Clipping does it bad!

Dennis Gardner

Since your preferences run to stereo listining, I would suggest that you give Harman Kardon receivers a listen. I use mine with Polks and just love how they sound for stereo, multi-channel and full 7.1 movie tracks.

I have the HK AVR7200 which has some of the best amps ever produced in a receiver. I don't think that I could get much better unless I went to seperates.

Enjoy your search,

Dennis

Oldwriter

Yo - Dennis - yep, Harmon-Kardon is definitely on my "must listen to" list - however, there is the money problem. My wife says no more than $475 - but then, there's always my "sneak-out" money, so I may be able to go a bit higher. Quietly, that is.
Off to hear many things - and probably get even more confused. Thanks - - Larry R

Oldwriter

OK, Polkies - I've had a day, as "they" say. Went into a local stereo emporium to compare speakers, receivers, players and CDs themselves. Spent three hours, and came away with a few observations.
First, if you ever come to Naples to buy stereo gear - contact me first, and I'll steer you AWAY from one place with an attitude that needs serious adjustment! Ouch! Never again.
With that outa duh way. Set up the RTi6s with NAD, DENON, SONY AND HARMON-KARDON RECEIVERS. The H-K was one of the new "pure digital" ones - and I have to say it was clear, but left me with a strange impression of coldness and isolation. Can't figger it out.
The NAD was very warm and "present," but the one they had linked up was only 50 watts, and I found it a bit lacking - given the fact that I'll need it for both music and movie-watching.
The Denon I'd heard before - fine at 100 watts, but nothing special.
Then came the new Sony 2000ES. SILK. Best way to describe this 120-watt unit. Verrrry smooth and distortion-free - and musical - played opera, Mozard concerto, chamber music, and a bit of Diana Krall. This is the unit I'll buy if/when I ever get the necessary loot. Very, very nice - highly recommend it.
Bad news is that the RTi6s are OK - but REALLY need a subwoofer to bring out the lower register. Will get one.
Other bad news is that all this new equipment brings out all the BAD qualities of some of my opera records! Sigh. Now - can SACD be far away?
OK - back home and knowing that my old Kenwood ain't long for this world. The RTi6s stay - but with subW.
I'm rather delighted that my liddle speakers held their own against speakers costing thousands of dollars. Were the B&W 703s "better?" Well - yep, they were - at $3,000 a pair.
One final point - I'm not buying ANY MORE CDs - waiting for the new SACDs to become more common - then will start collecting in that genre. The SACDs I listened to today - a bit of Mozart, Miles Davis "Kind of Blue" - etc. - BLEW ME AWAY! I mean - this is vinyl sound without the clicks! Warm, clean, clear, and you can pick out every intstrument - it's THAT GREAT!
End of sermon. Thanks for reading - and for your help! LR

F1nut

Larry,

Sounds like you had a fun day. Isn't that Sony a digital receiver? As for SACD's you might as well forget the B&M stores, shop online.

Here's a few places,

http://www.cduniverse.com/

http://www.amusicdirect.com/

http://www.towerrecords.com/Default.aspx?

http://www.elusivedisc.com/


These two sites have all the latest SACD info,

http://www.highfidelityreview.com/index.asp

http://www.sa-cd.net/

You may want to look into getting a SACD/CD player with upsampling for the CD's. Some of these players can make a CD sound very close to SACD.

Oldwriter

Yo - thanks for the SACD hints/info - do appreciate it. Well, I'm red-faced again, friends.
Just after coming home and posting e-mails to several friends regarding my "listening" experience I got a call from a good friend in LA - a recording engineer. In his usual diplomatic way, he said: "you jerk - don't you DARE buy one of those Sonys. They're all being recalled - or haven't you got the brains to check that out?" Huh? well, gee, Verne, thanks for the usual kind words (I've known him for 40 years) but. . .
WELL, FRIENDS, SEEMS THAT SONY IS RECALLING ALL THE STR-DAX000ES receivers - problems with the power supplies that makes the receivers hiss and pop. NOT GOOD!
SO, IF ANY OF YOU IS CONSIDERING ONE OF THE SONYS - FORGEDDABOUTIT. Meanwhile, I'm on the prowl - again - for a suitable receiver. Stayed tuned. . . . .. Larry R.

VR3

Have you considered seperates?

I'm not entirely sure of your price range...

but there are some NICE seperates out there on da cheap. (Especially right now)

gregure

Larry,

I would recommend an Onkyo. I just tried out an HK, and the difference wasn't too noticable. I've got an Onkyo TX-SR701, and I've been very happy with it. The sound is excellent, for all music and movies. It's a good all around performer. Sorry I didn't recommend it earlier, but I thought it would be outside your budget. You can get it onecall.com or mydigitaluniverse.com for $600. That's only $125 more than your budget, and for that much I think you could sqeeeze it. What's more important, $125 (ok maybe $150 after shipping) or listening to opera in peace?

Greg

Oldwriter

Hi, Greg: Yes, I've toyed with the idea of the Onkyo 701 - heard it with my speakers, in fact. Also forgot to mention that I'd heard the Yamaha 5750 and 60 at another store - with a pair of LSi7s. Very, very impressed with the Yamaha, too. Sigh. Am thinking that I'll either pop for the 701 or one of the Yammies - about the only diff-runce between 50 and 60 is a few watts and the silver front on the 50, which I much prefer to the black, as my CD player also has silver front. As if that matters. . .
Am coming down to the wire - and will make my decision this week, fer shore! Thanx, as always - - - Larry R.

dave shepard

Oldwriter,
I have and still do recomend that people on a budgit look at the Panasonic SAHE100 or the 200 (silver) you can get the 100 for $239 from Circuit City and the 200 if they still have it for slightly more. I still have the 200 from my first setup the reciever drove all my speakers easly and loud with no clipping the sound was very good and clean, I only upgraded because of the extraordinary deal being had at 6th Ave. The Panny has no pre-outs unless that is something your coincerned with. The reciever alone will push your speakers effertlessly and with the quality I think will please you and for the price IMO is hard to beat. If you can manage to go to Circuit City give it a listen and see for youself they will even hook it up to your speakers (seen them do it) to give it a listen. My CC (I'm sure they all should then) have a 15 day return policy on all recievers so if your not completely happy when you get it home you can get all your money back and all you are out is alittle time, but I'm sure you will be happy with it.

Just my 2 cents

Dave

Oldwriter

Thanx, Dave - I'll be going by CC tomorrow, and will drop by and look over the Panasonic, though honestly I'm leaning more toward either Yamaha or Denon at the moment - since Sony seems to be in the throes of a major problem with its new babies. Hmmm. . . the unit I heard today was fine - but then the mopes at the stereo store didn't know - or tell me - about the Sony recall. Sigh. Gotta do yer homework, as always!!!
With my limited system, I know that I don't need a Carver, Krell or the likes - just something to give me enough power to cleanly drive the speakers on surround movies and on 2-channel music listening.
Oh, yes - the receiver I choose MUST be able to hook up to a SACD player - when I get one! After listening to three SACDs today, I'll never buy another "regular" CD - the sound is so rich, pure and "LP-like" - takes me back to when I collected the wunnerful old discs, despite crackles and pops I loved their sound!
Onward - - with thanx - - Larry R.

Oldwriter

Yo - great Polk Folk - especially Greg, who "has one." My wife finally convinced me, after listening to about 58 too many receiver/speaker combinations. She said: "why even bother with an el-cheapo receiver, when you KNOW that you won't like it!
"But," I said as I bowed in humble listening-position in front of her "you said that we shouldn't spend more than $450 on any new equipment."
"Well," she said, "after listening to that Onkyo 701 at the Hi-Fi store, I've changed my mind. That's OK, isn't it?" Hmmmm. . .
Sooooooo - tonight I went Online and found a very nice place with a very nice price ($599 total) and put down my credit card and pressed the correct buttons - and presto!, the Onkyo 701 should be on its way here tomorrow.
OK - now I've got one IMPORTANT QUESTION - with this receiver, can I plug in the requisite five cables from a SACD player? If I can't do that, well, I messed up again, 'cause I'll be getting one of those early next year, for sure!
Now - away to lick my wallet-wounds. . . Larry R

dcarlson

You're good to go. SACD and all. Congrats.

It looks pretty sexy.

Oldwriter

Thanx - got all ordered up and then had a panic attack - worrying that I could not hook up a SACD player - guess it's pretty complicated, what with all those wires?
Thanx so much for the reply - - Larry R

dcarlson

I have to say, I had much fun reading and keeping up with this thread. I'm sure you'll be loving it.

Oldwriter

Well (GRIN) you obviously had more fun reading the posts than I had writing them! Now we'll see what happens when I finally get some solid equipment in to replace the aging and somewhat lacking Kenwood. LR

PolkWannabie

Larry,

I have an Onkyo 801 in a different setup that does quite well and is not much beyond the 701 in capabilities.

Oldwriter

You've got a light-years-ahead-of-me system! So I assume that my humble (grin) 701 can, indeed be hooked up to a SACD player in surround mode? Waiting to get the thing now - should be here by Monday. Larry R

tonyv1

Make sure you buy 6 interconnect cables for the SACD multichannel. That's 2 front, 2 rear, sub and center. Then make sure that the SACD player is really playing the MCH layer not the stereo one. All SACD have a stereo SACD layer, but not all will have the MCH layer. Of course "Dark Side of the Moon" is THE MCH DEMO SACD disc. Enjoy.

Oldwriter

Yep - will get all necessary cables before buying the player. NOW, if you can access a picture of the back of the 701 - can you inform this old scribe on just where those cables plug in? The manual will surely tell me - but right now it would be nice to know. Hey, thanks for the get-back! Appreciate it. . . Larry R

Oldwriter

Needing a stronger pair of glasses, I finally went into the Onkyo site and called up the back of the receiver - and there, in full color, were the six connectors I'll need - just didn't see them the first time I looked. Relief! Can do, etc. Courage! and thanks for the postings (and patience!) Larry R

danger boy

Larry,

Congrats on the new Onkyo! Like most of us.. the waiting it the toughest part.

I'm sure the Onkyo will treat you right.

SACD and DVD-audio multichannel music is amazing to listen to. Yes, not everyone likes it.. but i surely do.

Al

tonyv1

Just plug in the SACD cables into the 6 DVD analog jacks. Use a digital cable from the DVD player to the Onkyo 701 for movies using Dolby Digital and DTS.

Oldwriter

Wurds R nyce, butt a pichur syur is betr! (grin) thanks for taking the time and effort to send along the 701s back-side. Yep, I'm beginning to get it! After looking at the back of my current and humble Kenwood, the Onkyo looks like some sort of Star Wars machinery! Should run rings around my current setup!
And yes, youze guyz, waiting is llooonnnnggggggg. Larry R

tonyv1

Wait until you try hooking up all the speakers and subwoofer. I'd recommend using banana plugs and marking each speaker cable (FL, FR , RR, RL and etc) makes life easier when hunting through the rat's nest of cables. Harmonic Technology makes a multichannel cable (one cable with 6 heads) for SACD/DVD MCH applications. It might be too expensive for you, but I use their Pro Silway Mk II cable on my stereo rig (amp to preamp) and love it.

PolkWannabie

And then further down the road you can graduate to something like this ...

Oldwriter

OK, am getting the picture now. Thanx - but I've GOT TO KNOW - which is "America's Finest City?" Driving me ****!
The cables are too pricey for this ole retired reporter - but I do appreciate the info! Thanx - Larry R

tonyv1

San Diego, CA ...... of course

Oldwriter

OK, guyz, have mercy! GRIN - Until I win the lottery there's no way I'm going to have Sunfire in my home. Way back when I was a-wurkin' I had a very nice rig - Carver amps and tuner, and big Kef speakers - but then we decided to "chuck it all" and down-size into a 37-foot sailboat. That's anudder story. . . sigh. No more Carvers! Thanx - LR

Oldwriter

Yeah, Tony, I used to come out to your part of the country when on assignments out of LA - to the Scripps Institute in La Jolla, among other neat-oh places. UR are right - it's just lovely. And cool! We're sweltering in typical Florrid-Uh June weather - heat index of 106 today and all humidity. Why are we here? Darned if I know!!!!! But Naples is lovely, also - especially in January!
But now it is June. . . 'nuff said. Larry R

PolkThug

Originally posted by Oldwriter
Sooooooo - tonight I went Online and found a very nice place with a very nice price ($599 total) and put down my credit card and pressed the correct buttons - and presto!, the Onkyo 701 should be on its way here tomorrow.

You made a great purchase, have fun! Also, if you get the upgrade bug a year from now and get some Rti8's, the 701 will power them just fine.

Regards,
PolkThug