Need help chosing Pre Pro/Receiver

[mazersteven]

Evoke 50 - Large floorstanding speaker for home audio - Dynaudio

Use them in stereo. Use them as part of an Evoke multi-channel home cinema system. However you listen to them, the word 'epic' won't be far from your lips.

www.dynaudio.com

 

[P41NE]

Evoke 50 - Large floorstanding speaker for home audio - Dynaudio

Use them in stereo. Use them as part of an Evoke multi-channel home cinema system. However you listen to them, the word 'epic' won't be far from your lips.

www.dynaudio.com

Ooh I like those. I'm a fan of the soft dome tweeters. How would they compare to the JBL do they have a Flat response like the JBL 3800s do? They are the same price. I like them alot. I'm stuck between the JBL 3800S,Aerial 6T, and the dynaudio evoke 50s now. Obviously whatever towers I get I'm going to get the center and a pair of bookshelfs To go along with towers from the same brand.

 

[everettT]

Ooh I like those. I'm a fan of the soft dome tweeters. How would they compare to the JBL do they have a Flat response like the JBL 3800s do? They are the same price. I like them alot. I'm stuck between the JBL 3800S,Aerial 6T, and the dynaudio evoke 50s now. Obviously whatever towers I get I'm going to get the center and a pair of bookshelfs To go along with towers from the same brand.

JBL is completely different due to the large wave guide and compression driver. Domes vs ribbons vs ring radiators vs compression drivers all can be equally good.

 

[Movie2099]

Ooh I like those. I'm a fan of the soft dome tweeters. How would they compare to the JBL do they have a Flat response like the JBL 3800s do? They are the same price. I like them alot. I'm stuck between the JBL 3800S,Aerial 6T, and the dynaudio evoke 50s now. Obviously whatever towers I get I'm going to get the center and a pair of bookshelfs To go along with towers from the same brand.

You should check out RBH speakers. They have a really nice lineup.

You can’t go wrong with B&W speakers. Being an owner of B&W speakers they are very nice and they sound amazing in my home theater. If you were to grab the 702 S2’s you will not be disappointed. If you can step up to the 800 series, then go for it. You will need some decent amps to make them reach their true potential. A regular AVR will not do them justice.

You will not find much love on this forum regarding B&W. A lot of people on here feel they are over priced and not worth it. Personally I feel the above mentioned JBL brand is over priced and not worth it. Keep in mind those are horn loaded speakers vs dome tweeters. If you can, go find a place that will let you audition different types of speakers to see which you prefer. One is not better than the other. Each gives their own unique sound. It's up to you to decide which sound you like better.

 

[everettT]

You should check out RBH speakers. They have a really nice lineup.

You can’t go wrong with B&W speakers. Being an owner of B&W speakers they are very nice and they sound amazing in my home theater. If you were to grab the 702 S2’s you will not be disappointed. If you can step up to the 800 series, then go for it. You will need some decent amps to make them reach their true potential. A regular AVR will not do them justice.

You will not find much love on this forum regarding B&W. A lot of people on here feel they are over priced and not worth it. Personally I feel the above mentioned JBL brand is over priced and not worth it. Keep in mind those are horn loaded speakers vs dome tweeters. If you can, go find a place that will let you audition different types of speakers to see which you prefer. One is not better than the other. Each gives their own unique sound. It's up to you to decide which sound you like better.

Have you auditioned the JBL? If anything they are priced very well for what you get. I provided my thoughts on B&W as a former owner of a few different models, so there's that.

 

[VMPS-TIII]

I feel like the jbl will perform better than the b and w but in terms of SQ I feel like the b and w would be better.

I have the B&W. It sounded great in the store with limited time but after I have had them home for awhile It's obvious they color the sound a lot and so many other speakers sound better while offering a better value. B&W is the trap many new audiophiles pile into.

 

[mazersteven]

so there's that.

 

[Movie2099]

Have you auditioned the JBL? If anything they are priced very well for what you get. I provided my thoughts on B&W as a former owner of a few different models, so there's that.

I have not auditioned JBL. I'm sure they have some decent speakers in their lineup and people that like horn loaded speakers probably enjoy them.

Some on here love throwing measurements out like it's the be all end all of a specific speaker, brand, what have you. Measurements are one side of the story. I am a numbers guy and don't mind seeing people post measurements, but those measurements would never sway me enough to not look into a specific speaker.

I'm glad that you owned B&W speakers and it seems like they just weren't for you. There are multiple others on here that have owned a pair at one point or another and didn't fancy them that much.

Do I think B&W is the greatest speaker company? No. I think they make high quality, great sounding speakers. I will never shy away from recommending them on these forums. Even after I move on to some other brand speakers.

 

[mazersteven]

I will never shy away from recommending them on these forums. Even after I move on to some other brand speakers.

 

[P41NE]

Thanks guys. So far I'm really liking the arcam avr30 or the audiocontrol XR-8. Might get the arcam just because of them fixing the bugs. Also really liking the Aerial Acoustics 6T,Dynaudio and maybe the JBL audio hdi 3800s. But my top picks right now are Arcam avr30 with Aerial Acoustics 2 6Ts,2 5Ts, and a 7CC. If somebody can tell me if somebody owns the audiocontrol xr 8 and it doesnt have that many bugs and glitches I'm prone to switch to that from the arcam. Come on tax season

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

You should check out RBH speakers. They have a really nice lineup.

I think currently the freestanding RBH speakers most available are the SVT towers.

Towers of Power: A Look at the Best Super Speakers

This article is a small roundup of some big speakers with good design and high quality components though not inexpensive. But, life-like sound demands life-size speakers. Check out what made our list.

www.audioholics.com

I have the RBH SVT in my living room (Standard SV-1212N, not Reference SV-1212NR).

 

[NINaudio]

Damn I like those, those are sexy lol. How do they compare to the JBL. Also what series of theirs are the best for music and movies and for sq. The ones you linked seem pretty decent for that. Do they have a center and surrounds to match it?

Salk aims for a neutral response on all of their speakers. They will be equally as good for movies and music. It all comes down to what you want to spend, and how low of a frequency response you want form the speaker. If you look at the top of the Salk website, there is a section labeled "by category" where you can select from towers, bookshelves, monitors, center channels, surrounds, etc...

 

[thebrieze]

AudioControl is based on the Arcam, so the bugs will be similar, but slightly better as they do tweak the Arcam firmware. I have an Arcam and although the minor bugs can be frustrating, they are improving. I think Dirac Bass Control has a lot of promise and can be a real game changer. Otherwise, I agree Audyssey with the app is pretty good too.

In that price class I would recommend either the AV40 + external multi channel amp. Similar price point, but the amps with typical lifespan of decades will outlast a few processor upgrade cycles and pay for itself. ASR measurements have proven that processors do have cleaner (less distortion and noise) signals than AVR’s with preouts.

The Monoprice HTP-1 has fewer bugs, similar features and very good measurements from ASR. Street pricing of the AV40 is cheaper.

Another option is JBL Synthesis, also based on the Arcam with identical firmware. The price of the JBL includes the Dirac Bass Control add on (and potentially all other future Dirac add on’s) so it could be a better deal than the AVR30 + Dirac BC add on

 

[little wing]

One thing about those big meters is that you can clearly see how little power is actually used when playing music at loud level. I watched a pair of the Mc1kW monoblocks driving a pair of the big KEF Blades in a large room, it rarely peaked pass the 100 W mark, most of time just a few watts. And yes, those analog meters are analog driven and supposedly do show instantaneous values, so what you see should be pretty much what you get. My Marantz SM-7's meters shows my 2 channel system average less than 0.5 W or lower, but would peak pass 25 W occasionally. The Mc1kW's are much larger and more pleasing to the eyes, much easier to read obviously.

I saw the exact same thing at BB a few weeks back! Some big mcintosh monoblocks powering the kef blades. Impressive sounding speakers. But 30k. Whew. But like you said, the power meters were not moving much, and was cranking up a bit

 

[PENG]

I saw the exact same thing at BB a few weeks back! Some big mcintosh monoblocks powering the kef blades. Impressive sounding speakers. But 30k. Whew. But like you said, the power meters were not moving much, and was cranking up a bit

Yep, but when I auditioned that combinations, the meters did at least peak above 100 W often enough, but it was playing classical music that has such dynamic range, at levels I would say comparable to that in a nice live performance in a concert hall. Wait a minute... you saw that at BB, BB like Best Buy, no way!!

 

[Movie2099]

Yep, but when I auditioned that combinations, the meters did at least peak above 100 W often enough, but it was playing classical music that has such dynamic range, at levels I would say comparable to that in a nice live performance in a concert hall. Wait a minute... you saw that at BB, BB like Best Buy, no way!!

I have two BB’s by me that each have Blades and B&W 800 D3’s all hooked up to McIntosh amps, processors, etc... all easily $100k setups each for 2 channel. I do live near BB HQ so that does play a part.

 

[little wing]

Yep, but when I auditioned that combinations, the meters did at least peak above 100 W often enough, but it was playing classical music that has such dynamic range, at levels I would say comparable to that in a nice live performance in a concert hall. Wait a minute... you saw that at BB, BB like Best Buy, no way!!

Haha yes! I went back home to Philadelphia a few weeks back and went to the Best Buy in Plymouth Meeting PA. They have two Magnolia rooms , One of them had the usal suspects, Marantz, Denon, Yamaha and bunch of different speakers from def tech, kef, B&W and a few others. Then, the very high end magnolia room that has some B&W speakers. Not sure of the model, 802 maybe. Those were actually powered by the McIntosh amps by the way. And then there were the Kef Blades being driven by a 6 or 7k Marantz intergrated, fed by a Blue Note? streamer. He played the beginning of "Stairway to heaven" and when the vocals started, I swear it actually sounded like a 3rd speaker suddenly appeared right smack in the middle of the Blades. Very nice indeed. I know BB sometimes gets a bad rap, I guess due to the quality of information you get from some sales folks, but this guy seemed pretty knowledgeable. Anyway, it was fun visit. I could have spent a couple of hours in there messing around and listening to different stuff.

 

[PENG]

In Canada we don't have Magnolia rooms, that's why I wonder.

 

[lovinthehd]

Then again some BBs don't even have separate areas/rooms (outside of the warehouse aisles) for audio....like the one closest to me.....

 

[RLWainwright]

I can't seem to find anyone (Crutchfield, Amazon) who is selling Integra.

A distributor I work with carries Integra and Onkyo, and they don't have any Integra in stock either.

I have a NOS Integra 803.1 Preprocessor that is in perfect condition, never used. MSRP IS 2495, I'm asking $1050 shipped...