How often do you upgrade? (1 Viewer)

[Kevin. W]

Upgraditis is a curse and if you let it get too you it will eat you alive. In my time(3yrs) with my Home Theatre I have upgraded in the following order.

1. SOny SA-V10/JBL Center 2(Pro-logic)
2. Yamaha RXV495, Paradigm Mini Monitors/CC350/PDR10(DD5.1)
3. PDR10 to PS1000
4. Yamaha to Denon 1801
5. JVC 32"(used $300US)
6. Added Rotel RMB-1066
7. Denon 1801 to Marantz AV560U
8. DVD's every week.
9. Pioneer *** DVD to Pioneer 525
10.Pioneer 525 to Panny RP56


If your really looking to upgrade. Add an external amp. That should be more than enough.

Kevin

PS: Forgot to add that I also added a Monster HTS1000 Power conditioner, bought and tried a Sony AV2100 remote then sold it when I got my Marantz since it came with a RC2000MKii remote. And now I'm trading my remote + $85 for a Marantz RC5000i remote.

 

[John*paulJ]

Who's going to make the 10-step program for this one

 

[Jim_C]

Depends on the piece of equipment.

Speakers: I'm very happy with my Klipsch setup and I won't upgrade it unless something is damaged.

Receiver: I bought my Yamaha 18 months ago and I really, REALLY want to upgrade. I keep flip-flopping on buying either a Denon 4802 or a Rotel separates setup. No matter what I finally decide on I plan on keeping it for at least 3 years.

DVD: Every 2 years.

TV: Until all of the standards and copy protection schemes are settled, really settled, then I'm holding onto my current set. I hope that I'll be in the market for a widescreen in a year or two.

And yes, HTF is to blame for all of it. I didn't upgrade my previous system for 10 years prior to finding this board.

 

[Robb Roy]

All this addiction, and good beer tastes so much better (and if you're not certain people in my family, it's also cheaper)!

I think Geoff S offers some good advice, and I follow pretty similarly (except for the "strong" and "trooper" parts).

I think a lot of us (all of us?) get caught up in certain features, and spend more time researching how to get the features we feel we *need* for the cheapest price, rather than what we *want,* price be damned. We do this as a compromise to our own good commone sense, our spouses, credit limits, what-have-you. What we forget is spending the dough to get what we want, even if it means saving longer for it. What we want nags at us until we either go broke getting it, or live unsatisfied with what we have.

 

[Chip E]

" God, grant me the serenity too accept the gear i cannot change, the courage too change the gear i can and the wisdom to know the difference".
I think i can live with everthing i've got right now.. I can't help but think though.. i bought a 5803 3 months ago but now i want seperates! Someone shoot me. How bout a nice amp too curb this sickness... hmmm..lol

 

[Robb Roy]

Funny how these things work. As I wrote my previous bit, I was thinking about my 3802, and that had I really stuck to my guns and saved a while longer, I would have gotten the 5803. Had I done that, I would be quite happy, but I went with the 3802 (a perfectly fine piece of equipment, but not 5803), and now I know the next time I spend a bunch of money on the amplifier portion of my system I'm going with seperates (unless my strength gives out).

 

[Justin Doring]

I've found that the better the gear, the less often I upgrade it.

 

[Phil A]

I have just upgraded my main system for the last time. I always say that though.

 

[Robb Roy]

I always say that, too. Sometimes, my wife even pretends to believe me.

 

[Michael Lee]

Entirely too much!

I rarely change my speakers though. As time goes on, I find that I am acquiring more whole HT setups.

 

[Yee-Ming]

not too sure if "upgrade" is the right term in my case, if wasn't for the fact I'm getting married and just bought a new place with my SO, I might not even have joined this board! I decided to get a nice new "proper" system rather than keep the HTiB I currently have, so that's what lead me to this forum, research.
same as someone earlier suggested, I went the extra mile and got the Marantz 8200 instead of the 7200, in the hopes that'll keep me happy until the next major new format -- which as also stated earlier doesn't seem likely anytime soon.
however, I already have an upgrade path in mind -- right now I've only bought new audio equipment, I'm keeping the current 29" Sony Wega. two years from now, hopefully plasma prices will have come down a fair bit and performance improved until it becomes viable to buy a nice new 42" plasma screen at which time I will also have to buy a progressive scan DVD player...

 

[stephen_z]

Ferran,
I am currently in the first upgrade in a blue moon (15 yrs). I've always been into 2-ch stereo, and unless there was a big shift in technology, I would stick with 2-ch... cd player being the last addition. Until recently, there didn't seem to be a overwhelming reason for any major upgrade. I was slow in moving into DVD's... I wouldn't buy a DVD player until the cost was reasonable (

 

[David Berry]

John Royster,
Yes, the upgrades in my case were noticeable - no buyers remorse with them.
Chung,
Let me get this straight. You take the number of hours of listening time in a week times the earth's gravitational pull on the moon divided by the magnetic field flux of an electron on another electron within the same 2p orbital... This is making my head hurt. Maybe a new Bryston 4B-SST will make things all better
David

 

[Kevin. W]

stuck to my guns and saved a while longer

I think this feeling gets to alot off us after we have bought that nice new piece of equipment. I know I did after a few off my upgrades, but then I would look back and say to myself, "if I didn't get it now something else would have come along and taken the money". When I was making my move into seperates I had to decide do I save or do I get what I can afford now. I went with the latter. For $1500CDN(before selling old gear) I'm very pleased with my seperate setup even if it doesn't offer me the latest and greatest formats that at out there(DD/DTS just fine).
Kevin

 

[James Bergeron]

I've been upgrading furiously!

In about a year I went from.

cheap JVC DD receiver
RCA dvd-player and fisher speakers
27" Zenith tv

Then I bought JBL N series setup,
a few months later I picked up a Denon 4800 receiver
thought i was happy NOPE

Changed my dvd-player to an RP-91 (to get ready for the big HDTV I was going to get)

Oh didn't get the HD-tv but picked up a Novabeam CRT projector

This is great I'm happy till I can get way better..... Nope!

A month or so later I was looking into the power amp for my denon the POA-5200 got that and of course 2 more speakers for the rears WOOHOO all is awesome.

NAH, lets get new speakers B&W 303's all around...... Oh and trade that JBL 10" sub for a velodyne 15" yeah!

THis was all within 6 months I was going crazy!

So then I pick up a Marquee 8000 CRT 100000 times better than the novabeam, great I'm happy now!

Nah! I need to get my progressive going I said I would wait but couldn't got a keydigital transcoder.

Now I got it all progressive, big screen big sound....... AH need new speakers again!

LOL so now I have paradigm studio 40's all around instead.

TRUELY though I think I'm finished now! I wanted the 40's before the B&W's but couldn't afford them.

I've been thinking seperates but the 4800 and POA sound Amazing! I was going to get a bigger badder sub but my neighbours walls shake as it is, so I don't think I need one.

I hope I'm done for a long time!

 

[Ted Kim]

Upgrade isn't always the right word, sometimes its "accumulate." Over the past 2 years I've probably bought 4 power amps, 1 pre-pro, 1 turntable, 5 different brands of speakers, 1 CD jukebox, 2 SVHS vcr's, 1 passive preamp, 2 pairs of headphones and I'm sure I'm leaving stuff out of this list. My wife thinks I'm crazy
This doesn't include the cabling and I'm currently working on AC power conditioning and things of that sort.
I would like to get a separate phono preamp and finish all my DIY cabling and speakers projects.
Oh the best purchase of any of them .... getting a TDK CD burner -- it got me back to the music.

 

[Dave Herkert]

For me, upgrading is rare. I tend to go with firmly established formats - I typically don't buy the latest and greatest gear either, because it is much more expensive. I like used, high quality stuff. My prepro (Krell) is two years old, my Klipsch average 12 years in age, my tuner is 25 years old. I purchased all of this gear recently, and is all of very high quality, especially for a mid-fi guy like me. This approach allows me expensive sound for about 1/3 the price.

I also maximize the investment by keeping the gear for as long as it is feasible to do so. I need compelling reasons to replace it, such as a repair bill that exceeds the value of the item, or a new, high quality format that is widespread in the marketplace. (6.1 formats aren't compelling enough for me to upgrade at this time). I see 5.1 formats sticking around for some time - and for a person with 60% 2 channel/40% HT listening preference, this approach works well for my listening tastes, and my wallet. My upgrade cycle runs about 6 to 8 years, on average.

 

[John Garcia]

"I can stop at any time..."

 

[Frank_S]

I'm sticking with DD5.1. My Classe pre/pro is'nt going anywhere until there are significant advances in surround sound. The area I focus on is 2 channel. I have upgraded source and speakers several times over the past few years and my 1 year trade-in is approaching soon, so I'm going to upgrade once again. I'm definitely enjoying music more now than I ever have, and I feel that just one more upgrade should do it, right?

 

[Mifr44]

"...and my 1 year trade-in is approaching soon..."
Hmmm, sounds like a Bay Area Audio customer to me!
I thought I was done upgrading when we purchased the Anthem AVM-20. The problem is that music sounds so good on our system that I am upgrading our music. In the past, I could tell very little difference between 1st issue and remastered CDs. Now, differences are much more apparent (for those CDs that seem to have actually been remastered!).
Because of this, I am starting to think about SACD, which I don't consider an upgrade as much as a change in religious belief!
Michael