I'm finishing my basement and putting in a home theater. I'm fairly convinced on the Paradigm Monitor 7's with CC/ADP-370 centre/surrounds as well as the HSU STF-2 sub which I haven't heard but have read great stuff on.
My room is approx. 11x17x7.5 with one of the side walls (17') being offset by 3 degrees to try and help acoustics. I'll also be making some sound panels for the walls out of 3 pieces of 10mm underpad glued together covered with canvas placed to prevent direct reflection from the front L/R as well as on the rear wall behind the couch.
Are there any AV receivers that you would recommend for my setup? To give a price range I'm looking between $500-$1000 Canadian and models ranging from Yamaha 657 to the Sherwood Newcastle R-771. It will mostly be used for home theater but I would like it to be somewhat dual purpose. (Not as concerned about the video but I have the Sony VPL-HS51) Thanks.
Welcome to the forum! We have quite a number of very knowledgeable people who love to exchange info here, so I think you came to the right place. Congrats on the HT--I am envious as I read your description of your basement installation.
First, please go down the page listing the threads to the thread entitled "Pwr ratings exposed" to learn about how badly most receiver makers lie about their power. Not having enough power is simply throwing money down the old rathole, so think in terms of having real power, not in terms of what a receiver maker says it produces (most of whom are liers). You can get a lot of receivers within your price range, but most are rated at 100wpc, but that is only with 2 channels driven--driving 5 or more channels can cut the power to each channel by as much as 75% in some cases, and manufacturers will not tell you this--one can only learn about it through independent testing reports, so review that thread.
There are only a handful of receiver lines that produce honest power (that is, where the power rating is with all channels driven), so I would recommend you start there. In no particular order, they are Harman/Kardon, Marantz, NAD, Outlaw, and Rotel. Now, given your price range, that probably knocks out both the Rotel and the Outlaw (too bad, too, as they are the best match for your speakers, IMO). Outlaw is only available directly from the manufacturer and it is $899US, so I think it falls outside your budget. The Rotels are well north of $1000US, so I can only imagine what that is in Canadian currency.
Now Paradigm speaker are very laid back and warm sounding, so that quickly eliminates the Harman/Kardon, as it also has a very warm, laid back sound, which combined makes for too much of a good thing. You need something more forward sounding. Marantz is a fine receiver line as long as you go to the SR 5x00 series (5400, 5500, 5600) which is a superb value. However, I recommend you try it to see if the sound works for you. Marantz is not as warm and laid back sounding as Harman/Kardon, but it is on the warm side of neutral and a bit laid back, so you have to try it to confirm it works for you. You don't want a system so warm that it loses detail and sounds muffled or muddied. Finally, I can unhesitatingly recommend the NAD line (the T743 would be a superb receiver for those speakers and your size room). I have heard this combo at my local dealer (NAD 743 w/Paradigm Monitor 7s and 370 center) and it make a great system. Again, don't let the power rating fool you--the NAD's 50wpc is more powerful than a Yamaha 100 wpc. NAD typically understates their power into all channels by about 15%. Like the Outlaw and Rotel, the NAD has a more forward sound that works very well with your speakers.
Paradigm speakers like an amp with considerable current. They work very well with Rotel and Outlaw. I would steer clear of the NAD's due to qc issues.
If those receivers do not have enough features for you then the next tier of affordable receivers are the Marantz, HK, and Denon receivers. The further up the ladder you go with Marantz the more likely you are to experience qc issues. I used a Marantz SR5400 receiver with Paradigm Monitor series speakers for quite awhile with excellent results. Yamaha's top models may also be an option though they are plagued by substandard power supplies.
Congrats on your purchase and good luck with your receiver hunt.
The Outlaw wouldn't be too much of a stretch for my budget as our dollar is quite strong right now. Given I extend the budget that little bit you would most recommend the Outlaw 1070?
Yes, the Outlaw has the grunt (power) to drive the Paradigms and it will sound good as well. It really is a cut above the brands that we have mentioned with the exception of the Rotel.
An excellent receiver with a top drawer preamp section is the Pioneer Elite 72TXV THX Select 2 certified. It can be found online between $750-$900. It has two HDMI inputs and an HDMI output for digital A/V switching with full video upconversion of all sources to the HDMI monitor output as well as the component and S-video outs. It is XM radio ready, iPOD connectible, very good amp (120 watts into 2 channels at 8 ohms and 62 watts into 5 channels at 8 ohms), has the excellent MCAAC speaker balancing system which balances all your speakers' volume levels, measures speaker-to-listener distances, determines the various sizes of the speakers, and equalizes the frequency response of the speakers in your room. It also applies "time axis" calibrations that distinguish between the direct sound of the speakers and the room reverberation to produce a more accurate sound.
As it would be nigh impossible to buy a separate preamp this good and with these features at anywhere near the street price, getting the amp section is just gravy. If you find you ever need more power you can always buy an amp (new or used) to connect to the receiver. But I sincerely doublt you will need one. The Paradigm's work well with an amp between 15-150 watts. Certainly this receiver fits the bill.
Certainly other receivers would do well too, but this one is probably the best at this price.
Hello! and Welcome to the board. Listen to what Hawk said.. For the money no other brands will offer you more performance (and perfect match to your Paradigm's) than Outlaw or NAD... If you've got the extra cash get the Outlaw, if not get the NAD...I've heard the NAD with Paradigms and I about fell out of my chair in amazement...Hawk recommended this combo awhile back and he was dead-on. See, or shall I say hear for yourself.
Well, you guys convinced me to order an Outlaw. Thank you so much for your help. I'm completely new at all of this stuff and I'm really trying to take in as much info as I can. To give you an example of my progression I even considered a Bose system until I researched it! Yikes! Now I'm working out offsetting my wall and acoustic panels... my wife said she had no idea I had so much planned for the basement and to be honest I didn't!
Just an FYI --- the total landed cost including duties taxes, currency conversion, etc. for my Outlaw 1070 came in around C$1300 (a little over $200 was due on delivery). The NAD T753 retails for C$1500 but I've seen it on sale recently for C$1100, which would be roughly the same as the Outlaw after taxes depending on which province you live in.