Exoticar

Thanks, Thejson! Vatican, That's mighty expensive for the Denon 1802. The shop at Pacific Mall that Underhanded Penguin told me about quoted me $780 tax included...thats about $350 less than at tabangi. I wonder how much the Marantz 5200 would be elsewhere? Anyway, my dad doesn't really like "inexpensive" British speakers because a good chunk of what you're paying for them are import costs etc. so the actual speaker isn't worth much. I think he wants to stick with the Paradigm mini mons or some other American speaker. I guess I could always just plug the rear ports with something. Also, I'm gonna be holding off buying for a couple months (maybe March/April?) because my dad wants to move things around in this house and possibly make more space for stuff. btw, I bought a magazine called "The Absolute Sound" and they did a short review on the Paradigm Monitor 5's. The freq. response graph looked sorta like a sine wave as opposed to a flat line but the reviewer says he liked it.

Wow, this thread is on its 2nd page already! Thanks for the info, UP! Monitor Audio Bronze 2's....How much do those cost? Considering they're British, I don't think they're gonna be as good of a deal as the Paradigm's. I do like the front ports though, because I don't have lots of space to put rear ported speakers either. Is there a difference between the gold dome tweeter on the Monitor and the titanium dome tweeter on the Paradigm? I guess I'll ask my dad this weekend to see what his opinion on all this is. What's the price difference between the Marantz 5200 and the Denon 1802? Thejson, Any word on your Marantz receiver yet? After reading about DIY Cat5e speaker cables in one of Justin's posts, I've decided to make myself a smaller pair of these (http://www.geocities.com/venhaus1/diycatfivecables.html) cables since my dad's system still uses spring clips on the amp. I threw a crude one together today with some garbage cat5 cable I had laying around and it actually sounded better than the 16(not sure) gauge stuff that my dad's system is currently running on. I even asked my mom to do one of those blind tests just to make sure I wasn't imagining things and she said it sounded clearer...COOL!

Can anyone comment on the Klipsch Synergy SB-1's and how they compare to the Paradigm Mini Monitors? They're in the same price range (I think) but nobody on audioreview has posted anything yet. All I can figure out is that the Mini Mons response is about 52 Hz - 20 kHz +/-2 compared to the SB-1's 60 Hz - 24 kHz +/-3 and the Mini's are heavy suckers at about 30 lbs for the pair compared to 18 lbs for a pair of SB-1's. Mini mon's have a 6.5" mid/woofer while the SB-1's have a 5.25" mid/woofer. and the list goes on an on but those are just stats...I have no idea how either of them sound. Thanks This message has been edited by Exoticar on 12-10-2001 at 08:50 PM

Vatican, I'm starting leaning towards your idea of getting a receiver + mini monitors(instead of atoms) and leaving the sub till later. There's no way I could fit an svs sub in my room...those suckers are huge! There's no way I could possibly afford an svs sub either...at least not until I graduate and get a job. I'll probably just stick with a PDR-8 or 10. Not sure about the PDR-8 anymore though because people on audioreview say that there's audible transformer hum...thats no good. Updated system plans: Denon AVR-1602 (or Onkyo or Marantz equivalent) Paradigm Mini Monitor 1 pair Paradigm PDR-10 sub (summertime?) thejson, have you received your marantz receiver yet? jperrewe, Thanks for the info but I already have a stereo system. It consists of a Marantz model 3600 pre-amp, Marantz model 250M power-amp, Marantz tuner, Teac cassette deck, Technics turntable, and Sony CD player all hooked up to a pair of Teledyne Acoustic Research AR11's...the "expensive" ones(apparently there was a cheap AR11 and an expensive AR11 heh). Anyway, I'm happy with that system so thats why I'm looking for an HT receiver now.

Hey UP, I went to pacific mall today. That store you were talking about didn't have a sign on it so I had to check out all the little stickers on the door to see if it was a Denon authorized retailer. Pretty busy in there. Anyway, she quoted me $660 for the Denon 1602 and $780 for the 1802...Damn, thats a little more than I was expecting b/c I see ppl in the states say they got it for $300 US (approx $500 CDN). I fergot to ask about Onkyo though. Ah well, I'll just throw it at my dad and see what he says. Anybody have any opinions on Polk Audio speakers? That store can get Polk but they can't get Paradigm. Kromer can get Paradigm but they can't get Denon, only Onkyo...I checked out the audioreview.com website and the Polk R-10 got a higher rating than the Paradigm Atoms but the Atoms had a ton of reviews while the Polk only had like 10. I think i'm gonna go for Paradigm regardless though...Too bad the grilles aren't removable. Current System Plans: Denon AVR-1602 $660 Paradigm PDR-8 Sub $299 Paradigm Atom (1 Pair) $??? Vatican, do you know any other places aside from Kromer that sell Paradigm speakers?

LOL, Diggs, both Vatican and I are in Canada...dunno if that makes a difference though. Hong Kong is definitely a nice place to visit. Gotta check out that new airport. Its sooooo HUUUUUGE! My dad tells me they turned the old airport into a go-kart circuit...I think I'm gonna check it out when I'm there. Dunno if I want to get a step up transformer. Aren't they expensive? The cost of the thing could outweigh any potential savings. I heard they're chunky (large, heavy) as well. I don't have a lot of floor space to work with. Anyway, Vatican, is it MAT137 you're taking? I'm in 135. So far, its all been OAC calc review heh.

Thanks Thejson! Hong Kong was the place to get software years ago but its getting pretty dangerous now. The HK police do surprise busts all the time now. Besides, you could go on IRC or newsgroups etc. and download all sorts of stuff. Anyway, electronics do tend to be cheaper in HK but there are several things that sway me away from making a big ticket purchase there. The main reason is they use 240V power there and I dunno if receivers have switchable power supplies like computers. Second reason is there are a a lot more people in HK that will try to pull a fast ones on you than in North America, at flea markets expecially. My dad was telling me in 1999 that people on the street were selling "miracle pills," for god knows how much, that would prevent you from "catching" the Y2K bug. LOL! Third reason, dunno if warranties are international or regional. It would really suck if I had to ship it all the way back to HK to make a claim and then get it sent over here again. Another thing is some places in HK sell electronics really, really cheap. They're illegally imported so sometimes you can find stuff for 120V power like in North America BUT the manufacturer warranties they come with would probably not be honoured. Oh yeah, sorry I didn't e-mail you last night. Probably won't get a chance to e-mail you tonight either because I got calculus midterm tomorrow. By the way, you said you're in first year...which school and what program? I'm first year life sciences at U of T.

Vatican3, Lol, I am Chinese! Anyway, I'll e-mail you a bit later tonight. My last exam is next Thurs (Dec 13) and first lecture starts Jan 7. I probably could wait till Easter depending on how things go...

Vatican3, Of course I live in the GTA...Just look at my info. Anyway, are today's Marantz receivers any good? and how much are they? I read a couple of other posts that said they're defective or something. My dad's system has a 25 or so year old Marantz pre (Model 3600) and power (Model 250M) amp which I think kick ***. Seeing as my budget is 1/3 or less of yours, I'm leaning towards a Denon 1602 unless I can find something comparable to it(Maybe Marantz?). Kromer quoted me $298 on the PDR-8 and $392 on the PDR-10 sub so I'll probably be getting a PDR-8 unless I can find a good price on something comparable or slightly better(any recommendations?). As for speakers, I think I'm just gonna stick to a pair of Minimus-7 mini-monitors (1" tweeter, 4" mid/woofer) because they're pretty decent and I won't be able afford anything else for a while after this purchase. As for shops, another fellow Torontonian, Underhanded Penguin, told me this. "If you really wanted Denon or Onkyo and wanted the best orice on it, I cannot find a cheaper place than this home theatre shop in Pacific mall. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. There's only 2 places in that mall that sell home theatre stuff, and only one of those places has a show room with acoustic insulation on the back show room walls. The woman that works there is named Theresa. Forgot the name of the store though. It's inconspicuous and small, but I got a deal on the Denon 1802 which they were selling at Bay Bloor radio for 799 plus tax. The place at pacific mall gave it to me for 750 no tax. That's a 150 dollar differece! And I still get full warranty and they are an authorized Denon dealer." Purchasing everything together sounds like a good idea. The earliest I would be able to purchase anything would most likely be early January because I'm gonna be in Hong Kong from Dec 20 to Jan 3. When do you plan on purchasing? I hope things don't go massively on sale during boxing week cuz I'm not gonna be around to get in on it.

LOL again! Yes, I want to place the sub in a niche but considering my price limit for a receiver is $300, $750 for a sub would be waaaaaay out of my price range. Can anyone comment on the Paradigm PDR-8 or 10? or any other sub that has a good price/performance ratio? Thanks

LOL! If I had that much money to blow, I wouldn't have to ask about what receiver to get. Anyway, I still haven't decided whether to go for a 5-channel or 2-channel receiver. I'm leaning towards getting either a Denon AVR-1602(5-chan) or the the DRA-395(2-chan). Does anybody know of any Onkyo, Pioneer or any other receivers that are approximately equal to the Denon's in price/performance? Also, does anybody know of any subs (downfiring preferred) that can fit into a space no bigger than 16" deep x 20" high x 20" wide? How much ventilation does a sub need? Those dimensions would be a little bit of a tight fit. How big of a difference is there between ported and sealed subs. Thanks. BTW Toddvj, the Yamaha website sucks. It lists every receiver that Yamaha has ever produced and when I think I've found an interesting one, it tells me its been discontinued. Took me about 5 tries before I found one that hasn't been discontinued. This message has been edited by Exoticar on 12-02-2001 at 03:44 PM

Can anybody here suggest a good receiver for around $500 CDN ($300 USD) or less? It's mainly going to be for music but there's a possibility it'll be turned into an HT setup later on so it can be either 2 or 5 channels. How would a powered sub hook up to a receiver? Would it be through the mains or through a pre-out? And what are high-level and low-level inputs? Thanks

WOOOOO! Another Torontonian! Hot damn! those Videologics are expensive!