newbie with a system introduction and a question.

[Natepaint]

Hi everyone,
I don't know if I'm Audiophile or not, not sure exactly what that means, I really do enjoy sitting back, relaxing and listening to music whenever i can get a chance. Getting harder without a dedicated listening room and 2 young kids. I was recently able to listen to Portishead's live album, mostly uninterrupted in it's entirety.
Anyway my first experience into the audio world was a shortly owned Bose Wave radio that was quickly upgrade to PSB T5 Tower speakers with a HTIB receiver (it may have been a Sony). Yeah I know it's not a great start. I up graded to PSB T6 tower with my brothers old, but still in good condition, Technics SA EX510 avr. Had that set up for about five years. The Technics finally gave out so I purchased the NAD T758 V3 and a psb center channel. Had some Polk Audio bookshelf sitting around using them for L/R Surround. I knew NAD had issues but with the price cut, since it was being discontinued, I had to go for it and hope for the best. This thing sounded awesome and I couldn't have been more happier even if i got it for the original price but for the discounted price I was freaking ecstatic, for about a month.
My current set up is a Marantz SR5014, PSB Image T6 Front L/R, PSB Imagine XC Center, Polk Audio T15 Surround L/R.
Next year I hope to add on a sub. and the Psb Imagine XA Atmos speakers.
So my question is, I was thinking of maybe getting the Dennon 3600h or Yamaha Aventage RX-A1080. Would either of these be better for music than SR 5014? I was thinking the Dennon may be better I thought I saw somewhere If you connect an amp to it's front L/R preouts (which I am thinking about doing) that those preouts will physically disconnect from the receiver (where most other avrs don't) making it true separates, for those channels at least. If this is true does anyone know if the SR 5014 does the samething?
Thanks in advance for any comments and answers.

 

[Leemix]

Your marantz have pre-outs same as the Denon, marantz is actually the premium brand of the denon/marantz group, they are more or less the same now.

A sub(or 2) is needed, dont worry about amps or such until that is in place and set up properly. Especially important for movies/tv.

If you dont like the marantz sound, make sure you have done a proper calibration and try with and without audyssey active. Power amplifiers dont change the sound as much as the pre-amp/processor bits.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[lovinthehd]

First, if you care enough about your audio to post here you're an audiophile (its someone enthusiastic about high fidelity audio reproduction, not a skill particularly, altho you can pick up some audio skills along the way).

So what happened to the Nad 758 after that first month?

Sounds like you're looking at more lateral moves with different avrs. Most sound quality outside of a good source is in the speakers and the room they're in. The Marantz and Denon avrs share much of the same dsp/room eq so not likely to be a difference there, the Yamaha is a bit different in that respect. Marantz is marketed differently from Denon particularly but share far more than they are different. Don't read too much into subjective comments about "differences" some "hear", you'll end up like this

 

[Natepaint]

Nad thinks it had a bad amplifier, all channels had a white noise coming from them, I redid the firmware upgrade reset the unit changed power supply used different hdmi cables and sources, nothing worked. Since it was discontinued I opted to get something else instead of getting it repaired.
I Have a couple extra dollars than I thought I did and was thinking that spending a few extra hundred on the yamaha or dennon I could get a little better sound quality out of those. I'm not necessarily looking for loudness as the marantz plays sufficiently loud in the room.
Wish I had never got the NAD because now I know what I missing and it may be awhile before I get there again. Better start practicing my hobo panhandling skills now lol.

 

[lovinthehd]

Nad thinks it had a bad amplifier, all channels had a white noise coming from them, I redid the firmware upgrade reset the unit changed power supply used different hdmi cables and sources, nothing worked. Since it was discontinued I opted to get something else instead of getting it repaired.
I Have a couple extra dollars than I thought I did and was thinking that spending a few extra hundred on the yamaha or dennon I could get a little better sound quality out of those. I'm not necessarily looking for loudness as the marantz plays sufficiently loud in the room.
Wish I had never got the NAD because now I know what I missing and it may be awhile before I get there again. Better start practicing my hobo panhandling skills now lol.

Well they did get the name Not Always Dependable for a reason. What was it about the Nad that you liked better? DSP/room eq?

 

[2channel lover]

So my question is, I was thinking of maybe getting the Dennon 3600h or Yamaha Aventage RX-A1080. Would either of these be better for music than SR 5014?

No...the room, source, source player, speakers...these are the most impactful components of sound quality.

I was thinking the Dennon may be better I thought I saw somewhere If you connect an amp to it's front L/R preouts (which I am thinking about doing) that those preouts will physically disconnect from the receiver (where most other avrs don't) making it true separates, for those channels at least. If this is true does anyone know if the SR 5014 does the samething?


Thanks in advance for any comments and answers.

The pre outs are the same....no reason to move sideways with the Denon.

 

[Natepaint]

Well they did get the name Not Always Dependable for a reason. What was it about the Nad that you liked better? DSP/room eq?

Dirac live was a really good room calibration software, even with out it on the mids and highs sounded like they had a really good depth to them and were really tight sounding. It seemed to lack in the low end although i was not 100% concerned with that since I was eventually planning on adding a sub to the system.
Yeah NAD no more for this guy. If you don't get a lemon that's awesome, I won't take the risk again.

 

[Natepaint]

I was able to test the Yamaha rx-a880, Denon X 2600h, and Marantz sr 5014 beside each other on a Bowers and Wilkins tower. I almost went with the Yamaha as i felt it sounded a little bit cleaner then the marantz, but i thought i had heard the marantz room calibration was better then yamaha's and my room is not an optimum space acousticly.

 

[lovinthehd]

I was able to test the Yamaha rx-a880, Denon X 2600h, and Marantz sr 5014 beside each other on a Bowers and Wilkins tower. I almost went with the Yamaha as i felt it sounded a little bit cleaner then the marantz, but i thought i had heard the marantz room calibration was better then yamaha's and my room is not an optimum space acousticly.

Then there's level matching and quick switching for a good comparison....and not sighted

ps Let alone proper setup of each unit's room eq/dsp....

 

[Pogre]

Subwoofers.

Sorry, we were getting a li'l off track here...

But yeah, before you spend a penny on anything make sure you know how to optimize what you have now with proper placement, careful calibration with the built in setup routine and a little bit of experimenting with any Dynamic EQ options it may have (not sure what the options are for the 5014, I have a 6011). That stuff makes a huge difference, often more than most folks realize.

Then go buy a subwoofer, 2 preferably. Actually you can do that before you do the optimizing thing because you'll want to do that once you get it in your home anyway.

A good pair of subwoofers can really elevate the entire system for a number if reasons, and "more bass" is actually a ways down the list, imo. You're relieving some pressure from your AVR by sending the power gobbling deepest frequencies to the subs giving you a little more reserve for dynamic peaks. Plus your speakers can now focus on the frequencies they produce best as well as handling dynamic peaks My experience was that I could hear more clarity and detail from my main speakers, especially at higher volumes.

Properly set up good subs will blend right in, not be boomy and add weight and texture to your music. It's cheesy, it's cliché, but I swear I said it, "I'm hearing things in familiar music I didn't know was even there before".

 

[Natepaint]

Thanks everyone for the help I have been messing around with some of the Eq. settings (haven't played with Audyssey yet) got it a little bit more to my liking hopefully adding a sub later on may elevate to another level. Still may try to find a way to test the Yamaha though, i did find an open box for a good price.

 

[Pogre]

Yeah, pretty much everyone who posted here told you that's a lateral move and not in any way an upgrade in sound quality...