# El-cheapo Blackstones vs The Impending Upgrade



## slansing (Jun 5, 2013)

I want to start off by saying, I know all tastes are different "some more aligned than others." That being said I beseech one and all to answer a few simple questions. This is not a "blank" vs "blank" vs "blank" TELL ME WHICH IS BEST thread as I know that is ludicrous to ask in most cases. I currently have a cheap set of Polk Blackstone TL1's, two pairs of the small satellite style bookshelves, and the matching center, as well as a Polk PSW-110 sub all of which I purchased after leaving Basic training, when I first wanted to build a better A/V setup. 

I have recently purchased a Epson 8350 PJ and a regular old 16:9 1:1 white pulldown 120" screen "which I can't mount until myself and the girlfriend move to a bigger place in August." After upgrading the viewing experience I feel the urge of "upgradeinitus" to increase the quality of my audio. I have all but put down the money for a L-R upgrade of the Aperion - Verus Grand Bookshelf pair, and I know this will increase the quality of my meager home theater setup.

I will be upgrading the center to their matching one next month "this is all assuming I purchase from Aperion." My questions are...would anyone here recommend anything else along the line of the Verus Grand Bookies? I am straining to keep within a $400-$700 price range per pair, and just how much different will the sound quality be? I do not know the room size of our new place, or weather it will be an apartment "I hope not," duplex, or rental house. Of course we all know this makes for a hard number crunching and audio imaging game at this time.:huh:


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## theJman (Mar 3, 2012)

It's actually not hard at all, it's impossible. 

Realistically speaking, when making a decision about which audio equipment to purchase some concrete information about the target environment is paramount. For example; what if you chose a set of speakers that tend towards the bright side, which would work very well in a room with few hard (reflective) surfaces like something bathed in heavy drapes and carpet. But then you move into your new place and find out it's all windows and a tile floor. Those very same speakers would be so shrill and harsh as to be essentially useless.

If you have some understanding of the new environment then generalization can be used, but if it's a complete unknown it might be better to wait until you at least have some idea of what you're going to be confronting.


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## slansing (Jun 5, 2013)

I am planning on tailoring the room the speakers will be in to fit them. This includes and is not limited to carpeting or false carpeting the floor, reducing reflection of the walls and ceiling by using some sort of sound dampening material, which would likely be panels, as well as heavy curtains for glass windows. So, that being said of course there are many variables to question, but what I ask is how big of a difference would the speakers I listed "or comparative ones in other users experiences" have when replacing the cheapo ones I have now. And would they be worthy cinema style speakers, or "hopefully not" geared towards stereo HIFI music reproduction. Looking for opinions, not definite answers, that should be doable..I hope :huh:

Edit: Of course in addition to this, in the future, I will be upgrading my receiver, and more than likely adding a separate amp of some sort since I am using a Yamaha RX-V375BL to power my system currently.. which is only rated at 500w.. and in my understanding I rarely push more than 60-80 watts through each channel at any one time currently.


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## theJman (Mar 3, 2012)

Throwing a new receiver and/or amp into the mix changes things up yet again, so you're essentially "putting the cart before the horse" here. But, since you seemingly want an answer either way...

The Aperion's should provide a substantial improvement over the TL-1's, almost irrespective of the electronics used to power them. The Blackstones have a 2.5" 'midrange', which is barely more than a tweeter. Seeing as how the Verus uses a 5" midrange you can tell right off the bat it's going to provide a noticeable increase in what it's capable of. The Verus weighs 14 pounds, while the TL1 isn't even 2 pounds, which is a telling statistic as well.


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## slansing (Jun 5, 2013)

Yeah, I am throwing a bunch of theoretics in there, thanks for the words, I am now just worried if I need to upgrade my receiver, "for an added pre-out" and add a 2-ch amp to power the fronts because of the Ω change from 8 to 6, and a higher average wattage use.. any suggestions on this?


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

How much do you want to spend on a receiver/amp?


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## theJman (Mar 3, 2012)

slansing said:


> Yeah, I am throwing a bunch of theoretics in there, thanks for the words, I am now just worried if I need to upgrade my receiver, "for an added pre-out" and add a 2-ch amp to power the fronts because of the Ω change from 8 to 6, and a higher average wattage use.. any suggestions on this?


Not necessary if 6 ohms is the low, provided you get a reasonably powerful receiver from a reputable company.


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## slansing (Jun 5, 2013)

Thanks again for the help you two, I currently use a Yamaha RX-V375BL stand alone "hoping I can still use it" as it only has a pre-out for the sub. I'm beginning to think I will have to upgrade the receiver and then get an amp, I can figure that portion out if it is a necessity for clear clean audio at say... -20 to -10 DB "what I normally run the speakers at." Of course the current speakers are quite low end..


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Depending on what you want to spend you may not need to buy an external amp for the speakers you are buying. There are a few receivers that just on their own will have no issues driving most speakers well past reference levels without having issues. This Onkyo 809 for example is a very strong receiver.


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## slansing (Jun 5, 2013)

Oh my, I like the stats on that one, mayhaps I should upgrade my receiver this month then speakers next month.. "relatively 4 weeks from now." You would however, recommend not powering my speakers through my current Yamaha? I guess what I am asking here is, what type of an issue would I have powering them at my normal level. I know it will power them, but I am new to this, and am horrid at figuring out which numbers I need to pair with what to answer these questions myself.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Well, I would be surprised if the Yamaha RX-V375BL would output even 50watts per ch. so thats a little light on the amplification side.


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## slansing (Jun 5, 2013)

Right, so I guess the Onkyo TX-NR809 is suggested for the Aperions? Out of curiosity what numbers should I be looking at here so I can do this myself in the future? Ohms, watts per channel, etc? I am not very biased towards any specific AVR company, it looks like it should power a 5.1 hifi setup pretty well, then when/if I move to 7.1/2 I could always throw an amp or two in later on.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

You need to look at the weight of the receiver, Even though the receivers specifications say so many watts per channel they rarely do more than about 75% of what they say. This is due to the power supply not being large enough to power all the amps. 
The Onkyo 809 for example weighs 40lbs most of that weight is the power supply.
Dont worry to much about Ohms as many receivers in that range automatically will drive 4ohm speakers meaning anything you can throw at it.


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## slansing (Jun 5, 2013)

Oh, great tip thanks tony. What would be the perks of this receiver, I am pretty poor at picking out decoding types.. I believe Dolby TRU-HD is one of the better ones reserved for true home theaters/cinemas, "something I won't have for a while." Thats about all I know, .. I wouldn't be surprised if I was not even setting my current receiver so it properly decodes audio.. it plays through a PS3 2nd gen as my blu-ray drive. I have heard the name Audyssey tossed around a bit here, never heard of that one.

Sorry this thread has spun off into another topic now I guess, I don't want to make you guys feel trapped here answering my noobish questions.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Well the HD audio and 3D passthrough are all standard now but you need to look for 
HQV Vida processor and independent ISF calibration for each video source,
THX-certified giving you some very useful processing modes.
Audyssey MultEQ XT room correction
Just to name the important ones.


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## slansing (Jun 5, 2013)

Well, its off to buy a new AVR I guess! Thanks for the help, how well do you think the speakers I am looking at will hold up in a home theater setting? Would I be better off looking at them and comparing to another lineup? I know, it's all in the ear of the beholder.. I just figured there is some sort of tell-tale sign that they would be more for two channel stereo.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Dont buy a receiver at a big box store you pay far more. Get it on line at the link I provided above, trust me its half price.
Speakers are something I would buy as needed. what you have will function just fine for the time being.


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## slansing (Jun 5, 2013)

Well to me the speaker upgrade is my next logical step, so to me it's needed, I'm just wondering what suggestions would be for the ones I linked in the OP, Aperion Verus Grand Bookshelf's. I suppose I could find a AVR that is similar to the one you shared, see if it's at my local BBY and see if they price match accessories4less or something to that effect. As horrible as Best Buy is, they do swing pretty heavy on good price matching.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Best buy will tell you no because they are refurbished receivers (dont let that stop you) they are brand new but have had warranty work done to them. I have bough several things from Accessories4less and not one issue. 
I cant comment on thos speakers as I have not hear them however they are good quality and would certainly be great for home theater.


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## slansing (Jun 5, 2013)

Thanks for all your help! I guess I'm off to start a new thread showing my current setup, then the transition, and then again at my new place where I can get some dedicated stuff going!


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