Update from today...
I went out today armed with a few CD’s. Genesis (track 4-Second Home by the Sea) – all instrumental , Hearts Greatest Hits (Dreamboat Annie, and the acoustic version of Dog & Butterfly. And to completely change gears, and what really brought other customers into the room was Van Halen’s Greatest Hits cranked loud
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First, I prefer the sound of Pioneer (the new elite 03 - $899) over Denon (2808 - $799). Yamaha 1800 ($899) is a close to 2nd and to be honest, I would be happy with either the Yamaha or the Pioneer, but I spent the majority of the time with the Pioneer on. I’m told that the Pioneer 1018 that they did not have, is comparable to the 03 and a better fit for what I need, (not alot). That unit is $599.
The Direct something or other feature on the Pioneer was outstanding in 2 channel and when playing the torpedo attack scene in U-571 I thought I had died and gone to heaven. The sound was absolutely amazing. Adam posted some real good stuff yesterday and helped me from dropping too much on a receiver out of the gate. After today, I’d rather spend an extra $1000 on speakers than buy a $1700 receiver. Thanks Adam.
When I walked in today, the employees saw my 3 CD cases and came right over. I still looked like the bum I do on my days off, but someone posted earlier that CD’s would spark interest. Boy did it. I had 2 people wanting to help me.
I walked in and said, “I need a receiver and speakers for $4K.” I’m taking my wife on a much needed vacation with the other $2K I was planning on using.
Ebony started to fine tune a Denon 3808 while the movie was loading. I asked her to use the 2808 instead to compare apples to apples. The sound was good, real good. The movie was U-571, I played the scene where they were being attacked at sea. Ok, I had her switch from the Denon to the Pioneer and the difference was clear and obvious to even a beginner like me.
Every inch of the room seemed to come alive. Really good sound (Denon) was now Outstanding balls to the wall sound (Pioneer). It was unbelievable
. I had never heard such noise outside of a movie theater. My poor Bose speakers were crying.
I shut the movie off and put in my Genesis CD, and took the center channel out of the mix. The song, 'Second Home by the Sea' is a killer song from 1983 that was always great to listen to as the night went into day. It never sounded better than it did today.
I started with Klipsch WF-34 ($600 ea). They were good. I then went up to Klipsch WF-35 ($750 ea). Better, fuller sound, nice. Then I asked her to turn on the Def Techs BP7004 ($849). There was no comparison for me. I preferred Def Tech. I switched back and forth between the 7004’s and the WF-35s. No comparison for me. Def Tech had it.
Martin Logan Preface speakers at $750 were then tuned on but they sounded horrible. She agreed and said their must be a connection issue. Then we popped on the Def Tech BP7002 ($1200) and I said, check please!! What a difference between the 7002 and the 7004. Throughout all of the speaker/receiver changes (and there were an awfully lot over 2+ hours) I had the 650 watt Def Tech sub LDAA ($700) on.
The center used was the Def Tech is CLR2002. This thing is HUGE!!! 21” wide and 12” deep. No way will this fit on a shelf on my entertainment center, nor is there enough room on top. I don’t have my TV on the wall. Bummer!! I would not be able to get this if I wnet the Def tech route.
Surrounds were the Def 1000’s.
At least for today, it was Pioneer & Def Tech. I just saw an add for Klipsch RF82’s ($1099) for the almost the same price as the 7002. It will be sweet to compare the 7002 to this model but not having them side by side will be challenging. Too late in the day to do it today.
