Sony STR AN1000 or Emotive processor

[joethenewguy]

Kind of a weird comparison okay I get it. I have a decade old Denon 16xx series AVR and it's just a pain dealing with hdmi issues honestly otherwise it's okay (5.1). I'm thinking of taking the plunge to upgrade. I've been a low end budget audiophile on and off since the 90's but primarily focused on home theater / cinema for this room. Currently have pioneer's and SVS 3000 sub (micro) - likely upgrading front soundstage to something like Klipsche 8000 RP series (or would love recommendations there too). And would like some up firing atmos.

But I'm not sure what to do about the brains of system. Sony seems like an easy plug and play but then for similar money I could get Emotive processor and then (more money sure) separate amps. I feel like the separate amps would.give me flexibility to just upgrade the processor in the future when it inevitably gives out. And the mid-grade receivers don't ever have pre-outs.

What would you do? mid grade receiver and just upgrade ever 4-5 years (seems that is the cycle) or separates and only update the processor? And do you think I'd see a significant jump in fidelity or more effortless dynamic sound with separates?

(Semi open living room roughly 20x30 with low 8' ceilings)

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

What would you do?

I’ve owned high-end separates and high-end AVRs and high-end speakers.

I would just get a nice AVR from a nice big company with a nice big R&D and support department. That usually means Yamaha or Masimo (Denon/Marantz).

Definitely don’t get processors from small companies like Emotiva because they will be plagued with bugs.

That’s what I would do.

 

[lovinthehd]

I prefer avrs with pre-outs myself. I wouldn't buy Emotiva, not crazy about what I've read about bugginess in their processors particularly, and lack of support after a relatively short product life, too. Sony's latest iterations still lack a significant room eq program, if that's important to you.

 

[Verdinut]

I’ve owned high-end separates and high-end AVRs and high-end speakers.

I would just get a nice AVR from a nice big company with a nice big R&D and support department. That usually means Yamaha or Masimo (Denon/Marantz).

Definitely don’t get processors from small companies like Emotiva because they will be plagued with bugs.

That’s what I would do.

One of my friends over the years owned two Emotiva pre-pros and both got defective. I agree with you in that their products don't have the reliability of products from Massimo or Yamaha. Moreover, Emotiva will not support a product with an expired warranty period, another reason to avoid them.

 

[mono-bloc]

We kicked Emotiva out of Australia a few years ago. Put simply there rubbish, with little to no back-up. Emotiva told owners here they could return the defective parts and these would be serviced in there american factory, providing you the owner paid the freight charges both ways.
It got to the point here where you could advertise a used item, and then pay the prospective buyer to take it of your hands.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

I would consider a flagship receiver that’s a year or two old. Preferably NOS if you can find it, or even a refurb if you’re comfortable with that. It will have plenty of power(especially powering Klipsch 8000), and likely have a suite of pre-outs. Emotiva has not been the same company that everyone fell in love with years ago, and IMO, shouldn’t be on the table. For Atmos, it’s generally considered that in or on ceiling speakers will give much better performance than DAE(upfiring) ones. However not everyone can do that. Keep in mind as well, setting up DAE speakers can be a PITA because you have to aim them properly to bounce the sound, like a bank shot to hit your MLP and your ears. I would also strongly recommend upgrading your subwoofer. Especially if you’re within the upgrade window. It’s just too little for a room that size. Pics are always helpful.

 

[j_garcia]

Having owned a few Emotiva preamps, I would also go with an AVR. When my Emo Pre died for the second time with the same issue, I went back to Marantz and I am happy.

In fairness, Emotiva fixed it under warranty the first time and support was good. The second time a few years later, the story was different. They DO support out of warranty products to some extent, however you won't know if your particular product is supported until you ask them. Mine was, but the cost to repair was far too high IMO. They offered me a very good trade in value, but the new comparable model was not yet released and the next one up was 3X the price.

 

[joethenewguy]

Thank you all for the feedback- genuinely.

I’ll focus on AVR and on William’s recommendations thinking about in ceiling for atmos (did can lights a year ago sheesh)…..

 

[lovinthehd]

Took delivery of this amp a couple of days ago and set it up last night. Just wondered if anyone else had purchased one and what their experiences were of it so far. I'm still just getting to grips with it.

Which avr model did you get?

 

[lovinthehd]

I have recently started looking to build a home theatre system, but not sure about some aspects so looking for some guidance. I am looking at getting a Sony TA-AN1000 AVR with a 5.1 Klipsch speakers. I needed to know if this receiver would be able to drive a pair of Klipsch RP-600m ii bookshelf front speakers, Klipsch R30C centre channel, a pair of rear Klipsch 50m and Klipsch R-121 subwoofer. According to Richer Sounds in UK, this Sony AVR which is released very recently here in the UK pushes 85w per channel, although two channels are stated as 120w each on some specs. Klipsch RP 600mii are 8 ohm 100 watt speakers, so would this Sony receiver be under powered to run those speakers in a 5.1 config? I understand that it's better to have more power available per channel then the other way around. I am concerned that 85 watt per channel would lead to clipping or other adverse effects over time to that fairly expensive Klipsch speakers. Please note that there's no pre-amp out on this particular UK model of the STR-AN1000, which is the US model of this AVR. Any insight/guidance on this would be highly appreciated Thank you

The Sony should work fine. Might play with this a bit http://www.hometheaterengineering.com/splcalculator.html (but I'd take 4-5 dB off of the sensitivity specs Klipsch uses, they're a bit overstated as they use an "in-room" spec. Maybe check this article out https://www.audioholics.com/loudspeaker-design/truth-about-matching-amplifier-power

If you don't want to drive an amp into damaging clipping.....don't do it (turn the volume down, it likely won't sound good at that point either as well as being quite loud). The avr doesn't "drive" the sub, tho, it has it's own amp. The different ratings in the amp's output wattage are due the way they are specified (impedance, distortion, frequency range). Here's the manual's specifications....I'd assume the 85wpc rating is an 8 ohm rating....
(6 ohms, 20 Hz – 20 kHz, THD 0.09%)
100 W + 100 W
Stereo Mode Output Power
(6 ohms, 1 kHz, THD 0.9%)
120 W + 120 W
Surround Mode Output Power2)
(6 ohms, 1 kHz, THD 0.9%)
165 W per channel