New Receiver / Surround question. Please help with buying decision! (1 Viewer)

[Kelly]

I am about to upgrade my old Carver Pro Logic receiver to the Denon 3802. I also will probably get an SVS sub. I have a Bose Acoustimass 15 speaker system and want to upgrade it but cannot afford everything right now.
1) Will I really notice a difference with the Dobly Digital, Pro Logic II, DTS, etc?
2) Will I really notice a difference with the sub?
3) Should I buy rear surrounds to take advantage of the new receiver capabilities, or save this money to put toward savings for speakers to replace the Bose later?
My wife also enjoys this kind of stuff, just not as much as me. If I spend the money and the difference is not much improved, she will be hard to convince in the future when I wish to make other upgrades. Please give me your thoughts!

 

[Lin Weiwen]

Hi there.
I think you should get a new receiver that supports 5.1 surround. You will know notice the difference with the dedicated .1 LFE to the sub. As for the speakers, well, I can see you are on a rather tight budget...maybe you should get yourself a decent pair of rear speakers to complement the 5.1 format. You can always upgrade later on...no hurry.
Here are a couple of exemplary DVDs that you should play when you get your new system up and going:
Gladiator dts
Saving Private Ryan
Star Wars ep 1
Superman
See you. Ciao.

 

[Ralph Summa]

I recently purchased a Yamaha HTR 5490 6.1 receiver and have been awed by DPL II. DPL will make a great improvement on TV and satellite and even regular music. It blows away regular Pro Logic. Since you already have five speakers with the AM 15, I would recommend you first upgrade to a 5.1 receiver. Then save up for a 5.1 speaker system. The speaker threads on this site can keep you busy for days! I currently run five Bose speakers (AM 7 and a pair of 701s) which I bought them through special program where I paid only about 40% of the retail price. I am saving up and I will be upgrading all speakers this spring!
Good Luck!
Ralph

 

[Henry Carmona]

Welcome Kelly,
1) Will I really notice a difference with the Dobly Digital, Pro Logic II, DTS, etc?
Definitely! That Denon is a great receiver!
2) Will I really notice a difference with the sub?
Big difference!
3) Should I buy rear surrounds to take advantage of the new receiver capabilities, or save this money to put toward savings for speakers to replace the Bose later?
Either way your getting new speakers. If you do decide to go with rears now, try to get the brand you will be purchasing for the rest of your system later.
5.1 will be a great improvement over DPL, so you could forego the temptation to purchase back surrounds till you have the money for all new speakers.
There are some great budget 5.1 speaker systems with or w/o subwoofer. Energy Take 5.2 has been popular here, but if you have the money, then go better of course.
My only concern is how much of an impact 5.1 will have on you with those small bose speakers

.
You may be getting a new speaker set sooner than you think
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"Charlie don't surf."

 

[Rob Dawn]

Kelly, I'll confer with Henry that upgrading from DPL to DD & DTS is a huge improvement! I did it a year ago with an old set of 5 cheap Sony speakers and was amazed at how much better movies sounded.
I still haven't upgraded my speakers yet (bought a sub and had to replace my Sony DVD player instead) but I still think movies sound great.
My personal recommendation would be to spend enough to get a good quality receiver with everything you want on it. If this makes you have to wait a while to upgrade your speakers, I really think you'll be happy enough with the new DD/DTS sound through your current speakers to be OK with the wait. (I'd even recommend a sub, if you don't have one, before upgrading the speakers.)
Rob
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