What do I need? (1 Viewer)

[RogerA]

My front speakers are JBL ND310. Center speaker is Acoustic Research AR2C. I have 2 JBL PB12 (250 watt) powered sub-woofers. And the back speakers are JBL N24. I have a Samsung S221 DVD player. The receiver is a (POS) RCA Home Theater Unit. It came with it's own speakers and subwoofer for under $400.00.

My system sounds terrible and I have spent quite a bit on speakers (over $2000.00). The center speaker sounds tinny when watching/listening to DVD's. I know I need a new receiver, but will it make a huge difference? I think all the speakers are pretty good quality. What receiver would you recommend in the $500.00 price range?

 

[Richard_B]

The receiver is a (POS) RCA Home Theater Unit. It came with it's own speakers and subwoofer for under $400.00.

I think you answered your own question.

A decent receiver will make a big difference over what you are running now. You don't have to spend a lot, I see alot of HK recommended for the under $500 range. Something like the new H/K AVR-230 or Denon 1804 might be just right. If you're willing to buy online you could spread your money a little further. Check etronics.com.

A timbre matched center may also provide you with better results.

 

[RogerA]

Richard,

What do you mean by:

"A timbre matched center may also provide you with better results."

 

[Tim K]

What he means is that, in an IDEAL situation, every speaker in your theater would be identical. Of course, that isn't practical for most people, so manufacturers try to compromise...you wouldn't want a 4ft tower speaker on top of your TV! Most mfg's make a center channel speaker that is very similar to their other speakers in that line...same tweeter and driver(s), just laid out sideways. You can mix up speakers, but it is recommended you stay within the brand as the more similar they are the better your results...with surrounds considered to be less important to match as they only handle a small % of the sounds. Your subwoofer can come from any source as it doesn't need to match any of your speakers. It is considered important that your center and mains are as similar as possible in order to get a smooth and seamless soundstage up front.

For example, my mains use 2 - 5 1/4" drivers and 1 - 1" Aluminum tweeter. My center uses the same exact 2 - 5 1/4" driver and 1 - 1" Tweeter. My surrounds needed to be wall mounted, so I selected a pair of speakers that had a 3 1/2" driver but used the same 1" tweeter.

Another consideration is to make sure that you keep the tweeters of your 3 front speakers at the same level (heightwise). If your center needs to be higher or lower, many people tilt it up or down to help even out the sound.

 

[RogerA]

Tim, thanks for the info. I took the advice about timbre matching and bought the JBL N Center ll to match my JBL NB310's and hooked that up for my center speaker and it makes a huge difference. Even though it is a step down price wise from my AR2C $84.00 compared to $500.00 for the AR2C, it sounds much, much better.

So now I have a perfectly good Acoustic Research AR2C that I don't need anymore. I would be happy to trade for 2 JBL N Center ll speakers if anyone is interested, or would sell outright for a couple hundred dollars.

 

[Jean-Paul]

I dont mean to piggyback on this post but I find myself in the same situation I have a Kenwood VR-716 receiver with the tiny speakers it comes with. I bought the whole Kenwood HT system for about $249.00. Not being pleased with the single tiny woofer center channel I purchased a
JBL N-CENTER II (which I believe is now discontinued)at BestBuy for about $100. I would like to know which front mains by JBL would be the best match for my center channel?

 

[steve nn]

I started out with the Kenwood 504 HTiB (VR 507 receiver) and subsequently started upgrading every thing out. While I did notice a big difference in sound and performance going with SVS and B&W. I still was not happy with what I had. When I upgraded the receiver to the Denon 1804 was I ever amazed! YES! Now thats what I'm looking for. I'm fairly sure I would be just as happy if not more so with H/K also. A guy needs to think of the whole picture and not addressing a very weak receiver will nullify his other upgrade decisions to a big degree.

The 507 is a good little receiver for what I paid and for starting out. But it definitely needed to be swaped out. My surrounds/S-B are my last stronghold and they will be released in six months and replaced with B$W along with my fourth 25-31CS+....WAF dictates that I show a little patients so I'll go along and wait the six months.

All boiled down Roger> swapping out your RCA will be very beneficial along with timbre matched speakers. Looks like you addressed that thing RCA calls a sub and went with dual PB 12"s. The difference you noticed in going to the dual 12's will be the same as in changing out your receiver.