Please no flaming the newbie- Yes, I searched first. If the backgound is too much, jump to the bottom for my questions to the more experienced I hope to find here.
I'd been browsing to put an AV/ 5.1 system together for some time but got held up because I really liked my existing stereo and wasn't prepared to give up musicallity for effects (My "old system was- 90's Vintage Yammie Natural Sound, 75 WPC, 4 Ohm, AR Holographic 5 towers, Yammie CD). I'd decided to keep my AR towers and look for receiver, center, surronds and sub.
After looking at some reviews and getting no good feels at Best Buy/ Circuit City and sticker shock at Tweeter, I went to Cambridge Sound Works and tried to deal on some price matching for an Onkyo 603. Turns out they "couldn't" match the CC $400 price, even when I bought speakers but had a floor 602 I might be interested in.
After looking at the 602 unit, I noted it was like 5 lbs heavier than the 603 and had real binding posts for Zone 2 instead of spring clips (my whole house is wired & switched by a Niles w/ volume control, 4 sets of Zone 2 speakers). They claimed everything else was the same as the 602 and that they had the remote, box manual etc. (turned out to be NOT).
I cut a deal for their full MC200 theater system w/ a P200 Sub, S200 Surrounds, MC 300 center and MC 200 "mains" (to the basement they go). Not stellar but if the stereo is good, the rest is for movies which is < 20% of our listening. The wildcard was the receiver- Standard was the 603 but the 602 looked better to me and I didn't want/ need XM (sounds like trash) or IPOD interface (My MP3 is my phone). Same $$$ off deal with either receiver.
Listening was tough for music since none of the CSW current speakers are close to my AR's (many have subs built in and all are 8 ohm), none seemed as accurate as I recalled mine while in the soundroom. I brought the 602 home even though I had to get an internet manual, the remote was for the 603 and no setup mike. Same warranty & return policy.
OK, now the 602 is installed, speakers leveled manually and I've dealt with the wife (sort of). Now I have misgivings- The tuner is junk but by spec, the same as the 603. We listen to a lot below 92 on the dial (or used to) and even with it connected to an outdooor antenna, favorite stations are lost (the last 2 recievers had no problem). Upconvert is to S-video only and I have a composite VCR, HDMI satellite, component DVD/ SACD. The 603 upconverts to component (no-one knew, it's in the guts of the manuals). Music wise, the 602 is much brighter than my old Yammie, maybe to the point of annoying at high volume or long periods of listening. Power seems OK but I really have to turn it up to get real volume. Oh, and they didn't have the original remote and a couple of key features are missing from the 603 remote when used w/ the 602 (like Z2 control). As expected, movies are great, lots of grins and it sounds almost as good as a theater.
My options are-
Keep the 602, buy a separate tuner for FM ($100-200) and a new remote for $55 (Or perhaps get CSW to buy the remote)
Switch to the 603, likely no problem w/ CSW, remote issue is fixed but same FM problem ($100-200) and probably the same "brightness" issue w/ less real current to drive my system and cheesy spring clips for Z2 (might be OK, these were on my Yammie).
Upgrade for approx $100 to the Marantz 5600 @ CSW. They only sell Onkyo, Marantz & Sony (Yuk). The few reviews on the Marantz say musically it is as good or better than current Yammies. From input from CSW and an FM tuner group, FM is likely to be just as dismal (although I'd love someone to say it will be better!). I still have a very old Marantz 30WPC and it still sounds nice w/ Bose headphones (it's my LP to CD conversion receiver). I haven't connected it to speakers in many, many years. Unless Marantz has turned to trash, the 5600 might be a better unit musically.
Dump the whole mess and save up for a high end Yammie or HK ($700-800) and piece together a system w/ Athenas or Mirage/ HSU sub etc. Possible w/ CSW's return policy although I probably couldn't show my face again.
Any suggestions on next steps, comparisons of Onkyo 602/ 603, Marantz 5600 or votes to punt and start anew??? I can still hear good sound
but don't have a bottomless budget and am grumpy w/ the compromises after spending quite a bit of $$. I just wanted 5.1 w/o going backwards for music (including excellent FM jazz, folk & blues in Boston).
Thanks,
David
