Am I crazy to upgrade?


Hello all, I’m currently on the vetge of making a multi thousand dollar "upgrade" and thought it would be prudent to get some insight/ feedback from those that know before pulling any triggers. 

 

I currently have a 7.2 system with B&W 804s, 805s, SC1s, Htm1 & 2 Rel Storm iiis.

I have 3 Emotiva gen 2 XPA1s, an XPR5 for the rears, XMC--2, and a Blusound Node 2.

I have always wanted the Tekton Ulfberhts with two 410 subs and wide Double Impact center. I have the opportunity to pick them up at a very reasonable price as well as the Impact References for rears. So, when you upgrade your speakers you have to upgrade everything else. :) So I was thing Parasound JC1 monos and a JC3? Maybe a ysed Anthem AVM 70 or 90? Or a NAD M12 or M17? Ir Wyred 4 sound SX1000R monoblocks? Keep the Emotiva? Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

mopowah

Showing 3 responses by ghdprentice

Great sized room and no spousal acceptance factor and you are good to go.

 

I would look at where you should be when done. You want equal quality from source to speakers and two channel only stuff is way better than home theater components. Especially the source. When putting together a whole system, lots of research and listening is required to make sure the equipment has the kind of sound you want... like highly detailed with slam, warm, or natural... etc. There are brands that specialize in each. But assuming you are choosing the brands that play to your tastes and are of the best value at the investment level, then I recommend the approximate investment of 35% speaker, 15% streamer, 15% DAC, 15% preamp and `15% amp. Surround processors are not good two channel sources. Then after a year and all is broken in and positioned, start upgrading interconnects and power cords... etc.

One other thought... is there any chance this is a revenge purchase? Big, loud and ugly (to females)? If there is any chance, I would slow down, and go auditioning systems to find the sound you are looking for. I would listen to B&W, Wilson, Sonus Faber and Focal speaker based systems. They are main stream and make some of the finest speakers on the planet.

@Kennyc @deep_333 

+ 1 Those are huge. 

Also, what is the percentage of time used for home theater vs two channel stereo? 

Putting together a two channel system with a home theater is a very big compromise. They have different goals and one listens to them differently. If mostly home theater... I would definitely thing about a consistent package of speakers like @deep_333 recommended.

Also, I assume you're not married? Not sure I can imagine any woman would go along with those enormous speakers. 

For upgrade strategy. Typically it is good to upgrade one component at a time. Speakers first. Then let them break in and then in light of what your system sounds like, go for the next step. Which could easily be any one of the support components.

 

one of the advantages of this approach is you get a big bump in performance and time to recover financially before the next upgrade.