Panny recievers?

noimposse

I was just kind of wondering what the general consensus was on the Panasonic SA-XR70S or the model below that, cant remember the model #.

I looked at a review or two on it and they seem to be a bit mixed. For 300 dollars it dosent seem like a bad deal really.

jayman_1975

dude most guys on here are gonna say nope.never.don't do it. Honestly, depending on what kind of speakers you're running and how loud you plan on playing them, it would probably be not too bad. I had a panasonic reciever and used it on monitor speakers and it did pretty well actually, although it was rated at a little more power than this one and it was supposed to be "high current". I replaced it with a Denon 3805 because i wanted to have pre-outs for external amps in the future. There are some better options on the Denon yes. But as far as straight sound quality at mid volume levels....not a whole bunch....loud levels yeah..the panny will distort way before the Denon...but like i said before..it's all about what you wanna do with it...if you want to piss off all your neighbors and rock the whole block with quality sound, then don't get the panny.

*Seby*-Polk-

There are 2 class of receivers.

CLASS 1 (The best of the best) (IMHO)

* DENON
* MARANTZ
* HARMAN KARDON
* YAMAHA
* ONKYO
* PIONEER ELITE
* some other......

CLASS 2 (comercial brands, don't have the quality, features and reputation of class1)

* PIONEER
* SONY
* PANASONIC
* LG
* PHILIPS
* JVC
* others

For 300 U$S i should look a cheap receiver of Denon or Yamaha (maybe Onkyo) before Panasonic, BUT If you like the brand (i like panasonic too) i tell you the receiver you want SA-XR70s is very good...far better than sony's or something in this price ranges. Try to compare and decide

dudeinaroom

agree with seby minus the pioneer my boss has gone through 3 elites, and he is using all 8 ohm speakers. And if you want to go with the pioneer, give technics a try same electronics, same manufacturer. Prices between the two go back and forth for the same level of equipment

*Seby*-Polk-

dudeinaroom wrote:

agree with seby minus the pioneer my boss has gone through 3 elites, and he is using all 8 ohm speakers. And if you want to go with the pioneer, give technics a try same electronics, same manufacturer. Prices between the two go back and forth for the same level of equipment

ohhh yes ...i forgot Technics. I must put Technics over the comercial brands (superior to class2) but...not the level of class1 (In the 90's i has various Technics decks and love them !!!!).

brijenjas

noimposse wrote:

I was just kind of wondering what the general consensus was on the Panasonic SA-XR70S or the model below that, cant remember the model #.

I looked at a review or two on it and they seem to be a bit mixed. For 300 dollars it dosent seem like a bad deal really.

Model below the 70 is the SA-XR55s.
Great bang for the buck, for around $260.00 shipped.
I have one that I replaced a Pioneer vsx-d814 and 2 Auidiosource Amp100 amps with, because the Pio only allowed down to 100Hz crossover. Panny goes to 80Hz It has at least as much power as my old setup.
The Panny has much more detailed sound. My dog kept turning around and looking at the speakers for about a week after I hooked it up whenever something was dropped or glass broke during a movie scene.:eek:
Sound is quite detailed and pretty clear, although there is a bit of an "in a tiled room" effect, reverb?,with dialogue, not quite sure how to describe it.
Has plenty of power for my R50 mains.
Has a nice feature when you set it 2 channel that dual amps your mains if you are not using B speakers or bi amping.
As for distortion, I turned it up as loud as I could stand it, and didn't notice any.(14x20 room)

I don't believe, as some say, that these are as good as some flagship recivers, I've never had one, but I should have a HK avr7300 to compare it too in about 6 months.:p
I believe in about 4 years these Digital path AVR's will be the standard, rather than the analog receivers we have now. Lighter weight, less power consumption and probably cheaper to make.
There is a neverending thread about this receiver(SA-XR55s) over at AVS forum, 94 pages;
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=530504&page=1&pp=30

noimposse

Well what about in comparison to say...an HK AVR240? I was considering to make the avr a future purchase, but if the panny is something worth getting, then maybe I would reconsider.

I have a small room and wont be turning the thing up all that loud, clarity is a must though.

brijenjas

The panny is very clear and detailed, I have mine in a 14' x 20'.
I haven't had the opportunity to listen to the hk 240.
If you buy the Panny from Amazon.com or JR.com (out of stock at both places right now) I'm pretty sure they both(Amazon for sure) have a 30 refund/exchange policy, if it doesn't fit your needs you can return it. (you'll have to pay for shipping both ways if you return it).
Some say they had to let theirs break in for a couple of weeks, mine sounded good out of the box, sounded bettter after about two weeks, richer/fuller sound.
I've heard that it is a little on the bright side, to not match it with bright speakers. I have R50 mains and I had to turn the treble up 2 notches, so I don't think it's bright.
I tried it and I was fully expecting to send it back when I ordered it thinking the power wouldn't compare to my old setup , I ended up keeping it and will be selling my pioneer 814 and amps.
Maybe some others have tried it and can give an opinion,
I recommend you give it a try.