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Help selecting Receiver/Sub

E

EzeroMobile50K

Limp Gawd
Joined
Apr 2, 2012
Messages
262
Alright so I did it, picked up a set of 5 of the S-series from SVS. Couldn't resist the price cuts. Got a center, 2 mains, and 2 bookshelf. Now I need some help deciding the best receiver to compliment these beasts. And of course a sub. Given these speakers. What would be ideal? Without breaking bank. Comparatively of course. I spent $500 on these 5 speakers. I don't see buying a $5000 receiver and a $10,000 sub being logical. I want to get my worth from the speakers, not overpay for stuff that won't get me any benefit. So I imagine around $200-400 for a receiver, and $250-$600 for a sub.

It's a pretty large room, so I need some oomph! Got some recommendations for Denon on account of the Audyssey multieq, heard that was a huge perk, also saw a lot of people knocking denon and proclaiming yamaha. Seems like there's a lot of fandom in the world of receivers. Some clarity would be appreciated. ^^

Was considering getting 1 of the recommended subs from SVS.
SB12-NSD $650
or
PB12-NSD $770

But ay full price they seem kinda costly. Are they worth it? For my setup? If so I may call them and try to get a deal. Or perhaps there is an alternative that performs just as well for a more appetizing price?

Annnd lastly, speaker wire. Is there any wire for these speakers that's better than the cheap stuff? Or is it like HDMI cables all the same? Recommendations?

Thanks in advance! I'll read in the morning, just got back into Cali from PA, time for some Z's.
 
So let's cover it one by one

Receiver

I'm all about the MultEQ. I think it is well worth it. I'm not sure why people knock Denon, their build quality is top notch. Fanboyism maybe. I have a Yamaha receiver in my living room and a Denon on my PC. Both are well built and have served me well for many a year but MultEQ is just damn good, YPAO really doesn't do the trick.

So Denon would be something to look at. Onkyo also uses Audyssey and often cost less. I've no personal experience with them, but they are an option and a major brand.

With Denon, make sure you call the dealer to get a better price. Denon does agency pricing but most dealers will give a lower price over the phone (they can't on the net).

At any rate having used both Denon and Yamaha, Denon is my choice all the way. Yamaha is well built and works well, but I am a big fan of room correction technology and YPAO isn't very good. When I choose to replace my living room receiver, it will be with a Denon.

Wire

No, wire doesn't matter at all. The only thing that matters is sufficient wire gauge for the speaker impedance and length of the run. This table will show you the minimum size you need for a given length and impedance. Larger wire is fine, if you are willing to pay for it, and can be nice when you work with ends for it. I buy 10 gauge wire from Bluejeans Cable not because I need it but because it fits real well in the locking banana plugs I use, and it is resilient to getting stepped on and so on.

In general if you want to keep cost down just go get some 16 gauge line cord/speaker wire from some place like Home Depot. It'll be cheap large enough for all but the longest runs, and a good balance between being large enough to work with easy and not break but small enough to fit in whatever jacks you are using.

Sub

Well I'm a big SVS fan so if you are willing to spend the money, I think you'll like it. However I do agree, their subs cost a lot. You do want a reasonably good sub since those little SVS speakers don't have much bass so you need a sub that can handle that. However you can find cheaper stuff. JBL makes a couple subs and while they aren't fantastic, they are good, I'm satisfied with them. A JBL ES250P would do the trick nicely. They also make a wireless version so you don't have to run a cable to it. Should give you satisfying bass unless you are going for real high levels.

Emotiva would be another option to check out. Like SVS they are an Internet only dealer, however they have more products. Their amps are what they are well known for but their speakers look good too. I've never tried one though so I can't say, but their amps are really well done.

You can also just to sniff around at Best Buy or any other place that sells audio stuff. Any major brand should be fine, provided you like it. Polk, Yamaha, etc should all do a good job.

Do remember though you need a lot of power, comparatively, for a sub. We have poor hearing in bass frequencies so you need a lot more sound output. A system with 200 watt main speakers would easily need a 1000-2000 watt sub to get perceptually equivalent levels (presuming we are talking driving it hard).

However it also depends on how far away you will be from the speakers. The closer you are, the less power you need. Doesn't matter if you are in an auditorium, if you have the speakers 3 feet away from you not much power is needed since you are in the near field. However if you have them way back, then you need more power. Same general deal with the sub (though there are some interesting things in rooms when it comes to room gain and bass).

More power is nice since you can always turn things down, but I do understand the limits of what you can spend.
 
Impulse said:
HSU subs are worth a look too.
Click to expand...

Yes and emotiva are excellent. Might want to visit audiogon and the Polk audio forums for some good quality used subs. Get a denon with multieq. It just works great period. You can buy one of those used too. Their build quality is fine. I bought a used 589 and sold it two years later. It is still kicking.
 
I have one of the entry-level HSU subs (STF-2), and it's just a beast, so I can personally vouch for the HSU brand. Supreme quality at a very affordable price. Other highly-recommended subwoofer names that I see thrown a lot are SVS and Outlaw.

I own two Denon receivers, the AVR1910 and their sister-branded Marantz NR1602, as well as an Onkyo (forget the model # offhand). The Denons are great - good build quality, Audyssey MultiEQ room correction, and they simply look really nice (aesthetics being completely subjective, so YMMV). However, be warned, their manuals are basically moonspeak, and I would recommend looking up a guide (batpig's is phenomenal) to help with setup. Once you get over the intial learning curve of the interface and know what you're doing, it's actually pretty intuitve.

Onkyo also offer its own implementation of Audyssey, and it's basically the same as what's offered in the Denon's. Feel free to look up the technical differences between the two. While the Onkyos are MUCH more user-friendly in setup compared to the Denons, they definitely do run a whole lot warmer. If you do decide on an Onkyo, make sure it's kept in a very well-ventilated area.
 
Nothing wrong with the SVS subs at all.

Other options in that price range:

Sealed (Tend to be better for music though will be fine for movies):

Epik Legend - http://www.epiksubwoofers.com/legend.html - $499+Shipping
Emotiva X-Ref 12 w/ built-in DSP - http://shop.emotiva.com/collections/speakers/products/xref12 - On sale for $594 shipped.

Ported (Tend to dig deeper and play louder for more impact in action scenes):

Outlaw LFM-1 Plus - https://www.outlawaudio.com/products/lfm1plus.html - ~$640 shipped, the also have the EX for $740 shipped. I've owned the original LFM-1 since the mid-2000s and never had an issue with it.
HSU VTF-2 MK4 - http://www.hsuresearch.com/products/vtf-2mk4.html - Currently on sale for $582 shipped, awesome deal. Roughly the same as the Outlaw LFM-1 Plus but for $60 less. Both subs should be very close to the SVS PB12-NSD, to the point you probably couldn't tell a difference in a blind test.
 
Monoprice is fine. The sub needs a specific cable. On my phone or i would link.
 
Monoprice speaker wire is perfectly fine, but I wouldn't recommend their banana plugs - I simply don't care for the style of screw-locking mechanism they use. I instead prefer ones like these Sewell fast-lock banana plugs.
 
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Denon AVR 1712 and the PB12-NSD can't go wrong.

The Hsu options are also great. Love mine.
 
LeninGHOLA said:
Denon AVR 1712 and the PB12-NSD can't go wrong.

The Hsu options are also great. Love mine.
Click to expand...

I think what I want to do is go with denon 1912, and svs pb12-nsd. But god almighty where will I get the spare fun-money. Hmmm..

Any recommendations on getting these at a discount without sacrificing product quality/warranty etc?
 
Well for the SVS sub, the only way to get a discount is either an outlet special (check their site, they have them for damaged and returned products) or a used sale on a place like Audiogon. They are the source for them so there's no other place to get them discounted since you are literally buying form the manufacturer.

For the Denon receiver deals can be had by calling dealers. Electronics Expo is known to be quite good for that, you can also try J&R and Onecall. Like I said you actually have to call them, since Denon enforces agency pricing. If you are willing to get a refurb, Dakmart sells authorized refurb Denon gear. Also check in to a 1913 as well as a 1912. The 1912 should be cheaper, if it is still available, so certainly get that to save money (they don't change much on new model years generally) but it may be limited to no availability from the listed dealers so a 1913 would be the thing to replace it with.

This is the unfortunate problem with high end sound. It gets rather addicting to want MOAR :).

If you are set on those choices and don't want to compromise one option is to get the receiver, wait until you've more money, and get the sub. That will mean your system will be rather anemic on the bass until the sub shows up, but it'll work.
 
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