Just for music

[daemonOS64]

I hope I am in the right place. I am not a guru or what not. I have a theater system for my TV and I like it.
What I am in need of help of is for music. I don't feel I need 7 speakers for music. I supose my question is what type of receiver should I look for. To be honest I can't spend +/- $100 over $2k so it's a small budget. My first thought was receiver, pair speakers and sub. Do I even need a sub?

 

[bandphan]

If you are going to go with sub/s (which i would do ) you would need a unit with bass mangement or a stand alone eq/crossover. How large is your listening room? Imo bookshelves with stereo subs is great option. You could stay under budget with this option.

 

[lsiberian]

I hope I am in the right place. I am not a guru or what not. I have a theater system for my TV and I like it.
What I am in need of help of is for music. I don't feel I need 7 speakers for music. I supose my question is what type of receiver should I look for. To be honest I can't spend +/- $100 over $2k so it's a small budget. My first thought was receiver, pair speakers and sub. Do I even need a sub?

For that budget you can get a lot of great speakers.

Do you have the skills or desire to build your own speakers. You could smoke almost any commercial offering with your budget aimed at a DIY Project. Maybe some Scanspeak coaxials paired with a decent sealed sub build. Of course if you build a good ported sub it could do double duty. And would exceed your current sub for your theater probably.

 

[brendy]

A stereo receiver with pre-out/main-in jacks would be a good choice.You can get a good one for around $400 to $600,leaving at least $1400 for speakers.

 

[jostenmeat]

I hope I am in the right place. I am not a guru or what not. I have a theater system for my TV and I like it.
What I am in need of help of is for music. I don't feel I need 7 speakers for music. I supose my question is what type of receiver should I look for. To be honest I can't spend +/- $100 over $2k so it's a small budget. My first thought was receiver, pair speakers and sub. Do I even need a sub?

Speakers first, everything else follows after. Depending on what you listen to, and how loudly, you might get away with a pair of bookshelves even without sub for a while.

If you do add a sub, the Behringer DCX is what is most often recommended here it seems. Otherwise, you can just use the sub's internal xover with hi level ins and outs for the time being.

Then again, a few integrateds DO come with bass mgmt (because most don't), and they include Outlaw and Arcam at the least. Eats up some budget, and very primitive compared to the above. (Then again, most people use such basic BM).

At the other end of the spectrum is the super affordable Sherwood for $60-100.

I would also consider an HT receiver acting as 2ch integrated, if only for what I find to be the very value rich auto EQ system they come with. I sometimes wonder how different my HT Onkyo receiver with Audyssey MultEQ XT would do in place of my Cambridge A class switching integrated without any EQ.

At this budget, the Sierra1s by Ascend would be on my very short list of candidates to check out. Will leave you over 1k to spend elsewhere.

 

[j_garcia]

A stereo receiver with pre-out/main-in jacks would be a good choice.You can get a good one for around $400 to $600,leaving at least $1400 for speakers.

I have not seen a stereo receiver that has bass management though, so you might as well go with an integrated and get a better overall piece of gear.

I personally would say go with the Outlaw RR-2150 if they are in stock. Not only does it have bass management, it has ADUSTABLE bass management That still leaves you with a good budget for sub + mains and a very nice system.

My PM7200 is Class A also and it sounds sweet, but no bass management. I don't use a sub in my bedroom anyway.

 

[daemonOS64]

Wow thank you guys for all the replys. I have all the info I think. I will have to look into a few of these. My room right at 300 sq ft and I cannot build my own speakers. I will start my hunt today.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Aperion 6T x 2 = $1,390 (free 30 day trial, free shipping both ways Aperion):

http://www.aperionaudio.com/product/Intimus-6T-Tower-Speaker,110,28,255.aspx

Harman Kardon AVR-254 Receiver for $499 (free shipping both ways Amazon):

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0016BGRX6/ref=ord_cart_shr?_encoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance

Total = $1,889

I don't think you need as much bass for just 2 Ch music. The 6T goes down to 28 Hz @ -6dB.

I think almost any receivers will do. I've owned a $500 HK receiver in the past, and it made a huge impression on me. But I'm sure Denon, Onkyo, Yamaha, Pioneer will do just fine.

Free to try & free shipping BOTH ways is always good!

 

[Pyrrho]

I hope I am in the right place. I am not a guru or what not. I have a theater system for my TV and I like it.
What I am in need of help of is for music. I don't feel I need 7 speakers for music. I supose my question is what type of receiver should I look for. To be honest I can't spend +/- $100 over $2k so it's a small budget. My first thought was receiver, pair speakers and sub. Do I even need a sub?

Whether you need a sub or not will depend upon the speakers you buy. Is the $2k budget for speakers and amplification, or do you need to pay for sources as well? If so, what sources do you want?

If it were me, and if I was wanting a receiver and speakers, I would try to spend very little on the receiver, and put most of my money into the speakers. Speakers matter more than anything else for how it will sound.

The kind of receiver to look for will be dependent upon the speakers. If the speakers are terribly inefficient or low impedance, then you will need better amplification to drive them than if they are an easy impedance and efficient.

What I would do is look at speakers in the $1k-1.9k range, and if the ones I liked were $1.9k and easy to drive, I would then buy a cheap receiver to drive them (actually, I would probably buy used, but if we are sticking with new, I would be perfectly happy driving $1.9k speakers with a $100 receiver). Even then, the receiver will have a flatter frequency response, lower distortion, etc., than the speakers.

And the above is close to what I have done myself. I used to have a home theater with a receiver that retailed for about $600 with speakers that retailed for well over $6k. I ended up replacing the receiver with one that retails for about $1.6k because I wanted extra features. However, if I don't engage any new feature, it sounds the same as the cheaper receiver. If my speakers were inefficient or a difficult load, having about double the power (which my newer receiver has) could have mattered, but as things are, it is irrelevant, as the old receiver could drive things louder than I ever wanted it.

 

[Swerd]

I personally would say go with the Outlaw RR-2150 if they are in stock. Not only does it have bass management, it has ADUSTABLE bass management That still leaves you with a good budget for sub + mains and a very nice system.

+1 for the Outlaw RR-2150. Its an excellent choice.

 

[3db]

+1 for the Outlaw RR-2150. Its an excellent choice.

I would 2nd that choice as it has very good bass management and power amplifier section to boot that doesn't shy from 4 ohm loads.

 

[ggunnell]

Be aware that the Outlaw does not have remote control capability. You may find getting up and going over to the unit every time you want to make even a small adjustment gets old real fast.

 

[ggunnell]

One inexpensive way to add speaker high pass filtering to 2ch receivers are these inline filters:
http://www.audioc.com/accessories1/misc/hipass.htm
At only 6dB@octave, they're not as good as the DSP bass management in an AVR, but for music signals only they are good enough, and a definite improvement over no high pass filtering to your speakers.
The 'gotcha' using these with a receiver is that the receiver has to have EITHER pre-out / amp-in jacks OR tape in-out jacks that actually function as a tape monitor loop (so you can send the signal through the tape out-in while still keeping your CD, phono, or tuner source playing).
An example 2ch receiver having pre-out / amp in jacks is the Marantz SR-4023.
Example stereo receivers having 'real' tape montor loops are the HK 3490 and the Yamaha RX-497. The Yamaha would be my personal choice if you decide to go the 2ch route but you need to do your own research

 

[lsiberian]

Aperion 6T x 2 = $1,390 (free 30 day trial, free shipping both ways Aperion):

http://www.aperionaudio.com/product/Intimus-6T-Tower-Speaker,110,28,255.aspx

Harman Kardon AVR-254 Receiver for $499 (free shipping both ways Amazon):

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0016BGRX6/ref=ord_cart_shr?_encoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance

Total = $1,889

I don't think you need as much bass for just 2 Ch music. The 6T goes down to 28 Hz @ -6dB.

I think almost any receivers will do. I've owned a $500 HK receiver in the past, and it made a huge impression on me. But I'm sure Denon, Onkyo, Yamaha, Pioneer will do just fine.

Free to try & free shipping BOTH ways is always good!

I just got a 247 it really does well with music. There are no issue with the 2 channel portion of it period. Its a steal at ebay direct from HK with a full warranty. It goes for 180 + 25 shipping on Best offer. The reason it's so cheap is because all the issues it had with hdmi stuff before the firmware update. I've had no issues with it yet.

So I think for your setup it's the way to go. That will leave you a lot of money for some very nice subs

 

[ggunnell]

Lest my post above be taken as an overall recommendation to get a stereo receiver and inline high pass filters, rather than a multichannel reciever -- I agree with many of the previous posters that a multichannel receiver with digital bass management and Room EQ may actually sound BETTER than similarly priced analog 2ch equipment -- because:

Many people can't get space around their main speakers -- several feet minimum, 6-8 feet is better, away from any wall.

Many people have not acoustically treated their rooms (several hundred dollars even if you go DIY).

Many people want more than a single seat sweet spot.

If any of the above apply to you, a receiver with at least a 6 measuring point room EQ system will probably work out better for you than a 2ch receiver in the same price range.

OTOH, if you have the room away from walls for flat panel speakers to work, --- I hate all the subjective verbiage, but there's a reason why, several years ago, something like 2/3 (IIRC) of surveyed Stereophile readers had Magnepans. You'll need 4 ohm drive capability, but receivers from NAD, Cambrige Audio, HK and Yamaha can provide that. Search on the Maggie user groups for more info.

 

[ribbonking]

Long time lurker, first time poster.

I just put together a two-channel only rig for my library.

Bought most of it used on Audiogon and its a great little system - in my opinion

Perhaps my experience will be helpful to you.

Here's what I put together -

Musical Fidelity A3.5 integrated amplifer

Spendor S3/5R monitors (sealed so placement is easy - great for jazz, acoustic music, not as good for hard rock if that's your preference)

Cambridge Audio DacMagic (new)

PC/WinAmp as music server - already had the PC

Denon DVD-2910 for SACD and DVD-A discs.

Bought everything (except the existing PC) for $2,050.00.

Before the MF A3.5 arrived I was using an older Onkyo TX-SR702 home theater reciever in pure audio mode for power. The Onkyo didn't sound bad but there's no comparison with the amp.

Also, when you run a receiver in a pure audio type mode, you won't be using bass manangement or Audyssey-type correction. On the Onkyo, stereo mode just didn't sound as good as pure audio. That's not to say an HK or Marantz receiver wouldn't be better for music than the Onkyo - YMMV

I do have a small sub hooked up in the room but don't use it often. Just connected to the pre-out on the MF and control it from the sub. In my situation, I'm living without bass management quite nicely.

Note that I am using this system near field so your requirements may vary.

 

[John Bailey]

You've got a good budget for a music only set up. Unless you're after a lot of bass, I wouldn't worry about a sub. If it's music only, most decent floor standers will do well. To buy a good sub and good speakers, you'll go over your budget, in most cases.

You've got a lot of good suggestions. Your budget allows you some good options. So, I'll just give you some other options to consider.

NAD - C372 At 150 wpc, plenty of power for anything you may want.

NAD - C355 80 wpc and, again, plenty of power unless you're into hurting your ears.

Axiom M60/80
PBS T65
Monitor Audio SR6
Magnepan 1.6 (my all time favourite for music 'cept I don't have room, I think you might. They would have to be paired with the NAD - C372 for enough power)

 

[ggunnell]

Thanks, John, for adding another mention of Magnepans.

The $2k budget reminded me of this article -- it's about 9 years old, so the electronics choices would need to be revisited:
http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/viewpoint/1199/donibbles.htm

If you've never heard flat panel speakers, you really should. If you're near a major metro area it'll be easy, otherwise you might have to post in a user group to find an owner near you.


If for some reason flat panels won't work for you (make sure you audition some anyway), the next most subjectively musically impressive sound you'll get within your budget involves an integrated tube amp and a pair of stand mounted 'monitor' type speakers. Prima Luna is an easy choice for the amp, and although ribbon tweeters are a nice match, I find that the ubiquitous B&W aluminum domes with their extended transient response are a good match -- but this again is a case where you need to 'let your ears do the walking' using good recodings you are familar with.

Edit: Here's a link to the Maggie owner's thread on AVS:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1086093