Best Receiver Matches For My Rti speakers

stangjason

Right now I'm considering the Harman Kardon avr3600 and Marantz sr6004. This puts my budget just under $500...oh and 3D is out period because my wife and I get migraines from them especially her.

Pioneer is out because my wife says she prefered the H/K avr 635 we used to have but I found the movie experience lacking.

With that said I will listen/read now.

txcoastal1

Bro---stick with the HK 'cause if your wife isn't happy no one's happy....and if your not happy blame it on her

Toolfan66

Get your nuts back and go with the Pioneer!!!

txcoastal1

TOOLFORLIFEFAN wrote: »

Get your nuts back and go with the Pioneer!!!

He sold his nuts with the Pioneer

cnh

What did you find lacking with the HK AVR 635 (that was a beasty of sorts with decent High Current capability)?

Having said that, the Marantz sound is pretty close to the HK so your wife might like that?

And Rtis like a little 'warmth' now and then.

cnh

stangjason

TOOLFORLIFEFAN wrote: »

Get your nuts back and go with the Pioneer!!!

Too funny but I prefer the H/K sound...I thought the Pioneer sounded ok except it was a little bright with the RTi's so I agreed with the wife. The Pioneer only blew the H/K 635 in movies because the H/K lacked HD-DTS and the Pioneer was more dynamic but the brightness with my RTi's just wore on us.

stangjason

anonymouse wrote: »

Which RTi series do you own?

Polk Rti8, Fxi3, Csi5,

B Run

I hated the Hk 3600 with my rti8,fxi3, and Csi5. I liked the Marantz 6005 much better, but my Pioneer elite sc-35 blows them all out of the water. I had an Onkyo 3008 with and without an Adcom gfa7000 and I prefer the sound of my elite to both. It's all personal opinion and every brand has fanboys, but i've personally never liked the Harman Kardon sound.

mole'

Mains RTi10
Center CSi5/CSia6
Surrounds FXi3/FXia4
all rock with my SC-07 and with my SC-35
rock even more with an Ext Amp hooked up

Pioneer Elite IcePOWER FTW!!!!

angelsfann02

Sorry but I have to self promote...I believe Pioneers will sound much better. I own several rt speakers and they sound great with Pioneer avr's and they kick butt for hometheater. F.y.i I am selling a nice one in the polk fleamarket.

stangjason

I have a Pioneer 1120 and I love it for home theater but when it comes to regular TV and music I find it too bright with my Rti. My wife says it pounds in her head...whatever that means I'm not certain but I do know when the first 3600 I received worked for a few hours I found the sound much more pleasant and easy to listen to versus turning my center channel way up so I could make out voices over the surround speakers.

ViperZ

Looking at what everyone is writing - basically, the more power you push into those RTi, the better they will sound. That's why those Pioneer SC sound much better than HK, etc. If you can find very powerful HK receiver, get it. I liked HK/RT series combo, as RT/RTi tend to be on a bright side, and HK softens the sound.

stangjason

ViperZ wrote: »

Looking at what everyone is writing - basically, the more power you push into those RTi, the better they will sound. That's why those Pioneer SC sound much better than HK, etc. If you can find very powerful HK receiver, get it. I liked HK/RT series combo, as RT/RTi tend to be on a bright side, and HK softens the sound.

I think you are right about that. Even with my amplifier though the Pioneer sounds better than without but I still think it's too bright. When the H/K 3600 was working with my amp it sounded better but the reliability isn't there since I had to send my second one back. I think I'm going to run my 3600 without the amp once I confirm the preamps are working to see if it has a better sound than the B&K Sonata but in the end I'm may use the Sonata to just power the Left and Right channels and let the H/K do the rest...or vice versa.

polkfarmboy

Pioneer sounds like crap..on..ear with my electrostats as its bright ,tinny and thin like wine with alot of water . Sure alot of people here love it and I never have try'd a elite sc but I have heard from other Martin logan owners that the elite sc's also sound like crap and many steer towards denon but alot of the guys hate denon here

I try'd my pioneer elite vsx01 txh with my rti and it sounds crap .I say go with onkyo as it has a more neutral sound to it and really seems to shine when paired up with polk rti's .I had an onkyo 607 with a full rti 7.1 and it sounded awesome .The highs were detailed and it was very dynamic with multi eq from audyssey .The speach was clear and full for normal tv viewing as it has audyssey dynamic eq that lets you hear the clarity at low volumes without it spiking so it makes for peaceful listening if in an apartment

I have heard marantz and they are great for music but rather laid back compared to onkyo . Go have a listen to some of the choices and see if you can find a store that has a good return policy so you may get to try them out

cstmar01

polkfarmboy wrote: »

Pioneer sounds like crap..on..ear with my electrostats as its bright ,tinny and thin like wine with alot of water . Sure alot of people here love it and I never have try'd a elite sc but I have heard from other Martin logan owners that the elite sc's also sound like crap and many steer towards denon but alot of the guys hate denon here

I try'd my pioneer elite vsx01 txh with my rti and it sounds crap .I say go with onkyo as it has a more neutral sound to it and really seems to shine when paired up with polk rti's .I had an onkyo 607 with a full rti 7.1 and it sounded awesome .The highs were detailed and it was very dynamic with multi eq from audyssey .The speach was clear and full for normal tv viewing as it has audyssey dynamic eq that lets you hear the clarity at low volumes without it spiking so it makes for peaceful listening if in an apartment

I have heard marantz and they are great for music but rather laid back compared to onkyo . Go have a listen to some of the choices and see if you can find a store that has a good return policy so you may get to try them out

I've never heard that Pio sounded like crap with RTI series. I ran my A9's and Pio and everything sounded just fine. Did you run MCACC? If your using it for music its not the best sounding but there is worse. If running for HT use I find nothing wrong with Pioneer even some of the entry level stuff (non elite) works just fine.

I got a entry level (like 250 buck) AVR for my gf's dad for some old speakers of his. Worked out great and didn't sound that bad for the price and allowed him HDMI switching and to use his Ipod and he was a lot happier.

decal

"Best" is in the eye/ear of the beholder. There is no definitive "best" anything, it's all subjective. When you ask a question like this, the answers will always be what folks think is "best" to them in their system.

angelsfann02

cstmar01 wrote: »

I've never heard that Pio sounded like crap with RTI series. I ran my A9's and Pio and everything sounded just fine. Did you run MCACC? If your using it for music its not the best sounding but there is worse. If running for HT use I find nothing wrong with Pioneer even some of the entry level stuff (non elite) works just fine.

I got a entry level (like 250 buck) AVR for my gf's dad for some old speakers of his. Worked out great and didn't sound that bad for the price and allowed him HDMI switching and to use his Ipod and he was a lot happier.

I totally agree. I have owned many AVR'S, and keep coming back to Pioneer. I think the OP answered his own thread.

B Run

After Denon, Onkyo (4 of them), HK, Marantz, and Yamaha, i'm sticking with pioneer. It's all about personal preference. I demo'ed some Martin Logan ESL's with the new Elite SC-57 last week and they sounded fantastic by the way, so I respectfully disagree with PFB.

mole'

angelsfann02 wrote: »

I totally agree. I have owned many AVR'S, and keep coming back to Pioneer. I think the OP answered his own thread.

same here...

B Run wrote: »

After Denon, Onkyo (4 of them), HK, Marantz, and Yamaha, i'm sticking with pioneer. It's all about personal preference. I demo'ed some Martin Logan ESL's with the new Elite SC-57 last week and they sounded fantastic by the way, so I respectfully disagree with PFB.

i agree. started with Spny, Then got a new 2010 model Denon and then Pioneer Elite ( have owned 4 now) and Onkyo (2).....love the Pioneer ELite SC series by far......

BTY i have a SC-07 and an Onkyo 705 FS in the FM.....

ViperZ

B Run wrote: »

After Denon, Onkyo (4 of them), HK, Marantz, and Yamaha, i'm sticking with pioneer. It's all about personal preference. I demo'ed some Martin Logan ESL's with the new Elite SC-57 last week and they sounded fantastic by the way, so I respectfully disagree with PFB.

Love responses like that! "I know you're looking for a Mercedes C-class in your price range, but I just drove Mercedes SL65 AMG, and it is awesome. So I'll recommend you to buy a Mercedes". His budget is <$500. Have you seen the price of SC-57 when you were listening to it?

To the op, really try to find a way to listen to both receivers that you have on your list. That would be your best bet to see if you like them matched with your speakers or not.

And yes, I agree regarding HK reliability unfortunately. I had a bad experience with HK receiver and won't go back to H/K stuff due to their crappy customer support in Canada. But when it worked, I found it to be the softest receiver for RTi speakers. I also had Citation amp running off that AVR at one point, and it made those RTi's sing and really softened all the upper-end harshness. But because of bad experience with the receiver, I got rid of the Citation too in favour of Rotel amp.

polkfarmboy

B Run wrote: »

After Denon, Onkyo (4 of them), HK, Marantz, and Yamaha, i'm sticking with pioneer. It's all about personal preference. I demo'ed some Martin Logan ESL's with the new Elite SC-57 last week and they sounded fantastic by the way, so I respectfully disagree with PFB.

Did you demo any other receivers with the ML ? because ML tend to be fantastic ?

To the op... there is an onkyo 708 going for cheap on our flee market as of tonight

B Run

ViperZ wrote: »

Love responses like that! "I know you're looking for a Mercedes C-class in your price range, but I just drove Mercedes SL65 AMG, and it is awesome. So I'll recommend you to buy a Mercedes". His budget is <$500. Have you seen the price of SC-57 when you were listening to it?

Not what I was saying, but I should have clarified. The last part was in response to Polkfarmboy's post:

"Pioneer sounds like crap..on..ear with my electrostats as its bright ,tinny and thin like wine with alot of water . Sure alot of people here love it and I never have try'd a elite sc but I have heard from other Martin logan owners that the elite sc's also sound like crap and many steer towards denon but alot of the guys hate denon here "

Sorry for not being more specific but I wasn't even hinting that he needs to spend 3 or 4 X his budget, just saying not all pioneers sound like crap on electrostats.

B Run

polkfarmboy wrote: »

Did you demo any other receivers with the ML ? because ML tend to be fantastic ?

On the ESL's I only hear the elite and RXA-2000, which both sounded great. I've never got to hear them properly amplified, but I have heard the Purities with the built in Class D amps and I liked them a lot. I was very impressed with ML overall.

stangjason

Thanks for the info. Though the 708 is tempting we are giving another 3600 a shot.

The best way to describe the Pioneer for me when it bothers me is "busy/fatiguing" and lacking in mid range and vocal oomph. Past that it sounds quite amazing, except for sometimes vocals get too low or lost in the surround sound, when watching movies but for TV and music it's what I described above.

polkfarmboy

Maybe you should audition that 708 before you go back to what you left behind

Didn't the seller quote you $25 for shipping ? see if he will cover the fee for the return shipping if you dont like it

stangjason

polkfarmboy wrote: »

Maybe you should audition that 708 before you go back to what you left behind

Didn't the seller quote you $25 for shipping ? see if he will cover the fee for the return shipping if you dont like it

I would but I already have another 3600 on the way. What I may do is go to Best Buy or HHGregg and buy one of theirs. I know BB has a 30 day return policy without a stocking fee but I don't know about HHGregg.

nhhiep

I agree with what they say about HK amps here. they're warm, so that is great with RTi speakers.
I've Rti12, CSi5, FXi3 running with a Denon AVR 3806 as a pre with a HK Signature amp 100WPC now and it's less bright than my Sony V444ES AVR alone w/o the amp.

Also have a HK 145 AVR with just 40WPC in the kitchen for polk RM small speakers and that sounds great. it seems like all HK amps/AVRs are high current, even though the WPC is pretty low on paper compare to other brands in the same price range.

if I were you, start hunting on CL for used HK amps. they're cheap. I bought the HK Signature 2.1 100WPC x5 for $200, HK PA5800 80WPC x5 for $125

stangjason

stangjason wrote: »

The best way to describe the Pioneer for me when it bothers me is "busy/fatiguing" and lacking in mid range and vocal oomph.

I take this back I think. The best way to describe the Pioneer 1120k is feast or famine. With my Polks it sounds great but there is not happy medium when it comes to volume. My dad has the 1020k with some of his 10+ year old Kenwood speakers and his does not have this issue as bad we do. I'm sure some of this is room accoustics. All's well in the world when I had the H/K 635 as far as being able to find a happy medium for volume level.