Wow...should of bought new speakers a long time ago (1 Viewer)

[DaveM]

I am not much of a poster, more of a reader. But I feel that I should post to share my experience. I bought into the Home Theater scene with a HTIB from Sony. For a little over a year now, I have been enjoying movies through little cube speakers and the Sony SAWM40 sub. I have upgraded my video to a front projector system driven by an HTPC. Of course, I was still trying to get that big theater feel from a small set of speakers. Next week my wife and I close on our new single family home. With that, a dedicated room is going to be put together. I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate than to purchase a new set of speakers. I have been looking at the JBL NSP1's for a while now. After checking around for what else was out there in a similar price bracket, I decided to order the JBL's. They arrived yesterday and were up about 20 mins or so after I got home from work. OMG!!! The front soundstage now sounds like 1 giant wall of sound. I can no longer pick out which speaker is putting out which sounds. The sub is also integrated a lot more into that soundstage. The center channel no longer needs to struggle to put out voices. I noticed that the system does not need to be turned up as loud to achieve a good listening level. The entire system just sounded more smooth and mellow compared to the little cubes. The final thing I noticed is that the surround speakers do a better job with putting sound where it should go. The best example of this would be the Tex II THX trailer. with my old cubes, I would get him flying over to the RR, then to the LR, but when he went to the center, it was muddled. With the JBL's, he flies to the RR, over my head to the LR, and then he goes right behind my head and flys out and back to the THX sign...amazing. I cannot wait to get these setup in their dedicated room. I was not able to easily mount the rears and with us moving in a few weeks, I didn't want to put any new holes in the wall for the rear brackets. I may have to though as I watched a movie last night with the Sony cubes as surrounds and it was terrible. Sorry this was so long, but I was just excited. Now to get a new receiver.

David

 

[BrianWoerndle]

That is great. I am glad you like your new setup.
I had a similar experience when I upgraded my Bose Cubes (don't laugh, I was young and stupid. I have since learned thanks to the help of this and other forums) to a Paradigm Monitor setup. I am still amazed at what new things I hear that was never there before. And the imaging on my Mini Monitors is excellent. I was listening to a CD in stereo once when my Dad came in the room and sat down and said "Wow, I like the sound from the center speaker," which I replied, "The center speaker isn't on, just the 2 fronts!" He was amazed just as much as I am.
I am sure once you ge your new room setup and calibrated you will enjoy it very much.

 

[ThomasL]

Dave, glad you had a great upgrade experience. Was this Sony package, the SA-VE315? I started out with this package a few years ago. It was ok for a start (most anything is better than tv speakers ), but I then upgraded to some Cambridge Soundwork Newton series speakers (M50s fronts, MC300 center and S300 for surrounds) and the difference was night and day like you have experienced. The Sony speakers, at least in my package, are single drivers - meaning one 3-3 1/2 inch woofer to handle the entire range of frequencies. it was clear in my tests that the Sonys were missing a lot of the lower range and sounded tinny/bright. Also, they lacked a lot of detail. I still use the sub though up in the bedroom - replaced it with a Paradigm PDR-8 - but the little Sony satellites I gave away to a friend who would pretty much take any speaker if it still worked
cheers,
--tom

 

[Maneesh]

Dave, congrats on your new speakers!
Its always nice to read enthusiastic posts from people who have just discovered the magic of HT for the first time.

There's a huge variety of equipment available, people can (and do) spend tons of money on upgrading their systems in the quest for the 'perfect sound', but IMO nothing quite compares to that first moment when you set up your first decent system (what that means is different to different people). I felt the same giddy exhiliration with my Kenwood HTB-504.

 

[DaveM]

Thanks everyone for sharing your experiences as well. Unfortunatly I got the new speakers just in time to pack them back up and move them to the new house. My dedicated room may take longer than I thought. I guess I will have to unpack things quicker so that I can get started.

David

 

[Matt Weldy]

I am very interested in this post. I have a sony set up I pieced together my self. Floor standing fronts and the center and rear package and the 40 sub. I was at my father in laws house and he has a bose set up (I realize I said bose) However his speakers blew mine away. And remember I said his were bose! So I am in the process of upgrading its between the def tech satelites or the paradigm's. I think I have come to the conclusion sony isnt a quality speaker maker.

 

[DaveM]

I can't really comment on floor standing Sony speakers, but I am impressed with the M40 sub. Of course, I would love to have an SVS sub, but that is not going to happen anytime soon. The next weak link in my setup is definitely the receiver. I still get the "trademark" Sony hiss from the speakers and I know that the sound could be crisper and cleaner than it is now. I am not sure how the higher end Sony stuff performs, but I do know my next receiver will not be a Sony. I just wish I could upgrade that now.

David