|
L'Wood Unregistered guest | After giving my son my HK I bought a crappy Yamaha rx-v850 and for over 10 years I finally retired it. I pulled out the old Mac 1900, but it just doesn't have it anymore. I also retired the Paradigm bookshelves and brought back the KEF 102's...although I'm seriously considering the OHM Micro's. I don't do surround, I go to the theatre for a real big screen, so I'm looking for a receiver in the $500-1000 range. Any and all help appreciated |
|
Silver Member Username: Rh1Post Number: 280 Registered: Jun-04 | Why not H/K again? I would suggest H/K, Marantz, Pioneer (Elites), and NAD. You certainly can fit models from these brands into your budget |
|
L'Wood Unregistered guest | Or would an Integrated Amp give me more purchase options? |
|
Silver Member Username: LandrovalPost Number: 835 Registered: Feb-04 | Yes. I would definitely get an amp, and separate tuners and players as needed. For great amps look for NAD, Primare, Arcam, Rotel, Naim, Creek, Exposure, Musical Fidelity, Vincent and so on. |
|
J. Vigne Unregistered guest | Not sure why the 1900 just doesn't have it anymore but I would suggest you check with these folks about going through it to bring it up to spec. http://www.audioclassics.com/detail.php3?detail=MAC1900&nav=cat |
|
Silver Member Username: BleustarPensacola, Florida Post Number: 158 Registered: Jul-04 | If you don't need the tuner I would definately go with an integrated amp. I would look at Rotel's RA1062 integrated amp for $699 or their stereo receiver Rx-1050 or the new Rx-1052 $799. The Rotel will sound better than the HK stereo receiver or the Marantz. |
|
Silver Member Username: HawkHighlands Ranch, CO USA Post Number: 648 Registered: Dec-03 | L.: As I have posted here on several other strings, I have tried out every stereo receiver and most integrated amps (by that I mean "in home trials") over the past two years, and the only receiver I would recommend is the Rotel RX-1052. However, neither the Rotel receiver nor the Rotel integrated amp (the RA-1062) will have a particularly warm sound. Rotels have a much "leaner" sound than most of the other good integrated mentioned by landroval. Bleustar is correct that Rotel is much better sounding than Marantz, and normally, I would recommend the Rotel products (I use a Rotel receiver in my study), but you have asked for a "warm" sounding receiver and Rotel is not what I would call warm. I would definitely go with an integrated amp--you will have a number of good choices in your price range and they all sound quite good. I would start with the NAD C372, which is an incredibly powerful, warm sounding receiver with superb detail and imaging. My experience is that it makes a wonderful combo with Paradigm speakers, BTW. Another good choice is the Cambridge Azur 640A. Not as powerful nor as fast as the NAD, the Cambridge nevertheless has that classic "British sound" that is a smooth as butter. It is definitely warm and smooth--you can listen all day. I also recommend the Arcam A65 integrated amp. It has a good warm sound with excellent dyanmics and good imaging. It is not quite as warm as the other two amps I recommended above, but on the "warmth continuum", it is defintely a warm sounding amp and it is a fine product. I can certainly recommend the Creek, Naim, and Musical fidelity amps, all of which are excellent products, but they all exceed your budget by a fair amount (the Musical Fidelity A3.2 is one of the finest integrated amps made, IMO, but it is about twice your budget). However, I can also recommend the Rega integrated amps, which is sold both with a remote and without a remote, and both are well within your budget. Similar in sound to the Cambridge, with perhaps a tad more detail (tough to say as I have never been able to hear them back to back), it is an excellent product. I think if you audition these products, you will find something to your liking that will give you many years of good listening. I hope this helps. Good luck! |