Should I sell my exiting 5.1 setup for a DTS Digitheatre?

[gram99]

My existing setup is a Pioneer VSA-EO3 DD 5.1 Amp, cheap Gale Centre (£40) Mission 700 fronts with two JCL rears (Cheap) and a Paradigm Sub. I am pleased enough with the setup but wonder if the Digitheatre would be better. I was wondering about the build quality of the Digitheatre and what's it like at playing your CD player through? Any comments appreciated.

[gram99]

somebody must have an opinion? Baps!?

[Robby]

OK, Gram. I'll give you my thoughts. But bear in mind i'm probably a little bias as the Digitheatre is my first ever proper surround sound set-up bar my parents old Pro-logic set. First up i have no basis for comparison but i believe the general consensus, including my own, is that the Digitheatre dts is very,very good. Sure probably not up there with a seperates system but for my purposes (in my bedroom) it's more than enough.

I'm not familiar with your set-up Gram so i can't say how well your CD's will differ. I will say i listen to my CD's through my DVD/Digitheatre combo. Although it sounds pretty good again it's not gonna compete with a proper CD set-up as the Digitheatre is primarily for movies. I do find i have to turn the centre speaker down when listening to music as it can seem a little domineering.

As for the movies and especially dts soundtracks i think it's brilliant. My bedroom can literally shake if i abuse it too much. I would say it's up there with most budget dts systems, it certainly has a lot of prestigious awards to it's name. And if you can get it for the £250 that is being offered in the bargain thread then i would say go for it. I had only a bog standard stereo set before i bought this and the first disc i demoed was the Matrix (who doesn't:rolleyes: ) and i was genuinely blown away another disc i tried was Fight Club, even the menu music sounded a million times better through a multichannel set-up. It wasn't until i got a dts compatible player that i've been able to listen to some amazing dts tracks (Battle Royale, Mexican, T2). First impressions of a dts track, for me, were it just seems louder but after listening and comparing more and more films i would say there 'appears' to be a definite clarity an almost spacious effect that you don't get on DD tracks. Of couse this is all subjective, you may not notice a difference at all but i think for the most part many do.

Taking a second look at your set-up i would definatley see if you can get some sort of audition first as only you will be able to judge the difference. God look i've well rambled on and i bet none of it makes not one jot of sense.

I'm sure others will input their thoughts as well. :D

[gram99]

cheers for you input Robby.

Can you not set the Digitheatre to stereo mode when listening to music?

[Robby]

Yes you can switch to Stereo, Theatre or Hall. But i prefer the sound in pro logic mode but with the centre channel turned down a bit so it takes the edge off it a bit.

[soberion]

Hmm, the Paradigm and the mission 700's should certainly be better than the Digitheatre offerings, so I'd say stick with what you have and upgrade that bit by bit. DTS really isn't enough of an improvement (IMHO) to change for. Instead, get a better centre and rears.

[Bapapapa]

Stick with your seperates gram, mate. Sub/sat systems (at the low end of the market anyway) are gash for music - all treble & bass with not a lot in between, fine for movies although it's not very subtle. :p

If I was you I'd invest the £££ in maybe upgrading your receiver to a DTS one. Or maybe replacing the front 3 speakers with a matched set, and moving the 700s to the rear.

[gram99]

Thanks for the comments guys, I was thinking along the same lines myself. I will probably try and upgrade my centre speaker first as i particularly feel that its not really doing the buisness. The Gale one I have was from Richer sounds and it cost £40 but I am not very happy with it. It seems too quiet for my liking, is this the sign of a cheap speaker? Any reccomendations around the £60-£70 mark for a centre?

[Bapapapa]

gram, you should ideally find one that tonally matches your mains as near as possible. The Tannoy MXC is rated quite highly, though.

Have you tried upping the volume on the centre channel, if it's too quiet?

[gram99]

yes i have got it set quite high. I think I will keep my missions at the front as they would be too large for rears (That's my wife speaking through me BTW) So would I be better going for a mission centre? I did price some and they seemed more expensive than my Pioneer Amp :eek:

[Ron Hill]

gram99: Does your amp have separate 5.1 phono inputs? If so, i'd get a player with an onboard decoder and use that instead. You'll then get DD5.1 and DTS5.1 and possibly even DVD-A and/or SACD capability (depending on the player you get)

FTR, I have a Digitheatre DTS and while it's great for DD and DTS, there is no upgrade potential short of replacing it.

[millec199]

The Mission 70c1 would probably be the best choice for a centre. I have one with my 701s on the front and it is a nice speaker. Some people say it does not have enough punch (not notices in my small bedroom though) but it would certainly make a nice upgrade from what you have. Richersounds have it for £50 which is a nice bargain.