Looking for recomendations

[allEars]

I am now looking at replacing my older Marantz. I was looking in the rage of $1000-$2000.

I will be using the pre-outs to connect to an amp that in turn will drive the front speakers. It will be mostly used for music so good mid range is most important. I was looking into the Rotel 1550 but some people don't seem to think this is a good sounding receiver for the price. Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated. It must have HDMI 1.3a (for the few movies here and there)

 

[Lordoftherings]

Hi allEars,

I would stick with Marantz, the SR7002 or the SR8002.

Rotel; no room correction, digital amp, lower performance = NO.

Bob

 

[allEars]

I looked into those but it seems like they will be replaced in the future. I was also looking into the 6003, the new design. I am still wondering why Marantz stopped the upgrade with the new 6003.

 

[Seth=L]

Often times companies do this. Instead of releasing a whole new line they revamp half at one time, and the other half at another. They likely use this tactic for several reasons. Some benefits may include: reduced cost of manufacturing, the illusion they are coming out with new products more often but in reality it's the same amount of new products spread out over a longer period of time, and it allows them to work out the bugs in the fundemental designs before they release the other end of their product line.

Companies such as Yamaha, Pioneer, and Onkyo have been doing this for some time now. Pioneer has a nice advantage in that they have two separate lines that are clearly indepedant from one another.

The SR 6003 would be a great selection for an audio prioritized system.

 

[allEars]

I read a few good things about it but two negatives that came up were


1. Can't use Audyssey with the new lossless codecs
2. Only one global crossover setting for all speakers (can't set separate crossovers for mains, center, surrounds)

I understand the second one, with my current setup I have all my speaker set to small and let the sub handle the bass. What does the 1st one mean?

 

[Lordoftherings]

I read a few good things about it but two negatives that came up were


1. Can't use Audyssey with the new lossless codecs
2. Only one global crossover setting for all speakers (can't set separate crossovers for mains, center, surrounds)

I understand the second one, with my current setup I have all my speaker set to small and let the sub handle the bass. What does the 1st one mean?

It means that most Marantz receivers, if not all, unfortunately don't have enough DSP horsepower to apply Audyssey on top of the newer high resolution audio codecs.
The only way to circumvent this, is to let the Blu-ray player do the decoding.
Then you can apply Audyssey on top of multichannel LPCM.

Marantz produce some very nice sounding and looking receivers, but they are a little behind the curve on other aspects. Their GUI is also behind, but still very easy to read, just not as nice looking as others.

Bob

 

[allEars]

in the same price range, what other receivers are powerful enough to support Audyssey and still do well in the music area?

 

[Lordoftherings]

in the same price range, what other receivers are powerful enough to support Audyssey and still do well in the music area?

The very best deal and superior performance on all aspects of audio and video, with Audyssey MultEQ XT, Audyssey Dynamic EQ, Audyssey Dynamic Volume, THX Ultra2 Plus certidication, ISF video certified, HQV Reon-VX50 video processor, Texas Instruments Burr-Brown PCM-1796a Dacs for all channels, three Texas Instruments Aureus 32-bit floating point DSP chips (the 710, 708 & 707), VLSC (Vector Linear Shaping Circuitry) for all channels, and much much more; which makes it a magnificent assortment of state-of-the-art and near state-of-the-art parts, to produce a professional Quality to the preamp outputs.
The candidate ditto mentioned for that throne, is the Onkyo TX-SR876.
It is only $899.99 at Accessories4less.

You must certainly have heard of this. If not, just tell me; I own this receiver and know all the ups about it. Or you can check several of my posts, where I already praise this true performer of extremely wide value.
I can easily write a book about it.

And if you got more money (I know you do), you can get the Onkyo TX-NR906, for only $1,249.99 at the same place. The 906 has a toroidal transformer instead of the big normal square one of the 876. It adds a Network port for Internet features, and a few more small details.
The 906 is one of the best receiver in the world for that price.

The 876 weights exactly 53.1 lbs net, and the 906 tips the scale at 54 pounds even, again, net.

Bob

 

[Seth=L]

Considering that multichannel LPCM and the bitstream will sound exactly the same, then using it is no sacrafice.

What Blu-ray player will you be using AllEars?

 

[Seth=L]

The very best deal and superior performance on all aspects of audio and video, with Audyssey MultEQ XT, Audyssey Dynamic EQ, Audyssey Dynamic Volume, THX Ultra2 Plus certidication, ISF video certified, HQV Reon-VX50 video processor, Texas Instruments Burr-Brown PCM-1796a Dacs for all channels, three Texas Instruments Aureus 32-bit floating point DSP chips (the 710, 708 & 707), VLSC (Vector Linear Shaping Circuitry) for all channels, and much much more; which makes it a magnificent assortment of state-of-the-art and near state-of-the-art parts, to produce a professional Quality to the preamp outputs.
The candidate ditto mentioned for that throne, is the Onkyo TX-SR876.
It is only $899.99 at Accessories4less.

You must certainly have heard of this. If not, just tell me; I own this receiver and know all the ups about it. Or you can check several of my posts, where I already praise this true performer of extremely wide value.
I can easily write a book about it.

And if you got more money (I know you do), you can get the Onkyo TX-NR906, for only $1,249.99 at the same place. The 906 has a toroidal transformer instead of the big normal square one of the 876. It adds a Network port for Internet features, and a few more small details.
The 906 is one of the best receiver in the world for that price.

The 876 weights exactly 53.1 lbs net, and the 906 tips the scale at 54 pounds even, again, net.

Bob

If he intends to use the receiver as a preamp, at that price he might as well get the Onkyo or Integra Preamp/processor. No sense in letting all that horse power go to waste on one of those Onkyo receivers. Add some small amplifiers for the center and surround channels if they are going to be used.

 

[allEars]

Considering that multichannel LPCM and the bitstream will sound exactly the same, then using it is no sacrafice.

What Blu-ray player will you be using AllEars?

I am using the Pioneer BDP-51FD.

If he intends to use the receiver as a preamp, at that price he might as well get the Onkyo or Integra Preamp/processor. No sense in letting all that horse power go to waste on one of those Onkyo receivers. Add some small amplifiers for the center and surround channels if they are going to be used.

The processor would not work in my case. My external amp is only a two channel and I would have no way of powering the rear speakers.

 

[PENG]

I am using the Pioneer BDP-51FD.




The processor would not work in my case. My external amp is only a two channel and I would have no way of powering the rear speakers.

I think Seth's idea may still work for you if you consider the Onkyo PR-SC886 Ultra 2 plus + Emotiva XPA-5 = $1,800 fits within your 1-2K budget. You will then have everything you want at the moment, absolutely nothing missing and you will have all the benefits of separates.

 

[Lordoftherings]

+1 ^ What else can I add to that?

 

[PENG]

+1 ^ What else can I add to that?

Not much, because I got the SC885/6 idea from your other posts. By the way, it seems that the 885 for $799 (or less, don't remember) deal you mentioned before are no longer available.

 

[PENG]

To our OP, regarding the preouts, I was only teasing Bob. The absence of preouts IMHO is no big deal for AVRs in this price group. Denon is actually smart not to bother, and save a few bucks in the process.

 

[Lordoftherings]

Not much, because I got the SC885/6 idea from your other posts. By the way, it seems that the 885 for $799 (or less, don't remember) deal you mentioned before are no longer available.

Yep, last time it was $699.99, and last april it was $529.99.
But the 886 is still avail for $999.99, which is even a better one.

To our OP, regarding the preouts, I was only teasing Bob. The absence of preouts IMHO is no big deal for AVRs in this price group. Denon is actually smart not to bother, and save a few bucks in the process.

I agree about the preouts, but if Denon is saving money, it sure doesn't seem that we do.

*** Still, I think the 876, for only $899.99 is a heck of a deal; and it's a top notch preamp, and it's a top notch multichannel power amp also.
But that's just me.

 

[Lordoftherings]

Check it out.

Hey allEars, especially for you man.

* The review:

@ http://www.avguide.com/review/tested-onkyo-tx-sr876-thx-ultra2-plus-certified-71-channel-av-receiver

* Now the place, and the price:

@ http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/ONKTXSR876BLK/Onkyo/TX-SR876-7.1-Channel-Home-Theater-Receiver-black/1.html


*** Be very honest with you man, you don't need to spend more than that.
You're all set here.

**** And if in case your stereo power amp is a good one, just use it to power your Zone two.

Bob

 

[PENG]

*** Still, I think the 876, for only $899.99 is a heck of a deal; and it's a top notch preamp, and it's a top notch multichannel power amp also.
But that's just me.

You are right, I missed your point before, now I know what you meant. The 876 is a viable option.

 

[Lordoftherings]

You are right, I missed your point before, now I know what you meant. The 876 is a viable option.

Exactly Peng, look at the zillion of dollars he save, and all he can do with that extra money; a brand new or two, SVS subs , or a brand new pair of front main loudspeakers , or tons of Blu-ray movies , or tons of new SACD recordings , or a brand new Jaguar . The car, not the feline.

So, you see, not bad of a deal after all.
Bob

 

[allEars]

thank you all for the feedback, I ended up going to several different stores (5 hours in all). I had the chance to hear the Onkyo 876, the Integra 8.9, the Marantz 8002 and ended up buying the Denon 4310. It sounded the best to me, I hope this was the right choice seeing that I did do any research on this receiver.