[lextek]

Well after many years my B&K Ref 20 has died. I'm thinking of replacing it with a A/V Receiver. Looking for some suggestions. I can send the Ref 20 to B&K and they will upgrade it to the Ref 31 for $998. That still leaves be with a eight year old amp to go with it.

 

[Ooztuncer]

budget?

 

[KenW]

I'll watch this thread with great interest. I think I'm done with my headphones for a while so now I'm turning my attention to the home theater and an AV receiver(along with everything else) is drawing my attention.

Mind if I ask what DVD player you're using and what surround speakers? I'm still using one of those giant CD/DVD units that holds a couple hundred discs and some Bose cubes. No idea what's out there on that front so this was a timely thread.

 

[F107plus5]

This may not be exactly on topic, but we have one of those Sony 400 disc DVD/CD units and before we bought it we did some research and it seemed to be pretty good so we bought one....three and a half years ago! The Wife is a real DVD nut and the thing is full to overflowing....she is beginning to remove some less frequently watched DVDs to make room for the latest twenty or so just sitting there waiting to be watched. So yeah; it gets tons of use and is still working beautifully!

All of my speakers are made by Axiom, I've had them for years and am very happy with them, they have a neutral presentation tipped slightly toward forward. Axiom Audio only sells on-line. They used to sell in B&M, but found that on-line is working out better for them. They have a real nice and friendly web-site. Good stuff!

 

[JMT]

Hey Lex...

I am still using a 7 year old Yamaha A/V receiver, so take my comments with the appropriate grain of salt. However, I did get the chance to listen to a buddy's Outlaw Model 1070 ($899) and I was extremely impressed. It sounded great with his home theater and sounded just as good with his two channel audio set up. I am waiting with baited breath for my Yamaha to die so I have an excuse....

 

[ex0du5]

Do you want HDMI connectivity and functionality?

 

[DocHamm]

How about a nice NAD receiver? I'm considering the L73 DVD unit myself, although the model L53 is also sweet for small or private spaces. There is also the Arcam Solo all-in-one unit.

 

[Davesrose]

Not sure if you mean you want a high end stereo receiver, or a surround receiver. For surround receivers, I'm a Harman Kardon fan. When I've listened to a HK, Onkyo, and Denon, they've all had their own sound signature. HK seems the most natural to me....YMMV: Might be good to try to find a place to demo them.

 

[ex0du5]

^I personally find that in the $800-$1200 range, the Yamahas perform the best. HK seems to lack bass and treble extension compared to the Yamaha.

Denon sounds pretty good too, but I find a Denon a little warm compared to a Yamaha, not to mention they are more expensive.

Oh and a great thing about Yamaha receivers is, some of the at least, come with a multidirectional mic that you place at your sitting location, and it calibrates the speakers for you. It really takes out a huge amount of hastle when it comes to setting up speaker latency perfectly. I'd recommend that Yamaha for that alone.

Of course, you could always do like me and get an Anthem Statement D1 or D2

.

 

[Jubei]

I have not been looking into AV receivers lately, but you need to decide on features and connections (i.e how you are going to link up to your TV / flat panel / projector and at what resolutions; how many speakers are you going to have, etc). Many now offer upscaling of video signals.

I used to own a low-end Denon and am currently using a Pioneer VSX-D2011. And I basically agree with ex0du5 : Denons generally sound warmer, Pioneer amps deliver more resolution and sound brighter. Yamaha does good cinema effects, meaning good surround sound processing and loud effects; generally supposed to have less finesse with music at the budget end of things (obviously depending on model too). Also the new Sony's with digital amplifiers have gotten some very good reviews too, but have never heard or given them trials, so this is "hearsay".

One of the pros about the Pioneer I have is it has 7 speaker channels, but 2 can be re-routed for use for the front pair - basically bi-amping them. It was one of the first "affordable" AV receivers to offer this, and I assume more models have this feature now. Most non-entry level AV receivers come up set-up mics these days, or at least the Denon's, Sony's, Yamaha's and Pioneers do anyway; if I am not mistaken the mic setup feature was pioneered by Pioneer. Anyway, I am happy with the Pioneer and see no need to upgrade in the near future.

 

[darkninja67]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ex0du5 /img/forum/go_quote.gif ^I personally find that in the $800-$1200 range, the Yamahas perform the best. HK seems to lack bass and treble extension compared to the Yamaha.

HK is a warm sounding receiver. This is well known. I have my HK paired with my Monitor Audio RS6s and it tones down the natural treble energy of the MAs nicely. The Yamahas, Onkyos, and Denons tend to be on the bright side. Probably good to pair them with silk dome tweeter speakers.

 

[ex0du5]

^yeah you got the Yamaha spot on. Top notch for movie, but not quite as good for music. Forgot about that. We used a Bryston here when listening to music, and switched to the Yamaha for movies, so it was never an issue.

I'll second the Pioneer Elite. It is a pretty solid unit at it's pricepoint.

So maybe like this:

Yamaha for movies only
Pioneer for an all-rounder (or HK)
Denon if HDMI is important. (Denon 2907 maybe)

 

[ex0du5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by darkninja67 /img/forum/go_quote.gif HK is a warm sounding receiver. This is well known. I have my HK paired with my Monitor Audio RS6s and it tones down the natural treble energy of the MAs nicely. The Yamahas, Onkyos, and Denons tend to be on the bright side. Probably good to pair them with silk dome tweeter speakers.

My main problem with the HK is that voice just doesn't seem natural...same thing with the Denon...it was too bassy and silky (kind of sounded like an HD650!). The Yamaha did voice the best (maybe in between a K701 and RS1

).

 

[darkninja67]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ex0du5 /img/forum/go_quote.gif My main problem with the HK is that voice just doesn't seem natural...same thing with the Denon...it was too bassy and silky (kind of sounded like an HD650!). The Yamaha did voice the best (maybe in between a K701 and RS1 ).

Which speakers are you using?

 

[uofmtiger]

Just for the record, most of the newer Denon receiver use Audyssey MultEQ XT for room calibration:

Another potential "world's first" is the implementation of a new room correction and calibration technology called Audyssey MultEQ XT from Audyssey Laboratories. MultEQ XT is kind of like having a super-smart sound-engineer-in-a-box. During the Auto Set-Up mode, MultEQ XT "automatically determines how many loudspeakers are connected, whether they are connected in phase, and whether they are satellites or subwoofers. It then analyzes and calibrates speaker level, size, and distance. In addition, MultEQ XT detects the proper crossover point and determines correct frequency response for up to eight listener positions simultaneously." While other room correction technologies have appeared in receivers before, this is the first to optimize and compensate the system for more than one listening location at the same time giving nearly every listener in the room a "sweet spot" no matter where they're sitting. (I heard a prototype demonstration of Audyssey's MultEQ technology earlier this year, and I was blown away by what a good job it does.) Although Denon's implementation of MultEQ XT uses multiple Texas Instruments' Aureus DSP processors with high-end digital-to-analog converters, both the Room EQ and Auto Set-Up features can be disabled for purists, installations using more esoteric room correction equipment, or people who just don't know any better. http://www.hometheatermag.com/news/091504denon/

I like Denon receivers and will probably buy another one when HDMI 1.3 is added to their next batch. I prefer supporting Outlaw, but I am not aware of any HDMI 1.3 receivers coming from them anytime soon.