Upgrading A/V On A Budget - What should i look for?

[DampCat]

So i dont have a ton to spend because I'm moving house and replacing my car in the next few months so i'm just trying to find out the best way to upgrade my A/V set up.

At the moment i'm using these that I cobbled together second hand for real cheap:

Sony STR-DG820 Receiver
Eltax Symphony 1145 Centre
Tangent Avantgarde 200 Floorstanders.

I definitely want to replace the amp, as I've lost the remote for this one in house moves and it's £65 for a new one. That means i cant adjust basically any of the settings on it, and the sound is all gone to pot. (music too loud, voices too low).

So, I assume the floorstanders are awful. The centre seems ok. I dont care if they don't match as a set. What's my best route on a budget to upgrade this system? (i'll probably need rears too!)

 

[lucid]

If you're just about to move house then money is going to be tight for a while. The best upgrade then might be to just take care of the basics until you've got most of the house spending out of the way. So rather than chuck "not enough" money at the project right now, you might consider holding off until you've got funds to make a much better upgrade for marginally more later on.

Personally I'd start with trying to find a universal remote to run the 820 amp. That will actually help when you come to sell the amp later on. The 820 is a 7ch 700W amp with 4x HDMIs and onboard HD decoding. Just buying a like-for-like new is going to cost you the thick end of £350. Unless you absolutely must have 3D, Audio Return Channel, 'net features then you won't be making much of a sonic change.

As for the speakers, if they worked okay all this time then they'll last you another 6 months.

 

[DampCat]

Oh ok cool. I wasn't totally aware that the 820 was still solid. 3D isn't really necessary. i mean I have a 3D TV but meh.

Am i losing any performance by only rocking Front and Centre?

 

[lucid]

Well you're obviously not getting rear surround effects or the extra bass that a sub would bring.

 

[DampCat]

I know nothing about sound, so i was wondering if the fronts and centre are working harder to accomadate the sound that would otherwise be pushed through the sub and rears, thus screwing it up?

Also, on the subject of remotes... Sony don't stock the exact model number any more (RM-AAP022) but DO stock the RM-AAP023 that came with the STR-DG1000. Will it not work with the 820 at all? I just need to access the distance and speaker settings

 

[lucid]

No, it won't be screwing things up. AV amps are pretty flexible.

The rear effects sound just won't be reproduced. Your amp settings for the fronts should be on Large, and small for Centre. "Sub present?" should be No.(I know you can't check this because of the missing remote). This will push the bass for the fronts, the centre and anything for the sub channel on to the front speakers. At that point it's then down to the bass response of those Tangents.

If I was in your shoes looking to revise the system then it starts with budget. I'd then look at the weak links first.

#1 - No sub. Add this and take some of the work load away from the Tangents (your weakest component) and the centre. This makes life a little easier for the amp too, but that's your strongest component so should be that last item to be upgraded. Budget for a sub - BK Gemini II - £250 inc del, or if there's less money go for a complete 5.1 system such as Tannoy TFX @ approx £250.

#2 - No rears. Get the back channel working so you have full surround. Rear speaker choice depends heavily on budget and where you see yourself going with the fronts & centre. The speakers need to be of a similar performance level all round.

#3 - Upgrade the centre & fronts. These should be thought of as a group. The tone of the speakers across the front should match as closely as possible, so only mix and match brands if you're absolutely sure that a voice would sound the same coming from all three.


General advice: cheap floorstanders are a bit of a false economy. The money gets spread too thinly to make a quality product. Standmounters at the same price will generally perform better. Your centre speaker is the hardest working one during films. The left and right add music and effects, so for movie use they don't need to me so big.


Logitech Harmony remotes will cope with a vast amount of brands. There also a model checker on most decent programmable remote maker's web sites. Logitech, Universal Remote, Philips, All-For-One ... all decent makes with good support. Remotes with unpronounceable names or £10/£15/£20 from the supermarket are more work than they're worth.

 

[DampCat]

Superb post thanks for your help. Gonna start looking for things 2nd hand. It's no rush so I can hold out for a bargain.

Thanks!