Need advice planning for a small upgrade...

[george_k]

My exsting setup consists of 2x 603's, 2x small paradigm bookshelfs, 50watt per channel NAD receiver (T742), no center channel as I have pretty ideal seating and speaker placement, no sub. I would eventually like for an entire 5.1 800-series setup (except for maybe the sub).

Should I,

A) Trade in the 603's (as they are still under 1 year old) as credit towards a pair of 805's

B) Purchase a power amplifer

C) Purchase an ASW 750

[turbokuo]

For HT, option C is the way to go.

[RebelMan]

Since you are already considering a 5.1 800 series setup, I say go with option A. You will eventually need to upgrade the amp anyway and an 800 series sub would be more appropriate. Don't nickel and dime your upgrade plan. Plan it right from the start and stick to it.

Good luck!

[george_k]

"Plan it right from the start and stick to it."

Yes that is exactly what I am trying to do :-)

[george_k]

I went into my dealer today and was given the following deals.

1. Upgrade Speakers
Price of 2 805S = $3500 CDN
Price of B&W Stands = $900 CDN
Less credit on 603's = -$1500 CDN

= $2900 CDN ($3300 after taxes)

from XE.com:
3,300.00 CAD Canada Dollars = 2,599.91 USD United States Dollars


2. Upgrade Receiver
He is willing to buy back my NAD T742 for $500CDN (cost me $900 originally about 1.5 years ago) as credit towards a NAD T763 which can be had for $2000 + taxes which would work out to $1700 CDN or $1,339.61 USD

Power-wise my current amplifier does 50x5 or 60x2 this new receiver will do 100x6 or 130x2 along with a slew of other features my current receiver doesn't support.

[weijst]

Since you are already considering a 5.1 800 series setup... an 800 series sub would be more appropriate...

The ASW750 is considered to be a very decent match to the 800 series too, so to purchase one now will not conflict with your future plans...

george_k, since you're planning on getting the 800 series, I doubt the T763 is a wise choice... Problem is your T742 will certainly not bring the 805S to life, so option 1 might not be the way to go either. Why not add option 3: get yourself a powerfull amp (something in the line of a RB-1080 / RMB-1095, sorry I'm a Rotel guy ) and use your T742 as pre / pro?
- First of all this option fits your future plans
- Second it'll revive your 603's, making you think twice to replace them!
- Finally it'll be the most inexpensive option!

I once went from a Marantz reciever to the separate combo 1068/1075. While waiting for my 1068 to arrive I temporarily used the Marantz as a pre / pro and the 1075 as the amp(s). This certainly brought the DM602 S3's to life when compared to the Marantz's internal amps.

ps: I do hope the T742 has pre outs...

[george_k]

Weijst,

The T742 does have preouts but it wouldn't be the "ideal" pre either. It only has a fixed 80hz filter for the LFE, no stereo bypass and no component swithching (my TV only has 1 set of inputs)

I'd like to stick to my dealer as he is really cool about buying back equipment that was purchased there unfortunately he doesn't deal in Rotel only NAD, QUAD, and another brand of amplifier but I forget their name as they are out of my price range.

PS: I'm also thinking the amplifer upgrade would be the logical first step when I'm watching movies I have found that to get a decent amount of volume output (so that I can hear the quiet passages) I need to set the volume to 0 to +4dB, the NAD volume range ranges from -61 to +14 dB, so it is already pretty taxed with the 603's I'd imagine that with the 805's it would sound really distorted as I would have to further increase the volume level.

[weijst]

The fixed 80hz filter isn't that bad for your 603's, so for HT using the T742 as a pre/pro will be a fine (temporary) solution.

The 5.1 inputs on the T742 can be used as stereo bypass, as the T742 will not do anything with the signals comming through these inputs exept for sending them directly to the amplification section of your reciever.

As for the component switching, can't you buy something like an Y connection so you can connect two component inputs to one TV (again a temporary solution ofcourse)?

Anyway, good luck!

[PewterTA]

Okay, you need to decide first what you want to put money into.

If you get a new pre & amp, they will make the 603s come to life like they never have before. You will be very happy with how much better they sound...which would keep you happy until you could get something like the 805s. Once you get the 805s you will see how much better they truly are as a speakers, since the upgrade of the receiver has already improved the sound, the 805s will again improve the sound that much more. Once the time comes around again to purchase more you can take the 805s and move them to the rear once you can afford the 804/803/802 whatever you want for front and also a matching center.

The other option is to upgrade your speakers to the 805s, which will do okay on your NAD T742, but it won't make them shine. Whether you will be happy with the sound or not, no one can say. But it might cause you to upgrade the NAD sooner than you might have wanted to (whether this is a good or bad thing I couldn't say). The 805s will definitely show the weaknesses of the receiver, they are a very revealing speaker! But if it doesn't bother you then you can see how well your receiver is or is not and plan from there.

As far as a sub, I'd save your money and look for other options unless the guy is going to give you a deal on the B&W ASW750. There's other companies that have as good and easily better subs than B&W...and for less because you aren't paying for the (admittedly high) price of having "B&W" on the sub.

There's plenty of options, it's just whichever path you would like to take.

I went the route of wanting to upgrade my speakers (just rears), instead bought the whole 5.1...then wasn't happy with the receiver, bought a new one for about 6 months, then upgraded to seperates all over. Now I'm really happy with my setup until I can save up the money for the 803 or 802s from B&W then I'll pretty much be at an ending for my audio purchasing...