what's the big difference?????

NickSI · 01-31-2005, 11:14 PM

alright i am a newbie to the world of hometheater but i do have a little knowlage and a decent system. i have a reciever that cost about $300 it is 6.1 has DTS and Dolby 2 and all that stuff. but i am seeing recievers that cost in the thousands. what do they have that makes them soooo much more expensive? i can hardly fathom.

John Garcia · 02-01-2005, 12:36 AM

What's the difference between a Geo Metro and a Ferrari F430?

KenLeBlanc · 02-01-2005, 12:43 AM

I'm also a newbie but my guess would be:

Power (lots of it and clean)
Many many features
Brand name
Many digital outputs
stuff that most people will never use
etc...

I have a Yamaha RXV-650B which cost me about $550 CAN and it's probably more than I need. I'm currently only running a 5.1 set-up with all Athena speakers. It sounds great and I figured I'd get a nice receiver that would last me years and would allow me to expand my set-up. Very pleased with my receiver/system and can't imagine what an RX-Z9 (Yamaha's flagship) could do for me.

JeremyErwin · 02-01-2005, 01:26 AM

Some of them are software upgradable. At least one (Onkyo something 1000) is hardware upgradable.

Then, there's the amplifier section. The Denon 5805 has 10 170 watt amplifiers, for instance.

Some receivers can support multiple zones, although this isn't so much of a high end feature any more.

And, of course, the more expensive receivers are equipped with the latest electronic gizmos. Does your$300 receiver switch HDMI? Does it have a firewire port? Eventually, the market figures out which features are actually useful, and manufacturers redesign even their entry level gear around such things. If you can't wait for the "eventually", a high priced receiver may well be in your future...

Of course, this only applies to receivers. Many preamplifier/processor modules are decidedly low tech...

JasonSTR · 02-01-2005, 07:34 AM

Quote:

Then, there's the amplifier section. The Denon 5805 has 10 170 watt amplifiers, for instance.

*drools all over his shirt*

**HTF Ads**

MikeEn · 02-01-2005, 07:49 AM

alright i am a newbie to the world of hometheater but i do have a little knowlage and a decent system. i have a reciever that cost about $300 it is 6.1 has DTS and Dolby 2 and all that stuff. but i am seeing recievers that cost in the thousands. what do they have that makes them soooo much more expensive? i can hardly fathom.

Some of the high-end units have very esoteric features. Unfortunately, none are yet available with spell- and grammar-checkers.

Nathan Stohler · 02-01-2005, 09:09 AM

Nick,

There are lots of people like you and I who buy receivers in the below $500 range and are completely satisfied. In fact, the only thing I wish my receiver had is upconversion to component video, but to me, it wasn't worth another $100-$200 for a receiver that supports it.

It all comes down to what kind of power and functionality you need. There are many good receiver choices in the $300 to $500 range, and most people don't need 200 wpc, 30 different DSP modes and 8 optical inputs.

Also, you can save a lot of money if you don't need to be on the bleeding edge of technology; you can often get a state-of-the-art receiver from a year or two ago for a great price.

--Nathan

Elinor · 02-01-2005, 10:36 AM

High end pre/pros have DACs in them that cost more than an entire low end receiver. It ain't all about bells and whistles ... superior components with tighter tolerances and cleaner performance account for serious $$ differences.

John S · 02-01-2005, 11:29 AM

Hmm... What's the big difference?? Oh about 100lbs in weight!!!!

Just a casual going over something like my Denon 4802, and going over anything much under a $1000 product, the differences become more obvious even to somebody not in the know as they say.

But, in all honesty... It is amazing what you get these days and how cheap you can get it. I like my 4802 alot, I expect it to satisfy my needs nearly for the rest of my life, and that is why I bought it over many others. I paid $1725 for it nearly 3 years ago now, I think it will be the most expensive component I have ever or will ever buy to tell you the truth. But what is the price of happiness?

Nathan Stohler · 02-01-2005, 11:39 AM

All else being equal, I think I would have a difficult time distinguishing various digital/analog converters, so in my case, bells and whistles versus price is the determining factor in my purchasing decision.

Dan Halchak · 02-01-2005, 01:04 PM

I was one that never thought there could be a big difference in a say $400, $800, $2400 Pre-amp....

Now I can say with out a doubt, there is a definite difference...

I went from an old Pioneer Dolby Pro Logic Receiver (maybe 400 at the time, to a Yamaha Receiver (about 800). This made a huge difference. The Yamaha was night and day above the Pioneer (but it also was a newer DD/DTS receiver. I had that until about a year ago when I got the Yamaha Rx-v1400. And that was a jump above the old yamaha. I stuck with Yamaha because I liked their sound. Recently though I went to seperates. Specifically Rotel RSP-1098, RMB-1095, RB-1080, RT-1080. and the jump (albeit in price as well) in sound quality has been nothing short of stunning. Course it might help that I am pushing 200 (clean) watts per channel to all 7 speakers... And just my 5 channel amp is bigger than MOST receivers, it's on the size of the Z9, but all it does is push power, nothing else... And my Pre is about the size of MOST Receivers and it has no amp section, so that allows for better DACs and Relays to be used.

With the Yamaha set up, I never really listenend to music, would only watch one movie and be tired of it and move onto something else. With the Rotel, I've almost re-listened to my entire CD collection, watch and want to keep watching as many movies as I can and enjoy playing PS2 a lot more. It's amazing as clear and detailed as I thought the Yamaha is, the Rotel is a leap above and not fatiguing at all. I'm (for the first time) really really happy with the sound of my set up and do not have NEAR the upgraditis I did with the old set up.

However it does make me wonder what the Bryston, Anthem, Mark Levingstons, and etc. all would do....

To me there's not a real big difference until you hit certain levels (say monitary) and that's when you notice a big difference. However, if you stay with in your "bracket" (say $400-$1000) there's only very subtle changes between all the manufacturers... You have to jump to the next level to get that, "wow" factor.

Hope that maybe helps a little with just my personal experience so far in my short 10 year span in Home Theaters.