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Help with choosing components for home theater

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ajon81

New Member
Hi All, I am not too knowledgeable when it comes to audio technology. I am redoing my basement, and putting a TV area in (thinking around 85" TV), and need advice on what to purchase.

I currently have from about 14 years ago a Pioneer Elite receiver VSX-82TXS, 2 Boston Micro 120x speaker, a center Boston Micro speaker, 2 Boston Micro 110x speakers, and a Boston Sub.

With technology changing so quickly, I don't know if this is still a good system, or if I should upgrade?

I don't want to spend $10K on something, but don't want to just go a cheap route.

Any help and input is appreciated!
 
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ajon81 said:
Hi All, I am not too knowledgeable when it comes to audio technology. I am redoing my basement, and putting a TV area in (thinking around 85" TV), and need advice on what to purchase.

I currently have from about 14 years ago a Pioneer Elite receiver VSX-82TXS, 2 Boston Micro 120x speaker, a center Boston Micro speaker, 2 Boston Micro 110x speakers, and a Boston Sub.

With technology changing so quickly, I don't know if this is still a good system, or if I should upgrade?

I don't want to spend $10K on something, but don't want to just go a cheap route.

Any help and input is appreciated!
Click to expand...


Looks like an amazing system. I am not into Dolby ATMOS, as a personal preference. Perfectly happy with a sound bar for my movie watching.

Is there a defined objective? That would help in forming a recommendation.
 
Get a newer receiver that supports all the latest codecs and HDMI versions. No sound bar ever made will sound as good as the speakers you already have.
 
Your receiver doesn't have HDMI, which means you'll be missing out on the most recent surround formats, plus you may have difficulty with synching the audio to the video, especially if your source components don't have digital audio out and you want to use the TV as a video switcher. Add to that the fact that many TVs only output 2 channel sound on their digital audio output unless you're using the internal tuner or smart apps, and I think looking for a new receiver is where I'd start. I'd stick with those speakers for now.

IMO, the last major innovation in TV tech was about 4-5 years ago when HDR was introduced (this requires HDMI 2.0a, IIRC). HDMI 2.1 brings higher refresh rates (120hz @ 4k), but probably not a big deal if you're going to be watching mostly movies. I wouldn't even worry about 8K, it's going to be several years before there's any source material at that resolution, and with a screen size of 85" I doubt you'd notice the difference at any reasonable viewing distance.

Is there a particular budget you have in mind? What other components will you be connecting.
 
Thanks guys. I appreciate the input.

Objective is just to watch movies / TV / games / music with great sound.

The room is a large room. I'd like to have the TV area in the front of the room, and a bar area in the back of the room.

What is a newer receiver you would recommend?
 
Would just want to connect cable, Blue Ray, maybe a gaming system, and a have a bose soundtouch receiver I would connect.

One thing I'm thinking is to have separate speakers in the back of the room that could be on a multizone.

As for budget I don't want to go crazy, but want something nice. I know that doesn't help much.
 
Hmm. Are you planning on doing any streaming? 4k bluray, or standard? A cable box is only 1080p, same with standard bluray. If you already have a bluray player and it has digital out, then you could continue to use your existing receiver (and at least some 4k bluray players have digital audio out). If you're planning on using the built-in apps in a smart TV, the optical output from the TV might work just fine. so maybe get all your other components together first, then you can decide what you want to do. You might be able to manage with your current receiver for a few more years.
 
OK, I was wrong, your receiver does have HDMI, but it's a pretty early version. Other than the cable box, you probably wouldn't want to send any video through it.

Also, a game console might or might not have a digital output, but there are relatively inexpensive audio extractors you can purchase (that would cost a lot less than a new receiver) if that's the only component that doesn't have one.
 
It's just a cheap blue ray player from Sam's Club so I'm assuming just standard, but that could be upgraded. Would want to stream yes. Starting to think I should just give it a try as is. Once all the wires are run it shouldn't be an issue to change out of needed. Big question was if what I have is out of date compared to new systems or sound bars, and if it wasn't even worth using.

I was thinking for the back of the room maybe putting some ceiling speakers in that could be on the multizone channels if playing music could turn them on. That make sense?
 
If I want to connect speakers in the back of the room to just play when music plays, using like an A/B room setting, how would I do that?
 
Current Marantz gear sounds very good to my ears. The SR line has traditional home theatre functionality, with all the modern updates. The NR line has a 5.1 limitation, but with modern HDMI connectivity, and also adds network connectivity for streaming, etc. If you are willing to wait awhile, you can often get an older model for half its initial price, when new models come out.

My friend bought an SR7008 a few years ago that way, and even the phono preamp sounds good.
 
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ajon81 said:
If I want to connect speakers in the back of the room to just play when music plays, using like an A/B room setting, how would I do that?
Click to expand...
Since you only have a 5.1 system, the Surround Back/B terminals can be configured as a second zone. See p. 55 of the manual.
 
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