The SEPARATES vs. AVR Thread

[2channel lover]

You mean guys who own 2Ch High-end separates don't even own one AVR somewhere in the entire house, not even in the living room or guest bedroom?

I mean surely not all rooms "need" or "deserve" to be fitted with high-end separates, right?

My system is multi-ch and probably more midfi, than high end, but I had an AVR once...tried to do HT for the wife so I bought a $300 Onkyo...it lasted about 5 yrs...then it sat (boxed) in storage for 2 yrs. When pressed back into duty, I was ready to move on...practically gave it to a co-worker for like $50.

You're right, not every room needs high end attention...with a fairly small house I was able to add a couple of additional zones off the prepro and more or less get whole house coverage...at one point I was considering a complete separate system to do this anchored by the Outlaw Stereo Receiver (RR2160)

 

[Mikado463]

You mean guys who own 2Ch High-end separates don't even own one AVR somewhere in the entire house, not even in the living room or guest bedroom?

I mean surely not all rooms "need" or "deserve" to be fitted with high-end separates, right?

I didn't mean to imply that, rather that the majority of high end systems are not powered by AVR's.

FWIW, I employ an AVR on my 5.1 set up in the family room and a 2 channel receiver in my garage system.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

For our commercial break..........

Well, yesterday I had some free time so I went to check out the local Magnolia store at Best Buy in OKC. The most prominent components were the B&W 802D3, 803D3, 805D3, and the McIntosh gears, including the MX160 Pre-pro and Amps. They also had Pre-pros from Arcam, Rotel, Marantz, and Integra.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

The 802D3 sounded just like my 802D2, which sounded just like the 802D1 to me.

No way in hells the 802D3 goes down to 17Hz @ -3dB from what I heard. More like 35Hz, not 17Hz.

 

[PENG]

Next time you go can you take a photo of the instantaneous peak watt meters to show the maximum captured wattage as I did last time I auditioned the Blades. That time, the needle did hit the 120 W mark once.

 

[Out-Of-Phase]

Just looking at all that bling, my wallet hurts.

My receivers and external PA amps can take me there for thousands less.

 

[Out-Of-Phase]

Ol' big blue, I don't need you.
Your heavy weight is not all great.
Your better sound just ain't true.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Next time you go can you take a photo of the instantaneous peak watt meters to show the maximum captured wattage as I did last time I auditioned the Blades. That time, the needle did hit the 120 W mark once.

I should have done that. But the watt-meters were not really moving. They were just twitching slightly, not moving much.

 

[PENG]

I should have done that. But the watt-meters were not really moving. They were just twitching slightly, not moving much.

Must be a small room, or you didn't listen very loud. The 802Ds (any D) could suck a lot of current/power if pushed.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Just looking at all that bling, my wallet hurts.

My receivers and external PA amps can take me there for thousands less.

Yeah, just visual bling bling.

Those bling might cause a few people to hear things that aren't there - and soon their money.

I did ask them how much they could sell me the McIntosh MX122 Pre-pro. They said $6,300 (MSRP is $7K).

I said hells no thanks and thinking that even my Denon X3000 AVR sounds just as good minus the blue bling.

It's cool that people could still come to this local store in little OKC and audition all they want. I mean OKC isn't exactly a big city like Dallas, LA, NYC, Chicago, etc. But they still have all these high-end gears like B&W Diamond, Martin Logan, McIntosh, Arcam, Rotel, Marantz.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Must be a small room, or you didn't listen very loud. The 802Ds (any D) could suck a lot of current/power if pushed.

Listening distance was probably no more than 9' away at the dealership.

I used my Denon X3000 on my B&W 802D2 back then and it got pretty loud without much effort. So I'm not convinced these speakers really need all that power, I guess no more than most tower speakers that are around 90dB/w/m.

 

[PENG]

Listening distance was probably no more than 9' away at the dealership.

I used my Denon X3000 on my B&W 802D2 back then and it got pretty loud without much effort. So I'm not convinced these speakers really need all that power, I guess no more than most tower speakers that are around 90dB/w/m.

I agree, the huge Blades were very loud in a large room but the needles hit mostly around the 0.12 and 12 Watt marks, but certainly not just "twitching slightly" as such. So I guess you either exaggerated or customer defined "twitching slightly".

 

[panteragstk]

Yeah, just visual bling bling.

Those bling might cause a few people to hear things that aren't there - and soon their money.

I did ask them how much they could sell me the McIntosh MX122 Pre-pro. They said $6,300 (MSRP is $7K).

I said hells no thanks and thinking that even my Denon X3000 AVR sounds just as good minus the blue bling.

It's cool that people could still come to this local store in little OKC and audition all they want. I mean OKC isn't exactly a big city like Dallas, LA, NYC, Chicago, etc. But they still have all these high-end gears like B&W Diamond, Martin Logan, McIntosh, Arcam, Rotel, Marantz.

And here I thought you were going to show us your neat new Mac setup...

 

[PENG]

The point I am trying to make is that even the so called power hungry speakers such as the big 802Ds, can be driven with relatively little power depending on the individual's requirements. Lots of time you see posts telling people they need a high power amp for certain speakers, without finding out the requirements (i.e. spl desired in what size room sitting how far etc...) first.

Recently I read posts that claimed the little LS50 needs a lot of power to sound good, yet I have been driving them with a 5 watts per channel for some time now and they sound just as good for the spl I need from where I sit. It is true that I can't crank them up like I could with the 3805 and my other amps, but then if I really have to, I could use the subwoofer (XO 100) to help a little.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I agree, the huge Blades were very loud in a large room but the needles hit mostly around the 0.12 and 12 Watt marks, but certainly not just "twitching slightly" as such. So I guess you either exaggerated or customer defined "twitching slightly".

View attachment 24522

I might have added a few spices.

 

[Out-Of-Phase]

Okay, alright, I'll be honest here.

I've always liked the looks of McIntosh products.

There I said it.

 

[Good4it]

Guess what has the most profit for BEST BUY? I’ll bet it’s the gear that costs the most (read MacIntosh and BW).

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

...needs a lot of power to sound good, yet I have been driving them with a 5 watts...

Yeah, very cliche. "My speakers need a lot of power to open up"...

For most rooms and most cases, NO THEY DON'T!

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

While I was there for a couple of hours, no other customers showed up. The one guy working there said that he hardly ever sees anyone come there to see these gears.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

And here I thought you were going to show us your neat new Mac setup...

I think the odds of me getting an ATI Pre-pro is probably higher than me replacing my current system with all McIntosh.

I already have the ATI AT3005 and AT2005. All I need is their new Pre-pro to complete the ATI system.

I'm NOT saying I'm doing that, okay!