Recommendations for Stereo Receiver or Integrated Amp?

[PearlcorderS701]

Wow! Some of the stuff you have listed wouldn't even be within reach of most buying an amp for their 1st system let alone a 2nd!

This IS a 2nd system we are talking about right?

Other than the M3, I certainly wouldn't include that other NAD stuff in that high-end bracket of yours.

Thanks Again Cris...

Yes, this is a second system, for a secondary loft room in the new house that will be used as a two channel listening/recording room -- I only put some of these models on the list to get an idea of what's out there from all price ranges. I couldn't afford 90 percent of what's on here, but I wanted to see what everyone thought of each of these.

Based on your statements regarding NAD, I will take them off the list, as well. Thank you.

Just out of curiosity though, why would you recommend I not consider the NAD stuff in the high end bracket?

 

[Josuah]

Which $500-$700 Onkyo line? Their amps, receivers?

Receivers. Last time I bothered to listen was years ago; I haven't bothered to listen to receivers in this price range anymore except for other people.

FWIW, I didn't particularly like Pioneer Elite's flagship receiver driving a pair of Martin Logan Source?Purity speakers. I felt some of that was from the MLs and some was from the receiver.

What sort of SPL are you thinking for your audio setup? You only need large woofers and/or excursion if you also need higher SPL. It'll be easier to find a completely passive speaker with medium-sized woofer. I'd probably consider Salk if you want a box speaker in a relatively untreated room.

 

[PearlcorderS701]

Thanks Jos...

Receivers. Last time I bothered to listen was years ago; I haven't bothered to listen to receivers in this price range anymore except for other people.

Interesting. I can recall hearing an Onkyo stereo receiver in an old friend of mine's system and that thing rocked -- I mean, I thought this was a good power amp. I am running an Onkyo in my HT, so I would get one of their stereo components in a heartbeat.

FWIW, I didn't particularly like Pioneer Elite's flagship receiver driving a pair of Martin Logan Source?Purity speakers. I felt some of that was from the MLs and some was from the receiver.

Really...I've heard good things about Pioneer Elites; at any rate, I don't have one on my list for stereo components.

What sort of SPL are you thinking for your audio setup? You only need large woofers and/or excursion if you also need higher SPL. It'll be easier to find a completely passive speaker with medium-sized woofer. I'd probably consider Salk if you want a box speaker in a relatively untreated room.

Good questions. This will be a smallish loft in the new house, and will not require high SPL -- at all. I would like to find some "old fashioned" kind of speakers for this room which sport big woofers and cabinets, for "old fashioned big room stereo" sound...I never even heard of Salk. But that's what I'm after, exactly what you said -- a box speaker. I'll check their stuff out. Thanks.

Please let me know if you have any other recommendations.

 

[anamorphic96]

Sorry if I seem abrupt. More than an anything I'm just trying to get you more focused.

Since you said its a smaller space lets stick with a budget of 500.00 for the amp.

Onkyo TX-8555 - Great receiver at a great price. It will drive most speakers with ease. Plus it offers the ability to upgrade.

Onkyo - Digital amp from JR.com for 499. I have not read to much but have heard good things and its received good reviews.

NAD C326BEE or C325BEE - Do not by any means cross NAD off your list. 2 Channel audio is there specialty. These are great amps at a great price. You can usually find this amp for about 399.00 It will probably outperform the Onkyos and Marantz units. NAD amps are very good with tricky speaker loads and are capable of high dynamic output down to 2 ohms. The Onkyos may very well shut down under those conditions as well as that Marantz. You may not need it but it's nice to have that ability.

Marantz SR4023 - Very nice receiver. However the NAD will probably have a better amp section.

Marantz PM5003 - Very nice. Price is a little high. But it offers a nice phono section if thats important.

The 5 pieces listed above are probably your best bet. I suggested the NAD and Onkyo for specific reasons.

Onkyo is a better value with its lower price. Offers a tuner, phono input, and sub out. Has a great price of less than 300. Usually 249 from most places. It has a good amp section that will drive most speakers. So this works for most people.

The NAD offers less features. No tuner, phono input, or sub out. It does have pre-outs and main in's. So this can act as a sub out as well. But it offers the more robust amp section in my opinion with its ability to deal with difficult loads and high dynamic output. Which is what matters more than continuous output. I have owned 3 NAD amps and have driven some tough speakers with them with no troubles at all.

So IMO you should really look at these two options. Then go from there. It just depends on where your priorities are and what you feel is more important.

As far as speakers go, you don't need big woofers for big sound or big bass. A PSB T65 will produce large amounts of bass and probably go deeper than some of the older JBL's and it only uses dual 6" woofers.

PSB offers some real nice speakers at a great price. The Image series towers offer great bass for their size.

 

[Drifter]

As we prepare to move into the new house, I have decided that instead of doing the HT in the upstairs loft, I will reserve this room for a dedicated 2-channel media space. With an Onkyo 605 to do the surround duties in the family room, I now need a two-channel stereo receiver or, preferably, an integrated amp.

I have been looking at the Onkyo digital integrated amp (the model escapes me) which they claim retails for about $800, plus their stereo receivers. I like the brand, but 800 bucks seems a bit excessive to me; I also checked out some integrateds and receivers from Yamaha and Denon, and also Marantz, and I can't decide which would offer better performance versus another. The other components in the 2-channel system would consist of (per my signature) a Marantz CC4001 5-disc CD changer, a TASCAM Professional CD recorder and a Technics turntable which I am going to replace.

Does anyone have any suggestions for good integrated amps or stereo receivers I should be looking at? Again, the budget isn't unlimited, so I'd like to stay in the sub-$1K range if possible. Should I be looking at NAD or higher-end brands like that?

IMO, you won't go wrong with the former flagship Yamaha DSP A1 integrated Amp. Among it's numerous features, it offers raw (native) 2 channel stereo and bypasses all the HT hullabaloo. You can still find very nice DSP A1's on E-bay and other used outlets for around $400-$600+-. I firmly believe that the DSP A1 is just about the best value your going to find out there and if you ever get tired of 2 channel, you've got 3.1 more channels to putz around with. Basically, your looking at 110 high-current watts, Brown Burr DAC's, and all the whistles and bells you would ever want / need. If you buy one and don't like it, I'll buy it from you - as long as it's a keeper.

 

[Cristofori]

Onkyo components have a nice, thick aluminum faceplate.

Do they all? Even the cheapest ones? I wouldn't know for sure, as I never see the things in stores or know anybody who has one. Also, I read nothing about that in the link provided. That would be something to boast about in this cheap day and age, if it indeed had one.

What I do know is that other makes in that price range definitely do not, so the Onkyo would be a great deal then.

 

[Cristofori]

Anamorphic said: Marantz SR4023 - Very nice receiver. However the NAD will probably have a better amp section.

Anamorphic said: "No disrespect but your comparison of amps has no merit unless done under blind level matched conditions".

Where did I hear that before...?

As far as speakers go, you don't need big woofers for big sound or big bass. A PSB T65 will produce large amounts of bass and probably go deeper than some of the older JBL's and it only uses dual 6" woofers.

PSB offers some real nice speakers at a great price. The Image series towers offer great bass for their size.

True, PSB are good speakers at a great price. My Image series bookshelves were 6 ohms I believe, not that it seemed to matter. However, I liked them a tad better after I replaced my NAD C320BEE with the Rotel RA1062 integrated amp.

At least the Rotel was built and looked a lot better if nothing else.

 

[Cristofori]

So, you say consider the SR4023 receiver, or another model of theirs?

No, not if you will be using the tuner much or the pre-out/main-in subwoofer outputs, which do not come with the PM 5003.

I just didn't see any really good reason from viewing the specs why anyone should choose the PM 5003 over the receiver other than the fact that it might have a slightly better phono stage and is $50 less.

I didn't see an SR8003, just a PM5003 or 8003 -- did you mean the PM5003?

Sorry, I meant the PM 8003. If you have $1000 to spend (which you said you did) then this is the Marantz amp to get. It has the higher end buffered CD and phono inputs, better build quality, 70 watts, etc. Plus it's the matching component with their great SA8003 SACD player.

Wait to get one on sale if you can. Some stores usually have sales in the spring time, like Audioadvisor.com, which carries both NAD and Marantz.

 

[Cristofori]

Thanks Again Cris...

Yes, this is a second system, for a secondary loft room in the new house that will be used as a two channel listening/recording room -- I only put some of these models on the list to get an idea of what's out there from all price ranges. I couldn't afford 90 percent of what's on here, but I wanted to see what everyone thought of each of these.

Based on your statements regarding NAD, I will take them off the list, as well. Thank you.

No, don't take anything within your price range off your list until you get many further opinions or until you get to see and hear for yourself.

If you do decide to give something a try, make sure you buy from a reputable seller and/or can take it back without any hassles!

Just out of curiosity though, why would you recommend I not consider the NAD stuff in the high end bracket?

If my earlier comments about my new NAD vs. the crappy old Sony integrated debacle didn't answer this question, I don't know what will.

But from a price and build quality stand point alone, NAD's regular line is simply not in the same league as the other higher end makes you had them lumped in with.

 

[Cristofori]

Onkyo components have a nice, thick aluminum faceplate.

Never mind my previous comment about this.

I now see that the Onkyo receivers you were talking about do indeed have aluminum face plates according to their descriptions.

That's a pretty good deal then at that price.

 

[PearlcorderS701]

Sorry if I seem abrupt. More than an anything I'm just trying to get you more focused.

No problem; I just wanted to impress upon you and everyone else in here who has helped so far that I was greatly appreciative and that my intention was not to elicit frustration nor come across as "thinking this over too much;" it's an important decision to me.

Since you said its a smaller space lets stick with a budget of 500.00 for the amp.

Okay. Sounds like a good direction.

But as you and others have pointed out, power isn't necessarily the only thing to look at even for a large room, no?

Onkyo TX-8555 - Great receiver at a great price. It will drive most speakers with ease. Plus it offers the ability to upgrade.

Thank you. This one is on my list; which upgrade abilities does it boast...does it have preamp outs?

Onkyo - Digital amp from JR.com for 499. I have not read to much but have heard good things and its received good reviews.

Is this the very small-chassised amp from them or the larger integrated? There are two on their site; this is the one that looks like a solid beast to me:

http://www.onkyousa.com/model.cfm?m=A-9555&class=Amplifier&p=i

NAD C326BEE or C325BEE - Do not by any means cross NAD off your list. 2 Channel audio is there specialty. These are great amps at a great price. You can usually find this amp for about 399.00 It will probably outperform the Onkyos and Marantz units. NAD amps are very good with tricky speaker loads and are capable of high dynamic output down to 2 ohms. The Onkyos may very well shut down under those conditions as well as that Marantz. You may not need it but it's nice to have that ability.

Jeez; I had already crossed them off...well, at any rate, I like the fact that my list is getting shorter -- it helps me with indecisions! Would it be okay at this point to stick with pretty much Onkyo, Marantz, Yamaha, Outlaw or Integra?

Marantz SR4023 - Very nice receiver. However the NAD will probably have a better amp section.

Okay...thank you.

Marantz PM5003 - Very nice. Price is a little high. But it offers a nice phono section if thats important.

Marantz listed this for $450; is this not right? And yes, a phono section will be very important in this system; I will have a slew of turntable questions for you guys next!

The 5 pieces listed above are probably your best bet. I suggested the NAD and Onkyo for specific reasons.

Gotcha; thank you. So that takes care of:

Marantz
Onkyo

Onkyo is a better value with its lower price. Offers a tuner, phono input, and sub out. Has a great price of less than 300. Usually 249 from most places. It has a good amp section that will drive most speakers. So this works for most people.

Okay...I will definitely keep that Onkyo receiver in mind. What about the amp I provided the link for?

The NAD offers less features. No tuner, phono input, or sub out. It does have pre-outs and main in's. So this can act as a sub out as well. But it offers the more robust amp section in my opinion with its ability to deal with difficult loads and high dynamic output. Which is what matters more than continuous output. I have owned 3 NAD amps and have driven some tough speakers with them with no troubles at all.

The NAD integrated amps have NO phono inputs? Or is this on just one model?

So IMO you should really look at these two options. Then go from there. It just depends on where your priorities are and what you feel is more important.

Well, I definitely need a phono input -- and a good one with strong equalization boost from its phono amp stage. A tuner is NOT priority.

As far as speakers go, you don't need big woofers for big sound or big bass. A PSB T65 will produce large amounts of bass and probably go deeper than some of the older JBL's and it only uses dual 6" woofers.

PSB offers some real nice speakers at a great price. The Image series towers offer great bass for their size.

Thank you so much for this advice; I shall look at PSBs for the stereo system.

Thanks for your continued assistance; I appreciate it.

 

[PearlcorderS701]

IMO, you won't go wrong with the former flagship Yamaha DSP A1 integrated Amp. Among it's numerous features, it offers raw (native) 2 channel stereo and bypasses all the HT hullabaloo. You can still find very nice DSP A1's on E-bay and other used outlets for around $400-$600+-. I firmly believe that the DSP A1 is just about the best value your going to find out there and if you ever get tired of 2 channel, you've got 3.1 more channels to putz around with. Basically, your looking at 110 high-current watts, Brown Burr DAC's, and all the whistles and bells you would ever want / need. If you buy one and don't like it, I'll buy it from you - as long as it's a keeper.

Thank you Drifter!

I appreciate your input; while I didn't really want to veer into used, I will take a look at that Yamaha.

 

[PearlcorderS701]

No, not if you will be using the tuner much or the pre-out/main-in subwoofer outputs, which do not come with the PM 5003.

I just didn't see any really good reason from viewing the specs why anyone should choose the PM 5003 over the receiver other than the fact that it might have a slightly better phono stage and is $50 less.

Sorry, I meant the PM 8003. If you have $1000 to spend (which you said you did) then this is the Marantz amp to get. It has the higher end buffered CD and phono inputs, better build quality, 70 watts, etc. Plus it's the matching component with their great SA8003 SACD player.

Wait to get one on sale if you can. Some stores usually have sales in the spring time, like Audioadvisor.com, which carries both NAD and Marantz.

Thanks for the tips here; actually, my budget will come a good deal under a grand -- Anamorphic pretty much sealed this already considered possibility for me!

So, for Marantz, I'd be looking at the 5003 integrated or 4023 receiver...

 

[PearlcorderS701]

Never mind my previous comment about this.

I now see that the Onkyo receivers you were talking about do indeed have aluminum face plates according to their descriptions.

That's a pretty good deal then at that price.

Indeed, all the Onkyos have nice, thick aluminum faceplates which I always thought gave their stuff -- irrespective of the affordable pricing on most of it -- a very high quality look and feel.

 

[PearlcorderS701]

An Additional Criteria For An Amp/receiver...

I also forgot to mention that this amp or receiver, whichever I go with, will be involved in recording duties with my TASCAM CD recorder...in other words, I need the recorder to be able to record signals from the turntable and my Marantz CD changer, so would I need special RECORD outs on an amp or receiver to make this work?

My Marantz changer will be connected to the recorder via coax digital to record directly from the CDs in the changer to the recorder; but where would the turntable plug into in order to record the vinyl on this recorder -- directly to the recorder's analog ins or direct to the amp's PHONO input? If it goes into the recorder's analog in, I won't be able to hear the audio from the turntable, correct?

 

[WmAx]

I recommend using separate pre-amp and amplifier so that you have maximum connection flexibility now and in the future.

For a bargain, refer to Lexicon DC-2 pre-amp, used. It was $2500 in year 2000. Now you can get it for $250 on eBay or other used outlets. A superb remote control pre-amp.

Want a great amp? Yamaha P2500S + Samson S-Convert. The Samson is just an inexpensive converter to use RCA outputs from a consumer pre-amp to a professional amp that expects higher signal line voltage. The S-Convert will transparently do this conversion for you and the Yamaha amp will be a much better bargain than any 'home' amps in the same price range. Another great amp, at even lower cost, is the Behringer EP4000. However, it has a fan that you can hear. You would need to swap the fan with a low noise Matsushita fan, about $8 plus shipping for the new fan and swapping the fan is the same as changing the fan in a computer case. Even uses the same kind of connectors.

-Chris

 

[anamorphic96]

All of the units have tape loops to deal with your recording needs. They all have phono sections except the NAD units. However NAD makes the PP-2 phono pre-amp for around 100. Which would bring the price to 500. Depending on where you go you might be able to get a package deal for less. The upside to going this route is you could pick any phono stage you wanted. Since you mentioned vinyl is important this may be the route to take. You could probably buy a used higher end phono stage off Audiogon for cheap as well.

So there you have it. They all will do what you need. You just need to pull the trigger on one.

 

[bandphan]

So there you have it. They all will do what you need. You just need to pull the trigger on one.

^^ +1

 

[highfigh]

Too bad it's getting harder to just walk into a store and find out huh?

There is a dealer where I live that sells both those makes, but they focus mainly on Marantz' HT gear. I never got to hear the good stereo stuff. However, being a former NAD owner myself, I can attest that the stuff really isn't all that great.

I was embarrassed to find out one day that the C320BEE I was duped into buying from all the hype that it didn't even sound as good as my friends beat up late eighties Sony integrated amp when doing comparisons!

It's harder to walk into a dealer and compare because nobody puts any value on this when it's time to buy something.

Re: late-'80s Sony integrated amps- they still made good ones then. What model is it? Mine is a TA-F500ES and it's about as neutral as it could be. It also has passive controls and switching for all of the audio. I found this out when I turned it off before my power amp and the music kept playing at the same level. I switched inputs, adjusted the tone controls, etc and they all worked. I had mine modified so I could use the external adapter jacks for pre-amp output and power amp input- otherwise, this would have been impossible to find out.

 

[AllenW]

I hope ya let us know which way ya go and how you end up liking it.

A ways back my Pioneer SX939 Receiver died on me and I went looking for a replacement, ended up not finding anything I liked or wasn't more than what I wanted to spend.
So I had it repaired and still enjoy it now, but its life is just about over I think.
Time to start thinking of a replacement.

I have both a R2R and turntable hooked up to mine, along with 2 sets of speakers and find the 75wpc@8ohms more than enough to drive them.

Not so sure the statement all amps sound the same is correct, I'd buy the amps have less variances generally than speakers do though, imho

Good luck..

Al