About to make a buy... (1 Viewer)

[CleanSeeker]

Hey all... My First Post!

Since Pete has completed his purchase, I thought he might hand the torch off to me as I’ve been teetering on the verge of taking the SVS plunge.

Perhaps I could get some feedback on my purchasing considerations while we eagerly anticipate Pete’s updates.

(Anyone have the over/under on how long till Pete starts trying to convince the SO that it’s time to add the towers (MTS-01) instead of just bookshelves all around?)

I’ve been looking for a “near audiophile” 5.1 since I got the HDTV and PS3.

However, a constant source of frustration has been the lack of “shopper friendly” venues for auditioning and buying “very good-to-audiophile” quality products.

I have been interested in Boston Acoustics, B&W, Paradigm, DefTech, and some others- but am stymied at the point that I have to click the “dealers” link on their websites.

Invariably, it seems 3k worth of equipment turns into 5k equipment and often the particular pieces of product I search out, are not easily available in store.

For this reason, I’m tempted by such outlets (as SVS and Axiom) that provide online sales. It seems to be a much more fruitful shopping experience.

My thought is to colleague the PB-12-Plus/2 (on clearance for $1099) with the 5.0 (full-size) package SVS offers for $2899.

That’s 4k, including respectable sub; at Myer Em. the rep was pushing a B&W 5.0 for 5k.

What am I loosing, besides the shipping, by going with SVS mail-order over the B&W at ME?

I accept that B&W are EXCELLENT systems- but when I sit in the sweet spot, with my eyes closed, am I going know where that 1k (plus sub) went?

So my plea goes out to the critical enthusiast: why should I NOT purchase the MTS-01 5.0 (full-size) package (plus sub) that SVS offers for $4k?

 

[allprolab]

Well I've run into a snag. I finally got the time to run the avia disc and get everything set up right. That's when I noticed I was not getting sound out of one of the front speakers. I know I was getting sound out of it when I first hooked them up and set my receiver to my new speaker arrangement. But when I went to calibrate them today I discovered my problem. I switched speakers to make sure it wasn't that, which it wasn't. So now I'm stumped. Again, I'm a bit of a newbie to all this. I know the problem didn't exist but now it does. I have the balance set to zero, so it's not that. I can't think of any setting that can fix this.

I want a new receiver but I was hoping to wait a few months. But I can't get new speakers and not fully enjoy them. What a pickle I'm in.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Bummer.

So when you swapped front speakers it was the same position that didn't work.

Did you swap cables as well as speakers? Always a chance it's a cable problem.

I always hate when stuff like that happens to me...because it seems like too much of a coincidence that the receiver would start acting up right when you install some new speakers. Good luck. Hope it's something simple.

 

[allprolab]

Yeah, unfortunately it's not the wire. What a bummer. I mean I knew I wanted to upgrade, but the timing. But what can you do?

I watched my first movie with the new speakers anyway. LOTR FOTR. Man, the bass was awesome! My body was shaking! My girl never complained about it being too much. We'll see how long that last, heh! Even with one speaker not working the overall sound was great. I want to fine tune with the spl though. I was about to do that when I discovered one of the speakers wasn't working.

And wouldn't you know it, they have a new Onkyo on circuit city.com. Guess I'll have a receiver thread coming soon.

 

[gene c]

If you still have the manual, check and see if there is a procedure to "reset" it. It's a long shot but it might work. The other long shot is to un-plug it for a few minutes. That usually doesn't work but what the heck, it's easy enough to do.

 

[Rich Allen]

If you really feel adventurous, open it up and see if there is a replaceable fuse that has blow.

 

[allprolab]

Tried resetting it but it did not fix the problem.

I might just try looking for a blown fuse. It will either be obvious that I'll never find it or look easy enough to fix. Either way it's worth a shot.

 

[Mike Frezon]

My old Technics stereo receiver had replaceable fuses right on the back of the case. Very convenient.

That's not a bad thought, Rich. That very well could be the problem...although I don't know if it would just disable one speaker.

Just for karma's sake, did you try hooking up one of your old speakers in that spot?

 

[allprolab]

I could try, but they're all blown. I suppose I could snag a speaker from work and give it a shot. I plan on looking for the fuse tonight so we'll see what happens.

 

[Barry_B_B]

Sounds elementary, but check your receiver settings to ensure you're set for DD or DTS 5.1 and that your balance or levels haven't shifted away from the speaker you don't hear from. My Harmony 880 has the nasty habit of sending siganls through the repeater, changing the receiver audio mode. I've taken up the habit of verifying the setting at the receiver AND the DVD before starting a movie now.

 

[allprolab]

I have it on the setting that auto detects DD or DTS, but since I have a harmony 880 you might be on to something. Hmmmm.

 

[Barry_B_B]

I have it on the setting that auto detects DD or DTS

Me too...