How often do you upgrade your HC/Hifi?

[hairyben]

Wanted to make a poll but can't see how?

I've owned a pair of Celestion A3's and two pairs of A1's for about ten years now. The sources/amplification have never been up to the same standard. In all that time it's been my intention to upgrade to something worthy, but there's always been something big on the horizon. Right now I'm thinking about a Yamaha DSP Z7 and a yam BDP or the oppo, but now with 3D on the horizon it seems it'd be out of date within 24 months or so, for example the Z7 probably wouldn't handle HDMI1.4 or 3D. Yes I know I could workaround by feeding source straight to display but it's inelegant.

I've always liked to buy something aspirational, high quality as a long term investment of around 10+ years, and traditionally in hifi there's nothing wrong with this, but with HC I'm thinking there's simply no point- you have to spend what you're happy to spend for something you'll happily bin in 4-5 years and upgrade.

So how olds your home cinema, and how long do you expect it to last?

[Maxf]

My home cinema is all 2007 vintage and I'm flirting with upgrading at the moment. The problem is I have plasma, projector, various sources and an upconverting av amp so ALL would need to be upgraded (currently 720p) to get the maximum benefit.

I'm not sure the benefit would be worthwhile at the moment, with LED tvs becoming more affordable and projectors still improving I might leave it another year...

I'm buying a hi-fi at the moment so think the line of trucks at the door delivering black boxes would cause domestic meltdown!

[fivesixseven8]

HC kit was only bought at the end of 2008. My previous HiFi kit (Rotel, B&W) is a good ten to twelve years old though.

HC purchases were fairly low budget so they may get upgraded once funds permit.

[dalos260]

hairyben said:

I've owned a pair of Celestion A3's and two pairs of A1's for about ten years now.

Great speakers those Celestions. I have a set of A1's as my pc speakers. Awwwsome!! lol

[Zod]

I bought a Cyrus processor, the AV Master 8.0 three years ago. It was a big mistake. No HD formats and flakey even with the old formats. I've owned lots of Cyrus products and this is the first one to have disappointed. Now I'm about to push the button on a much more expensive upgrade, the Arcam AV888.

[hairyben]

Zod said:

I bought a Cyrus processor, the AV Master 8.0 three years ago. It was a big mistake. No HD formats and flakey even with the old formats. I've owned lots of Cyrus products and this is the first one to have disappointed. Now I'm about to push the button on a much more expensive upgrade, the Arcam AV888.

The Arcam kit is what I'd be aspiring to, but for the short term relevant lifespan of AV kit. It's not evan an ultimate cost issue, just the idea of having a £4000 piece of outdated junk in a few years breaks my heart. I might be a little materialistic, but I don't get throwaway culture. Most brands I'd consider like arcam havn't evan had time to get a blu-ray player out yet- it's been a year since blu-ray officially "won" the format war- yet the formats already old hat. If you told me the trickle-feeding of new technology was a conspiracy by the big manufacturers to kill off the little guys- I wouldn't take that much convincing.

[Zod]

I don't see a processor as 3-4 year throw-away. In the bedroom, I'm still using a Denon AV Receiver (AVR2802) that I bought nine years ago. I do, however, see blu-ray players as disposable. I don't expect to be buying any new BDs from about 2012. I'm already downloading HD stuff through iTunes.

[Plotloss]

Zod said:

I bought a Cyrus processor, the AV Master 8.0 three years ago. It was a big mistake. No HD formats and flakey even with the old formats. I've owned lots of Cyrus products and this is the first one to have disappointed. Now I'm about to push the button on a much more expensive upgrade, the Arcam AV888.

Interesting.

Mail for goodness, if so inclined

[Plotloss]

and in answer to the original question, weekly!

[OldSkoolRS]

Plotloss said:

and in answer to the original question, weekly!

Thank god it's not just me then.

PS. Anyone know of a good Arcam AV9 processor for sale?

Edited by OldSkoolRS on Wednesday 27th January 21:33

[sonic_2k_uk]

Plotloss said:

and in answer to the original question, weekly!

thats how it feels...

[Zod]

OldSkoolRS said:

Plotloss said:

and in answer to the original question, weekly!

Thank god it's not just me then.

PS. Anyone know of a good Arcam AV9 processor for sale?

Edited by OldSkoolRS on Wednesday 27th January 21:33

It's only been out for a few months, so you'll be lucky!

Ask me in a year or so though.......

[OldSkoolRS]

Zod said:

OldSkoolRS said:

PS. Anyone know of a good Arcam AV9 processor for sale?

It's only been out for a few months, so you'll be lucky!

Ask me in a year or so though.......

The Arcam AV9 came out in 2006, maybe you're mixing it up with something else? Anyway, I got a response to my wanted ad on the AVForums so I've got one now at a fair bit less than the original new price (£2,500 I think).

So that's a 'new' video processor last week (DVDO Edge), the AV9 this week, I got the Beta upgrade deal on the VideoEQ Pro (CMS and calibration device) a couple of weeks before that. Isco lens before Christmas and some PMC TB2+ speakers I got end of November. I guess I'm almost on a weekly upgrade path. At least all the above were used/beta prices and I've sold on some of my redundent gear (just got a Lumagen HDQ and now my Denon 2808 to shift once the AV9 arrives).

I hope that once I've sorted out a good BluRay player with analogue outputs to go with the AV9 and maybe a separate CD player, then I'll be sorted for a while...but then, there's always something else to look for I suppose.

[Zod]

Doh, I meant the AV888.

[OldSkoolRS]

Zod said:

Doh, I meant the AV888.

That explains things...if I'd picked one of those up for £800 then it would have been a steal. Having said that, there's been a guy on AVForums who compared the AV888 to various older AV processors fed from a Denon BD3800's analogue outputs and he reckons that the AV888 doesn't really improve on the AV9 plus 3800 using analogues. As long as you don't want/need room EQ then why not save a few quid and go old skool?

PS. I'm looking for a used Arcam CD player now to match the AV9.

[Zod]

I want new HD format processing. That's the main reason. I've started to come across Blu-Ray discs with no DD 5.1 or DTS 5.1 track, only HD or stereo (Iron Man is one and to add insult to injury, it does have a DD 5.1 track, but in Italian).

[OldSkoolRS]

I'm doing the decoding in the player and using the analogue outputs for the HD codecs. You could get a processor that will accept LPCM via HDMI (like the AudioLab 8000AV which is about to have a new firmware update too). Also there is a new AudioLab model due out soon that will do the HD codecs or the Emotiva UMC-1 processor from the USA. So there are various options without spending the price of the AV888. With a good BluRay player to feed my AV9 via analogue I may not be that far off what I'd hear with the AV888 anyway, by some comparisons I've read recently.

[Zod]

There are lots of rumours about the Audiolab, but from what I've read the new one is unlikely to decode the HD formats, so it's still a case of using the analogue in or bitstream.

Most of the American models seem to cost even more than the Arcam or the Nad M15HD!

Edited by Zod on Monday 1st February 23:13

[OldSkoolRS]

I thought the Emotiva works out well under £1,000 imported, but I haven't followed that closely as I've set my stall by buying the AV9 (I just hope I'm not dissapointed ). I've got so sick of losing money for equipment that I've bought and then upgraded, that I'm trying to stick with used when I can (my Isco lens was around a third of it's new price for example). The only point where this will fall down is for the BluRay player (though I'm still thinking in terms of an Oppo 82 SE rather than the £1,500 Arcam (if it ever appears ).

A quick check of the AudioLab 8200AP thread shows that it looks like it won't have the HD decoding as you said, however it will accept LPCM via HDMI which many existing BluRay players can output in (if you don't like the analogue option).

http://www.avforums.com/forums/audio-processors-po...

PS. I very nearly bought an ex demo NAD M15 for £900 (non HD version) with a plan to combine it with the new BD56 (being a tart regarding my equipment matching I was looking for a matching player and processor ).

Edited by OldSkoolRS on Tuesday 2nd February 00:15

[bodhi]

My hi-fi is 14 years old now and still going strong. Absolutely no plans to upgrade unless something goes pop, even then I'd be tempted to repair rather than replace. I just like the KI-Signature sound too much hehe.