reciever upgrade options

Pinkinvader

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I'm looking at upgrading my receiver which is the marantz nr 1402. I have kef 3005e 5.1 speakers. I was hoping to spend £500 or less if possible and don't mind if it's used or new, just looking for a decent jump up in sound quality without spending a fortune. If anyone can give me some suggestions it would be great.

Thanks guys
 
The Denon x2200 is great value at the moment, around £300. Should sound good with the Eggs. I ran a Denon 2310 for many years with 3005s, still use two as surrounds.
 
Funny that was one that I had looked at. How much of a difference would it make compared to my marantz?
 
Is the onkyo tx nr609 any good? Would it be a big improvement over the marantz? Thanks
 
Does the amp need to be a slimline one like the Marantz?
I would not expect huge jumps in sound quality to be honest due to the fact that the AVRs you are looking at are only around a level above your current one. Moving to a full sized AVR will have some benefits so there could be some improvement there. Best advice is to go and listen to see if the outlay is worth the improvement.
 
My only worry with Onkyo is quality. Onkyo back in the day pushed the spec's hard and that resulted in many amps. only last 2 or 3 years.Maybe they have learned their lesson, but Denon or Marantz would be my preferred options.
 
Many thanks for all the info. I thought the denon would have been a big jump up from the marantz. It doesn't have to be slimline either it was just the avr that was suggested to me when buying the speakers. I'm looking at just getting a bit more out the speakers that I have currently without spending huge amounts.
Any suggestions would be brilliant
 
You don't get better sound with these receivers. Your current Marantz is basically in same level.
For 500 you can get some used hi end receiver and better sound too :)
 
Thanks for that, could you tell me some models to look out for that would be an improvement then please?
 
Thanks for that, could you tell me some models to look out for that would be an improvement then please?
Basically receivers originally(new) priced around 800-1000 will give big update. Of course, better speakers should be your next priority :)
Those receivers are much more capable than your current speakers.
No point to buy next/better receiver and use your kef eggs. It is waste of money.
Don't buy better receiver, if you don't have plan to update speakers.
 
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Oh really I thought these speakers were good? Will have to check some out. Suggestions?
 
Yes, your speakers are good - if you look all things together - size, disain and sound, then this is good setup.
But these are not worth expensive receiver (used or not), they are still quite limited and you don't get better sound just thru receiver upgrade.
 
Ok I see, if I was to upgrade the speakers, would my current amp be good enough to iimprove the quality of sound or would it mean upgrading both? Thanks for your info by the way
 
Upgrading speakers first is probably right choice - you will get better sound - of course it depends what kind of speakers you buy.
But don't buy "blindfolded". Go and listen different speakers.
If you don't wanna go big and main goal are movies, then maybe there is no point to upgrade at all...?
 
Your current system is well balanced in terms of quality of speakers and receiver. Hence a big upgrade in one area really needs an upgrade in the other to get the full benefit. Does not really matter which you upgrade first as long as you upgrade both at some point.
 
Thanks that is a big help. May just stick with what I have for now then. I do only use it to watch movies, TV and gaming. Also I re-ran audyssey last night and have improved it anyway. The only pain is the centre channel or speech is too quiet, always seems to be a fiddle with either raising centre channel level or turning on dynamic volume but I guess this is normal?
 
If you can hear dialog/speech in blu-ray movies normally, then yes, your system is ok and problem is, that TV shows etc all have different quality and hearing dialog can be problematic sometimes.
 
You will, without doubt, get better sound quality by getting superior speakers, just as I did with my old Denon 2310. The change to KEF R100/R200C made a big difference to the 2310's performance. There is only need to upgrade the front three and possibly the 3005 sub. My eggs are still giving excellent service as rears. You would be looking to spend £1200 for the front three. They blend seamlessly.

The improvement on changing the front three was big with the 2310, but the change of receiver was really substantial, the path of upgrading is rarely cheap.
,
 
Another question chaps . Would it be better/cheaper to buy a whole new system for somewhere around £1000 or just upgrade the fronts?
 
Another question chaps . Would it be better/cheaper to buy a whole new system for somewhere around £1000 or just upgrade the fronts?
In long term buying piece by piece you get better system in the end. You can spend more for one pair of speakers.
Of course, if you have a lot of money, then one upgrade all things together will do the job :D
For 1000 I would upgrade only LR fronts....
and not use old center, because it doesn't sound good at all compared new L&R.

If I was you, then my upgrade path will be something like this:
1 L&R fronts 1000
2 Receiver 1000-1500
3 Center 500
4 Subwoofer 500 - 1000
5 Surrounds 500

In the end it will be so good that you don't wanna go outside :D
System above is for movies, for music: spend double L&R fronts and receiver.
 
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This is not monthly upgrade...
This is for next 5 years :)
Spending half amount of that, you will get good system, no problem at all :)

Buying used components saves half or maybe even more money.
 
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The only problem I have is what to look out for as I'm not that clued up. Will have to do some research. Where's best to look other than the classifieds on here and ebay?
 

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