Renewing my stereo receiver

[Jose San]

Hi guys,

I'm new to the community, which I've been reading for the last few weeks in look for tips and knowledge to renew my current stereo receiver, a Yamaha ax-492 from 1995. It's a gift from my dad, and still works perfectly fine, but it lacks many features (especially network connectivity) that I'm missing nowadays.

After looking at the many options available, I'm a bit at a loss knowing which is the best option for my use case. I'll use it 50%-50% for movies/music, but I only have 2 speakers (Polkaudio RT-7 also from the old days), and I am only willing to add a central speaker and potentially a subwoofer. Rear speakers are too much of a pain in terms of wiring, my wife wouldn't approve.

My question for you guys is: should I go for a stereo receiver with network connectivity (Yamaha R-N500) or get an AV receiver (Yamaha RX-A750 or similar) knowing that I will most likely use it at 2.0/3.0/3.1 speaker configuration?

Being a bit more specific, I would like to know if going 3.0 or 3.1 will improve the music listening experience compared to plain stereo? I have a handfull of CDs/Blurays that feature 5.1 mixed music (some of these are my favorites albums) but most of my music is plain stereo.

Thanks in advance!

 

[markw]

If you foresee going to a 3. anything system in the future you need a full blown AVR, not a stereo unit. That third channel isn't an option on a stereo unit.

Remember, most music is recorded in two channels. you cannot get more than two channels from a stereo recording. Now, there are various schemes that will kerfutz with the pure two channel signal and synthesize "something" to send to all available channels. some people like it, some don't. I'm in the latter group.

now, playing back stuff original recorded in a multi-channel format, that's another story. It most definitely will be a boon when played on a multi-channel system that can fully utilize those intended channels.

Basically, what I'm saying is that, IMNSHO, music should in the same format in which it was recorded.

but, YMMV.

 

[Swerd]

Welcome to Audioholics Jose!

What are your music sources? From what you mentioned you have CD, Bluray, and computer. Anything else?

Do you listen to FM radio?

Same question for movies. Bluray discs, TV, or internet downloads? How do you connect your TV or Bluray player to your present receiver to watch movies?

Because you said 50/50 music/movies, I think you would be better off with an AV receiver. Making various connections to your TV and Bluray player will be much easier and cause less frustration in the future with an AVR. This will be true even if you will only have two speakers, or three. Adding a center speaker or a subwoofer will be simple. There are a number of user controlled options, often called "bass management" that AVRs have built-in on their digital side, but few if any stereo receivers have. Read the AVR manual to learn more about that. You may not be familiar with this, but it becomes quite important if you add a subwoofer. And you should.

Don't worry about not using the surround channels. You'll miss very little.

That Yamaha R-N500 does seem to be modernized nicely. It has what looks like good network connection options and it does have subwoofer out jacks. Many other stereo receivers lack those. It is important to check the manual for what low-pass filter options are available (if any) for the subwoofer (see bass management above). I don't see how you could add a center channel speaker with that receiver.

 

[Latent]

Don't get too worried about networking features of a unit as these are easy and cheap to add from external source devices (Chromecast(audio)/Roku/AppleTV/USB_DAC + many more). inbuilt networking is just an added convenience. But a new unit may make conectivity and switching sources a little easier and modern bass management is a good addition. Your old unit has input switching rotary switch so you may have limited control from the couch. Also with no HDMI switching to get audio from your movies you need to connect the audio out from your TV down to the unit and most modern displays only output in optical SPDIF which this unit also doesn't have (but you can get an external DAC to solve this).

If you are on a budget then a second hand or refurbished older model AV Receiver may work well. You can go for a stereo only unit but there is no real cost or performance advantage to doing so when multichannel AVR's are cheap and more than capable.

 

[Jose San]

Thanks a lot for your prompt responses, everyone! Lots of useful information already, so let me answer some of your questions and ask about some additional points.

What are your music sources? From what you mentioned you have CD, Bluray, and computer. Anything else? Do you listen to FM radio?
Same question for movies. Bluray discs, TV, or internet downloads? How do you connect your TV or Bluray player to your present receiver to watch movies?

My main music sources are my computer (lots of flacs ripped from my CDs, some of them 5.1 bought online, and a bunch of additional .mp4 from iTunes store), CDs (I have a marantz cd-67 mkii, also from the old days), Blurays(through my PS3) in this order. I do not listen to the radio outside the car. Regarding movies you guessed right: streamed from internet (using PS3 or my laptop), Blurays (PS3 again) and TV.

[...] You may not be familiar with this, but it becomes quite important if you add a subwoofer. And you should.

Do you think the subwoofer should come first than a central speaker, then?

Thinking about it, even though my use would be 50/50 for music/movies I give higher priority to music, at least at the current time. I am leaning towards the AV since the beginning, but I was a bit concerned that I would end up losing quality for music playing compared to a stereo. This seems to be quite a polarizing topic, would a stereo receiver give significantly higher quality for music that an AV? (at the price range I'm considering, preferrably below 1000€)

Thanks a lot, I hope other users also find the discussion helpful.

 

[Latent]

Going for a stereo unit over a Multi-channel AVR is more of a decision you make with your heart not your head. For the same level of amplifier power/quality you generally pay about the same between the two options (But this changes at the higher end crazy price brackets). So in general you get a lot less features with the stereo unit but you don't save any money. If you don't like having these extra features and don't want to bother with them then a stereo only unit is perfect for you. If you don't care either way then maybe get an AVR. Just make sure your AVR has a simple to use pure straight stereo output mode which most do.

Another reason people love the stereo units is they can have in theory cleaner straighter analog audio paths which can make a theoretical difference at the high end but you will probably need very good room and speakers to appreciate any difference. But these days we have to face the fact that all sources are digital unless you like the classic analog vinyl sound. If all your sources are digital then you have to option to almost ignore much of the legacy analog world and instead concentrate on getting the best digital pathway from source to DAC's and a simple pathway from DAC's to amp. Good quality modern AVR's have very high quality DAC's built right in and if you connect everything in high quality digital then you will keep the signal digital until the last minute when it goes though the DAC's, then a volume control IC and then straight to the internal amp section. You get options to just do straight stereo with no processing or do bass management processing to get a sub output or apply a range of EQ/Room-correction/effects if you wish.

In your case to get everything digital all you need is to use HDMI from most devices, digital spdif from your CD player and finally work out the best method to get digital sound from your computer into the unit.

Another reason to get a AVR is the room measurement feature stereo units lack. The room correction EQ it applies may not be that great and many people turn it off as they prefer it that way but it is still great for getting speakers leveled and time delay adjusted for your seating position without having to use a SPL meter and tape measure.

 

[herbu]

would a stereo receiver give significantly higher quality for music that an AV?

No. Nope. And again, no.
To me, your decision is clear. With the applications you are even just considering now, you should get an AVR. I suggest neither you, (nor anyone else), can tell the difference in stereo music between an AVR and a comparable pure stereo system. And future expansion with the AVR is much easier.

 

[Swerd]

Do you think the subwoofer should come first than a central speaker, then?

That depends on how well your present speakers produce bass and your preferences. Most speakers are said to improve a bit when relieved of the need to reproduce deep bass. But most music goes no lower than roughly 35 Hz. Music is also mostly recorded in 2 channels, and usually sounds good if played back in 2 channels. So a center channel isn't really needed for music playback. If your speakers are located far apart from eachother, and they don't disperse sound over a wide angle, a center channel can help fill in the middle.

On the other hand, nearly all movies have the dialog in the center channel. If your present speakers reproduce the human voice clearly, you may get away without a center channel speaker. If not, a good center speaker can make a big difference. Another advantage of an AVR is that it allows you to balance the sound level of each channel separately. A stereo receiver cannot do that.

Thinking about it, even though my use would be 50/50 for music/movies I give higher priority to music, at least at the current time. I am leaning towards the AV since the beginning, but I was a bit concerned that I would end up losing quality for music playing compared to a stereo. This seems to be quite a polarizing topic, would a stereo receiver give significantly higher quality for music that an AV? (at the price range I'm considering, preferrably below 1000€)

I completely agree with herbu above. A stereo receiver lacks the digital processing and multiple amplifier channels of an AVR, but that does not mean that it provides higher quality sound than an AVR. That false argument is made only by salesmen who make a commission from extra sales, and by old dogs who don't want to learn new tricks.

 

[Jose San]

Thanks a lot to everybody that participated in this thread!

I think you guys have helped me solve all my main concerns, so now it's time to explore the market a little bit and decide what AVR to buy. I hope this thread is useful to more people in the future, the responses where really informative and right to the point.

Thanks again!

 

[lovinthehd]

Just an idea as far as giving your old receiver a bit of internet connectivity is with a Chromecast Audio unit. If going for an avr, might want to include accessories4less.com in your search.