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Christmas upgrade advice needed (1 Viewer)

george.Legeza

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Nov 21, 2002
Messages
96
Hopefully you guys can help me out here since you were all pretty helpful with my last question. :D
Christmas is coming and with Christmas comes money and presents, so here I am thinking about what to upgrade in my budget HT system. I previously had a cheap-o Sony 5.1 system that I'm no longer using. Right now I have a very simple, cheap 2.1 system:
Technics SA-DX950 Receiver (I'm going to get rid of it sooner or later, but I don't think this is a major weak point, correct me if I'm wrong)
Polk R20 Bookshelves (given to me as a present, they sound much better than the Sonys so I'm planning on keeping them for a while if only as rears)
Aiwa TS-W150 Subwoofer (I don't like it very much at all, so it's something I want to replace as well)
I listen to about 50% music and 50% movies, so I'm really not at all happy with my setup - but being a poor college student on a budget there's not a whole lot I can do about it right now. Since Christmas is coming up, though, I figure I can upgrade or add at least one component and that's what I need advice on...
As reference I'll have about $400 for audio stuff once Christmas is over. Would it be wise to stick with Polks and get a center channel speaker and maybe a subwoofer or should I go right ahead and use that money to grab new mains and put the polks in the rear? I've been listening to music a lot lately so I'm seriously considering picking up new mains. I'm going to take a trip down to my local audio shop to check out prices, but what brands should I be looking at in the $400 price range?
Oh, and if any of you happen to think I'd notice a bigger difference with a new receiver or a new subwoofer let me know. I'm a newb when it comes to this stuff so I'm just looking to learn as much as I can before I put down any money. Thanks! :D
 

Brian Fellmeth

Supporting Actor
Joined
Jul 30, 2000
Messages
789
You say 50/50 music HT which makes it difficult. If music is more important, I would go with a sub- something like an adire rava or a DIY shiva if you can swing that. Nothing ruins music like a bad sub. If HT is more important, you need to get surround going. I would get another pair of the polks giving you 4 identical speakers for front and rear. If the front pair are set up correctly, you will not need a center channel- the polks should be capable of imaging the center channel perfectly. The best HT I have ever heard had NO CENTER CHANNEL, yet dialog was precisly localized right between the main speakers in the center of the screen.
 

george.Legeza

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Nov 21, 2002
Messages
96
Thanks for the advice. Yeah, I know the fact that this system handles pretty much all of my audio makes things hard - unfortunately, since I'm on a serious budget I can't afford to have a seperate setup for music and HT and I don't even have the space in the room for an extra setup. ;)
Anyway, your advice would be to stick to using all Polks? Like I said, I'm happy with the R20s so I don't really have anything against continuing with Polk. Has anyone had any experience with the RTi28 or RTi38s? Those are the two speakers that I'm looking at right now if I end up with 4 Polks, I just have to find time to go down and audition them to see if the RTI38s are worth the extra $100.
 

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