ever since getting mission m35is last week, it's like my ears' lost virginity and is welcomed into the world of audiophilehood or something. so now i'm craving for more performance and scraping my bank account to achieve it. So i'd like to know what's the next thing i should get that would give me the most dramatic improvement. here's my current set-up. Denon 3805 receiver, m35i mains, subs, surround, center speakers from onkyo HT series that i got for $500 2 years ago and they don't even sell it anymore so i don't know what models. so which of these components should i upgrade first if my interest is 50/50 move/music and as for movies, mostly action, as for music, equal parts of alternative rock, jazz and classic. should i get an amp for m35is? thanks for reading so far and any input would be appericated. but please note that i don't have more then half a grand to spend.
Since you don't mention your CD/DVD player, that is obviously what I would upgrade next. Nothing can sound better than what the source outputs to the rest of the system. Garbage in = Garbage out and all that other jazz. Then work on the room and the isolation of the components from the effects of the music they reproduce. Scrap the center and surround speakers and get back to listening in stereo without all the DSP crap added into the sound over some poor speakers. Spend some time setting your speakers up properly. Sell the Denon (throw the surround and center speakers in to close the deal) and use the money to buy a used integrated amp or separates of really good quality and some decent cables. Buy a very good AC line conditioner. Listen to lots of live music so you know what everything should sound like and you're not just aiming for a good audio system. Make that last one the first thing you do.
err i say that i just found a new religion and now you're telling me to do some worshipping right away? you're right, i don't have a cd player nor do i plan to get one- i got my receiver hooked up to my computer which is hooked up to rhapsody which has more songs then cd collections of 100 college music majors put togather. but it's just an mp3 streaming so i guess that is considered a crap-in. but since i stopped collecting cds during high school, and since i also have the music visualizer hooked up to the t.v., this is one requirement i can't compromise... listening to mp3 files that is. so i guess that's more about my system that i was reluctant to tell and more upgrade options for you guys to consider for me. so since i won't ditch the way i source my music, what should be my next upgrade? sub? A NEW SOUNDCARD for my comp? btw, i do have decent cables- 12 gauges w/banana plugs.
cancel everything i said above. i guess i don't have what it takes to be an audiophile. just a avid listener at best.
Rumadian
Unregistered guest
Posted on
Eric,
You strike me as being quite young. Exploring Hi-Fi can be a rewarding experience. That experience comes at a price, and the deeper you fall within the 'addiction', the higher that price typically becomes. Going off of the notion that I am right about your age-group, what I would offer for you is to save your money. Wait until you are in a friendlier financial position before you enter these shark infested waters. In the mean time, you have plenty of resources to gain knowledge and information from. If there are any hi-fi shops within an hour of your location -- visit them. Listen to some systems. Do it a few times. Try to get an idea of what you do, and do not like. By the time you have the money, you should have some idea of what you want -- and that's over half the battle!
As for spending your cash -- the first idea that pops in my mind is to entertain the idea of a second audio system. The new Onix XL/S bookshelf speakers are ridiculous for their $199/pair asking price. It is rare for me to become giddy and hand over accolade after accolade to a product, but what this speaker is and what it does for its price is astounding.
You can then focus on finding a used stereo receiver / integrated amplifier from the likes of Harman Kardon (3470), Cambridge, Rotel, and NAD. For the price of $300~ you could bring home a brand new Jolida 1301 tube integrated which is stellar for its price. Or you could wait for the $99 Onix X Empower *sp?* integrated unit to arrive, which is designed to go with the XL-S. I will guesstimate this unit not being available until late Spring / Early summer.
You can then focus on $150 or so on a reasonable universal player (sacd/cd), and for just above $500 -- you have an incredibly compotent stereo system that should last you quite some time.
I cannot stress enough -- if you are young, there are other hobbies to waste your cash on. Don't fret if you cannot jump right on into the big game. You will have your chance. Remember that a majority of the folks you see posting online have their careers (or retired), and are either very well off or use much of their free toy money on this hobby. You will have that chance soon enough! In the mean-time, enjoy the tunes.
Eric Jin: MP3 sux! Listen To a good 2 channel ss or tube amp with XM satellite radio digital input RCA or Toslink through very good speakers or one of the Mercury Living Presence recordings on CD,sorry vinyl camp you loose, you will get a sampling taste of what hifi is all about. Don't rely on your computer speaker system for hifi sound.
Eric Jin, if you are dedicated to files for your music, my advise is to do...nothing.
Enjoy what you have, and when you want to move to another source, THEN investigate a worthy path for investment.
Southern
Unregistered guest
Posted on
Eric I have been into home audio and home theater for 25 years and I have discovered over the years that you can spend a fortune on this hobby. Price of a component is not always an indicator of how good a system is going to sound. The room that you put your equipment in is going to affect the sound big time and this is where the amount of money you spend on the electronic components is going to make a difference. You could spend 10k on components and put it in a room that has bad acoustics and it will sound like a transistor radio. Now I don't mean that you should not buy quality components as this will over time cause you to spend more or less money. My first experience with HI FI was in the 1970's My Brother purchased a Pioneer SX 1980 receiver and a set of pioneer HPM 150 speakers and he still has this system today and it is still working. He has had to have the speakers reconed and the receiver switches and knobs cleaned over the years but this system is amazing and it will knock pictures off the walls. I think he paid $1200 for it in the 1970's and that was alot of money back then but he has had it for almost 30 years. Money well spent. Getting to the point, alot of people go to audio shops and spend alot of time and money to get the best bang for the buck or for the rich money is not an option. They bring the system home hook it up, spend hours tweeking and testing only to find a problem. Where is the tight clean bass? Where is the midrange and clear vocals? Where is the chrisp smooth high end? The answer is they left it at the audio store in the room where they auditioned the equipment!!! I cannot express how important acoustics are to a good sounding system, spend a little time and money on the room doing research on acoustics and the money spent will be well worth it. Hope this helps.
You IMO already have an excellent receiver in the Denon 3805, and very decent front mains in the Mission 35i's. You say you only have $500 to spend, so this is what I'd buy:
1. Marantz 4300 cd player, $145 shipped from accessories4less.com --- in my own auditioning experiences I found it comparable to the $500 NAD c542, at least with that store's room and gear. Will be a definite improvement over any DVD player that you're using for your CDs...and I have to agree with the other posters, ditch the MP3s if you are really looking for sound quality.
2. Hsu STF-2 subwoofer, $425 shipped ($350 shipped b-stock, call for availability) from hsuresearch.com --- HTIB subs are especially atrocious, and if 50% of your usage is movies then investing in a good subwoofer will be worth every penny.
3. A better center channel --- whatever Mission makes that goes with the 35i's, like the M3c2i. The center does about 50-60% of the work with most movies (dialogue) so this is the real workhorse of your HT system.
Right now I'd just get #1 and 2. Get #3 in a few months if you get the cash, if not just use the 2 Mission 32i's for your fronts without a center speaker (the Onkyo HTIB center is likely to just screw up your front soundstage). In the distant future an external 2-channel amp, or preferably amp + preamp, to run your 32i's would be a great upgrade especially for music.
The Onkyo speakers will do as surrounds for quite a while, these are the least important speakers in the whole system unless you do a lot of multi-channel or multi-stereo music listening.
The thing about putting buttloads of money into audio is, make sure that your ears can *truly* hear the difference...and let THEM be your final decision-maker, not audio magazine reviewers or people on audio forums. Otherwise, you'll likely just end up pi$$ing away large sums of money for an idiotic ego trip. The "you get what you pay for" conventional wisdom mantra might be true for those with truly discerning ears, but keep in mind it is also the self-serving, bread-and-butter sales propaganda of any industry.
Go to a lot of shops and listen to both the $500/pair speakers and the $5K/pair speakers (preferably do this without some salesperson breathing over your shoulder trying to intimidate/influence you). If you don't hear $4500 worth of sound improvement, by all means stick to the $500/speakers.
If you want to be an "audiophile", learn to love the music first and the equipment second. Use what you have for right now and spend your money listening to some of the stuff those college music majors listen to live. Go to concerts and experience live music whenever you can and wherever you can. Learn what live music sounds like and then you will begin to understand what you need to upgrade to get a more lifelike experience in your home. That is where "audiophiles" first started and where too many have strayed away from the touchstone for wanting decent equipment. If you are only interested in the equipment, buy any and all that you can afford. That's what many audiophiles do. If you want to hear music reproduced as close to lifelike as possible, you need to know what that sound is before you can go find it in an audio shop. What you have right now is OK, I'd still disconnect all but the main speakers; go listen to live music and figure out where the next step should be.
you're right, i don't have a cd player nor do i plan to get one- i got my receiver hooked up to my computer which is hooked up to rhapsody which has more songs then cd collections of 100 college music majors put togather. but it's just an mp3 streaming so i guess that is considered a crap-in. but since i stopped collecting cds during high school, and since i also have the music visualizer hooked up to the t.v., this is one requirement i can't compromise... listening to mp3 files that is. so i guess that's more about my system that i was reluctant to tell and more upgrade options for you guys to consider for me. so since i won't ditch the way i source my music, what should be my next upgrade? sub? A NEW SOUNDCARD for my comp? btw, i do have decent cables- 12 gauges w/banana plugs.