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New member Username: ZaylynSaratoga, CA USA Post Number: 1 Registered: Apr-06 | I am definitely a newbie and non-technical person. I am looking for a new AV receiver for my music (classical) and home theater system (plasma TV). My movie taste is primarily arts / foreign, and I personally prefer only speakers in front of me, next to my TV! I do not need to play music or TV at loud levels. What is the best receiver for simulated surround sound? I plan to use small Orb speakers and am considering the NAD L53, the HK AVR 240 or 340, and the Panasonic SA-XR55K. Other questions: is the base with the HK AVR 240 and other receivers good enough from 2 speakers, or do I need a sub? For movies, should I use Vmax or Dolby Virtual speaker, or should I get a front Right, Left, and Center speaker + Sub instead? Thanks for your suggestions! |
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Bronze Member Username: AlphabetCape TownSouth Africa Post Number: 67 Registered: Feb-05 | Have you looked at Polk Surroundbar or Yamaha YSP1000, YSP800? With these you do not need a seperate receiver and you only have one speaker unit. Not my cup of tea, but it may suit your requirements. As far as bass on the HK is concerned, I think it depends a lot on your speakers' capability, but in general if you require deep enough bass it may be best to add a sub. |
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Gold Member Username: Frank_abelaBerkshire UK Post Number: 1315 Registered: Sep-04 | I recently sold a friend (so it's something I believe in) a somewhat unusual 3.1 system. He didn't really want extra speakers in the room, neither behind him nor in front, unless absolutely necessary. Therefore we went with Artison Portraits on either side of his Pioneer Plasma and a Velodyne SPL800R sub. We powered this with an Arcam AVR250 and a fine DVD source in the form of an Arcam FMJ DV29 (his choice - I suggested he stick with his Pioneer DVD recorder). The solution works very well and he's dead happy. The Artison Portraits look like slightly larger than usual plasma speakers. They use quite serious bracing panels on the back of the plasma screen and they are actually 4 speakers in two enclosures. The top speaker in each enclosure works in mono to give you the centre speaker. The bottom speakers are your left and right. There is also a wall firing treble unit that you can switch on for more ambience. It's an elegant solution that works well. The Velodyne sub is a dinky little thing, but with a 1000W amplifier (yes, really), it goes very deep very fast with little to no character. Very impressive for a relatively inexpensive item. The Arcam is good value here in the UK. In the US, there are other brands you may wish to consider. If you went with the Portraits, bear in mind they like a powerful amp, so don't go for less than something like a Denon 2807. A matching DV2910 would give you a fine result, but as I say, there are other brands around. I found a review of the Artison system at this site, but note they were using a much bigger more expensive sub: http://www.hometheatermag.com/subsatloudspeakers/604artisan/ and here: http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/article.asp?section_id=3&article_id=648 Artison are at: http://www.artisonusa.com/ Regards, Frank. |
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Gold Member Username: Edster922Abubala, Ababala The Occupation Post Number: 3856 Registered: Mar-05 | "simulated surround" is an advertising crock, it sounds like crap regardless of the receiver, even a nice one like the HK. Just buy the best L/C/R+sub setup you can afford and set your receiver accordingly. 3.1 sounds plenty good. In addition to the Orbs, you can also look at the Ascend HTM-200s (ascendacoustics.com) which cost less and are about the same size visually as the Orb Mod2s. The xr55 is very hard to come by right now, since Panny's about to roll out the xr57. If you can't wait a month or two, another digital receiver I'd consider would be this: http://www.hookedontronics.com/show_product_details.jsp?cid=5614&c=0604PriceGrab ber&b=Pioneer+Elite_EX-500 Just sell off the universal/dvd player if you have one already. |