What's a good receiver

that wasn't directed to tower... should have been clearer there...

as far as "stereo" receivers, correct me if i'm wrong, but don't most of them have a "stereo" setting, and a straight through setting? i know the yammy that used to be in my ht setup (and is now in my downstairs living room has both a "stereo" option and a straight thru, which they call pure direct...
 
towert7 said:
Denon still makes a few http://www.usa.denon.com/catalog/products.asp?l=1&c=3
You are right though, there are very few stereo receivers now a days........ mostly because the general public wants things more geared to home entertainment which use things like digital audio or video I/O on the receivers.

I'm sure other companies out there still sell cheaply priced stereo receivers, but the problem like you said is that you can't see them in person because no one carries them ^_^.
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Yep. Even the audiophile store didn't have any stereo receivers.
The salesman tried to tell us it didn't matter. :rolleyes:
Well, maybe on the front two center channels only. Even then much of
the power is diverted to the rear channels making it sound muddy.
And what if you want to have a four speaker stereo set-up? The surround processor isn't capable of that.

ccotenj said:
that wasn't directed to tower... should have been clearer there...

as far as "stereo" receivers, correct me if i'm wrong, but don't most of them have a "stereo" setting, and a straight through setting? i know the yammy that used to be in my ht setup (and is now in my downstairs living room has both a "stereo" option and a straight thru, which they call pure direct...
Click to expand...

None of the ones I've seen. Wouldn't that involve two separate sound processors?
But then again I don't follow the latest in audio tech.
 
When my uncle mentioned "larger 12 guage wire" i think he meant it as describing how big it is compared to what people had been doing previously.

enough said about speaker wire and pointless arguing--if you haven't figured it out yet, I'm not buying anything for a few years. When it comes time for me to buy something, I will find out what is the best for the money (despite people still yelling about one being better than the other, admit it! everyone does that about something even if they are wrong).

Somebody asked what my uncle recommends?

He recommended me about half a year ago when I first got the idea:

Type 2 or Type 4 speaker wire for my system (he wanted me to go solid copper wire)
anything at or above the Denon AVR-1804 for reasoning that the ones below it were not good enough for my system to be worth upgrading and for many other reasons.
He did not recommend any fancy surge protector when I asked him because he said the only real good ones are the 800+ dollar ones and he would recommend Panamax for that rather than Monster Cable.

You asked, that's what he said in a nutshell.

If I look around, I can get a picture with his speaker equipment and projector screen and himself... anybody interested?
 
I was just wondering what your uncles personal prefrence was for sub 400$ receivers.
 
Hey man, who's arguing? Just a friendly discussion I thought.

Anyway, I'd say any of the brands you listed will serve you well. Especially since your uncle can get
a 40% discount. Go ahead, build a system they'll hear all the way up at Priest Point Park. :D
 
susque - a cursory glance at the major consumer grade websites shows boatloads of stereo receivers... also, the various surround processing receivers seem to have various options of stereo/unadulterated sound...

you need to go shopping... :)
 
Yamaha. And not the ones you get at bestbuy. Goto your local home theater store/Yamaha dealer and choose one of the better models. I have a one of the early 5.1 DTS models "RX-V795" and I have no desire to get anything over and above that. It has been rock solid for nearly 10 years now.
 
yea, like i said, i've got my old yammy (rx-v750) downstairs, and that's running straight stereo, and it does a good job... usually i run it in "pure direct" mode, no signal processing that way...
 
ccotenj said:
susque - a cursory glance at the major consumer grade websites shows boatloads of stereo receivers... also, the various surround processing receivers seem to have various options of stereo/unadulterated sound...

you need to go shopping... :)
Click to expand...

Shopping? Don't say that! Hope my two stereo receivers last for a while longer. It's the
surround receiver for my theatre system which needs upgrading actually.

But seriously, I know they still make stereo receivers. It's just that none of the stores
in our area had any in stock of half decent quality. And it seems the manufactuers are
geared toward multi-channels models now.
 
My uncle recommends Denon and Yamaha for my level.

Onkyo he "says" (opinion) doesn't sound quite as good.

He bashed Harman Kardon a little bit in the last e-mail he sent me... I don't want to hurt anybody's feelings but he still recommends Denon and Yamaha for my needs.

He did say in my entire system, my receiver is by far the weakest link. He even claimed that high performance speakers such as mine could hurt a receiver like mine...

He's on vacation for the next few days but when he gets back to his store, he is going to get me the prices of the lower end Denon receivers for me to see. From those prices, I will make a decision whether or not it'd be okay to upgrade in the near future or wait a while. (like if the prices are really low I think I might go but vice versa if too high)...

By the way, you know who you are by when I thought we were arguing... it sure sounded like you wanted to bash something in the public that many people would disagree on...
 
Here is my uncle and his system:

575d2200.jpg
 
I see some Martin Logan speakers - perhaps some CLS or something similar. I see a monster power conditioner. I see a BK amp - perhaps multichannel. I see a stereo Krell amplifier - one of the lower end models, perhaps the KSA50 or KST100.. but still a Krell.

Nice setup up! Reminds me of my system - ML rule indeed.
 
Pinipig523 said:
What did your uncle say about HK?
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"Many years ago, Harmon Kardon was a top line. I have not been that impressed with what they sell today. It all comes down to current output and they like to twist the facts so they look like they are a higher current amp than they really are. "

I don't have any comments on his comments. :p I have a feeling he hasn't looked into HK for a while and doesn't know that much about them.


Monster Cable Power protector although he says Panamax is better.

Okay I dug up some info on what he has:

Rear speakers: M&K SS150's
B&K seven channel amp for center and surrounds.
Yes, a "low" end Krell amp but a damn nice one!
"Yes, I am standing next to one of my main front speakers. It is called a "ReQuest" by the Martin Logan speaker company. They are actually only about 6 feet tall. They are a hybrid electrostatic with a 12" woofer in them."
 
CORVETTEZ06 said:
By the way, you know who you are by when I thought we were arguing... it sure sounded like you wanted to bash something in the public that many people would disagree on...
Click to expand...

yes, i do... and "many people" would be wrong... :) you are right, i'll bash the "wire voodoo" folks in public until the cows come home... hopefully it will save some fool some money someday that they can put towards the next level of speakers... however, i'm not gonna bother with it with you any longer... good luck...

oh.... one more thing... "He even claimed that high performance speakers such as mine could hurt a receiver like mine".... ummmm.... really?
 
ccotenj said:
oh.... one more thing... "He even claimed that high performance speakers such as mine could hurt a receiver like mine".... ummmm.... really?
Click to expand...

Incorrect impedance matching tends to do that.
 
Well you cant run a 4ohm speaker on a regular receiver, the solder points on the receiver werent meant to take that much current through it... it will fry off and the receiver will, hence, die.

Maybe that's what his uncle meant.

BTW, wires do make a difference, but it should be the LAST upgrade. After the power conditioner, your source, your DACs, your speakers, and your amplification (amp/preamp/processor).
 
yea, incorrect impedance might, but it has zero to do with the "high performance" of his existing speakers... :rolleyes:

pini, you know what i have in my ht system... you think i'd screw around to try and save a few bucks on wire if it was an issue???

i give up... again, believe what you want to believe...
 
ccotenj said:
yea, incorrect impedance might, but it has zero to do with the "high performance" of his existing speakers... :rolleyes:

pini, you know what i have in my ht system... you think i'd screw around to try and save a few bucks on wire if it was an issue???

i give up... again, believe what you want to believe...
Click to expand...

I agree with you, wires are the last upgrade. Most dont see the need to even go from stock copper braid to a starquad silver core with individual teflon coverings. I'm not saying that you're trying to save a few dollars - we just disagree to the DEGREE of importance wires offer BUT we do agree that it is of LAST importance if taken as a relative whole compared to all other audio components.

I never brought your ht system into question, I merely stated that I feel that wires do make a difference, but one shouldnt upgrade the wires before upgrading all else in one's audio system.
 
It depends on what wires you have to work with IMO. A set of 22ga should definitely be upgraded
ASAP.
Then again I don't think anyone here would be stupid enough to use such small gauge
wires for the speakers.
 
Susquehannock said:
It depends on what wires you have to work with IMO. A set of 22ga should definitely be upgraded
ASAP.
Then again I don't think anyone here would be stupid enough to use such small gauge
wires for the speakers.
Click to expand...

I'd suggest 18g as the bare minimum. Pretty soon I'm going from 16g Acoustic Research to some 14g Canare 4S11 (which is strongly recommended by most every audio enthusiast I've talked to).
 
the canare wire is a good sensible choice if you need 4 wire cable... i think that those "strong recommendations" are good ones...
 
$1000 says I can build a $50 cable that kicks the shit outta any $3000 cable. If you really want so called performance for a good price DIY
 
i love my denon avr-485s. it sounds nice, and it only cost like $150 from ecost.com
 
Since CORVETTEZ06 has packed up his bags and left I think this thread is kinda pointless now.
 
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