# Invest What in your home theater system



## erasma (Apr 18, 2009)

Good Day All

I am new to the site, but wanted to share what I have learnt over the years of buying HIFI equipment.

I started out an Audio nut buying Krell Equipment & the like for that ultamate sound, when I was at a friends place he had a Yahama & some okay quality speakers which cost close to nothing the cost of what I had, but the sounds was really really good & as such I moved away from the stuff that cost so much money & went to some good quality equipment that sounds good.

In doing that I bought many AV amps such as my current Yamaha RXV 1400 - with Energy C9 speakers

this worked well for a few years!

but as things are one gets better equipment & better sound & the market changes to BluRay & HDMI

So I wanted to upgrade my Amp upgrade was going to cost me $2000 so I looked at this & looked at what had changed in the last few years & have come to see - Audi & Video are like PC's now days they change all the time!!

So what does one invest in???

1) Raw Power - Power Amps if they good today they will be good tomorrow
2) Speakers - Speakers like Amps age very very well

AV receivers are only as good as the next model or new chip that come out

as pc's come of Video & Audio age it's cheaper to use a pc to convert & play the latest format, also pc's you replace components not the whole device!

My HTPC has an HDMI passthrough sound card that also has 7.1 analog so the card decodes everything I need. I just need power.

Don't get me wrong a pre amp is way nice I just would rather spend my money on a Pre Amp or Small AV reciever that has all the latest stuff which is $500 to replace every few years!

My take on what I have done

if you would like to see my setup I would be happy to post some pics.


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## Mike P. (Apr 6, 2007)

Sure, post your system pics in the Home Theater Gallery:

http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/home-theater-gallery/


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## salvasol (Oct 31, 2006)

erasma said:


> ...but as things are one gets better equipment & better sound & the market changes to BluRay & HDMI
> 
> So I wanted to upgrade my Amp upgrade was going to cost me $2000 so I looked at this & looked at what had changed in the last few years & have come to see - Audi & Video are like PC's now days they change all the time!!
> 
> So what does one invest in???


If you're a fan of this hobby you know that is a non-stop fun :yes:...I'm sure that you will upgrade sooner or later.

My advise, get wherever you can afford and enjoy it until the upgrade bug gets you again :bigsmile:


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## erasma (Apr 18, 2009)

Part True

My sunfire will be around for years much longer then any TV or Processor!

My speakers will also be around for years!


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## erasma (Apr 18, 2009)

Posted some pics

http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/home-theater-gallery/18299-my-home-theater-setup.html


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## MatrixDweller (Jul 24, 2007)

I have a Denon 4306 receiver which was released almost 4 years ago. It has 3 HDMI 1.1 inputs. I was tempted to upgrade to an HDMI 1.3 receiver but there really was no need to. Deep Color is a "pigment" of our imaginations. HD Processing is all done in the player so I didn't need to upgrade for that either. I would think that my current receiver will last until HDMI becomes something that is not backwards compatible, deep color actually comes to fruition (and I upgrade my projector), or a new connection becomes dominant (like Display Port, etc...and I get one). 

Bottom line is, buy the best receiver within your budget that has the most bells and whistles that will connect to all of your existing (or possible near future) components and you should be fine for a long time. The trouble happens when the industry is undergoing a shift in technology, like from component video to HDMI a few years back. HDMI should be around for awhile however (I hope) so grabbing a current 1.3 receiver should do for the near future and possibly longer if you don't upgrade all of your other components.

Your other option...other than buying new, is to buy a last years model (or two year old) of a higher end brand. You sacrifice a warranty if it's used, but generally you'll get a higher end component. A lot of people get caught up with having the best with the latest features, even though what they have is good enough and does. The result is a saturated secondary market ripe for the picking.

Good speakers will last much longer than their styling. If you buy a decent set today you may have them 20 years from now and they'll still sound just as good. They'll be ugly as all get out by then probably according to the designs in 2030 though.


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