I went yesterday to two local hifi stores to audition NAD and Marantz and then to another to listen to Denon and Integra! The first stop I spent forty-five minutes and then left. I didn't have a single person offer help. Is this typical of high dollar hifi dealers? I was a little turned off and embarrased. Apparently I don't have that "my pockets are over flowing with cash look"! At my second stop an older gentleman there spent an hour with me and answered all the questions I threw at him very professionaly. I did enjoy the sound of the Integra over the Denon models with comparable speakers. My question was about the Integra's!Would you consider them a warm receiver? I haven't heard anyone here speak of them. I listened to the 5.4 and 6.4. I want to match my receiver to the Athena's and didn't know how they compared with receivers from Marantz which I hear make a good match with the Athena's. I feel I should do business with the people interested in doing business with me, however that limits my choices. Anyone have thoughts on this, or the Integra receivers?
maxxy54
Unregistered guest
Posted on
Some hi-end stores have a hands-off approach which I prefer becuase they are not doing a hard-sell on me and I can play with all their toys! When I am ready to ask questions, then they are usually helpful. Did you ask for any help?
I was very close to buying the Integra 5.4. I would consider it warm but accurate. But then they stocked the Cambrdge Azur 540R, which I love (bare bones, but has what I need). All the reviews I have read about Integras are great. It falls into the "warm" group with Marantz, Denon, and NAD. Athena's tend to be bright so to use a warm reciever might balance it out, IMHO.
Good luck and let us know what you end up getting.
I appreciate your comments! Being in retail myself I'm not supposed to allow people to walk around looking without approaching, ya know? No, I didn't ask for help, though. Anyway that's what I was thinking about the integra's. I haven't heard anything negative, but not alot of positive either. They should fall into the category of receivers to match Athena's, and that was what I was out to find. Thanks!
I am in the market with $800.00 to $900.00 looking for an A/V receiver for both HT and 2 channel music. Torn between HK AVR7200 and Onkyo TX-NR801. Any ideas please?
What speakers do you have? That HK model is a real horse...it will provide you MUCH more power than the Onkyo...but it all depends on what speakers you have.
Moose
Unregistered guest
Posted on
Are you talking about Integra, the luxury arm (i.e. Acura v. Honda) of Onkyo? If so, I had an Integra 5.3 that I recently traded in for an NAD T763. The Integra didn't have the power that I needed to run my 4 ohm speakers. It would crack every once in a while and the range was constricted. Other than that, I had no problems. Thought it sounded a little on the warm side.
After I had completed the trade-in, though, the sales guy told me that he had recently seen a lot of problems with Integra receivers. Of course, he didn't sell Integra, but this place was a licensed service center.