Receiver Maximus Marantz/Yammy/HK????????

samiam

Hi,

I am going to be putting together a little ht with the help of a new Panasonic ax100.

My room is small 13x13 with 11 feet of kitchen in the backend
My speaker choice is as follows:

rti8 2 front
csi3 center *edit* csi5
fxi3 surround *edit* rti6
(eventually rti6 rear)

sub, probably velodyne.

Even though I am making a theater, I am going to be using this setup for a majority of music. That being said, everytime I go into a store, it's BUY the Onkyo 674! And I just.don't.like.it. It's ok. The speakers feel like they are doing most of the work. When the sales guy wasn't looking I cranked up the nob and got dead air and a rythmic click click click. Not good.

Video:
I'm going to put my comcast hd dvr straight to the projector with an hdmi.
I'm going to put my progressive dvd probably straight through the projector with component connections.
I'm going to connect my computer (the music server, gaming station and websurfer) with the digital audio out to a receiver and the video straight to the projector.

So, summing up, video straight through projector!

Audio:
Classical, Guitar, Jazz, Vocals, Muse, Keane, Indie. HD Concerts. I want rich midddles. In the store the rti8's did that better than the rti10's in my opinion. I need 2 zones. I want great bass management and the regular rainbow of dts/thx/blahblahblah 7.1

Now should I go down individual parts lane or should I get a receiver like:

Denon AVR-2307CI
Yamaha RX-V1600 *3 zones, 100mhz processor
Marantz SR5001 *I like the voice/video sync feature

I really want to make the rti8's shine, and I know that more power with an amp does that from earlier posts. But what's a noob to do? Should I shop around and get a 7.1 amp? HELP!

Oh yea, which is more economical. I mean, if I had my way it would be tubes...but...whoops, a moth just flew out of my wallet!

aaharvel

welcome.

http://us.marantz.com/Products/1166.asp

http://www.harmankardon.com/product_detail.aspx?cat=REC&prod=AVR%20240&stype=S



imo yamaha and especially onkyo, and even denon are steps down in their respective price classes.

danger boy

i'd go with the Marantz SR5001 and see how it sounds with your speaker set up.. then if you want, add an amp later down the road. no one says you have to shell out all the money at one time.. that gets insanely expensive. esp on new equipment.

Shizelbs

If I were in your situation, I would make sure whatever receiver you ended up getting has preamp outs, so that you can add on another external 2 channel amp of your choice. Particularly since you are going to be listening to plenty of music.

samiam

Thanks for the great advice! I have a question however...What is the deal with Marantz? Where do they fall in the line of receivers? I'm talking, what's the best in my price range?

danger boy

samiam wrote:

Thanks for the great advice! I have a question however...What is the deal with Marantz? Where do they fall in the line of receivers? I'm talking, what's the best in my price range?

what is your price range?

samiam

danger boy wrote:

what is your price range?

Hey you mean you can't read my mind? lol

Well after a bunch of research last night, I actually am tempted to go economy due to the fact that the HK avr and the Marantz slightly older models are in the $300 range.:eek: Then I would find a nice used amp and see what that does. So I would like to stay in the $500 range, unless there is something so sweet out there I couldn't resist.

aaharvel

http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?miscrcvr&1163970180

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_12_3/harman-kardon-avr-235-receiver-9-2005.html

danger boy

going used is a great idea.. you can get more bang for your bucks... nearly everything i own is used..

but in the $500 price range.. i'm not sure how much receiver and amp you will be able to get.

Ask around here if anyone is looking to upgrade and may be wanting to unload a receiver or a decent 2 channel amp.

samiam

danger boy wrote:

going used is a great idea.. you can get more bang for your bucks... nearly everything i own is used..

but in the $500 price range.. i'm not sure how much receiver and amp you will be able to get.

Ask around here if anyone is looking to upgrade and may be wanting to unload a receiver or a decent 2 channel amp.

Thanks..I just love the idea of getting more for less!

The receiver search is almost over:

I am looking at

Harman Kardon AVR-235 $270
Marantz Sr4600 $300

unless someone else has a sweet recommendation I'm leaning towards the Marantz because they emphasize audio over feature sets from what I've found.


What do you all think about this little amp I just found? Would it work with these receivers? I'm worried that the two less expensive receivers aren't going to have enough power for the setup. Thoughts?

dared vp-16 Tube

http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/auc.pl?ampstube&1161653840&auc&3&4&

should I even bother??? Hmmmmm My main goal is to make the rti's shine. I want to hear the difference between metal and nylon strings. I know some of you know what I'm talking about.

samiam

bump

danger boy

samiam wrote:

bump

what are you bumping? :mad:

samiam

danger boy wrote:

what are you bumping? :mad:

isn't a bump meant to get a few more opinions in forums? Unless I'm missing something I had a couple of questions at the end of my post.

Sheesh!;)

danger boy

samiam wrote:

isn't a bump meant to get a few more opinions in forums? Unless I'm missing something I had a couple of questions at the end of my post. Sheesh!;)

While it's a good idea to solicit opinions, it's also a good idea to do your own homework whenever thinking about buying stuff. :eek: now there's an idea

danger boy

my opinion is... you're ugly. ha ha ha ha ha.

sorry that was way to easy.

LuSh

The Denon or Yamaha would be the obvious choices. The HK stuff on the lower end is weak...in terms of dynamic power, overall build quality and is almost featureless. The Marantz stuff is very weak at the knees when powering speakers and is still Denon's adopted little brother.

Both the Denon and Yamaha are the clear winners when it comes to overall digital processing and grunt. Both use Burr Brown DAC's for all channels and have enough power to properly push the RTi's, not to mention the unique microphone calibration system that really does improve in room performance. Between the two I think it's a toss up. Both are top of their class.

samiam

danger boy wrote:

While it's a good idea to solicit opinions, it's also a good idea to do your own homework whenever thinking about buying stuff. :eek: now there's an idea

edited: just a reminder, please don't fill up my thread with junk posts. btw doesn't this qualify as doing my own homework?

capecodder

ohhh boy, here we go

amulford

Brother, if you can't take a little good natured ribbing you ain't gonna last long in here. Pulling attitude is one sure fire way to get run the f#ck off QUICK.

He's right. You have to make your own decisions, as you have to live with it.

Now if you want my opinion, you're going too low on power. You have alot of volume to fill, maybe step up with the receiver.

Oh yeah, and you're momma dresses you funny, too...

samiam

amulford wrote:

Brother, if you can't take a little good natured ribbing you ain't gonna last long in here. Pulling attitude is one sure fire way to get run the f#ck off QUICK.

He's right. You have to make your own decisions, as you have to live with it.

Now if you want my opinion, you're going too low on power. You have alot of volume to fill, maybe step up with the receiver.

Oh yeah, and you're momma dresses you funny, too...

I just thought it was unhelpful that's all. I don't like wading through junk posts. It's like spam.

Anyways, more power is good. That's why I had the amp question. As far as living with my decision...nobody said I was looking for someone to hold my hand through this.

NSSherlock!

aaharvel

Lush, with all due respect.. Lower end H/K's have no power? Marantz receivers are weak in the knees? Yamahas in that price range have more grunt? Sure. If you define grunt as in DSP language. I myself really enjoy Yamaha's Simulated Sci-fi Catholic Church or Russian Bathroom 7speaker Luminescent mode. Oh and don't forget those "presence" speakers.

Let's look at the grunt by the numbers. The Yamaha RX-V2400, a $1,000 avr, far out of this guy's price range is advertised as 120x7. "With seven channels driving 8-ohm loads, the amplifier reaches 0.1% distortion at 32.3 watts and 1% distortion at 36.9 watts (http://www.hometheatermag.com/receivers/104yam/index1.html)"

To me that's not grunt-It's a whimper. Imagine what a yammie in this guy's budget would do. Look, I'm not brand bashing. But facts are facts. Yamaha relies on wild-eyed DSPs and admittedly some useful features like room adaptation as their major selling points. Sound wise, they tend to sound bright (a nightmare if you already have rti speakers) because they're not known for their amp sections, power supplies or current draw. Take a $500 Yamaha and weigh it next to a comparable Marantz, or H/K. No comparison. By in large Marantz receivers meet or come close to their rated specs, even more so than Denon in their lower-priced offerings- so that throws out the "Marantz is weak" theory. H/K often if not almost always exceeds their ratings. Do some research.

Speaking of Denon, they make excellent products. I love their receivers. But if you can find a Denon 2807 with preouts for $300, or whatever SamIam (cool name btw) said his budget was, good for him. Soundwise, with brighter rti polks, a Marantz or H/K is the better match, both sonically and in terms of power delivery.

(edit) on a side note, entry-level BurrBrowns are overrated imo. The Monster of DAC chipsets if you will. Try something new, like Cirrus-Logic. Do a google search, you might be pleasantly surprised. Happy hunting!

LuSh

aaharvel,

Those Yamaha spec's are rather dated, 4 years dated, have you looked at a Yamaha power supply lately? Marantz are gutless, the company exists to fill a void that Denon can't fill. Don't believe me? Take a listen between them in the same room and same system, I have and I can confirm that the Denon's and Yamaha's will have more weight. Oh, and you do realize that D&M holdings bought Marantz to position them as a lower tier right?

Please don't talk down to me like I need to do some "research". Btw, that link you posted has been tossed about for the last 4 years now. Please try to reference something current.

Lowell_M

WAAAAAAAAA!!!!! I often wish I had Russian Bathroom 7speaker Luminecense mode.

Take a look at ebay for refurbished H/K's. I snagged an AVR 635 for $500. Not sure what the lower end units are going for. The rest of my system is similar to yours and I am very happy with the sound right now. You can listen to decent setups like this at Fry's.

No matter what...Make sure you listen to options before you buy!!!

aaharvel

i'm not talking down to you Lush. INstead of making blanket statements, i'm trying to provide SamIam with something a little more in depth and some links to research.

Comparative listening? I have. With my own rti speakers. You can also add Pioneer and Sony ES to that list as well.

As for talking down to you, lol this is an internet forum cowboy. Nothing more. Don't take yourself so seriously.

danger boy

sad about Marantz audio gear.. still it's beautiful black design makes it attractive.. but they have unfortunately joined the ranks of just the so so gear.

Although, i don't have any experience with their high end gear.. which it appears that some of that is overpriced to me. it's great looking though. at $2,099 DVD player. yeah that's up there.

LuSh

Posting links on product that is 4 years old and using that as reference almost is a blanket statement. At any rate, I hope you enjoy your system, that's what it's all about. I just don't think the newer Denon and Yamaha product can be touched for the money.

aaharvel

LuSh wrote:

Posting links on product that is 4 years old and using that as reference almost is a blanket statement.

Almost not quite. And the link is 2 years old cowboy. But you want a newer reference, I can appreciate this. So here ya' go. Feb. 2006. Yamaha rx-4600. Another $1,000+ model. Advertised at 130x7. http://hometheatermag.com/completesystems/206polk/index7.html

Benchtest: All channels (7) driven continuously into 8-ohm loads:
0.1% distortion at 47.3 watts
1% distortion at 48.8 watts

Nice evolution of the Yamaha's power supply there.. or am I simply making a blanket statement.. :rolleyes:

LuSh

aaharvel,

You continue to belittle me, with the "cowboy" tag. I might not have posted as often as you have but I think most of the elders would agree I've been around. Again the RX-V4600 was out of production almost two years ago. The RX-V2400 almost 4 years ago. You're looking at the date of the link not how old the actual product is. This could be seen as a blanket statement when your orginal link (even if it was posted in 2004) is of a product that is four years old.

http://www.hometheatermag.com/receivers/205marantz/

That probabaly has as much relevance.

I noticed you have alot of HK equipment hence I must have hit a nerve. I'm sorry. I just think in today's market the HK and Marantz aren't as competative. We'll agree to disgree.

Please stop with the name calling, it's getting kind of old.

reeltrouble1

hmmmmm................what was that line F1 used about receivers?

Welcome to CP enjoy the gang they are the best. This place is the best audio board with members and company staff jumping in on a variety of topics. Lets say there is no lack of pasision for the hobby here.

RT1

aaharvel

no lack of passion. :cool:

shack

Denon.