New Toys to Play With (Integra Research RDC-7, RDA-7, RDV-1 and Pioneer Elite SC-05

[Youthman]

Looks like this is going to be an exciting weekend after bringing home some some sweet new toys. And just in time to try out my new Nikon 50mm 1.8 lens. I'll be testing them out this weekend. []

Integra Research RDA-7 Amp
160w x 7 @ 6ohm
112lbs and 2ft deep! I've never seen a home audio amp this large. My 80lb Parasound Amp feels like a paper weight compared to this monster.
Has a very cool looking chasis and is entirely ventilated by the holes in the case.
Retail: $5000

Integra Research RDC-7 Pre/Pro

Retail: $4500

Integra Research RDV-1 DVD Player

Retail: $4000

Pioneer Elite SC-05 Receiver
130w x 7

[RockOn4Klipsch]

these look great, cant wait till you get a chance to hook them up and give us a little review.

[Rick]

Very nice!!

[Youthman]

These new toys aren't mine. I brought them home over the weekend to
photograph for a friend that is in the A/V business and will be listing
them for him. Cool thing is that he doesn't mind me playing with them
before I list them. [] I need to run to Walmart and pick up some speaker wire before I can do any testing.

From my understanding, Integra Research is a little different company than the current Onkyo Integra Series. With the Retail price tags, I would think so.

I'm curious about a couple of things:

1. How does a $13,000 Retail system (Integra Pre/Pro, Amp and DVD Player) compares to my $4100 (Yamaha receiver, Parasound amp and PS3) retail system.

2. How does a $4000 DVD player compare to my $400 PS3?

3. How does a $4000 Pre/Pro sound compared to my $1200 Yamaha receiver that is serving as my Pre/Pro?

4. How does a $5000 130w/ch amp sound compared to my $2500 220w/ch amp?

I REALLY wish the Klipsch forums would allow for photos wider than a measly 700 pixels. These photos look much better in my build thread at 1000 pixels wide. Oh well, it's still a great forum because of the people. []

I am anxious to see if my non-audiophile ears will be able to hear a difference in equipment
that is at a much higher price point than my current gear. My hypothesis is that I will not hear 2 - 3 times an increase in sound quality and will see the law of diminishing return at work here....but who knows, I could be pleasantly surprised. Guess we
shall see. I'll post my thoughts hopefully later this afternoon.

[Beechnut]

Youth that is a dream opportunity. Way better than going to the store and trying to audition stuff. And sombody got some fast glass

[Youthman]

Youth that is a dream opportunity. Way better than going to the store and trying to audition stuff.

Yes it is. I have had a chance to check out Rotel, Parasound, Velodyne DD15, B&W speakers etc...in my own environment. It's definitely been fun.

And sombody got some fast glass

Yes!!! It's my first one. I use a D90 with two kit lenses (18-70mm and a 55-200mm). I bought the 50mm 1.8 last night for $75 so I saved a few bucks there. I have always heard it is a sweet lens for portraits and is a great all around indoor lens due to the low aperture and a good focal length. I just have to get used to my feet being the zoom.

Only thing I don't like about it so far is that it isn't real quiet like my other two lenses when focusing. I might end up selling it for a more quiet 50mm 1.8 but it will be awhile before I do.

I also bought a 28mm full manual lens from the same guy (not sure I'm gonna like that). We shall see.

[cornfedksboy]

What a cool opportunity. I'm very curious to hear what you think. Very few people get the chance to compare two systems like that.

[Youthman]

Yeah, I'm just hoping it's not enough difference that it will cause me to want to buy them. LOL

[elitedemo]

this sounds like a awesome opportunity

i would be suprised if you even see or hear 30-50% increase in "quality"

call me skeptical about how good a 4k dvd player can be

[CHASLS2]

How would you compare the B&W to the RF7'S? I'm wanting to try other brands of speakers.

The Elite 05 should be nice as it is like my SC35 AVR.

[willland]

call me skeptical about how good a 4k dvd player can be

Integra Research was a flagship only products division that of course had huge $$$ markups. Only Onkyo/Onkyo Pro and Integra remain.

I have the Onkyo DV-SP1000($2000.00 msrp) universal player with HDMI that was derived from this Integra Research player in question. Steller build quality(26+ pounds) and the smoothest transport system I have ever used. Great DVD player but even better with CD's, DVDA's, and SACD's. I have used this player with multiple systems including HT, vintage 2-channel, and modern 2-channel. I wished I had 2 or 3 more to put in all my systems. They are just that good. The Integra HDMI model is the DPS-10.5($2500.00 msrp)

Here is a cutaway to show the guts.

These two are of my player.

Bill

[willland]

Here is a better picture of the DV-SP1000 cutaway.

[jhoak]

Yeah, I'm just hoping it's not enough difference that it will cause me to want to buy them. LOL

You of all people should appreciate the quote "Lead me not into temptation" []

[willland]

You of all people should appreciate the quote "Lead me not into temptation"

Youthman has a will[A] as strong as an elephant when it comes to resisting audio/video gear temptations, and probably just as strong with any other temptations[6].

Bill

[Youthman]

Yes Jeff. The Lord is my shepherd I shall not be in want....well sometimes I Do.

[jhoak]

I of course DO NOT consider audio and HT equipment to be "evil" as in "deliver me from evil". On the other hand I have a couple of ex-wives who would probably dispute that opinion.

[Youthman]

We had a lot of running around to do and I just got home with some speaker wire. Figured I would just pick up 40ft 14 gauge speaker wire from Lowes. I know it's psychological but it just looks soooo cheap. One wire copper, other wire silver. So Blah...almost anti-high end. LOL. But I know, wire is wire....but I do prefer cool looking cables.

Off to the theater room to hook everything up to the RF-83's. Stay tuned.....

[Youthman]

How would you compare the B&W to the RF7'S?

The B&W's were bookshelves (DM 602 and DM603). They sounded very clear but probably similar to Klipsch RB-5's or RB-81's. I've always been fond of B&W sound but you just end up paying way more and to me get equal quality as Klipsch. They are super elegant looking as well.

i would be suprised if you even see or hear 30-50% increase in "quality"

call me skeptical about how good a 4k dvd player can be

I'm there with ya.

[Youthman]

I've spent the last 3 hours in the HT setting everything up and doing some A/B comparisons. As I've always stated, I am not an audiophile nor do I have critical hearing. With that said, here are my thoughts.

I first hooked up the Integra Pre/Pro, Integra Amp and Integra DVD to my RF-83's in stereo with no sub. The Integra were extremely detailed and the amp provided plenty of low end for the RF-83's. I was very pleased with what I heard. When I listed to track 8 of Joshua Kadison as well as Eagles Hotel California, it was very lively, the soundstage was wide and lively. Definitely three great units that play very well together.

I then hooked up the Pioneer Elite to the Integra DVD and used the receiver's internal 130/ch amp. To be honest, I wasn't that pleased with it. It was ok, just wasn't great. When I added the Integra Amp to it, it definitely added a much nicer sound, clarity and fullness to the sound.

So let's see if I can answer the 4 questions I posed earlier:

1. How does a $13,000 Retail system (Integra
Pre/Pro, Amp and DVD Player) compares to my $4100 (Yamaha receiver,
Parasound amp and PS3) retail system.

I do believe it sounded better. Was it night and day? Not really. Subtle differences. Extremely detailed with a great sound stage. Did it sound 3 times better? My ears did not hear 3x an increase in quality.

2. How does a $4000 DVD player compare to my $400 PS3?

I wasn't able to directly connect my PS3 to the Integra gear due to it not having HDMI. I did switch between my Yamaha system and the Integra system. Definitely an improvement but cannot say which component contributed the most. Could have been 1, 2 or all 3 of the components. Again, was there 10x an increase in performance, not even close.

3. How does a $4000 Pre/Pro sound compared to my $1200
Yamaha receiver that is serving as my Pre/Pro?

I didn't try a direct comparison again due to the difficulty of my system being installed inside the false wall. I could have placed the Integra on top of my Yamaha and used my Parasound amp but I still wouldn't have been able to use the PS3.

4. How does a $5000 130w/ch amp sound compared to my $2500 220w/ch amp?

It would have been a royal pain to unhook my Parasound to compare it with the Integra so I cannot say. As with my previous statements, it's a safe guess that I would not have heard 2x the sound quality.

I was wondering if the 130/ch Integra Amp would perform as well as my
Parasound 220w/ch but it had not problem delivering the goods without
hesitation, strain and did not run out of gas when pushed.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed demoing the system. I can clearly see that the Integra units are a very high quality build. I tried to pick up the amp by myself but figured it was safer to slide it across the carpet instead of risking blowing out my back. In my mind, I confirmed the law of diminishing return was at work. You can pay HUGE amounts of money only to gain a small amount of performance. Reality is that some companies make super expensive products because there are people that are willing to pay it just to have the very best.

As true with all electronics, they do not hold their value. The Integra units were made from 2004 - 2006. There is a RDA-7 on Ebay right now for $400 BIN (retailed for $4000), a RDC-7 for $600 BIN (retailed for $4000) and a RDA-7 amp for $1800 (retailed for $5000). And you thought your car suffered from severe depreciation. This is why I am a huge fan of Craigslist, and buying great quality, used components. If you do not have to have the latest/greatest, you can get some sweet deals on some great gear that a few years ago, was the top of the line.

[Youthman]

After I posted my review, the thought occurred to me....what if I hook the Integra DVD player up to my Yamaha via Digital Coax and compare it to the PS3 hooked up via HDMI. Not exactly a scientific experiment since I cannot use the same cable but let's see.

First thing I noticed when switching between units is that I heard much more detail from the Integra than from the PS3. I checked my SPL meter and sure enough, the Integra was playing about 2-3db louder. So each time I switched sources, I would adjust the volume 6 notches on the Yamaha so that both units were playing at the exact same volume.

I would put in a CD into the PS3 and listen to it, particularly trying to see how many different instruments, subtle nuances I could hear. It was as if I had to search for them, listening ever intently. The vocals sounded great, up front in center stage, the instruments often were faded in the background.

Then I switched over to the Integra DVD with same song and lowered the volume 6 notches to the same SPL as the PS3 was playing. IMMEDIATELY, I heard every nuance, subtle chime, ting, tap, pluck and instead of it being in the background, it was brought to the front of the soundstage. It was as if I was promoted from the nose bleed section to front row!

Here I have been unimpressed with my Yamaha for 2ch thinking it was entirely my room acoustics when in reality, the PS3 just isn't anywhere close to the caliber of the Integra DVD player.

I'm seriously considering buying the Integra DVD player, simply to use it for playing CD's. Either that or look for a really good CD player. I'm very surprised since I have always thought my ears were not "critical". Maybe they still aren't but I'm glad to find out that I'm not deaf. LOL I think the PS3 is excellent for HT, always have thought that, but now I'm seeing it is lacking in the 2ch department. But for what it's worth, I am not comparing apples to apples here since I'm comparing a $400 PS3 to a $4000 Integra DVD player.

I'm going to invite a friend tomorrow and I'll do several blind tests with him, without telling him what I found tonight and see if he hears the same thing that I do. I believe he will definitely be able to hear a significant difference. This is totally what I've been wanting for 2ch listening.

This has been an even more rewarding experience. []