Question New TV, Receiver and Speakers...Buyers Remorse?

jonosd

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Hi guys

I've been toying with the idea of getting a new tv for the last month or so, and at the weekend i went for it. After doing some research, shopping around and setting a budget I went to Richer Sounds.

After looking around i saw the LG EG920V (55") on display and realised i needed to increase budget from £1600 to just over £2k :laugh: with very little persuasion.

Anyway, it only occurred to me once i was there that my existing Onkyo 606 (or 607 i cant remember) may need an update. The guys in the shop explained that my old 606/7 couldn't process 4k so i would need to upgrade that (is this true?). Might as well go the whole hog and get new speakers too then.

Cut a long story short, i ended up with the above mentioned TV, a new TX-NR646 Onkyo receiver and the Canton 75 Movie speakers (5.1). i was assured that the receiver would be a significant upgrade to my old one and so would the new speakers which were replacing my Onkyo SKC-528's.

The TV is outstanding, very happy with it, however i am fairly disappointed with the speakers.

I know they will need running in for a while but will this really make THAT much difference? I have been feeding them a variety of music at moderate levels for about 15 hours and nothing seems to have changed.

I am an amateur when it comes to audio but the sound is worse than the old setup. The audio is much clearer but the sub sounds weird and the other speakers seem to be lacking mid range and 'fullness'. Its hard to explain really.

I have spent hours fiddling with the settings, learning about crossover and tweaking that, along with various other EQ settings. I must have plugged in the setup mic and allowed it to tune itself about 5 times but it still doesn't sound right. I never had to do any of this with the previous setup.

The speakers themselves are about 30% smaller than my old ones, would this make a difference? Sub box is the same size so i assume that is still the same.

The sub itself seems to be overcooking the higher frequencies and undercooking the lower ones. If i crank amp volume up a bit then it gets nice and punchy with low freq but mid and higher freq bass sounds sh**ty. When i play with the volume on the sub itself, its either too boomy or if i turn it down it lacks any kick.

Apologies for the terrible description of the problem.

Do i really need a pro to come and set all this up properly for me?
Could this be an amp issue too?
Have i been sold a shitty set of speakers? I am rarely an impulse buyer but on this occasion it happened and im kicking myself for throwing away the box already...:(. I realise they are entry level speakers so i'm not expecting sonic excellence, but i certainly dont expect them to be worse than the old ones, and i was really happy with those. Again kicking myself for giving them to a friend.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
Well the amp you bought is basically the same amp you had but with new features so would not expect any real upgrade in sound. The amp really deserves better speakers than you have to get the most from it. Unfortunately you have made the fatal mistake of buying without listening first.
 
I've had CANTON stuff in the past and whilst not terrible I wouldn't say brilliant either - OK for the budget price would be fair.

The system is pretty unbalanced though as you should ideally, as a guideline, be spending 2-3x the cost of the AVR on the speakers - you have spent 1/2 the cost of the AVR on the speakers.

The AVR is around £550 so I'd have expected you to pair this with a set of speakers in the £1100 - £1500 price range.

Richer Sounds will take the speakers back - but do you have the funds to replace them with something worthwhile.

Something like the Q Acoustics 3000 range Q Acoustics 3000 5.1 Gloss Black | 5.1 Speaker Package | Richer Sounds at around £900 would be a starting point.
 
You won't be surprised to learn we agree :)

The new Q Acoustics 3000 Series 5.1 speaker package is stonkingly good!
(But don't take our word for it - please read Ed Selley's excellent AVForums review: Q Acoustics 3000 5.1 Speaker System Review )

In the 'Graphite' and 'American Walnut' finishes, the package has a suggested retail price of only £699.95.

Best regards
 
Quite agree with PSM1, in terms of upgrading the speakers. The Canton, whilst a decent system for their price is a bit of a sideways move. Unless you really required any of the new features in the 646, generally would have recommended just changing the speakers and sticking with the 606. The Canton sats don't go quite so low as the Onkyo speakers you had so that may be why you're finding this weird sub sound as it is having to fill in higher than the 80Hz you would generally prefer with a sub/sat system. (Should point out this is common with many systems with smaller satellites - not just Canton).
 
I'd return the AVR and Speakers and take some time to audition new kit if (IF) you feel you need it.

There is no real problem using your current kit with the new Display.

Which '4K' Source devices do you have?

An 'upgrade' AVR is likely to be nearer £1k and an upgrade speaker system £2k.+

Joe
 
You might also find that your old avr will allow 4K pass though even if it doesn't have in on the specs have you tried? Then you could put all that money towards some better speakers?
 
Good shout - a fair few 'pre 4K' units do seem to be able to pass 2160p30.

Joe
 

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