my advice is simple. sell the bose and sony.

get some good speakers #1, get a good receiver #2, get an inexpensive dvd player (but from reputable brand - Denon for example) #3.

ill rank them that way because they will become outdated the soonest with that approach.

i would rather have a good receiver and spend less on dvd, because with movies the receiver is going to be much better at audio and most times better with audio for music too.

i also agree painttoad has the right idea. the newer sony receiver tend to sound rather anemic. i think it has a lot to do with that ridiculous "energy star" crap. also, definitely lose the bose speakers. they're not doing you any favors. i'm surprised your ears don't hurt. focus your budget on a quality receiver and speakers that will give you reasonably good full frequency range....or as much as you can get for what you're spending. as for a dvd player, the technology is constantly improving. consider that "early" dvd players cost hundreds of dollars, whereas now you can get a decent dvd player for $100....and sometimes less! i have one of those (generic sony dvd/cd player) and it works pretty well. i will be upgrading soon to a cambridge audio dvd/cd player. the price difference ($99 for the sony vs. $379 for the cambridge) may be a consideration for you; however since you said you want your system for music as well as video, the budget should be geared more toward speakers and a quality receiver.

Hey all, it's been some time, UCLA has kept me as busy as ever. I am going to have a little more time and a little more funding for the home theater come next week, and I wanted to go over the current status.

I returned the bose system to my family, it's going to keep the living room lively for guests. The Sony receiver, unfortunately, is still a component of my system. However, I went a bought a few speakers. I got a VERY good deal on some low-end JBL's from e-bay. I have a few changes I'd like to make, and, if you have the time, I'd love to hear your opinions on the proposed changes and whatever else I could do.

Current Input - Roomate's Philips DVP642 DVD player (Nothing special).

Future Input - No idea, looking for something mid-line, suggestions?

Current Processor/Amp - Sony STRDE598

Future Processor/Amp - Outlaw 1070. OR 7125 Amp along with either a 970 or 990. There's a sweet deal going on for the 7125 amp... thinking about taking it.

Current Speakers - JBL Northridge Series

2 E-80's in front
1 E-35 center channel
2 E-10's in back for surround
1 LFM-1 Subwoofer

I eventually want to expand to a 7 channel system, not sure if I should get some more floor standers, or more of the surround E-10's or what. The floor speakers can handle 125 watts, while the E-10's can only handle a continuous 50 watts.

The JBL's aren't AMAZING speakers, but they are a huge upgrade from tha jewel cubes, and are currently suffering from a lack of power from the "100 watts per channel" (haha, riiight) sony receiver.

Obviously I'm concentrating on upgrading the sony into either a 1070 or take the deal and eventually scrounge together seperates from Outlaw.

There was some concern over parties and, believe me, I've had my fair share over the years. Guests are aware they'll be given a thorough beating if anything should befall the precious sound system, so I'm not too worried about it, everyone has been quite good about it so far.

I've noticed there's a distinct lack of surround-sound feeling when listening to anything. I've got the receiver decoding the Dolby signal correctly, but either the speakers are posititioned too high above the couch (they're about 3 feet above the couch, which is directly against the wall) or something is wrong with the signal processing.

What I don't understand is how the sony can be rated 100 watts per channel, and yet the 1070 is 65 watts per channel, yet so much better. When listening to music, I'll often just use two channels, and the subwoofer. Even then I don't think I'm getting 100 watts per channel. I understand the concept of the 1070 providing 65 watts with "all channels driven" while the sony may only do it with 2 channels, or whatnot. However, even with the two, it sounds weak.

Another concern I have is power. There are only two outlets in the area, and the TV/Amp/Process/Subwoofer, etc. must be plugged into one of the two outlets. Is it possible I'll have huge power issues? I'd rather not put the $600 subwoofer and the future $900 amp on the same circuit, right? *laughs*

Thanks for looking this over folks, I'm sure you're all chuckling at the naivety of this college student. Rest assured, you've been a big help so far and I can't wait for the next evolution of my home theater!

I wouldn't worry about power - we've had some good discussions here before, but basically the deal is that even at high volume levels most components don't draw their "nameplate" rated electrical load - I've got a Model 750 amp (Outlaw's original amp, 165Wx5), two Model 200's, a 32" CRT, an LFM-1, a 990, three DVD players, and a cable box on the same circuit and have no problems.

Does the Sony amp have pre-amp outputs? If so, adding an amp like the 7125 would be a nice upgrade that would also allow you to upgrade to a new processor later. The 7125 alone may not help with the weak surround sound, though, since I doubt the surrounds are being starved of power. I'd try recalibrating as a first step (won't cost you much, just an SPL meter if you don't already have one), but it may take an upgrade at the receiver to really get things rolling in that regard.