Which Receiver for MA Reference 60's?
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The Monitor Man Unregistered guest | Hello, I have MA Gold Reference 60's and was wondering what receiver I should get? I only have about 250$ to spend, my last amp broke, and I have not much money to spend as I just bought a new truck. Thanks for your time. |
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New member Username: BilldashillPost Number: 31 Registered: 12-2003 | $3000/pair MA's and you want to use a $250 receiver? Not even worth the time to help you there. |
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Monitor Man Unregistered guest | Sorry but its all I got! HMMMM maybe I will just buy a HTIB now, put the MA's in storage and use the HTIB. Howabout that?Ill just sell the HTIB later. |
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New member Username: SgtpeperPost Number: 21 Registered: 12-2003 | Wow... How much did you pay for those speakers if you dont mind me asking? I mean those are crazy expensive speakers new.... For 250 I dont think there is even one reciever that would bring out the beauty in these speakers... Id say just keep saving up for something really great. Either that or sell those speakers, buy some from Monitor Audio silvers which are a bit less but are still wonderful speakers (I have the s8s and i absolutely love them) and then you might even have enough left over to purchase a great reciever! Just my .02 |
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Monitor Dude Unregistered guest | I got them for free actualy! I won them from a local audio store, about a year ago. I didnt even know they were worth so much money until now. I thought they were worth around $800. It seems maybe I can push my budget up a little, maybe to $350 maybe a refurbished receiver? I saw a refurbished Harman 325? Would this be enough to "bring out the beauty in these speakers..." ...???? |
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New member Username: BilldashillPost Number: 32 Registered: 12-2003 | You need to think "Integrated Amplifier" dude. And a used one at that. Search for an older NAD or Krell or Rotel integrated amp. No receiver for $350 will push those speakers. Good luck |
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New member Username: SgtpeperPost Number: 22 Registered: 12-2003 | I seriously sugest selling these as they are worht a butt load... Enough that you could get a set of great speakers and a great reciever.. Good luck Jeff |
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New member Username: GmanPost Number: 120 Registered: 12-2003 | I agree with Jeff. Sell them. If they are still boxed and unopened and under warranty you can sell them at around $2,750-$2,900. If they are opened and have been used but are in mint condition you should get at minimum $2,000 and maybe up to $2,350. After you sell them you can buy a good surround receiver and a good 5.1 speaker set. Or if you only want to listen to stereo you can buy excellent used pre-amps and amp with a very good pair of speakers. Or buy a good stero receiver with fine speakers and pocket a good amount of change. It makes no sense at all to buy a $250 receiver--new or used. And I own Monitor Audio G10's which are smaller bookshelf versions--and they enjoy good clean power. You won't be able to drive the woofers in the GR 60's to get good sound with any receiver in your budget, or even higher than your budget. Do yourself a favor, either sell them on e-bay or audiogon.com If you need more help reply--and as Jeff said-Good Luck, Greg |
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New member Username: Larry_dPost Number: 11 Registered: 12-2003 | To add to Greg's note: for the $2750-$2900 you get from selling the MA Golds, you would have enough to get the MA Silver Series (S6, S1, and LCR for about $1900 from aboutgizmos.com) and the new Marantz 7400 ($900 @ cambridge soundworks) and you would have a killer combo. I absolutely love mine. Happy hunting. |
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New member Username: BilldashillPost Number: 33 Registered: 12-2003 | I wouldn't sell those speakers. That would be a mistake. The sound quality from a Marantz and MA silvers would not match the SQ from a decent used integrated amp and the MA GR 60's. Not to mention Marantz quality issues on the new X400 series is getting worse. |
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New member Username: Project6Post Number: 88 Registered: 12-2003 | i would keep those phenomenal speakers and save for a decent receiver. i would sell the truck but, that's going overboard hehe! cheers |
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New member Username: GmanPost Number: 121 Registered: 12-2003 | Monitor Man-- I think your financial and emotional health (like avoiding debt)is far more important than keeping the Monitor Audio GR 60's. If a new or used receiver or integrated amp at $250 -$350 is what you can afford when you have a pair of list price $4,000 speakers (that usually can be gotten at 20% off list--$3200)--it makes almost no sense to keep these speakers. Now if you have no other debt, or major expenses and you expect to have a lot of money in your bank account soon, then go ahead and keep the GR 60's. If you sell them and want a stereo system there are plenty that are very good that will leave you with plenty of money to spare, or excellent ones that will get you a pair of great speakers, such as a pair of used mint condition PSB Stratus Gold i's (list $2700--can get around $1,000--or a pair pf Paradigm Reference Studio's, etc)) and an excellent receiver or excellent used separates. Heck, you can get an incredibly accurate surround system with mostly Ascend speakers--of course there are others, but these are a great buy for their sound quality. You can get 2 pr of their great small monitors for medium to large rooms (CBM-170's) their very good center channel (CMT-340C) delivered for about $870--and returnable for 30 days if you don't like them. Add a HSU VTF-2 subwoofer that is on sale delivered at $449 now and you have a wonderful 5.1 surround speaker system for about $1320. Leaves enough for a very good receiver. Or you can just sell the speakers and have a fat wad of cash and use it for anything, from buying an audio or surround system to paying off your truck, or whatever. |
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New member Username: BilldashillPost Number: 34 Registered: 12-2003 | Keep them dude. They will hold their resell value very well. In the mean time, you can enjoy them with a used integrated amp like I said before. Your haven't told us if you even really want a surround system or not. You can play DVD's through an integrated. Since you got them for free, go for it. |
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The Monitor Man Unregistered guest | How much money would I need to get a proper receiver/power amp and pre-amp for the speakers? I only have these speakers, and will only use them for stereo. It seems I can borrow about $2500 from a local Money-Mart. Do I really want to do this? Interest would be about $400! I still could, but what IM saying what is the average amp/receiver used to puch the speakers? |
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New member Username: BilldashillPost Number: 35 Registered: 12-2003 | For $400-$500 no more you can get a nice used integrated amp. No need for a pre-amp but if you want to listen to all the commercials on the radio then you will need to buy a tuner to add to the integrated. Used tuners go for $100-$200. How did you get $2500?? Forget that. Don't go crazy. |
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New member Username: Elitefan1Post Number: 114 Registered: 12-2003 | I think you need to try to look into the future a bit and decide if at some point you are going to want to fill out the rest of the system into a 5.1 and if so you will need at least $3000 or so to do it right as the Gold center is $1000 and the surrounds and a decent sub will be $2000 or so. If you think at some point in the not to distant future you can swing this then keep the 60's. If not I would see what you could get from your local store on a trade in for the Silver series and build from there. If it was me I would go this route because I can't imagine not having a good 5.1 system after having one for 6 years or more. I have the Silvers and a Elite45 receiver and it's a great combination. I would love to have the Gold series but I can't justify the $4500 or so it takes to put one together. I love the Silvers and I think you would to. Bottom line for me; get into a good 5.1 system. Buy the way, what receiver lines does this dealer carry? |
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The Monitor Man Unregistered guest | They only carry Onkyo and Yamaha receivers. I have heard my speakers on both receivers, and they sound way too harsh, The dealer let me bring my speakers in. I could go buy a Kenwood HTIB(806?), and use that for now and sell it later on ebay or audiogon. I would just put the Monitors in storage, until I could afford an Elite? |
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The Monitor Man Unregistered guest | how much power do these things need anyways? I was driving them with a 45 watt per channel amplifier before... http://www.harmankardon.com/product_detail.asp?cat=AMP&prod=PA%202000&sType=C |
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New member Username: GdawgPost Number: 61 Registered: 12-2003 | Monitor Man, You could go for an Elite, but that would take borrowing money, so that is a dumb idea. See if you can find a used one on Ebay.com. You HTIB idea....its a dumb one, no offence man, but you will NEVER be satisfied with the sound out of a Kenwood HTIB after you have owned Monitor Golds for a year. I think the best idea would be to try and find a used amp or receiver to drive them, and save for a better receiver or seperates. Do you know what the sensitity is on those speakers? If you had used the PA-2000 on them only, it would have been 100wpc not 45. You shounldnt need HUGE amounts of power, but look for the most you can afford. G.DawG |
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New member Username: GmanPost Number: 123 Registered: 12-2003 | A lot of speakers will play with almost any wattage. But many speakers have a range of power where they perform the best--and that certainly goes for an excellent full range speaker like the GR60. Sure it will play with a 50-75 watt amp/receiver. But you definitely won't get the best performance from the speaker. This speaker operates best with a 100 - 200 watt per channel separate amplifier and a good preamp. Most modern day AV surround receivers to save money make much less robust amps to save the extra costs of the DACS, extra channels, and other digital accompanying parts. You generally have to buy $1500 and over $3,000 av receivers to get good power supplies--and even then it is no guarantee. Plenty of expensive product is inferior to lots of cheaper products. Even though the two woofers aren't big on the GR 60's, they are able to soak up a lot of wattage. I'm not suprised the Onkyo and Yamaha's made them sound harsh. They don't have enough power to make them sing. They just have enough to make them play. Did you want an AV surround receiver to eventually play them with other speakers, or do you want a good stereo separate set-up? Most current 100 watt amps in AV surround receivers drop in wattage considerably when playing more than 2 channels and most even at 2 channels don't have much headroom. And most of the current receivers are measured at the easiest load--at 1KHz frequency. I don't know anyone that plays only a 1,000Hz tone all the time:-) If you want to listen to great stereo music, getting a quality used amp and preamp is a great way to go. The amps in a good 100 to 200 watt separates usually have a lot more headroom and play as if they were much more powerful. Take a look in audiogon.com and browse around. You could probably find an excellent used amp and preamp for a combined price of $1,000-$1,500. I realize that is expensive compared to $250-$350 receiver. And a lot of the old tuner separates are far superior to the new add-ons on receivers. I have an older HK tuner that is wonderful--not a McIntosh 78--but certainly better than any tuner in any receivers I have heard in recent years. Even the $3,000 receivers rarely bother putting in more than an adequate tuner. It is not a priority for them--maybe because it isn't a priority for many of their customers anymore. Over a decade ago it was a big priority. I have an OCM 200 amp made by Dave Belles and a Classe 30 preamp w/phono and remote. But I not sure I want to get rid of them. But you might find a combo of something like these at audiogon. You can almost get a hernia lifting the OCM 200/Belles amp ( I think over 60 lbs)--goes to show you how well the amps from quality companies used to be built--with lots of headroom to make sure loud musical transients are played with ease. But if you have eyes on an Elite, the cheapest Elite I would buy for these speakers is the 47TX which has the same power supply as the 49TXi. Two fine receivers and beautiful too. Cheap--not. But they will crank at least 150-160 watts or more at 2 channels and even 145 watts with 5 channels driven. |
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New member Username: Elitefan1Post Number: 118 Registered: 12-2003 | The above poster makes some very good points but as far as the Elite's go the vsx43,45,53and 55 all put out more than their advertised power ratings with 5 channels driven so they could be considered also. I would have no problem driving these speakers with the H/K 7200 at all as it puts out 196 watts at clipping into 8 ohms and with 5 channels driven will do 142 watts. This powerhouse can be had for under $800 and is a real steal. The sonics of the 7200 would be a perfect match with any Monitor model. |
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The Monitor Man Unregistered guest | HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM, http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3072080422&category=39799 ..... |
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The Monitor Man Unregistered guest | or http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3071807545 |
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New member Username: GmanPost Number: 124 Registered: 12-2003 | Well you can count on the fact that the final bid on the 53tx won't be close to $150. But I've seen new ones under $650. Which makes it obvious the power envelope isn't anywhere near of your other link to the 49Txi. But you might get away with using it. It won't play the the GR60 to its capability--but it may well still sound good. |
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New member Username: Elitefan1Post Number: 119 Registered: 12-2003 | Gregory, The first ebay post was for the vsx35, not the 53. The 35 did not have as good a power supply as the 43 or 53 and would not do justice to the 60's. A genuine vsx53 would have enough pure power to drive the 60's just fine but it is kind of unpreportional[for want of a better term] to drive a pair of $4500 speakers with a reciever that can be bought for under $1000. |
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New member Username: GmanPost Number: 125 Registered: 12-2003 | Elitefan-- Sorry, I must be dyslexic and switched the 3's and 5's. But I still think even the 53TX is a little on the lean side for the GR60 in a surround system. Monitor Audio recommends a minimum of 100 watts. For this speaker the sweet point would probably be 150-250 watts/channel. It takes up to 450. I own the 49TXi which has more power and bought 2 pair of the bookshelf GR 10's. Much better match. If I would have bought the GR60's I would have gotten separates. Heck, I just thought if the 35 or some other av receiver has extra preouts he should get a pair of Outlaw Audio 200 watt mono amps. They'd be great to drive the GR60 the way it should be driven. |
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The Monitor Man Unregistered guest | Hey gregory, you can BUY IT NOW for 150$! So should I go for the 49 and risk dept, or go for the 35(which left front channel doesnt work) and get that repaired? The 35 would be awsome if I could get it fixed, as that would be within my budget. Thanks for all the help. I didnt know the internet was so helpful!! |
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The Monitor Man Unregistered guest | ok so never mind, someone bought it. So my choices are....49txi+dept or something else? |
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New member Username: BilldashillPost Number: 37 Registered: 12-2003 | Here you go monitor man...http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3072104077&category=3279 Don't go into debt buying a Pioneer when this Carver will bury the Elite alive and look at the price. The A speaker problem sounds like a minor fix because the B speaker side works fine. Your welcome |
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The Monitor Man Unregistered guest | Well im happy to say I found an awsome deal on a Macintosh MC7270 for only 800$. It is rated at 270 watts a channel and the guy said it should push my monitors perfectly. I hooked it up and was absolutely BLOWN AWAY with the sound.....Thanks for all the help, I apreciate it VERY MUCH. I just wish you guys could hear this combination... |
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The Monitor Man Unregistered guest | PS, its a good thing I got a new amp, cuz I think I threw out my back lifting this thing!!!It weighed in at 84 pounds!! |
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New member Username: GmanPost Number: 127 Registered: 12-2003 | Is a heck of an amp. Congrats--must have been made in the late 1980's. So you decided to go stereo.Cool. What preamp are you using with it? |
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The Monitor Man Unregistered guest | An old Kenwood actually, I will be upgrading it for sure when I get some money. Thanks I will be keeping this setup for a while |
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New member Username: BilldashillPost Number: 38 Registered: 12-2003 | >>>Well im happy to say I found an awsome deal on a Macintosh MC7270 for only 800$. It is rated at 270 watts a channel and the guy said it should push my monitors perfectly. I hooked it up and was absolutely BLOWN AWAY with the sound.....Thanks for all the help, I apreciate it VERY MUCH. I just wish you guys could hear this combination...<<<< Good deal mm just don't tell us what you had to do to get a deal like that!!! |
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Anonymous | it dosent matter how much you pay for a reciver first of all it dosent have a low pass crossover and send of all not the amount of power that it needs |
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