Upgrading our sound (1 Viewer)

We originally planned on going to a 7.2 system using our existing JBL speakers. But are at a complete loss as to what is the next step we SHOULD take. It seems as if we could take so many different directions!
I'd like advise as to how we can get the most bang for our buck considering we were originally going to spend no more than $500 on a new sub and added JBL speakers.
We have a 12x16x8 room. It is not sound optimized the walls are open and curtained off to adjoining rooms. The insulation isn't ideal and we have ductwork in the walls. So you can see we aren't going to go crazy with the system.
Currently we are using:

Receiver: Marantz SR5002 7.1 (we thought we could split the signal to make it 7.2
Left and Right: JBL SCS 150 SIr
Sub: JBL 150 sub (we aren't sure if it's the 12" we always thought it was because the documentation we find says its 10")
Center: JBL Studio Series S-centerII

We use our playstation as a player.

Can anyone stear us in the right direction with what would be best to upgrade our system with the $500 cap. I'd like it to last a few years before we get around to upgrading again!
Thank you in advance for your help!

It really isn't important to match the sub. I'd try to match the center to the left and right, and, if you can't find for some reason, then perhaps consider using one of the matching surrounds as a center and get new surrounds (which are not as critical as the front sound stage). Accessories4less.com has deals on receivers and other things.

For example, at accessories4less.com you can get a powered sub for about $300 or less and surround speakers for $200 or less and then just use one of your matching JBL surrounds as the center (assuming you have room to do it)

A BD player that decodes lossless and sends it over PCM, since that AVR doesn't decode Dolby TrueHD or DTS HD/MA.

schan1269 said:

A BD player that decodes lossless and sends it over PCM, since that AVR doesn't decode Dolby TrueHD or DTS HD/MA.

Click to expand...

The Marantz AVR? We use the playstation to play Blu Rays and 3DBR I'll have to research

Edit: we can do that with the playstation!

Phil A said:

For example, at accessories4less.com you can get a powered sub for about $300 or less and surround speakers for $200 or less and then just use one of your matching JBL surrounds as the center (assuming you have room to do it)

Click to expand...

I don't think we are going to use a Left or right JBL as center. The center we have costs more than the entire system
And it is a JBL I'm sorry I don't understand the reasoning behind that. And you said assuming we have the room to do it....our surrounds are mounted on the walls and the center is under the screen on a stand. Maybe I need a better pic of the left and rights? I'm sorry I'm a little lost. Maybe you can clarify for me? ..

Just wasn't clear what you had or were looking to add as it was text which wasn't all that clear vs. a list. Thought you needed a center channel and a sub. So all you need are back surrounds for 7.1 and have everything else?

Would be much easier if you listed it this way:


Receiver - Model No.

TV - Model No.

Left and Right - Model No.

Center - Model No.

etc.


So it is clear as to what you have and indicate you want to add back channels and have a $500 total budget for improvements. It is not clear what is in your system. If you have the original PS3, it will send everything to your AVR as lossless PCM as well

Phil A said:

Would be much easier if you listed it this way:

Receiver - Model No.
TV - Model No.
Left and Right - Model No.
Center - Model No.
etc.

So it is clear as to what you have and indicate you want to add back channels and have a $500 total budget for improvements. It is not clear what is in your system. If you have the original PS3, it will send everything to your AVR as lossless PCM as well

Click to expand...

I edited my original post. Does it look better? Anything I'm missing?
Thank you for your patience!

Much better. As noted, I'm not sure which PS3 you have. The original (or fat) PS3 did not have the ability to send Dolby True HS or DTS MA bitstream to the receiver but as schan1269 indicated your receiver does not decode them. I have the original fat PS3 (not using it at the moment) and at one point in my old house I had it as a Blu-Ray source in the basement system with a projector and 88 inch screen. It is not my idea of a state of the art Blu-Ray player (it does a lot of things though) as I was able to test it via my colorimeter and test disc and I moved an Oppo BDP-93 Blu-Ray player down there and it was a night and day difference. So as schan1269 suggested "A BD player that decodes lossless and sends it over PCM, since that AVR doesn't decode Dolby TrueHD or DTS HD/MA" might be a good option.


I still don't see surround speakers listed in your set-up. So do you have two, four or none? If you need additional surround speakers, then see my post number 3.

For example if looking at a Blu-Ray player there are options such as http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/marud5007/marantz-ud5007-3d-universal-disc-player-with-networking/1.html#!specifications


If you go to the manual - http://us.marantz.com/DocumentMaster/US/UD5007OwnersManualinEnglish.pdf


on page 42 you can see what schan1269 was talking about in his post with regard to audio.

Phil A said:

Much better. As noted, I'm not sure which PS3 you have. The original (or fat) PS3 did not have the ability to send Dolby True HS or DTS MA bitstream to the receiver but as schan1269 indicated your receiver does not decode them. I have the original fat PS3 (not using it at the moment) and at one point in my old house I had it as a Blu-Ray source in the basement system with a projector and 88 inch screen. It is not my idea of a state of the art Blu-Ray player (it does a lot of things though) as I was able to test it via my colorimeter and test disc and I moved an Oppo BDP-93 Blu-Ray player down there and it was a night and day difference. So as schan1269 suggested "A BD player that decodes lossless and sends it over PCM, since that AVR doesn't decode Dolby TrueHD or DTS HD/MA" might be a good option.

I still don't see surround speakers listed in your set-up. So do you have two, four or none? If you need additional surround speakers, then see my post number 3.

Click to expand...

We have the thin PS3. Also my surrounds are 2 front and 2 back L &R (we have what used to be the matching JBL center before we replaced with the better JBL center, but it is t in the theater)
Does that solve the Dolby True DTS decoding issue (also I believe playstations latest firmware solved that decoding issue for all Playststions?) If so what would your next recommendation be?

Don't know much about the PS4 but some have found it to be not that great - http://www.hdtvtest.co.uk/news/ps4-201312173519.htm


I know that after swapping the PS3 in the basement system in my old house (88 inch Carada Screen and Sony VPL AW15 720p projection) with my Oppo BDP-93 I was blown away of how good the Oppo was and how not so good the PS3 was as a Blu-Ray player (used the same Spears and Munsil disc as noted in the review in the above link in addition to my colorimeter). I didn't notice the PS3 shortcomings as readily on smaller screens (had in the bedroom in the old house on a 55 inch back lit LED at one point). If it's true that the PS4 (per the above review) is even worse than the PS3, you will probably notice a good improvement on a good Blu-Ray player.

So stay with 5.1 sound and upgrade the blu Ray player...
Ok lemme see...

Megdagooch said:

So stay with 5.1 sound and upgrade the blu Ray player...
Ok lemme see...

Click to expand...

Or get something like the Marantz Blu-Ray noted above (http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/marud5007/marantz-ud5007-3d-universal-disc-player-with-networking/1.html) and a pair of surrounds and you'll be right around $500, accessories4less.com has a bunch for around $200, including regular, on-wall, etc. Places like axiomaudio.com also have speakers and they have a refurb store and B stock too if you look.

So the jist of many many reviews I've read say the Oppo is faster. And does a better job with the sound. Lots of little things that don't really effect the QUALITY of our movie watching experience. BUT as an upgrade from the PS3 slim the bang for the buck just isn't there. It would be better if we could take advantage of the improved sound but with a 5.1 it dosent matter much.

A lot of reviews go like this:
"The slim added Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD bitstreaming, but lost hardware PS2 emulation and SACD support.

The Oppo does handle color spaces and error correction better than the PS3, but while the differences are measurable by equipment, I have never been able to discern any difference with my own eyes. I've always personally considered the PS3 to be one of the best players out there for its versatility."

With more thought/research on the subject we are wondering if we should get full range front L&R (our center is full range) speakers and move out current satellites to the middle of the room? Making it a 7.1 system???

Is it not really a big difference to upgrade to 7.2 from 5.1?????
What about all these guys that have 7.2, 11.4 etc? Is it just louder!?! Why invest in more speakers if it really dosent matter?
If the Oppo reviews say the PQ difference between PS3 and Oppo is barely evident would a lesser quality Marantz Blu Ray player be even less??
Just trying to wrap my head around the thought behind it.
Looking into the last suggestion of speakers and Marantz player

7.1 vs. 7.2 is just an extra mono ".1" channel. I have 9,2 in the main system. There are some movies which are 7.1. Here is a list - http://forum.blu-ray.com/showthread.php?t=159814


So no, it is not just louder. It is mixed for the extra channels. I have 5.1 in my bedroom system, 5.1 in another spare system (which I'll be adding regular surrounds at some point in the near future and using the in-ceiling speakers for Dolby Atmos/DTS:X), and 4.1 in another system. I have a couple of systems where I have in-ceiling surrounds but am just using stereo but that's for the computer and a spare system that for now is just 2-channel music.

What about 5.1 vs 7.2 which is what I originally thought I wanted to do?
Is this not really a major movie watching experience upgrade?

Megdagooch said:

What about 5.1 vs 7.2 which is what I originally thought I wanted to do?
Is this not really a major movie watching experience upgrade?

Click to expand...

If you can properly place 7 speakers, yes.

You have to have room behind the furniture.

Where is your seating?

Middle of the room so the 6/7 can be the same distance to the rear as your main is to the front?

Or smack up against the back wall where there is nowhere to put the speakers?