I have a 15' x 25' room and $1400 to spend for a home theater system. I need front, center, rear speakers and a good sub. Also a receiver. I have considered Athena or Energy for the speakers but I beleive the subs are weak. A receiver to go with these (Bright) speakers. Possibly Denon, Onkyo, or maybe H/K.
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...
Paul Slaughter
Posted on
I have just added a Sony 34"Widescreen HDTV to my surround system. I am getting a noise from one of my rear speakers. It does not happen in the Theater or Pro-Logic mode when playing a DVD so I know it is not the speaker. I only get the noise when playing regular tv broadcasts with a Dish receiver. I have checked all cable hookups and they are correct.