Good AV receiver match for RTA 15TL

turbocat

Hello,
I'm glad I found this forum, until recently I haven't looked at stereo equipment for 12 years, so I'm a little out of the loop and was hoping you guys could give me some advice. I've had these speakers since '91 and they've served me very well. My problem now is that I'm looking for an up to date AV receiver so I can do 6.1 surround. Before this they've always been hooked up to a Carver TFM 25 amp. The amp has been great too, but has recently developed some sort of distortion in the left channel. At some point I will look into getting the Carver repaired so I can use it again for 2 channel music listening. But for now, I'd like to get a home theater started and was wondering how much power I should be looking for in a receiver to run these sizable speakers. So far, I've looked at Denon, Yamaha, and Harmon Kardon. Also, my budget for the reveiver is no more than $700. Most of the units I've seen are rated between 65 watts per channel and 110. I'm not sure if this will be sufficient to drive the RTA 15's safely. So any advice on power and brands would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks much.




d white
denver co USA

setzer808

Glad to hear you've suffered a bit from the HT bug. We are here to help.

Regardless of what reciever you purchase, getting the carver repaired and using it as an amp (through pre-outs on the reciever) would be an option if you really love the pairing of these two.

I'd say that any reciever within your target price range (up to $700) that bears the Denon, Yamaha, NAD, Pionner Elite, H/K, Onkyo name (and many others I didn't name) would cover your needs quite well. No matter what anyone here says (including me), I'd say your truest answer will be going and listening/demoing some models in your price range. Happy hunting.

F1nut

Hey TC,

You'll never find a receiver good enough to power the 15TL's and they really suck at HT, but seeing as I'm such a nice guy I'll take them off your hands for a couple of hundred. It should be enough to get you started with one of those HTIB set ups.

bigsexy1

You can get a Denon 3803 for well less than $700 from 6th Ave, an authorized dealer with full warranty. I've read somewhere that it puts out something like 138 watts per channel in 2 channel stereo mode.

Frank Z

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3056997842&ssPageName=ADME:B:LC:US:1

turbocat

Hey guys,
Thanks for your responses. Bigsexy, thanks for the heads up on that sweet deal from 6 Ave.com. $648.00 + free shipping for the 3803 sounds like a deal to jump on!!!:)
TC

disneyjoe7

Sorry to jump in on this one, just 1 quick Q.

Quote from F1nut

>the 15TL's and they really suck at HT<

are you serious ? I was thinking of these speakers to replace my RT-800i for better 2 channel, if it didn't kill my HT end of it and would match somewhat my current setup.

Fronts RT-800i
Center CS-400i
Rears RT-600i

Sub Paradigm servo-15

hoosier21

rest assured F1nut was kidding

F1nut

Hehe

I-SIG

Originally posted by hoosier21
rest assured F1nut was kidding

<SNORT!>

Wes

warlocks1

Turbocat, I am using a set of RTA15's for my mains and my rears. I good quality receiver will work, but to make the 15's sound the way you are used to, you will need a seperate amp. I am using Carver's and love them. Get the Carver fixed.

Tour2ma

I'd look into the used market at least as a comparison.

The 25's don't demand that much $$$ used and Carver's bench fee is ~$150. So unless you have a local repair that is reasonable and Carver familiar, it may be worth buying a replacement.

00p225

I recently picked up a pair of SDA-1C's from a member of this forum. These are very power hungry rated from 50-500 watts per channel and only 90dbs efficiency. I tried them with my Mcintosh MC2100 which is rated at 100wpc but actually runs closer to 150. I thought I'd try it on my HK AVR 500 just for the heck of it and it runs them nearly as well as my mac. This particular receiver is rated at 80wpc from 20-20K into 8ohms. Not quite the sound quality of course, but I was really suprised to say the least. In 2 channel mode, I can pull better than 100dbs cleanly with no distortion. The other thing is these are 6 ohms impedance and dip to 2 ohms at some frequency's and the HK doesn't get hot or kick into protection (never has with any of my speakers) mode even when run hard for a half hour at a time I'm not pushing HK here but just posting my findings as I'm sure there are plenty of other options out there. I will say however, since I have'nt heard the 15Tl's, if they are a warm sounding speaker, they probabally won't do well with the HK's as they are rather layed back and can sound dark when matched with polite speakers. In this case the Denon's or Yamaha's would be the better choice.

warlocks1

I haven't listened to the SDA1's but they do use similar drivers, so imagine the sound is similar. I have never listened to my 15's with a receiver. I have used Adcom and Carver amps. I can't really say I heard a difference, but I think I like the Carver more. I had a Harman Kardon AVR5? Prologic receiver driving my old 11t's easily. I was very satisfied with the pairing.

turbocat

Hey guys,
Haven't been around in a looong time, but just thought I would give an update since I started this thread and these speakers seem to have somewhat of a following. Well, I got the Denon 3803 and have been more than happy with it. A great start for HT. Very pleased with how it matches with the 15's musically as well.
I decided to hold on to the old carver, and get it fixed someday down the road. It really made the 15's thump:D
...warlocks, wow, those are some pretty serious rear speakers. Nice setup.
....F1 I just saw the refurb you did on those 15's, nice work:cool:

thanks again guys

F1nut

Thanks TC, glad you liked them...I sold them, so my offer still stands to buy yours for a couple of hundred.

Seriously, glad you're enjoying yours!

dharding

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turbocat

I appreciate the offer, but they're stayin put, man:p
Hey Dan, That's what I was planning to do with my old Carver amp. So in that configuration, I assume it's easy to switch between the external amp for 2 channel music listening, and the 3803 amps for theater. Correct?

dharding

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