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Author Topic: Help Glynor Buy A New Receiver (or Multichannel Amp?)  (Read 16875 times)

WinoOutWest

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Re: Help Glynor Buy A New Receiver (or Multichannel Amp?)
« Reply #50 on: September 20, 2013, 07:08:02 pm »

I've had Yammies, Denon's (controlled via RS232 with Girder/Eventghost) and I just replaced my aging Denon with a ONKYO TX-NR709 from Newegg for $399 shipped.  Its 7.2 and I am setup as a 5.1 plus 2 channel Zone 2 for the kitchen.  Having controlled things via IR and RS232 I would never buy an amp without RS232 or IP control.

Used to be a Girder + NetRemote user.
Replaced Girder with OpenSource EventGhost (very pleased with that transition.  Easier if you know girder)
Have recently moved to iRule which has support for Eventghost so I can trigger all my custom stuff in Eventghost from iRule.  I've also got WebGizmo integrated into my iRule panels and love the way it is all in one place.  Just have iRule on an iPad and a Nexus 7 for now but picked up 2 Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 for ~$100 each that I am going to use as Audio Only controllers in various spots in the house.

Very impressed and pleased with iRule: great equipment database, excellent support, full support for IR, RS232 and IP (controlling the Onkyo via IP) not to mention WebGizmo and Eventghost. 
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mschneid

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Re: Help Glynor Buy A New Receiver (or Multichannel Amp?)
« Reply #51 on: September 21, 2013, 12:05:06 am »

Wow  things change.
Back in the day... you start with the speakers that you want to drive in stereo.  The better speakers require more fast clean power.  So you purchased an AV reciever for how much current the power amp could deliver.   The surround channel speakers are not that demanding to drive.
Then you consider how much room correction that you might need  IE  you want to manage the base response.... Audessy owns this niche...   XT32 room correction would be a must... this would give you a seamless integration of your two channel music with the sub.   Match your center with the LR mains for the best theatre presentation.  You room needs some space behind the listening position for the 7 channel effect to make much of a difference.  Onkyo and Dennon  buy the audessy liscence... Yamaha uses their YAPO scheme...

Now, if you rarely listen to music and the primary use is HT... you will probably look for a bit of a punchier speaker family down the road..

Bells and whistles sell AV receivers... so they have cut corners in the power supply and amp sections.....  Works but can sound a little thin with good speakers.
What ever you do... so long as your reciever has preamp outs for all of the channels... you can always get a 5 channel amp that will last your lifetime and drive any living space and speaker that you might upgrade to.   AV receiver computers will get seriously dated after 5 years....

Check and see if your broken dennon has just lost it's output stage and then you could upgrade to a 5 channel power amp that delivers.
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InflatableMouse

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Re: Help Glynor Buy A New Receiver (or Multichannel Amp?)
« Reply #52 on: September 21, 2013, 12:41:18 am »

and the 7.1 channel discreet analog ins.

Be aware though that regardless of what they call it, often these analog inputs still go through AD/DA conversion process. I don't know why you like having them or what you'd use them for but if its because you think its 'direct' and unprocessed, make sure it really is because you might be up for a dissapointment otherwise.
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apgood

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Re: Re: Re: Help Glynor Buy A New Receiver (or Multichannel Amp?)
« Reply #53 on: September 21, 2013, 05:16:10 am »

For current models, the RX-V475 (which is pretty low-end, $449 list) and up have it.  The older RX-V6-series I mentioned above certainly does as well.

Thanks!  That's too bad, though, as I don't want to wait a month or two, if I buy one (I might as well wait for my Denon to get repaired then).  I'll still check them out, though.

EDIT:  Any place I can check pricing online for US shipping?  Also, looks like the current lineup came out way back in 2010, so that's a little... Well, nothing really wrong with it, but that's almost as-old as my current Denon.

Sorry don't know any of the US online retailers as I'm in oz. But emailed my retailer here and he said the he expects stock of the new MRX710 in about 6 weeks so expect it to be sooner in the US, but if you're after a replacement asap then that will be too long anyway....
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glynor

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Re: Help Glynor Buy A New Receiver (or Multichannel Amp?)
« Reply #54 on: September 22, 2013, 07:06:15 pm »

So, I'm settling around something like, maybe the Yamaha RX-A820, which has everything I want, but much, much more.  Which is, itself, irritating.

And, I want to investigate (at least a bit seriously) the possibility of just buying a multichannel amp and a decent (but not obscene) multichannel dac or sound card.  So, I'm very price conscious, but no eBay or Craig's list.  I want something with a warranty (but it can be a discontinued model).  And, as mentioned above, I don't have any good, local showrooms.

So, with that said... I don't know much about where to start (other than looking at pro gear).  Suggestions?
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mwillems

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Re: Help Glynor Buy A New Receiver (or Multichannel Amp?)
« Reply #55 on: September 22, 2013, 08:55:34 pm »

So, I'm settling around something like, maybe the Yamaha RX-A820, which has everything I want, but much, much more.  Which is, itself, irritating.

And, I want to investigate (at least a bit seriously) the possibility of just buying a multichannel amp and a decent (but not obscene) multichannel dac or sound card.  So, I'm very price conscious, but no eBay or Craig's list.  I want something with a warranty (but it can be a discontinued model).  And, as mentioned above, I don't have any good, local showrooms.

So, with that said... I don't know much about where to start (other than looking at pro gear).  Suggestions?

Depending on how "decent" you mean on the DAC/soundcard front, you can find reasonably high quality 8 channel soundcards for about $80 (the Asus DX), and nicer eight-channel soundcards for $150-200 (the higher end Creative cards and the Asus ST/H6 combo).  I can personally vouch for both the Asus cards mentioned above, they're relatively nice, and relatively quiet (provided you use the third party drivers).  I ultimately needed something lower noise due to some unusually sensitive speakers I was running, but I still use my Asus ST as a source for some other speakers.  When you start talking about outboard DACs with eight or more channels, it's hard to find reasonably nice ones below $300 or $400.

You can find pro audio amps with six or more outputs, but they'll tend to be about as (or more) expensive than the receivers you're considering.  Also, some otherwise desirable Pro audio amps often have odd numbers of channels that don't really consider home theater users (4, 10, or 12): pro audio 4-channel amps seem especially popular, and some are a good value, like the ART SLA-4, but that leaves open the "what about the other two channels?" question.  

Which brings me to one of the joys of having a multi-channel DAC or soundcard: you can mix and match power amps depending on what you need, and you can build the system on a modular basis and replace or add parts as needed.  You needn't buy an 8 channel amp, you can buy as many channels as you need or mix and match different amps depending on the power needs of your speakers (large wattage amp for the sub, smaller wattage amps for the surrounds, etc.).  If you wanted to upgrade to 7.1 later, you could just get another two channels of amplification, etc.  You won't necessarily save money, but it gives you more options if components fail or you want to upgrade later. 

To that end, if you're looking for cheap power amp options, I can honestly say that some kind of Class D amp (sometimes called T-amps, or class T as well) is something to think about.  They're small, cheap, and use very little power (and can sound surprisingly good). I recently recommended a small 20-watt two-channel Lepai model for Matt's bathroom project (although he hasn't reported back on the amp yet): http://yabb.jriver.com/interact/index.php?topic=83183.msg567831#msg567831

It retails for between $20-25 at Parts Express or Amazon, is about the size of a mass market paperback, and sounds better than some $200 amps I've heard.  You could stack three of them and have six channels for $70 or so after shipping (and that stack would take up much less space than your current receiver).  I wouldn't necessarily recommend that specific amp for your setup (you may want more power, and it sounds like you're not looking for the setup to be *that* cheap), but you get the idea.  

Parts express has a variety of Class D amps, and some folks on here enjoy the Dayton brand amps quite a lot:  http://www.parts-express.com/cat/amplifiers/106
In my experience, they tend to be nicer than the Lepai, but commensurately more expensive (but still in the $20 to $50 per channel of amplification range).  The nice thing is that PE has a killer return policy, so you could even demo one of whatever you're considering before buying all your channels, and send it back if it's unsuitable.

I'm assuming here that you don't want to spend more than about $300 or $400 on the "amp" portion of the entertainment, and you're not interested in DIY at all. Obviously there are really good five or six channel power amps if you're willing to go up in the $800 or $900's (Emotiva's five-channel comes highly recommended, for example), and I can definitely recommend some DIY power amp options if you're looking for a project :-)
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glynor

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Re: Help Glynor Buy A New Receiver (or Multichannel Amp?)
« Reply #56 on: September 27, 2013, 02:40:30 pm »

After much consideration, I ended up going with a Yamaha RX-A830.  I found an open-box one online that had a fantastic discount from list (making it cheaper than the older version), while still carrying a full manufacturer warranty.  So, since I'm sick of waiting, and this covered my primary requirements (RS232, 7.1, multiple zone support), I clicked buy.

Hopefully it doesn't work out like the Denon.  I figure, at least, the Aventage series receivers from Yamaha carry a three year warranty, so if nothing else, it'll outlive this Denon by a bit.
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InflatableMouse

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Re: Help Glynor Buy A New Receiver (or Multichannel Amp?)
« Reply #57 on: September 27, 2013, 04:15:54 pm »

Congrats!
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mojave

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Re: Help Glynor Buy A New Receiver (or Multichannel Amp?)
« Reply #58 on: September 27, 2013, 04:41:49 pm »

Congratulations! The Steinberg UR824 used by mwillems and I is also made by Yamaha.

. . . which has everything I want, but much, much more.  Which is, itself, irritating.

I'm sure many think of JRiver the same way. You could ask in the Yamaha users forum for a way to remove features you don't want/need, but make sure you have the latest firmware first. ;D
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jmone

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Re: Help Glynor Buy A New Receiver (or Multichannel Amp?)
« Reply #59 on: September 27, 2013, 04:44:04 pm »

New Toy!
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Micromecca

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Re: Help Glynor Buy A New Receiver (or Multichannel Amp?)
« Reply #60 on: October 03, 2013, 06:31:45 am »

Grats Glynor a nice box of tricks, my pal has the same model and its very dynamic sounding, never seems to run out of steam even with all channels driven at high levels.

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