Complete audio upgrade

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Pez

[H]ard|Gawd
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Jun 9, 2006
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Hello all. I am doing a complete audio upgrade, and despite going through these forums extensively for awhile, there are just so many options (and so many questionable products), that I need to rely on H expertise.

What I'm looking for: Decent 2.1 setup with bookshelf speakers. In the long term, I will be incorporating a good headset to the mix, but that is not currently a priority. This will be for gaming, music and movies. I do not plan on going to 5.1 (or 7.1) with this.

Budget: $600 range (flexible). I live in the Chicagoland area, so there are often a lot of items I can get used through Craigslist (such as a Denon AVR 1913 currently going for $420 - though that's overkill for what I'm looking for).

Components needed: Everything (sound card, speakers, subs, etc.) - I will not be pulling out a $1500 receiver from my attic.

What I'm using now: On-board, and some very old and crappy 5.1 PC audio speakers, which is why I want to upgrade everything.
Thanks in advance.
 
used could be very kewl

i use a $120~ish (probably paid more than i should have but f*ck it i love this thing) 1979 vintage Pioneer SA-710 (65wpc) integrated amplifier and $40 early 90s JBL L1 bookshelf speakers and I have a $100 Polk sub...that everyone here will tell you is crap..but whatever it does what I want and i like it (PSW10)

so basically $250 in amp / speakers

and then I have a FiiO E07k $89~ and a FiiO E9 (refurb $80~)

so $170 in DAC / headphone amp

So about $430~ total... this set up sounds great (i think..which is super cause it is me that uses it :))...for awhile I was using new $99 (sale) polk RTi4 speakers ... which had no synergy with the pioneer amp and sounded like ass...... luckily about the time I was debating what to do i stumbled on the JBL L1s which I absolute love such a awesome deal for $40.

so blah blah blah... going used requires some footwork and patience and luck...and If you don't want to pay thru the noise you need to be open to various things that turn up and not set out to find one specific thing.

of course you can also go shopping on ebay but you'll probably pay more.

but even if buying new stuff you need to try to listen to stuff for yourself cause it is all so subjective and what sound great to me might sound terrible to you...and vice verse
 
there is also audiogon for great used gear.
you can search for just the chicago area.

2.1 + headset is either a receiver or the creative Z series sound card + a stereo amp and a sub.

For Pc I like the smaller amps made by parasound, emotiva or the variety of t-amps found on partsexpress are ok for a budget buy too.

Speakers are a pretty big ? but yes jbl isn't bad at all. I loved my HSU speakers and emotiva makes some nice smaller speakers as well as Martin Logan, Ascend Acoustics, paradigm, etc.
 
spaceman said:
there is also audiogon for great used gear.
you can search for just the chicago area.

2.1 + headset is either a receiver or the creative Z series sound card + a stereo amp and a sub.

For Pc I like the smaller amps made by parasound, emotiva or the variety of t-amps found on partsexpress are ok for a budget buy too.

Speakers are a pretty big ? but yes jbl isn't bad at all. I loved my HSU speakers and emotiva makes some nice smaller speakers as well as Martin Logan, Ascend Acoustics, paradigm, etc.
Click to expand...

lol.. yeah .. my JBL L1 are rather massive for being "bookshelf" speakers about 16.5" tall 8.5" wide 10~" deep the width and height is the most challenging aspect in my usage.

but they hit pretty hard and sound pretty freaking awesome i do believe.
 
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atarione said:
lol.. yeah .. my JBL L1 are rather massive for being "bookshelf" speakers about 16.5" tall 8.5" wide 10~" deep the width and height is the most challenging aspect in my usage.

but they hit pretty hard and sound pretty freaking awesome i do believe.
Click to expand...

Yeah well my "monitors" have a 12" woofer in them so it's all relative to the space allowed lol.
 
matteos said:
+1 for used!
Or this...
Click to expand...

I actually have that Harmon/Kardon receiver & dvd player in my living room. Great receiver, though it's lack of hdmi audio pisses me off sometimes (plus, the receiver is starting to go).

Thanks for the recommendations. Any thoughts on the sound card? I'm thinking possibly the X-Fi Titanium HD, since it's superior to the Asus ones for games (plus Asus is horrible with RMA's). Pricey, but has the best options for the future.
 
Pezzy said:
I actually have that Harmon/Kardon receiver & dvd player in my living room. Great receiver, though it's lack of hdmi audio pisses me off sometimes (plus, the receiver is starting to go).

Thanks for the recommendations. Any thoughts on the sound card? I'm thinking possibly the X-Fi Titanium HD, since it's superior to the Asus ones for games (plus Asus is horrible with RMA's). Pricey, but has the best options for the future.
Click to expand...

I don't know much about soundcards that are out now.

I have an older MAudio Revolution 5.1, which is an awesome soundcard.

It also has 5.1 analog outputs so I don't need HDMI on the receiver, also has a BurrBrown Dac so the sound is very good. Watching blu rays on my PC I can get the whole TrueHD thingy.

So whatever you get, get one with Analog out and a good DAC, then you won't need a new receiver (provided it has analog inputs)
 
Pezzy said:
Thanks for the recommendations. Any thoughts on the sound card? I'm thinking possibly the X-Fi Titanium HD, since it's superior to the Asus ones for games (plus Asus is horrible with RMA's). Pricey, but has the best options for the future.
Click to expand...

Titanium HD is a good card. However, it's full polymer choice isn't wise for good sound, and it's now bit of an old card that gets outperformed by a bunch of newer cards such as Creative's own ZXR, which is a great card, though, also isn't "the" best card out there.

Your best bet would a be Bravura if you're after gaming. It's built like a tank and absolutely rocks the shit out of games, and sounds just as well in music or in Dolby movies. I got one in my secondary comp and it was well worth every panny. Can be had for a mere $80 from Auzen refurbished store.
 
I just upgraded from a x-fi that is currently just sitting in a box. Could let it go for cheap and I'm local (western burbs). PM if interested
 
Thanks for the input all. I found some good deals at Fry's, so I did my complete upgrade today:

Polk Audio RTi8 [x2]
Polk Audio PSA111
Denon AVR-1913
Asus Xonar DX

The Polk items were on sale for $499. The Denon was on sale for $350. Everything sounds good so far. The future plan is to replace my home theater HK receiver (which is slowly breaking) with the Denon. I'm a little disappointed the PSW111 doesn't have a sub input, but whatever. That will be the first thing I upgrade to in the future. I was really looking for bookshelf speakers, but I'll make due with the floorstanding ones.

For anybody interested, Fry's does seem to have some decent deals until 1/31, and some of them include free shipping.
 
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