New AV Receiver

[heppers75]

Hi folks,

First time in this forum.

My Yamaha AV Receiver has finally given up the ghost so I am after a new one.

My basic setup is an LG50" LED 3D TV, LG 3D BuRay and Virgin Tivo, Then 2 x Jamo 7.6 fronts with a Jamo Centre and 2 x Jamo Surround 200's. All on decent cables etc.

I was wondering what to go with next - I saw this one at Richer Sounds that caught my eye but it would be a departure from Yamaha which I have always loved the sound from.

Any other ideas gratefully received - http://www.richersounds.com/product/av-receivers/d...

Cheers,

Heppers

[ianrb]

Do a Google search to see if you can find any reviews. If that yields positive results then try to get a demo set up.

[OldSkoolRS]

The X series are only just out, but there are a few reviews around the net now (I've been looking into the X4000 myself). It seems like the Onkyos get more of the attention over on AVForums, but I have an older Denon AVR3805 that I use in my second room that has lasted for years, hence my preference for the X4000 over the (dearer) Onkyo equivalent.

Just to mention though, if you can afford it there is an end of line deal on the Onkyo 818 receiver which Richer Sounds are doing for £599 (it was a £1,000 amp before it was discontinued). The reason I mention it is because it's the cheapest receiver with Audyssey XT32 room EQ (significantly better than the basic Multi XT eq on cheaper amps). These days you need to go to £1,200 for the Denon X4000 or the £1,500 Onkyo 929 to get XT32.

Edited by OldSkoolRS on Thursday 27th June 19:05

[heppers75]

OldSkoolRS said:

The X series are only just out, but there are a few reviews around the net now (I've been looking into the X4000 myself). It seems like the Onkyos get more of the attention over on AVForums, but I have an older Denon AVR3805 that I use in my second room that has lasted for years, hence my preference for the X4000 over the (dearer) Onkyo equivalent.

Just to mention though, if you can afford it there is an end of line deal on the Onkyo 818 receiver which Richer Sounds are doing for £599 (it was a £1,000 amp before it was discontinued). The reason I mention it is because it's the cheapest receiver with Audyssey XT32 room EQ (significantly better than the basic Multi XT eq on cheaper amps). These days you need to go to £1,200 for the Denon X4000 or the £1,500 Onkyo 929 to get XT32.

Edited by OldSkoolRS on Thursday 27th June 19:05

Thanks for that, I have just had a look at the 818 and I have to say it looks impressive, my plan is to get something this weekend so I will see if the local stores to me have any stock. Also looking at the RX-A820 Yamaha as well as that is discounted end of line and has some impressive features.

I have to say it has all come a long way since I bought the DSP-A1 that has just died!

[JimbobVFR]

heppers75 said:

I have to say it has all come a long way since I bought the DSP-A1 that has just died!

That sentence worries me slightly, admittedly it was a few years ago now but my FIL was looking to replace his A1 and bought and returned 3 different receivers before deciding to keep the A1, shame as I was going to get the A1 as a free hand me down.

[heppers75]

JimbobVFR said:

heppers75 said:

I have to say it has all come a long way since I bought the DSP-A1 that has just died!

That sentence worries me slightly, admittedly it was a few years ago now but my FIL was looking to replace his A1 and bought and returned 3 different receivers before deciding to keep the A1, shame as I was going to get the A1 as a free hand me down.

Me too, I have to say however I do not listen to as much pure audio as I used to when I originally had it and honestly it has spent the last few years being a (very good) home cinema device. So I know I will struggle to replace it on the pure audio quality score; however my requirements are rather different now to when I bought it, what I want is a good AV receiver that will power my speakers and do a good job of it.

My thinking is a good mid level offering will achieve that, if I really want to do high level pure audio again (which I may well do at some point) I will probably replace the Jamo speakers which I use in the sitting room move them to another room in the house and run a separate setup for audio - I suspect that will be when Heppers Jnr is older, I take a step back from business commitments and I get some time back to do such luxuries like sit and listen to music for an hour or so uninterrupted!

Edited by heppers75 on Thursday 27th June 21:41

[OldSkoolRS]

Sounds a bit like where I'm at now: I bought my current Arcam AV9 as it is very good as a music pre amp as well as for AV. However, I find I rarely listen to CDs at home these days, so getting an amp (or another secondhand processor) with Audyssey XT32 (and to add front heights/wides to my existing 7.1 set up) to really maximise my home cinema experience seems to be the way forward for me. I'm not 100% sure that going back to a receiver will be AV nirvana (albeit that I'll keep one of my power amps to run the front three with) but new processors with XT32 are 2.5k upwards.

The price of used gear these days means that it wouldn't cost that much to pick up a secondhand stereo amp to have a second music room set up in the future, especially if you have some spare speakers.

[heppers75]

OldSkoolRS said:

Sounds a bit like where I'm at now: I bought my current Arcam AV9 as it is very good as a music pre amp as well as for AV. However, I find I rarely listen to CDs at home these days, so getting an amp (or another secondhand processor) with Audyssey XT32 (and to add front heights/wides to my existing 7.1 set up) to really maximise my home cinema experience seems to be the way forward for me. I'm not 100% sure that going back to a receiver will be AV nirvana (albeit that I'll keep one of my power amps to run the front three with) but new processors with XT32 are 2.5k upwards.

The price of used gear these days means that it wouldn't cost that much to pick up a secondhand stereo amp to have a second music room set up in the future, especially if you have some spare speakers.

Similar situations then - I don't even have a CD player attached to it anymore, I gifted my Naim CD3 to a friend about 3 years ago as he wanted a good player for his new place and he has it hooked up to a Naim AMP and some nice Kef Q series speakers, better that than it gathering dust in my sitting room and it does sound nice.

The one thing I am mildy concerned about is an AV Receivers ability to adequately drive the 7.6's in particular - but worst case I will get a Rotel, Arcam or CA power amp to pick them up if what I get can't quite drive them well enough.

[OldSkoolRS]

That's how I started with separate processor: First I added an old NAD C350 amp to using my then receiver's pre outs, later I picked up a used Arcam P25/3 which is a three channel amp (similar one on AVF classifieds at the moment for about £200 or so for example). I then found a seven channel Arcam P1000 so bought that, then eventually the AV9 processor. It's a cheap way to up the power for the main channels (leaving the receiver to power the remaining ones). IMHO best to use a three channel power amp so that the centre channel isn't driven by the receiver since it often takes the most signal (and bass too).

I'm currently using the P25/3 to power the bass speakers in my front three and then three channels of the P1000 to power the tweeters in the front three, so they are biamped. However,it's probably overkill (though I do listen pretty loud at just below reference level) so I think going back to single amp just using the P25/3 to power the front three and leave the 'internal' channels in the Denon X4000 to power everything else.

It also depends on crossover settings as if you have a decent subwoofer then you can run a higher crossover and take the load off the receiver a bit. The only issue I have with this method is that I feel that the surround effect is weaker if the crossover is taken much above 80Hz as the bass part of the surround signal is effectively moved to where ever the sub is (usually at the front of the room). I've heard an amazing system with 8 x 18" subwoofer drivers, but they run about 150Hz crossover which I don't like.

Sorry...getting late and I'm rambling.

[heppers75]

No not rambling... well not too much!

To be fair I left out I have a decent Active Jamo Sub as well.

But I think I will end up either mothballing or power amping the front 3 for the same reasons you have, an AV Receiver with good DSP capability will be very good for the most part but with the 7.6's being best driven bi-wired and at 4ohms so needing some kick to drive well I think power amp(s) will be where I end up.