgrading my subwoofer, receiver, DVD player and buying an HDTV. Well I already upgraded my Sony SA-WM40 sub to an HSU STF-2, the STF-2 was a great deal and a definite improvement over the Sony, plus now I get to bring the old Sony to college and hook it into my PC speaker system so I will still get use out of it. I still plan to buy an HDTV with the $850 of store credit that I have at Circuit City (from my old WEGA that broke), and I will probably still get a $300 progressive scan DVD player to go along with my HDTV, and give my current DVD player to my dad (who still does not have a player). I was planning on spending $500 on a new receiver as well, but I have now decided against it. Here are the main reasons why.

-My Sony is still working fine and I have not run out of inputs “yet”
-While an improvement in sound quality may be heard it will not be major
-I will have no use for the old Sony if I upgrade it
-I go to college, therefore would not get much use out of it, as all of my “HT” stays home
-$500 is a decent chunk of money for me to drop


The more I thought about it I just did not see enough of a reason to drop $500 on an upgrade that may leave me thinking, “did I really need this”. I know that many here think that the DE line of Sony receivers is trash, but for me it has been reliable and gets the job done fine. The only benefit I feel I would gain from a new receiver is more inputs and features that I do not really need at this moment. It would not be as gratifying of an upgrade as going from my Sony sub to the HSU or going from SDTV to HDTV. So I have decided to put off upgrading my receiver until about a year or two when I plan to buy all new speakers (except the sub), I figure that will be a better time to get a new receiver, by then new models will be out with more features for less, I will want a new AVR to better power the nicer speakers that I will be getting, and will possibly need component switching by then. Where as if I get a new receiver now, I may want to upgrade again in a few years when I am buying new speakers anyway. What is the point of this post? I guess no point, but it shows that you CAN fight the “up-grade bug” and learn to me happy with your modest gear as I have.

 

[Carlo_M]

Dude, go to college, concentrate all of your energies there, leave the upgraditis behind.
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Then graduate summa cum laude, get a kick-ass job, and spend five-figures on an HT!

 

[John Garcia]

Can't justify it until we know what speakers you are driving. If you have decent speakers, a better receiver will help considerably, and I can honestly tell you that this piece of gear is a poor excuse for a receiver. I've owned a few Sony DE receivers, and even the TOP models were crap compared to others. This is not a quality problem, nor a lack of features, but rather just that they are not very good at anything. The amps are average at best, build quality is average, sound quality is below average (IMO). It was an eye (ear) opening experience, to say the least, when I brought home a lowly Marantz SR4000 ($150 used) and it blew away my Sony 815 ($350 used at the time) in terms of amplification and sound quality, though not features.

To be honest, you DON'T need to spend $500 to get a decent receiver. If you do some research and look used, there are plenty of great receivers on the used market for less than $500, I know, I've found and acquired plenty of them for friends and family. For $500, I just picked up TWO Marantz SR4200s, one for a friend, the other for my brother, so the deals are out there, you just have to look.

Do you really NEED it? Probably not, but is there a benefit? Yes.

 

[Matt_Smi]

My speakers are nothing special, I have an older pair of “New Advents” for the fronts and the rears are cheap Sony surrounds, no center. Here is an older pic showing the Advents...

 

[John Garcia]

Here's a link to Cambridge Soundworks outlet store. Since you are in Ma., you should have a local Cambridge also, so I would recommend dropping in there to see what they have, since not everything they have on sale shows up on the website. It's worth a look, even if you decide you don't need to upgrade.

The Marantz 5300 for $349 is not bad at all, and the Onkyo SR501 for $273 is also worth a look.

I would expect those speakers to draw a fair amount of current if you don't have a sub, so I'd say you would still benefit from more power. In my first system I was using some similar speakers with a Sony DE receiver with no sub, and I blew a fuse (built into speaker's x-over luckily) within a few days. The culprit - not enough power from the receiver. Now, you say it's been working though, so you may be correct, you don't need an upgrade right now, but then you may not need to spend as much as you thought to get a somewhat better receiver.

 

[Sami Kallio]

Am I right if I say you're not running your setup on DD/DTS (analog connection, not digital)?

 

[Matt_Smi]

I have a sub, it's and HSU STF-2, so the mains have to handle very little bass at all. And no my receiver is DD/DTS and I am using an optical connection to my receiver so I can listen to my movies in DD/DTS. The mains just double as a center, you need to have the volume up a bit more than you would with a center to hear the dialogue clearly, but it has been working fine. And since I really cant find a center that is voice matched to those Advents, I figure why bother and will just wait until I get new speakers.

 

[Sami Kallio]

Even an unmatched centre will improve the sound. You can find something cheap to put in there, whether it is a centre speaker or a bookshelf. Anything is better than nothing at all.

 

[Cam McFarland]

Not upgrading now is probably a very wise choice.
I started off with an Onkyo 5.1 HTIB & am still using the speakers waiting for my JBLs to come in.

I am sad to say that I dont know if I could tell the difference between my HTIB receiver or the HK AVR7200
I just replaced it with.

Maybe the JBLs will sound different, I dont know.

but that is just me & my 45 yr. old ears....

 

[Sami Kallio]

Your system will only sound as good as your weakest link.

Don't worry, that 7200 is a nice receiver. I have one also and it does a nice job in driving Polk LSi7's which are said to be very hard to drive.

 

[David Devaux]

I can't believe no one has commented on this yet so:

"GREAT POSTERS!!!!"

I know this is gonna sound bad, but that one in the white bra and undies is Jenny McCarthy right? I think I had that exact same poster when I was in college (and I graduated in 97)

 

[Matt_Smi]

Ha-ha, that photo is at least 3 years old and all of those posters are gone now, they have been replaced with better ones All of the ones in the picture are probably going up to college next year. And yes that is Jenny McCarthy, it’s an old school poster (as you know).

 

[Cam McFarland]

Good point...I have JBL E100s, EC35, & E50s on their way!

 

[Felix_F]

Matt, you may want to try setting-up your speakers off the floor a bit.

Felix

 

[Carlo_M]

I don't know about putting the posters up there. I couldn't keep my eyes on the screen with those hotties located right above it.

 

[David Devaux]

Simple solution would be hardocre porn on the screen. I bet that would hold your attention

 

[Yogi]

All I can say is 'its all in the mind'. If you are happy with what you have you have the best system here, because satisfaction is in your mind and not in the most expensive system you buy or can afford. There are many here that are buying maga buck systems and still not half as happy as you. You have the right attitude. Go to school and get a kickass degree and you will be able to afford many a kickass systems later on.

Best of luck.

 

[Matt_Smi]

Yes this is a good idea, my Uncle (the one who gave me the Advents) custom made some stands and stained them to match the speakers. He is trying to find them so he can give them to me. That would probably improve the soundstage a bit.

 

[RobWil]

I agree 100%!

Too bad though cause that new receiver suuuure would be nice! In fact I bet the chicks would be all over some young stud with a brand new receiver! Yep! But I guess you'll never know now....nope! You'll just have to make due with that old $300 one.....sigh!

 

[Matt_Smi]

I do agree with Yogi though, he makes a good point!