I have $3,000 to spend on Receiver and Speakers. I have been following some discussions lately and I should say that I am more confused than convinced as to which system I should buy. I would appreciate if you could help me with decision making. Suggest me Speakers as well as Receivers to go with.
Hi Aaron $3000 is clearly a lot of money to spend. Do look at the Integra line. They are constructed much better than any other Japanese line out there. Wit the '04 coming in the '03 line is going for good prices at dealers. I faced off the DPS 8.3 with Sony and Denon. The two can't even come close to the Integra. they have a 7.3 for $1500 that gives you 7 discrete channels. Unreal sound. With the other $1500 you can get a pretty nice set of Paradigm speakers. Goodluck
elitefan
Posted on
I agree that the Integra's are good but for your budget I can't think of anything better than my current system of a Elitevsx45 with Monitor Silver speakers. The Elite is a very powerful and flexible receiver with a rich, full sound that is the perfect match for the Monitors. Marantz 7300 or H/K525 would also be excellent choices. The Elite and H/K are discontinued models so if you can find them they are at very good prices. I have the Monitor silver2 for mains, the center and the silver1 for surrounds and kept my Def Tech sub. Incredible sounding system.
Aaron
Posted on
Thanks Imran and elitefan. I have been very busy lately. Couldn't test either combination. Though Paradigm and Infinity sounds good, I am kind of leaning towards Yamaha. Please advise good speakers to go with Yamaha.
I have tried all the receivers that are brought up here on this thread, my speakers consist of Monitor Audio Bronze 4,2 Center and a Velodyne SPL 1000 as a Subwoofer. The Nad is without question a very respectable product and is without question the hands down winner for a music only system. When however it comes to Movie sound it may be a little too laid back in timbre. It just does not add the excitement and energy that some receivers give. The Elite is actually a very good compromise for music and movies. ( a good choice indeed. The Denon however in my system was as stated DRy and lifeless, not very emotional, just artificial sounding. Again, as some of you have noted from speaker to speaker we may be hearing different timbres altogether. Let me throw a curve ball to everyone here and have (if you have the Chance) you guys audition the new Harman Kardon AVR-630 which price wise is very competitive. I currently own this piece and can honestly tell you, through owning almost 8 different receivers that this thing is a treat. It has 90% of the NAD music sound but it's the movie sound that's killer. I think it's the new Cirrus Logic CS49400 chip that is the secret here. This same chip is found on high end processors such as the likes of Rotels top of the line preamp.
To sum:
Nad T762.... Good choice, best for Music die hards, Reliability issues may still be downside.
Denon AVR-3803.... a tweakers delight, not very involving, built like a tank. Too dry..Can drive anything out there.
Pioneer VSX45.... Not too shabby at all. Excellent comprimise, for music and movies.
Harmon Kardom AVR-630... An underdog, but try it and see for yourself. Also built like a tank. Has however had past reliablitiy problems.
Thanks guys...
Fred D.
Posted on
Hello there, I am in the process of building a home theater, and have the video portion just about wrapped up. I am using a NEC LT240K DLP projector with a 100" 16:9 Da-Lite screen. The picture is pretty impressive. Now for my dilemma. I am looking for a home theater A/V receiver that will provide me with the sounds to match the impressive video. I have decided to go with speakers from Axiom for my fronts (M3ti), center (VP150), and surrounds (QS8). I have yet to decide on a sub, but it will be at least a 150 watt powered 12". I have read several posts here, and researched audioreview.com, and have found that in my price range ($500-$700) the players seem to be Yamaha, Onkyo, Denon, HK, Marantz, and Pioneer Elite. If there are others, please let me know. I am not an audiophile by any means, but I do appreciate quality sound, and would like a receiver that I can buy now and have for several years to come. I plan to use my system for 50% music and 50% theater. I understand that these questions have probably all been answered somewhere on the board, but I can't seem to find a definitive answer as to which one of these manufacturers gives me the best quality for the money. I am not in a position to listen to any of them, as that is the best way to tell, but the local stores in my area tend to have such poor speaker rooms, it wouldn't do much good.
Any information or opinion would be GREATLY appreciated.