Looking to upgrade

It really helps to know your price range, but I will assume a moderate budget. Regardless of what you have to spend, start with the source. BlueRay is stunning on the PS3 (when I was able to get it to work - I have since returned two of them in frustration) and if that is all you watch your in good shape. But if you watch mostly regular DVDs invest in a used Arcam DV 78 for around $500. You will be amazed at what this thing does for the price. It will be MUCH better for straight DVDs than the PS3.

After that, I would go for an Arcam AVR 350 receiver. Then I also would get a Furman line conditioner that is in your price range. You can find this on Audio Advisor if you don't have a local dealer.

After all this, if you still have money, look at upgrading your speakers.

I disagree with the above. Your speakers are fine for now, and if you try to upgrade them it may take up your entire budget.

But if you insist on upgrading speakers, be aware that in a home theater system the speakers used should all come from the same manufacturer and line. Ideally, except for the center channel, they should all be the exact same model and make of speaker (front and surround) to give a more realistic experience. Still you can ignore this last part so long as they are from the same manufacturer and same line.

But I still say go with electronics first. I hold to my recommendation of an Arcam AVR 350 (used) given your price constraints. If you want to try separates, I second the vote for a Linn AV 5125 for your amplification - it is awesome for the price. This runs around $1400 used.

For a good price on a line conditioner (I hope the link works):

http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=FUEL15DM

At this price, you will be making a very cost effective upgrade to your system, at least if you buy a Furman. I have to confess outside of the Furman lines, I have yet to find a line conditioner that I would put in my system.

Quick clarification on the Arcam AVR 350 recommendation. Charles is right it would take patience and luck to find one used, but people do buy and decide to upgrade quickly if they get the bug. The reason you need to have the AVR 350 is that the AVR 300 and AVR 250 do not have HDMI switching. You have to have this to run BlueRay through the receiver. The new Arcam AVR 280 also has HDMI switching. I'm not sure the price, but should be around $1700 or so.

There is a hierarchy in audio/video reproduction, and speakers are not at the top of that hierarchy (indeed, just the opposite). They are very important, as is everything in the chain, but they can only play back the signal and reproduce that amount of musical information that they receive. Indeed the relative importance of speaker quality increases as the quality of electronics involved increases. I suspect if people think there are only modest differences between electronics (digital sources, preamps, processors, amps) they haven't had the opportunity to spend much time with truly good electronics.

There was a great awakening in Audio in the 1970's and 1980's. It was realized that the old thinking of speakers being first and sources/electronics being comparatively unimportant was exactly wrong. People sometimes refer to this as the "source first" philosophy. It remains acknowledged in its basic tenets today by nearly all audio writers I have read. It also remains one of the most fundamental but difficult concepts for people coming into the hobby to accept. I certainly didn't until personal listening experience demonstrated over and over again to my stubborn mind that it is unequivocally true. (That is of course, so long as you don't take it to silly extremes of equipment mismatching).

Now, as to the comparison between the Arcam and the Marantz receiver specifically, as Bob suggests, that can really only be settled by the purchaser doing a direct A/B comparison between the two, preferably in his own system. As to upgrading electronics first before replacing the speakers in question (which to do properly is going to cost more than the total budget anyway), I feel very strongly about that wisdom.

Teslaroadsters:

I guess the first responses I have to your question are a few more questions. I hope they don't sound pedantic. To start with, what do you find dissatisfying about your current system? and, what are your ultimate goals?

It is important to ask these sorts of things in any system upgrade. Most fundamentally the question is what is it about audio/ home theater that makes it important to you? There are many different motivations. I don't presume to say any of them are wrong - they are just different.

Some people are enticed by the idea working to build something up - to make it of higher and higher quality. Others, when they really think about it, actually are quite happy with what they have, but somehow have settled on upgrading because that is what they think they are supposed to do. Finally, some become enthralled with the emotional connection (or involvement) that they feel to music when played through a good system, and they seek better and better equipment to make this connection fuller and stronger (that is up until a point that they decide the increased expenditures really are no longer increasing their joy in the music).

If you are someone who truly is dissatisfied with his system, but see only moderate future expenditures after this next upgrade, then I stick with the suggestion you go with an Arcam AVR Receiver that allows HDMI switching. You need to choose whether you listen to enough music or watch enough regular DVDs (as opposed to BlueRay) to optimize this playback (e.g. with a DV 78, which is also a very good CD player) rather than relying on your PS3. Later, upgrade your speakers as money allows and you see fit, then hold firm. You then will have built a solid home theater system on a solid foundation, and it will reward you well. But mind you, what you have may already be rewarding you well. Just because an upgraded system would be better doesn’t mean it would be more important * to you *.

If you are someone who envisions building his system up to be better and better over time - either out of a passion for more emotional connection with the music/movie experience, out of a drive to build a system up to be better for its own sake, or some combination of the two, then you are better off with separates. I can't speak to what processor will be best in this price range – I simply don’t have experience with it. (But be sure it has HDMI switching or it will be useless to you with BlueRay. ) I can tell you that you will be extremely hard pressed to find a better 5 channel amp for the money than the Linn 5125. But as always you must be aware that my opinion is based on my taste, and it is always possible that over time you will disagree. Still, for now, I can't see a better place to start with amplification.

Bob:

In kindness, I am puzzled why you are posting on this forum. You are of course as fully welcome here as any of us are, but if you maintain there is no meaningful sonic difference between say a Rega Apollo playing through an Arcam A65 integrated (both certainly well designed electronics at their price points) and a CD 12 playing through a Klimax Kontrol preamp/ Klimax monoblock pairing, you really are in the wrong place. I can only conclude you are making your arguments from theory and conjecture, and not from actual listening experience. There is absolutely no one I have met who actually listens to Hi-Fi who would agree with you.

These are not intended as insults, though I know they probably rankle. And, please, don’t take my word on the subject. Go out and do serious comparative listening at Hi-Fi shops. Borrow gear, take it home and put in your system, and listen.

But if you are going to go on and insist here that there are no meaningful differences in digital sources and other electronics, I need to request you list exactly what equipment you have auditioned that leads you to this conclusion. This is only fair so that others new to the forum can judge the value of your opinion.

Bob:

Thank you for you graceful response to my post. I'm afraid our beliefs are irreconcilable.

It is interesting that you say you used to hold the sort of views that I do, but now have moved on to your current position. I am just the opposite - I used to hold your views, quite tenaciously, until listening experience forced me to relinquish them.

There is nothing that is mythical about the differences I and so many others hear. Likewise, there is apparently nothing convincing to you in what you hear. I suppose the good news for you is that you save money on electronics. The good news for me is that I am able to hear more music with better gear, music that stirs my soul.

Chris