How much difference to recievers really make?? (1 Viewer)

I have a fairly low end reciever, a Yamaha rx496(and a bit old too!) and have some medium quality speakers and sub. I do like the sound but have a feeling that the speakers could sound better. If i were to purchase a much better reciever, and much dearer..would i notice much change in the actual sound? The Yam i have now sounds really nice on Movies, but sound is very flat or more so a bit strong in the mids. SO i dont know if i am better off buying all new speakers, or just a better reciever?.

Brettis

As far as differences, from most important to least:

1) The listening room. That's why listening to speakers in the dealer show room is very misleading about how they will sound in your home.

2) Your speakers. Compared to changing electronics, changing speakers is about 100 times more audible.

3) Electronics. There are a lot of good receivers in the $300-$400 range. While you might notice some difference in sound quality, very often those differences are very subtle, especially if you have a subwoofer.

Artie

I completely agree w/ what Artie just said. And within numbers 1 (listening room) and 2 (speakers), you can also achieve great differences just by moving speakers within the room. That's one of the important things I learned on this forum. I moved my rear-ported speakers out from the wall a couple feet and found what I was looking for.

Thanks. I've moved atleast twice with the same setup and the tone and sound quality hasnt changed much between different placements and rooms. So i guess if im satisfied with how it is i'm up for some new speakers or amp. I would love to have a 6 or 7.1 setup too so might delve into that with a new amp. Thanks for you help guys!

If and when you move, pick your speakers first. Then your receiver. Then your wife.

If I was to rank the order of what impacts sound quality the most, i would do it as follows:

1) speakers (this assumes a fairly decent room, however, forever a bad room, that will be number one)

2) room acoustics (for a bad room, high ceilings, l shaped, lots of glass etc, this will dominate everythign else, improvements here will be drastically noticeable)

3) pre amp/receiver - (this assumes your amp is not too weak for you listening needs)

4) amp

5) cd/dvd player....in fact, you could get me to believe that changing them does not make a difference...at least a noticeable one..

Rich