Receivers

[Exoticar]

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

[thejson]

Most recievers have a sub pre out. You'd connect the sub to this output. Not many recievers come w/ a powered output for sub; since many subs are self powered.

As far as a good reciever goes, look to onkyo or denon. I'm getting a marantz sr-5200 for around 450 US from the local hifi dealer. You might want to check out their product lines as well.

[Klipsch-daddy]

exoticar,

I have a kenwood vr-4080b receiver that is 110x5 with dolbly digital and dts. It is about 2-3 months old. Its very well built and mrsp for 1200.00 and sold for over 800.00. I got a deal on it and have recently purchased a yamaha rxv-1000. I have to get rid of it. I has a 2 year warranty that I have not filled out and sent to kenwood. I have it out on ubid for sale with a reserve price of 425.00. I will sell it for 400.00 and slit shipping with you if interested.

------------------

My HTS:

MAINS: RF-3's

CENTER: KSC-C1(LOOKING FOR A RC-3 OR RC-3II)

REAR: SS-1's

SUB: KSW-12

TV: TOSHIBA THEATER VIEW 50"

RECEIVER:KENWOOD VR-4080B

DVD: SONY S-360 DVD PLAYER

monster cable interconnects/12 gauge speaker wire

[toddvj]

If it's for music only, I would get a stereo receiver. You'll get a lot better performance from a $300 stereo receiver than a $300 surround sound receiver. I'd look at Yamaha or Denon. If you want surround sound later you can just replace the receiver. Or buy a Kenwood 4080 for $400 with slit shipping. Slits are always good .

[Colin]

The Outlaw models have received good reviews here and recently in The $sensible Sound magazine, although they are more money ...

[Exoticar]

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

[matthew2]

If you want a small sub, look at carver. But I warn you, its $1200 CDN. Sell the kids or something

------------------

Matthew

[xer0mark]

I have an old sony prologic reciever and I am upgrading this week. I am pretty much deciding on the 400 DENON reciver. Anybody have any comments? My speakers include mostly the Klipsch reference series speakers.

------------------

Mike Capulli

Media Director

DHI Music Group

mike@darklink.org

[xer0mark]

im sorry, the synergy series.

------------------

Mike Capulli

Media Director

DHI Music Group

mike@darklink.org

[Underhanded Penguin]

EC, since you're posting in both places... Most subs are ported now. It just provides more bass output in a given enclosure versus a non ported sub. The disadvatnages are less control and possibly muddier bass. But I even doubt that as some of the better subs out there(ie. Paradigm servo 15, and SVS) are ported. Anyways, what I'm trying to say is, you'll probably be hard pressed to find a sealed enclosure for a good deal these days as most designs are ported. Or at least most of the under 1000 subs are.

-UP

------------------

I love you Aki Ross!

[bacevedo]

A good sub is the Velodyne SPL 1200. I have one, in a custom media niche. It is forward firing, sealed, and has a 750W RMS amp (1500W peak). This sub rocks! Can play down to 16Hz, and plays really loud from 20Hz and up!

It is designed so that you can place it in a small niche! I am assuming that is what you want to do.

Onecall has them (had them?) factory refurbished, 2 year Velodyne warranty for $749 + about $35 shipping. The sub lists for $1400, and most places have it new for $1200. This is one serious sub - you should check it out. I bought it through them, and it came triple boxed and works totally fine. One thing that is nice about factory refurb, you can pretty much count on it working out of the box, since it already was fixed, and has been hand tested by someone who knows how to do it!

Even my wife noticed the difference. I casually asked her the other night if she had noticed any differences with the new sub vs. our old one (Klipsch KSW 12 - for sell by the way). She said yeah - I can feel it now in the couch (translated - goes much deeper and louder) and I can hear the actual bass notes now (translated - less boomy, very clean and tight, not one-noteish). I was so proud!

Bryan

------------------

"... But Honey - I promise this is the last thing I will have to buy for the Home Theater"

Mistubishi VS60603 60" RPTV

Denon AVR 3802 Receiver

Denon DVM 1800 DVD Changer

JVC 3600U SVHS VCR

RCA DirecTV Satellite Tuner

Klipsch RB5 - Mains

Klipsch RC3 - Center

Klipsch RCW3 - In-wall Surrounds

Velodyne SPL1200 Subwoofer

Monster HTS1000 Power Conditioner

Acoustic Research Pro Series Interconnects

[Exoticar]

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

[Vatican3]

Exoticar, do you live around the greater toronto area??? i live around there and i'm pretty much in the same situation as you.

i've been contemplating on the paradigm atoms as my rear and fronts, pdr-10 sub and the receiver is a toss up between marantz 5200, onkyo 595 & integra 5.1, and denon 1802. If i could stretch the budget i would definately go for the paradigm mini-monitors instead of the atoms. My budget is around $2400 canadian, which is about $1550 US.

been looking around for shops and these are the ones i found at least one of the components i mentioned

kromer radio

audio one

brack electronics

tabangi

trutone (missassauga)

hifi 2000

share some audio shops if you find any that i haven't mentioned. Or if you want we could buy our stuff together as it might strike a better deal since we're getting a lot of things.

[thejson]

You might want to check out the adire rava @ www.adireaudio.com . Supposed to be good value at $399. If you have an amp already or if you can get a cheap amp / extra reciever, you could get an svs @ www.svsubwoofers.com -- very popular (it's what i plan on doing).

[Exoticar]

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.

[Vatican3]

my exams in university don't end until the 19th so i'll probably be doing some heavy listening in audio stores after the 19th. As for the date that i want to purchase the system, probably before january 9 since school starts at that date. But if i find that the system that i like is out of reach for my budget, i'll probably wait it out until summer vacation to purchase the home theatre system.

pacific mall is really a double-edged sword. unless your chinese you never know what these guys will throw at you. I've gotten nice deals there (psone mod, ati radeon card) but i've also been burned once (defective ati rage videocard that would incessantly flicker once in a while). but since pacific mall is pretty close to my place, i'll definately check out what they have to offer there. You just have to be extra cautious and i might bring one of my chinese friends just so that i'll know what they're saying behind my back

if you want those marantz receivers, hifi 2000 offers them at a good price and they're flexible with the quotes too. The guy (james or gene, can't remember exactly) i talked to on the phone was the most polite salesman i've encountered so far and he said that he has 30 years of experience with marantz stuff. I wasn't aware of the x200 problem when i talked to him so we didn't press on that issue. I'll surely take a stab at those x200 receivers when i pay hifi 2000 a visit. And oh yeah he quoted $649 for the 4200 receiver and they have a sale going on for the x000 line since they are being discontinued.

so exoticar, if you're serious about getting the components together or at least exchange opinions and ideas, e-mail me

This message has been edited by Vatican3 on 12-11-2001 at 02:50 PM

[Exoticar]

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]

oh that's good then, those guys at pacific will at least be reluctant to pull a fast one if you go there.

well anyway you mentioned that you're going to hong kong, isn't that a nice place to get audio equipment cheap??? You probably won't be able to lug around that huge sub but a receiver would nicely fit in your suitcase. My mom use to go there all the time and she told me that its shopping central there!!! Check out those flea market stores in hong kong, maybe you'll be able to get a good deal on a receiver.

[thejson]

Exoticar & Vatican3:

I'm in a similar situation, finals are over on the 12th & i'm getting HT soon. Actually i've already got RF-3's and a Marantz SR-5200 on the way. Exoticar: I'll let you know how I like the Marantz when I get it. The dealers really like the current Marantz line. They are a great value on paper at least compared to Onkyo & Denon, but I'll see how it performs.

Vatican3: I've been to Hong Kong quite a few times, and although it's a great place to get software *grin* , I it's possible to find quality audio hardware cheaper than you can here. I could be wrong tho.

[Exoticar]

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.