receiver for 90% music for less than $700??

[aromstrongarlan]

I'm looking to purchase a receiver for 85-90% music in my workout room that is less than $700, and was looking for some suggestions

 

[zumbo]

I'm looking to purchase a receiver for 85-90% music in my workout room that is less than $700, and was looking for some suggestions

Do you want an AVR, or stereo receiver?

 

[zumbo]

Also, you could consider an integrated amp if no radio tuner is desired.

 

[sholling]

It's kind of challenging to recommend anything without more information. What speakers? How many speakers? How far will you be from your speakers? Will you have a subwoofer? How loud do you want? Music source? Will there be a TV attached?

If you're just looking for background music while working out I'd look for something with Pandora or similar music service so that you're not interrupting your workout to change CDs.

 

[aromstrongarlan]

It's kind of challenging to recommend anything without more information. What speakers? How many speakers? How far will you be from your speakers? Will you have a subwoofer? How loud do you want? Music source? Will there be a TV attached?

If you're just looking for background music while working out I'd look for something with Pandora or similar music service so that you're not interrupting your workout to change CDs.

my speakers are 2 pioneer bs-41 bookshelf speakers with a rythmic fv12 sub. I am at about 6ft distance, and I currently have a yamaha rx-371 receiver hooked up to my tv as well as speakers right now. I am hoping to achieve a better sound for my music as I now realize I only listen to the tv 10-15 % of the time. The room is about 1200sq ft.

 

[sholling]

That's a really big room but I'm not sure how much swapping in a new receiver is going to help. That's a 100w receiver and while a nicer receiver may buy you a better grade of room correction it's not going to give you a huge jump in two-channel power output or sound all that much different than your current receiver. What is it that you don't like about the sound?

Without knowing more I'll limit myself to throwing out other possible issues. First you're trying to fill a very large room with two decent but relatively inexpensive low sensitivity (85bd) bookshelf speakers. That's one possibility but just a possible source of your unhappiness. A second possibility is that 10,000cuft could be a bit much for a single $500 12" subwoofer (even a good one like yours) to fill with deep visceral bass. Again that's just off the top of my head and may not be what you're missing from the sound. What I would normally suspect in a workout room is the acoustics - but without more information that's little more than a wild guess. Those workout rooms that I've been in have been echo chambers due to a lack of sound absorbent furniture or wall hangings. It's just hard to recommend anything without more information about the problem that you're trying to solve.

 

[aromstrongarlan]

my apologies 1200cu. ft. The problem is I just feel the sound is not sharp and precise while being full enough even in my small room. When i turn it up I feel it but lose the music but at low volumes the tables turn, and I was thinking maybe my receiver was not utilizing my equipment properly to achieve what I was looking for.\

 

[zumbo]

my apologies 1200cu. ft. The problem is I just feel the sound is not sharp and precise while being full enough even in my small room. When i turn it up I feel it but lose the music but at low volumes the tables turn, and I was thinking maybe my receiver was not utilizing my equipment properly to achieve what I was looking for.\

Your description is what you say it is. Lack of power. If you like the sound of your speakers down low, more power will give you the ability to keep that detail while increasing the level.

 

[zumbo]

So, you have several choices.

AVR

Stereo

Integrated amp

Pre amp, with an amp.

Then we need a budget.

 

[GranteedEV]

my speakers are 2 pioneer bs-41 bookshelf speakers with a rythmic fv12 sub. I am at about 6ft distance, and I currently have a yamaha rx-371 receiver hooked up to my tv as well as speakers right now. I am hoping to achieve a better sound for my music as I now realize I only listen to the tv 10-15 % of the time. The room is about 1200sq ft.

Based on the Bold, I get the feeling that

1) You might get a bit of improvement from a true 120W amp like the Harman Kardon 3490 but I don't know if I support spending more on electronics than speakers. I'm estimating the yamaha at about 60w which puts your max SPLs at 97db. I'm not sure your speakers themselves can physically get much louder than that. There's only so far small bookshelf speakers can go.

2) You might benefit from moving the Pioneers closer to the wall behind them to improve the lower midrange warmth, and livening up the room a bit to improve the sense of spaciousness that we get from higher SPLs. Given the waveguide, I would also cross fire the pioneers so that there's more reflected sound from the opposite side wall. By cross fire, I mean to aim the left speaker 45 degrees to the right, (so that you are about 15-20 degrees off axis and it is aiming towards the opposite wall, and aim the right speaker 45deg to the left. I also recommend raising the rythmik crossover to 100hz.

 

[aromstrongarlan]

$700.. Is this workable?

 

[zumbo]

$700

Now, what type of unit?

 

[GranteedEV]

$700.. Is this workable?

It sure is, but what if the results still don't impress you at the end of it all? I would definitely get something with a free return policy because if it ends up sounding exactly the same, then you know the problems are not amp related. FWIW I'm not in agreement with zumbo that you need a new amp, but both he and I are not in a true position to judge exactly what's going on. He could be right, or I could be right. It's kind of like... ""maybe"" this will help, and maybe it's $700 for the exact same sound. We're dealing in maybes.

 

[zumbo]

I guess I am going to have to assume this is a 2.1 system.

RR2150 Stereo Receiver

 

[jinjuku]

Needs bigger speakers IMO. If this is really a work out room and not critical listening and he can fit them:

Shop Cerwin-Vega - 12" 3-Way Tower Speaker

 

[zumbo]

LOL!

He has a sub!

rythmic fv12 sub.

 

[markw]

I might suggest a different route.

Now, I'm sure they are fine speakers but, all in all, a 5 1/4" speaker can only move so much air, and these state a sensitivity of about 85 db at about 3 feet and have a max (continuous) power handling capacity of 130 watts.

Your receiver is rated for about 100 watts in stereo (less in multi-channel) so this translates to roughly 105 db. Understandably, this is not a continuous level, but it does show that it can get pretty durn loud, even considering it's down about 6 db at 6 feet. 99 db is still pretty loud for long-term listening.

To add three decibels to these numbers, you will need to double your amplifier power to 200 watts. And, three decibels is not really that noticeable a difference.

Besides, your speakers are rated for a max of 130 watts and while they will handle more on occasional peaks, driving them constantly with much higher wattage won't prolong their life, That, plus they don't guarantee they sound good absorbing that power, just that they will live for another day.

My poi t is, your mains can't keep up with the sub when it comes to producing sound. Basically, I'd have to say that your speaker pairing is sort of like a St. Bernard attempting sex with a chiuhauha.

All in all, while more power might help somewhat, I don't think these speakers can cleanly pump out the levels you seek, particularly since the sub sets your expectations. You might want some mains that move more air with less watts.

Here's a blurb where I got these numbers on your speakers.

 

[zumbo]

His 363 is just 100W measured @1k. Positive that is just one channel.

He is trying to run 85dB speakers.

Receiver is running out of gas.

OP likes the sound of his speakers, and he has a sub.

System is for music.

Receiver was requested.

$700 is the budget.

From what I have read, this is a 2.1 system. OP WILL NOT ANSWER THAT!

If these are the facts, I see no reason why the Outlaw receiver will not do the job.

 

[jinjuku]

Receiver was requested.

$700 is the budget.

From what I have read, this is a 2.1 system. OP WILL NOT ANSWER THAT!

If these are the facts, I see no reason why the Outlaw receiver will not do the job.

Ya, we know all those facts. Just because some one asks for Solution Y doesn't mean Solution X is not a better path. I would hate to have him blow $700 on a receiver and find out his Pio's are the problem (which I believe them to be). So we can double up the receiver power to 200 watts for another 3dB or some speakers for 8dB.

It's like you walking into the Doctor and saying think I have such and such problem and you should prescribe me X. That's not the way it works. Now the Doctor may look you over and prescribe you X but he may also go, no you actually have THIS problem so lets prescribe you Y.

Doesn't matter what you went in THINKING you needed.

Using the Vegas as an example: They are 93dB efficient. That is an 8dB gain. Think about it.

 

[markw]

LOL!

He has a sub!

1) Subs don't do squat for anything except low bass.

2) From his posts, bass doesn't seem to be his problem.

3) Everything above that is dependent on the mains.

So, that still leads you to a more powerful receiver as the solution?

(When all you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail)