Sub or speakers? (1 Viewer)

[SusanP]

I posted this on the AVS board to no avail...
I've got the upgrade bug (thanks to you guys)and have decided to get new speakers and a new sub.
My current set up is about 12 years old. I have JBL speakers and an old yamaha sub. A couple of months ago I won a new Yamaha 5.1 receiver at a company party. What a huge difference in sound from my old Yamaha! I thought that was a nice unit.
Any way I am going to upgrade but have to do it in waves.
I'm thinking SVS 16-46PC and Norh 4.0 speaker package. Both will cost the roughly the same but can't do them at the same time. Which one first? What will give the biggest impact to my system?
Cheers,
Petunia

 

[Nick G]

I would replace the main speakers first.
Regards, Nick

 

[BryanZ]

Tough choice! If you still have the old Yammie, you may want to consider using it to power a CS model of the subs and save yourself $300. Between the sub or the speakers, I think the biggest initial noticeable difference will be the sub. The 4.0s will also offer a dramitic improvement to your system, but, IMO, for now the sub is the way to go. Given this situation, doubtful you could go wrong either way.

 

[SusanP]

I still have the old Yammie. Is that enough to power a sub? I also have the idea to move to old stereo my bedroom where I jsut have a boombox now. It's always easier to get ready in the morning with the tunes going.
I've been leaning towards getting the sub and have read that my old receiver will power the sub but I'm not sure it's will be enought because it's only a 100watts might even be 80w. Not sure. I'd love to save $300 tho...
Thanks!!

 

[Doug_B]

Susan,
It really depends on a number of factors, so ponder some of the following:
- How good are your existing speakers and sub with the source material you use?
- What is your use of the system for HT versus music? For HT, do you have a lot of DD and DTS 5.1 movies, or are a significant number of movies older (and thus stereo or mono with no or little low freq effects).
My general recommendation is that if you're using (or will be using) your system primarily for HT, then a sub upgrade may provide more value added for you first. In order to gauge value added, it will probably be a good idea to go out to a few shops and audition upgrades. Given that your speaker and sub choices are associated with internet only companies, choose setups that would approximate what you might get with norh and SVS. Then you have a basis for judging the better value upgrade.
Good luck.
Doug
------------------
"Today is a good day to die." ...Old Lodge Skins
[Edited last by Doug_B on September 10, 2001 at 11:36 AM]

 

[SusanP]

The system is primarily a HT set up with some music (mostly classical, jazz and ethnic). When I am talking about upgrading in waves I mean I'll buy something today or tomorrow and then the other in the begining-mid of Oct so it's not a long wait. I used to think I had an awesome system for movies but that was VHS. I bought a DVD player a year ago and now that I've been part of this board I am wondering what I am missing.
We do watch a lot of movies and my collection just exceeded 35 DVD this past weekend (and that doesn't include my order of 7 dvds from CH due sometime this week) I really just wondering what will put a smile on my face first.
I love sound and good music. On one hand I think the new speakers are the way to go but I think the thing with speakers is we all get used to a certain way of hearing things which will lessen the impact after about a week.
With a new sub I think it will be something that I will always "feel" thus increasing the value of the purchase. I don't really know and I've pretty much decided to go with the nOrhs and SVS based on the reviews here couple with what I can afford immediately. I could wait a few more months and get something "better" but I believe these systems offer quite a good bit of value that I won't be able to match locally.
I still have my contacts at Best Buy HQ where I can buy things really cheap (5% over cost) but most of the stuff is main stream junk. (minus a few things like certain TVs etc...)
I don't have a ton of dough to spend since I moved into my new house with a 75% increase mortgage payments. So I'm just looking for the most bang for my buck and a bit of intant gratification while remaining realatively debt free (not including the house)
Thanks!!

 

[SusanP]

The system is primarily a HT set up with some music (mostly classical, jazz and ethnic). When I am talking about upgrading in waves I mean I'll buy something today or tomorrow and then the other in the begining-mid of Oct so it's not a long wait. I used to think I had an awesome system for movies but that was VHS. I bought a DVD player a year ago and now that I've been part of this board I am wondering what I am missing.
We do watch a lot of movies and my collection just exceeded 35 DVD this past weekend (and that doesn't include my order of 7 dvds from CH due sometime this week) I really just wondering what will put a smile on my face first.
I love sound and good music. On one hand I think the new speakers are the way to go but I think the thing with speakers is we all get used to a certain way of hearing things which will lessen the impact after about a week.
With a new sub I think it will be something that I will always "feel" thus increasing the value of the purchase. I don't really know and I've pretty much decided to go with the nOrhs and SVS based on the reviews here couple with what I can afford immediately. I could wait a few more months and get something "better" but I believe these systems offer quite a good bit of value that I won't be able to match locally.
I still have my contacts at Best Buy HQ where I can buy things really cheap (5% over cost) but most of the stuff is main stream junk. (minus a few things like certain TVs etc...)
I don't have a ton of dough to spend since I moved into my new house with a 75% increase in mortgage payments. So I'm just looking for the most bang for my buck and a bit of intant gratification while remaining realatively debt free (not including the house)
Thanks!!