AV receiver options where music is just as important

[jkontuly]

My arcam integrated amp just died and I am trying to decided how to replace it. I don't have a surround sound system so I was hoping to kill two birds with one stone and find a AV receiver that is just as good playing music as it is with movies. Right now I have a Panasonic Viera G10, Panasonic Blu-Ray,Rotel RCD-950 CD Player and some Boston Acoustic HD10 speakers.

So I really have two questions:
Is it possible to keep my speakers and some how integrate them into a surround sound system so that I can put more money towards an amp?

Recommendations for a receiver hopefully under $700(will consider refurbished), right now I am looking at NAD T747,Onkyo TX-NR808, MARANTZ SR6005 and Pioneer VSX-1120-K(I have seen all of these either new or refurbished for under $700)

I should mention that most of my music will come from my Ipod. Network connectivity would be great but not required. I am just hoping that the solution is not to buy a new integrated and an AV receiver.

Thanks.

 

[mtrycrafts]

My arcam integrated amp just died and I am trying to decided how to replace it. I don't have a surround sound system so I was hoping to kill two birds with one stone and find a AV receiver that is just as good playing music as it is with movies. Right now I have a Panasonic Viera G10, Panasonic Blu-Ray,Rotel RCD-950 CD Player and some Boston Acoustic HD10 speakers.

So I really have two questions:
Is it possible to keep my speakers and some how integrate them into a surround sound system so that I can put more money towards an amp?

Recommendations for a receiver hopefully under $700(will consider refurbished), right now I am looking at NAD T747,Onkyo TX-NR808, MARANTZ SR6005 and Pioneer VSX-1120-K(I have seen all of these either new or refurbished for under $700)

I should mention that most of my music will come from my Ipod. Network connectivity would be great but not required. I am just hoping that the solution is not to buy a new integrated and an AV receiver.

Thanks.

Any receiver that is capable of driving your speakers properly will reproduce music equally well to what you had. So, don't worry, just find one that has flexibility and all the options you need to play your sources now and in the foreseeable future.

 

[bikemig]

nad t747 and ipod

I'm thinking of buying a nad t747 for a 2.1 set up as well. By the way, if you listen to your music via an ipod, you might want to consider the HRT istreamer which will do a nice job of digital to analog conversion. Apparently I can't post a link to the HRT site since I am a newbie on the site, But you can google it easily enough if you are interested. I use the HRT music streamer ii as a dac for my laptop and the sound is superb. In fact, it led me to get rid of some of my ripped music files as the sound was simply not good enough once I played it through the dac.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Yes, better sound is usually associated with better speakers, not better amps or preamps or receivers.

All the capable receivers will sound fantastic and possibly even measure more fantastic than your Arcam.

If you are happy with your current speakers, then just get an AVR with something like 120wpc and the features and aesthetics you want.

I doubt that adding an amp will improve the sound.

 

[jeannot]

My arcam integrated amp just died and I am trying to decided how to replace it. I don't have a surround sound system so I was hoping to kill two birds with one stone and find a AV receiver that is just as good playing music as it is with movies. Right now I have a Panasonic Viera G10, Panasonic Blu-Ray,Rotel RCD-950 CD Player and some Boston Acoustic HD10 speakers.

So I really have two questions:
Is it possible to keep my speakers and some how integrate them into a surround sound system so that I can put more money towards an amp?

Recommendations for a receiver hopefully under $700(will consider refurbished), right now I am looking at NAD T747,Onkyo TX-NR808, MARANTZ SR6005 and Pioneer VSX-1120-K(I have seen all of these either new or refurbished for under $700)

I should mention that most of my music will come from my Ipod. Network connectivity would be great but not required. I am just hoping that the solution is not to buy a new integrated and an AV receiver.

Thanks.

If musicality is important to you, my advice would be to look for all the features you want, plus Pre Out and use a separate, quality power amp for the important channels.
That way, if you ever have to upgrade for features like a new HDMI standard, you won't have to ditch a perfectly good power amp, and can shop disregarding the power again.

 

[jeannot]

I believe the original question was about receivers given certain speakers.

Yes, speakers make a bigger difference and you get more bang for your buck there, but we have to assume the poster wants to keep his speakers.

Implying that the amplifier makes no difference for any given speaker can be misleading. Sorry.

 

[mtrycrafts]

I believe the original question was about receivers given certain speakers.

Yes, speakers make a bigger difference and you get more bang for your buck there, but we have to assume the poster wants to keep his speakers.

Implying that the amplifier makes no difference for any given speaker can be misleading. Sorry.

Being sorry is allowed here
But, if a receiver can drive the speakers in hand within the receivers design limits, amps matter not.

 

[jeannot]

Being sorry is allowed here
But, if a receiver can drive the speakers in hand within the receivers design limits, amps matter not.

A wise man once said that some can hear a difference at 25 watts between a 150 Watts receiver and a 150 Watts Mark Levinson on 150 watts speakers.

If there is no difference, then Mark Levinson survives on a great marketing prowess. Just sayin'