upgrade reciever or speakers (1 Viewer)

Basically i baught my surround system before i really knew what I was doing.

Im not really happy with my speakers or reciever.
Reciever is the Sony STR-DE985
Speakers are Bose VCS-10 Center, Bose 201 Surrounds, and Cerwin Vega LS-12 (yuck), Boston Acoustic PV600 (the only thing I like in my whole speaker set)

Nothing sounds lifelike, and the worst part is my rear surrounds dont sound clear. I really dont think its because of the speakers because when I listened to the 201s in the store, they had pretty good clarity.

So my question is should I upgrade my Speakers or reciever to emprove my surround and overall clarity and lifelikeness of my home theater.

just a note***
the speakers im looked at are Definitive Tech. bipolar towers, rear surround, and center channel with built in sub. And the reciever is going to be either Onkyo's TX-NR900 or Denon's AVR-4802R.

Any suggestions and reasoning is helpful, thank you

**edit**
boston acoustic PV600 Subwoofer*

I'm not familiar with that Sony receiver, but I think that you will get the most noticeable difference if you upgrade your speakers and then upgrade your receiver. I upgraded my receiver first, but I wish I would have upgraded my speakers instead.

I agree with Kevinkall. Speakers will make the most the most difference. If you do a search, you will find many who dislike Bose, and for good reason. Electronics are mostly subjective, most amps and source components pretty much sound the same (I'll get trashed for that statement). Speakers are what make the sound, so IMO speakers are the most important part of the system.

Speakers are where you should spend most of your money because they have the biggest impact no how your system will sound. Upgrade your speakers.

One good thing about those Bo$e speakers you have are they have a good resale value on ebay.

Mike,

How big is your room?
How much are you going to spend on your new setup?

the speakers im looked at are Definitive Tech. bipolar towers, rear surround, and center channel with built in sub. And the reciever is going to be either Onkyo's TX-NR900 or Denon's AVR-4802R

Very good reciever you choose, but without good speakers, you wont see much difference.

I think you should invest in speakers first, try to audition the following brands
Axiom
Ascend acoustic (especially CBM-170)
Rocket
Paradim
PSB
Klipsch

And much more.........

I think you could buy a decent receiver around $500-1000,
Denon AVR-3803 Dolby Digital DTS ES Discrete 7.1 A/V Receiver
Harman/Kardon AVR525 7 x 70W 7.1-Channel Audio/Video
Onkyo TX-SR800 7.1 Ch Digital Surround Receiver
Yamaha RX-V2300 Home Theater Receiver

With subs check
HSU
SVS

Hope this helps,

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Pablo, to be honest I looked at Klipsch, but when I listened to them, they sounded sort of Nazzly (from the horns), I know a lot of people like them, but i personally thought they didn't reproduce accurately as much as I would like. But I will check out the other brands. Basically, the first thing I look for in speakers is that they correctly reproduce the sound and lifelikeness of the enviornment or music. (im an audio engineer, im sorta picky, heh)

thanks again

Mike you may want to go visit www.agoraquest.com to ask Qs about your receiver it is a sony forum.Ihave the same receiver its not that bad.

I asked this same questions when I first found this site over two years ago and was told to upgrade the speakers first. If you do go this root try to keep in mind that some speakers sound better with certain receivers and amps. So make sure that you get the speaker you like best.

Mike,

to be honest I looked at Klipsch, but when I listened to them, they sounded sort of Nazzly (from the horns), I know a lot of people like them, but i personally thought they didn't reproduce accurately as much as I would like

You are on the right track, I also didnt like Klipsch (but my best friend loves them), and end up buying JBL. I thought JBL gave more that I liked for the budget that I had two years ago. I liked other brands, but were outside my budget.

But audition as much as posible, and buy what ever you really like. Also you might consider that the room will also make your speakers sound different. Try to talk to the dealers if you can return them if you dont like the outcome of your setup in your home.

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Hey Mike I would definatly look at Paradigm or Axiom. Although Axiom might be hard...I don't think they have authorized dealer? Anyone in here know? Me I like Paradigm, good call on the Klipsch. I've been happy with PSB in the past. Haven't heard any of there new speakers. But for the money anyone in here will tell you Paradigm is really hard to beat. If you like the Def Tech then go with those. But I think you could save some money with a different choice. And with the money you save buy a big bad azz sub. Mike

Hey Mike I would definatly look at Paradigm or Axiom. Although Axiom might be hard...I don't think they have authorized dealer? Anyon

thanks everyone

where can i look at prices of paradigm and axiom online??

the closest dealer is a pretty good drive from me

Umm Mike I don't know of anywhere that you can. But you could always call Axiom. And I'm sure the Paradigm dealer you spoke of would be more than willing to give prices over the phone. Good Luck