I posted another thread but it look like there was an error so I am trying this again. i am a newbie to these forums but everyone is so cool I thought I woudl join and thrown this on the floor for debate.
I am assembling a home theatrer for my livingroom in my apartment. It is approximately 12x15 and I am sitting width wise in the room do not far from the tv at all. I am running Kef q50's as mains, no sub, will be running Kef Q1's/Q10's for surrounds and more than likely just using my JVC HD reaer projections option for externally powering the speakers for a center channel for now.
It has been a good 6 years since I have wanted a home theater and sold my Sansui RZ-9550 AV (still kicking myself)I find myself getting more confused as I read about all of this stuff. I have however narrowed it down to three units. So please give me your input.
Onkyo 601 Marantz 4300/4400 NAD T742
I also have looked at some older quipment like the Outlaw 1050 so i am not opposed to suggestions of older equipment.
I have not heard KEF's for many years so I am flying a bit blind but of the three receivers you mentioned I like them all but especially the NAD and Marantz. All three have sonic qualities to my liking but the NAD and Marantz have especially good power supplies. I think you should buy whichever you like best in terms of sonics, user-friendliness and just basic gut feel as all three are fine for the money. I would highly suggest picking up a KEF center channel speaker as it is a bad idea not to have your fronts be a tonal match. This is a must for a seamless sound across the front in a home theater system. To me a good center is more important than any other single factor in a system. Have you auditioned any of the receivers yet and what are your impressions?
therealelitefan: wow thanks for the terrific information. I hadn't thought of the center channel issue and I thank you for bringing it to my attention. I will have to resort t the Q9c for a center then.
I did audition the 601 yesterday but it was at Circuit city.... enuough said... they had everything all messed up. However I did stop by a new boutique shop just up the road and auditioned a Yamaha V750. it seemed like a very nice unit with all of the features of the others I mentioned plus one other nifty little thing. They call it YPAO.. here is their description: "Yamaha's unique YPAO System analyzes the acoustics of your room and adjusts various speaker parameters to provide the optimum sound at the listening position. It's like having a professional audio engineer tweak your system." this includes phase switching on any particular channel if you somehow messed it up.
It falls in the price range of the others but I am a little weary.... do you have any experience with Yamaha? TIA
Anonymous
Posted on
I have posted in another couple posts nearby about receivers.briefly-pioneer 812,814,912,914 are the best value receivers in all areas(including sound)according to the reviews.Admittedly though marantz and of course nad etc. will give you a more high end sound I'm sure(especially for stereo-if you want to listen to your music in 5-7 ch I like pioneer better overall).I have concerns about quality of nad and yamaha build.if you have money to spend though you should probably get the pioneer 53tx for $600 which has great sound,power,features etc. etc.(I think it also has para eq like yamaha--this feature is not absolutely necessary though unless you are in a highly reverberational room or are very unhappy with your sound(the pioneer 53 has other features that make it worth the extra $ though like mosfet amps).datavis.com has the pioneer 814 and i think dependableaudiovideo has the marantz 4400 for $280--you can search yahoo shopping for other prices--dmc-electronics has refurb nad's--saturdayaudio has new nad's(743 sells for $550).My feeling though is pioneer 53 is probably the best choice,than marantz 4400 or pioneer 814 if your a little more adventurous.denon is also good but more difficult to match to speakers and some people don't like.
Interesting point of view on the pioneers. I have to admit that I have owned some pioneer stuff in the past and was kind of shying away from them. Admittedly though it was car audio stuff, and although it was terrific I have just become partial to other brands. I will check out your reccomendation for sure!
In home stereo, before my divorce, I was partial to Sansui. I was fortunate enough to have one of their Pro logic recievers before they disappeared. I had both the 5150 AV and the 9550 AV which is a GIANT and very rare!!! i just sold it a few months ago and wish i hadn't... however that brings me to where I am. The 4400 is one I have looked at closely, I htink at this point I have eliminated the NAD from contention, based on what some have said about build quality and I don't really think any of the yammies are in contention.