Finally happy with my setup.

[allEars]

I am very new to this great hobby. A few months ago I decided to get back into the hobby. I had a Marantz 7500 that I wanted to replace with a receiver that supported the latest Codec.
I was looking for a receiver that did very well with blu-rays and even better with music. Most dealers don't put any time into setting up their system thus making very difficult to compare the different makes. After several weeks of going from store to store I decided to go with the Denon 4310. Excellent receiver with many features, excellent surround sound but when it came to music, a little flat. I started to miss my Marantz.
Well today I decided to spend some money and got a MX-135. What a difference, the detail in the sound is day and night comparing to the Denon. Spent hours lessening to music, the TV never came on. If you are looking for a unit that works exceptionally well with music, I would keep this one on the short list.

Sorry for the long post, just wanted to share my experience.

 

[3db]

Congrats on your purchase. Its a very nice looking rig.

 

[agarwalro]

Damn! I don't think I'll ever be able to justify getting something like a pre-pro for the price. More power to you. But, not having HDMI switching at that price is somewhat of a buzzkill... Not that it matters since an external switch is easily added.

I have read that folks prefer the sound of the MX-135 to that of the Statement D2. Of course, in that price bracket, one should not believe everything one reads or trust everything everything one supposedly "hears" (pun intended ).

That you like it and can tell the improvement for yourself, is all that matters. Enjoy and thanks for sharing.

 

[GlocksRock]

That's very nice, got any more pics of your setup?

 

[allEars]

Damn! I don't think I'll ever be able to justify getting something like a pre-pro for the price. More power to you. But, not having HDMI switching at that price is somewhat of a buzzkill... Not that it matters since an external switch is easily added.

I have read that folks prefer the sound of the MX-135 to that of the Statement D2. Of course, in that price bracket, one should not believe everything one reads or trust everything everything one supposedly "hears" (pun intended ).

That you like it and can tell the improvement for yourself, is all that matters. Enjoy and thanks for sharing.

Thank you for the comments, HDMI is not an issue with me. I use a Denon 4310 for my home theather setup. This receiver will only be used (this might change) for stereo music. Only two speaker setup.

 

[allEars]

That's very nice, got any more pics of your setup?

Hi GlocksRock,

here is my setup, nothing special, I have seen some amazing setups on this site. It's a work in progress.

I keep reading in the forums that the sound difference between low and high end receivers is minimal. I decided to test this theory. At the present time, I have both the Denon 4310 and the Mcintosh sharing the same speakers, through a speaker switch box. I set both to Pure-stereo and using the same CD I went on to test the difference in sound, if any.

The difference turned out to be very noticeable, I was not ever able to get the Denon to sound as nice as the Mcintosh did. After changing setting several times on the Denon, it always sounded flat and with less depth (detail) compared to the Mcintosh.

Just my two cents...

 

[PENG]

For that kind of money and great look it is a good thing that it makes a noticeable difference for you. Time to upgrade to a pair of S8? Congratulations!

 

[Alex2507]

Time to upgrade to a pair of S8?

I think he should just get a pair of whatever that 1 speaker is.
Stereo anything is better than mono.

What is that btw?
My guess would have been a Studio 100 but I'm not real good at this game.

Edit: Is it a Sig 6?

 

[WmAx]

What a difference, the detail in the sound is day and night comparing to the Denon. Spent hours lessening to music, the TV never came on. If you are looking for a unit that works exceptionally well with music, I would keep this one on the short list.

Sorry for the long post, just wanted to share my experience.

I'm sorry.... but the only possible way a true audible difference was present, is if either (1) one of the compared items was malfunctioning [or] (2) one of the compared items was intentionally changing/coloring the sound - either by built in coloration or an over-looked sound setting.

In most cases, where everything is operating correctly and no coloration is present, people still PERCEIVE differences from psychological factors. Not even I am immune (no one is). But when you switch to a blinded scenario with levels matched -- those 'obvious' differences usually disappear and you can't tell the difference (IME and based on countless other examples). Also, I will presume the amps were not being clipped in either scenario due to speaker loading. This is also a factor.

BTW, I used to have McIntosh gear. It's very pretty.

Today I use professional Yamaha amplifiers and a Yamaha RX-V2600 as my pre-amp. I can practically guarantee you that only the tiniest minority of the best audiophile systems can compare to my main system - and anyone that has auditioned my system will agree - my point being other than cosmetics or pride of ownership; there is no purpose in buying over-priced audiophile electronics. The REAL differences are found in the speakers and room acoustics; the two components that I definitely go all out on.

-Chris

 

[chris357]

let me ask a question and I'm sure I'll get slammed for this. but if say BMW and Inifiniti(I sell both so i love both) take the same basic components suspension and engine and they engineer them pretty close and use similar building techniques.. why is there such a difference in the drive from the two companies. Why is there such a difference in horsepower rating from the two yet not so much a speed difference.

I think companies can take similar parts.. and come out with very different end units.. so can a Mac sound better than a Denon.. I think so..

do you think that in your desire to slam high end companies you arent jading your mind to not hear a difference? if it can be true in one direction it can be true in the other.. right?

i will never win the argument with you based on actual technical knowledge but.. why do some of you guys have to slam a guy even backhandedly when he's excited and proud of his new gear..




that thing is beautiful by the way and i bet it sounds even better!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Adam]

To the OP - congrats on the new Mac, allEars! It seems to fit perfectly in that stand, and the rest of your system looks great.

 

[sawzalot]

Hi GlocksRock,

here is my setup, nothing special, I have seen some amazing setups on this site. It's a work in progress.

I keep reading in the forums that the sound difference between low and high end receivers is minimal. I decided to test this theory. At the present time, I have both the Denon 4310 and the Mcintosh sharing the same speakers, through a speaker switch box. I set both to Pure-stereo and using the same CD I went on to test the difference in sound, if any.

The difference turned out to be very noticeable, I was not ever able to get the Denon to sound as nice as the Mcintosh did. After changing setting several times on the Denon, it always sounded flat and with less depth (detail) compared to the Mcintosh.

Just my two cents...

I really like the set-up very clean, very quality, very jealous I am, nice job.
It as a minimalistic approach that packs a punch,

 

[allEars]

let me ask a question and I'm sure I'll get slammed for this. but if say BMW and Inifiniti(I sell both so i love both) take the same basic components suspension and engine and they engineer them pretty close and use similar building techniques.. why is there such a difference in the drive from the two companies. Why is there such a difference in horsepower rating from the two yet not so much a speed difference.

I think companies can take similar parts.. and come out with very different end units.. so can a Mac sound better than a Denon.. I think so..

do you think that in your desire to slam high end companies you arent jading your mind to not hear a difference? if it can be true in one direction it can be true in the other.. right?

i will never win the argument with you based on actual technical knowledge but.. why do some of you guys have to slam a guy even backhandedly when he's excited and proud of his new gear..




that thing is beautiful by the way and i bet it sounds even better!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

there is a big difference and there is nothing wrong with either receiver. It's all about electronics as far as I can tell.
I can get two computers with the same specs manufactured by two different companies and one is going to run faster then the other. It all comes down to circuit design and components used.
The theory that a $300 receiver will sound the same as a $2000 is difficult to believe. My unscientific test tells me otherwise. That's the reason I decided to post my finding. I kept reading that all receivers sound about the same. In my case, they don't.

My understanding is that the Mcintosh uses an Analog board to process the stereo audio signal....not sure that is a contributing factor.


What a great hobby this is.

 

[chris357]

there is a big difference and there is nothing wrong with either receiver. It's all about electronics as far as I can tell.
I can get two computers with the same specs manufactured by two different companies and one is going to run faster then the other. It all comes down to circuit design and components used.
The theory that a $300 receiver will sound the same as a $2000 is difficult to believe. My unscientific test tells me otherwise. That's the reason I decided to post my finding. I kept reading that all receivers sound about the same. In my case, they don't.

My understanding is that the Mcintosh uses an Analog board to process the stereo audio signal....not sure that is a contributing factor.


What a great hobby this is.

yes it is!!!!, and my krell pre/pro sounds WAY better than my B&K Ref 50 or ref 30 !! and my denon AVR 3200 from way back when..

 

[Porschetech]

wow......love the pic. thats a sexy setup

 

[Alex2507]

What kind of wires are you using?

 

[allEars]

What kind of wires are you using?

I'm using 12AWG speaker wire from Monoprice. All the other cables came from the local high-end dealer. The speakers are Paradigm 60 V5

 

[Wafflesomd]

do you think that in your desire to slam high end companies you arent jading your mind to not hear a difference?

Um, no....

He's not slamming high end companies. If the changes here would have made a quantifiable difference, then I'm sure there would be a change in sound. However in this case, there most likely isn't a change at all.

 

[WmAx]

let me ask a question and I'm sure I'll get slammed for this. but if say BMW and Inifiniti(I sell both so i love both) take the same basic components suspension and engine and they engineer them pretty close and use similar building techniques.. why is there such a difference in the drive from the two companies. Why is there such a difference in horsepower rating from the two yet not so much a speed difference.

If they really measure identically (same power curves on a dyno), same weight and distribution of mass, same suspension stiffness/compliance, same tires, same seats, etc.; then they would drive identically. But those things are NOT the same and every variable effects the final 'feel' of the machine's acceleration, handling, etc..

I think companies can take similar parts.. and come out with very different end units.. so can a Mac sound better than a Denon.. I think so..

There are not many variables of significance in electronics in so far as signal manipulation is concerned; all audible parameters are known and are easily measured.

do you think that in your desire to slam high end companies you arent jading your mind to not hear a difference? if it can be true in one direction it can be true in the other.. right?

Slam? I clearly said many times in the past if cosmetics or pride of ownership were the point, then it's a good reason. But not for true audible differences - they simply don't exist - there is zero credible evidence to suggest mysterious differences of audibility between expensive 'high end' hardware and reasonably priced high quality non-high end gear. In every case where TRUE audible differences existed, that they were easily measured and well within known human thresh holds.

i will never win the argument with you based on actual technical knowledge but.. why do some of you guys have to slam a guy even backhandedly when he's excited and proud of his new gear..

I'm just being educational. Better sound would be had by spending the majority of money on the speakers and room acoustics. You think the world would be a better place if no one bothered to spread true information?

-Chris

 

[WmAx]

there is a big difference and there is nothing wrong with either receiver.

So you measured the response characteristics of each under the speaker load to know this?

You performed randomized blinded testing with level matched signals within 0.1dB of each other, AND derived valid statistical results to determine the 'audible difference?

If you did not do the above, then you allowed your psychological bias to determine your 'conclusions'. No shame in this. No one is immune - not even me. That's why proper steps have to be taken when making such conclusions.

It's all about electronics as far as I can tell.
I can get two computers with the same specs manufactured by two different companies and one is going to run faster then the other. It all comes down to circuit design and components used.

This is not even a comparable analog of the situation.

The theory that a $300 receiver will sound the same as a $2000 is difficult to believe. My unscientific test tells me otherwise. That's the reason I decided to post my finding. I kept reading that all receivers sound about the same. In my case, they don't.

Who says they all sound the same? It is not unheard of for a cheap receiver to strain under the load of speakers with complex loads at just moderate SPL levels or to have audible noise/hiss. The situation depends on the speaker load, sensitivity, your music preferences and normal SPL levels used for listening. Nor is it uncommon for high end 'tube' amps to have ridiculously high output impedance, resulting in a huge frequency response difference into the speaker load. Even some solid state units have substantial frequency response differences that can become audible.

My understanding is that the Mcintosh uses an Analog board to process the stereo audio signal....not sure that is a contributing factor.

That is irrelevant.

I want to make it clear that I am not hear to bash anything or anyone. I am only hear to help inform people on what things actually effect sound quality so that they can substantially improve their sound quality.


-Chris