Hello everyone, this is my first post here, but I've enjoyed sifting through many posts, looking for hints at what may help me make my ultimate receiver buying decision. (For now anyway) Let me begin by telling you where I'm at in this whole thing. I live in a Manhattan Studio, of fairly decent size (bigger than average shoe box)so doing a HT set up shouldn't be much of a problem. I've already purchased a pair of Energy C3's and am almost finished paying for the matching CR3 rears.
I've yet to hook up the Energy's because I believe that they deserve a proper setup. My current receiver which is an Onkyo TX-SV515 gets useage still, but only for music. The whole trebble pot is busted, so I have no control over it, and from time to time, the speakers cut out, and I have to turn the volume way up very quickly in order for them to "pop" back on. It's been like this for a long time now...years. Well, I'm ready to upgrade finally, and making the decision is not an easy one.
I've heard of the speaker popping thing with Onkyo before, so I'm not too keen on buying another one, plus my musical tastes, and ear have changed since I bought my current one. When buying my Energy's, I believe that the source used was NAD..though I'm not sure of which exactly. But reading through posts here and elsewhere, informed me about the build quality issues surrounding NAD stuff, and I HATE a hassle.
So to start off with, I'll pose my question this way: With a budget of under $1300, what receiver would suit my Energy's best for:
Music. I care more about music than I do movies, but I'd also like to be able to get some nice DVD action going. I have a Toshiba SD 3900 DVD player that's begging to be hooked up to some nice gear I've also heard people saying that if one wants good 2 channel stereo, they'd have to be sure that the signal was being fed straight through, rather than going through all the multi-channel processing stuff. How is this best achieved ?
7.1 Isn't all that important to me. Sound quality is. I'd like the satisfaction of comming home, plopping down in a soft leather recliner (which I've GOT to get one of these days), and be able to dive right into audio nirvana. Warm is important. Wide soundstage is also important to me. Clarity, but not sterility. Is this asking too much ?
At first I was really considering getting the Outlaw Audio 950/7100 combo, but I think that if I'm going to do seperates, I'm going to wait until I've amassed much more money and do it up fully...Plus I'd like to avoid buying online if possible. Living in the city gives me the option of hi-fi stores near by. Well, I'd really love to hear your opinions guys...NAD sound quality, without the NAD problems ? Possible ? Probable ?
Thanks james. I'm not familiar with B&K at all for one, and really, I'm not into buying used gear as such. Speakers and cans are the exception. I was just hoping that someone could suggest something for 2 channel stereo listening, with the option to do 5 or 6.1 (with the latest standards). I'm more into music than movies, and want my Jazz, classical and blues collection to go into heavy rotation again. The truth is, I'd probably be looking heavily into a NAD system, but because of all of the negative posts concerning the build quality of their components, I'm more than a bit turned off, and would rather get something similar, but with better QA.
So the question is then, what receiver can perform similarly to the NAD, but without the NAD problems ? I guess I asked this already, but no one seems to know..or just won't say.
HK FAN
Unregistered guest
Posted on
Hi Doug, I actually sell energy speakers at a retailer in canada. I think you have a good set of speakers. I think a good reciever for your energy speakers would be the HK AVR7200, HK AVR630, and the NAD T763 or T753. ALl of these recievers are tremendous for music. I own the HK AVR7200 and have had it for about 7 months. I use it with energy C5's, CC1 and CR3s and the sound on it is amazing. I would really give HK a try. It's very smooth and powerful sounding. Hope this helps.
Thanks alot HK Fan, I will look into those you mentioned. This may be a really dumb question, but I have to ask since you're obviously so biased towards the HK line....Why ARE you so big a fan of HK ? I see that you also mentioned some NADs, which eases my mind a bit, knowing you're not just trying to push HK because of your obvious love of them...I mean hell, it's even your name !
I'm usually a little suspicious when I see such flagrant um..."optimism" (Please, I hope you don't take offense..I mean none) I've always heard good things about HK's but more so of their earlier stuff rather than their newer models.
As for the NAD stuff, what's your experience with them ? Have you been witness to the "build quality" issues that so many here have spoken of ? I'd imagine that you would see most of what goes on with this stuff since you're in the field...
Last question, how would you compare the two..NAD/HK in terms of musical sound differences ? I truely appreciate and respect your opinions. Thanks.
Doug
HK FAN
Unregistered guest
Posted on
HI Doug, no offense taken my friend!. Well the recievers that I sell are denon, yamaha, marantz, sony es and panasonic. The marantz and denon are nice recievers, but I do prefer the sound of the HK"s. I am not that bias towards HK. I have owned marantz, denon, HK, and yamaha in the past. But i just prefer the sound of the HK. It's very warm sounding, which is great for music. NAD, well my friend has the T752 and he has never had a problem with it. I have always auditioned the full NAD line and do enjoy their sound. Another reciever you could check out is the marantz SR5400. It had a great review in sound and vision. I have not been able to demo that unit yet since the 300 series are still current in canada. I find the yamahas have too much noise(ie. hiss) when the volume is pushed. And I find the denons just too bright for my tastes. The key is too look at HK, NAD and try even the new marantz's or even the onkyo's if you can. And see what sounds best to your ears. Judging by my name, I enjoy HK the best because to date, that is the best sounding reciever I have heard next to the NAD.
HK FAN
Unregistered guest
Posted on
HI Doug, no offense taken my friend!. Well the recievers that I sell are denon, yamaha, marantz, sony es and panasonic. The marantz and denon are nice recievers, but I do prefer the sound of the HK"s. I am not that bias towards HK. I have owned marantz, denon, HK, and yamaha in the past. But i just prefer the sound of the HK. It's very warm sounding, which is great for music. NAD, well my friend has the T752 and he has never had a problem with it. I have auditioned the full NAD line and do enjoy their sound. Another reciever you could check out is the marantz SR5400. It had a great review in sound and vision. I have not been able to demo that unit yet since the 300 series are still current in canada. I find the yamahas have too much noise(ie. hiss) when the volume is pushed. And I find the denons just too bright for my tastes. The key is too look at HK, NAD and try even the new marantz's or even the onkyo's if you can. And see what sounds best to your ears. Judging by my name, I enjoy HK the best because to date, that is the best sounding reciever I have heard next to the NAD.
Great, thanks for the reply. The great thing about the HK brand is that they're widely distributed. I live right near J&R music, which is an authorized dealer, so I'll probably stop by there during the week and see if an audition is possible. Only problem with a place like that is they have all their stuff pre connected to an array of crappy speakers. J&R isn't known for selling good speakers unfortunately. And I'm dead sure that the salesmen are ONLY out for commission...I've seen them in action before, and it's NOT a pretty site...I actually despise those guys..no dedication or love for what they sell, it's just all about the cash. Thanks again...you've been most helpful indeed.
And please, if anyone else concurs, or has any other opinions, I'd be happy to hear from you.
Hey HK Fan, I have a question for you. I've been reading about drop out problems with Marantz, NAD and HK. This pretty much happens when watching movies, as it's usually the digital signal which is affected. Any insight on this ? I pretty much just went through a Marantz thread and though Marantz was the center of attention, others had mentioned that the most recent offerings from NAD and HK had the same problems.
I've also heard people saying that if one wants good 2 channel stereo, they'd have to be sure that the signal was being fed straight through, rather than going through all the multi-channel processing stuff. How is this best achieved ?