Share your experience with digital receivers

Brian_Fly · 03-06-2005, 06:54 PM

I see more and more of these digital receivers coming out all the time, so let's dedicate a thread to them. I have a Panasonic model and love it. I know JVC has the RX-F10, with several more on the way including one with 150watts x 7. Kenwood has the fineline models with DPIIx processing, Pioneer has the VSX-C302S, Sherwood/Newcastle has the R-903, Onkyo has the TX-LR552, and H/K has some DPR models. I think these digitals are the wave of the future. Please share.

JeremyErwin · 03-07-2005, 02:09 AM

The cynic in me says that a digital receiver is only as good as its A/D converter. Notice the lack of IEEE-1394 sockets.

I suppose there's something magical about the "digital" technology that allows manufacturers to ditch old outdated analog technology like 5-way binding posts.

Brian_Fly · 03-07-2005, 08:33 AM

Well as far as DVD, Cable boxes, Satellite, and Game systems, use an optical cable and there's no need for A/D conversion. Let the signal stay in the digital realm till it's handed to the speakers. But, I'm quite pleased with the quality of the analog inputs on my panasonic anyway. I agree, 5-way binding posts would be nice, but they've been nixed in favor of size- not a problem for me. I'm not sure what you're getting at with the IEEE-1394 socket.

eddieZEN · 03-07-2005, 09:39 AM

I listened to the JVC RX-F10 at a friend's house and it was impressive in its clarity and openness. The sound could be described as dry and analytical rather than warm and lush like his Marantz 7100 but for how little he paid it wasn't bad at all.

I definitely heard a lot of things on a Santana CD I never noticed before, though this could've been also a result of the audiophile grade CD player he had running it on.

JeremyErwin · 03-07-2005, 02:14 PM

Brian, perhaps I was being a little too eager to criticize-- but I thought low noise was the primary advantage of a digital amplifier, making it seemingly ideal for high resolution audio, such as DVD-A. These advantages are minimized, however, with an analog signal, such as those provided by generic DVD-Audio players.
However, some DVD-Audio Players can provide a digital signal over a IEEE1394 cable. At present this is limited to high end players, but it is a standard, and a potentially useful one at that.
Perhaps the designers are hoping to improve the fabled "wife acceptance factor" by using a thinner chassis.

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Brian_Fly · 03-11-2005, 01:01 AM

Just found some interesting info on the new JVC's. Check this out:
http://www.cinenow.com/us/article.php3/id,1601/
I see J&R has them available for pre-order. Not bad prices either.

Kevin C Brown · 03-11-2005, 02:34 AM

Don't like them. I find the sound quality digital and bright sounding. Not a "natural" sound at all. Maybe the worst example, that H/K 1001 (?) receiver sounded ... shrill ... to me. I also find that most of them run out of steam pretty quickly when asked to drive lower impedance or lower efficiency speaker setups. They also typically do have higher distortion measurements due to the switching nature of their output stages. I say, you get what you pay for, and there's nothing magical about them. Analog amps have been around a long time, the technology is mature, and when designed and manufactured correctly can be truly indistinguishable from the source signal. Digital amps will get there someday. But the ones that comes closest today are not cheap either: Bel Canto and Flying Mole.

FeisalK · 03-11-2005, 06:53 AM

The Samsung AV-R3000 is a breakthrough new receiver, based on an extremely powerful ICEpower solution for digital amplification and also fully integrated ICEpower SMPS technology. Besides the ICEpower power section, the receiver contains a vast amount of features as a Room Equalizer, Sound Field Control Processor, Advanced Connectivity, IEEE1394, AnyNet, HDMI, DVI and more. In more ways, the receiver sets new standards. (more)

if I am not mistaken HDMI now carries DVD-A audio, so an entry level pairing like the Panasonic S97+XR70 has a digital conneciton for hirez audio

Quote:

But the ones that comes closest today are not cheap either: Bel Canto and Flying Mole.

Kevin, if you like the Bel Canto, check out this page
http://www.tripathpower.com/page2.html (more Tripath powered stuff)

eddieZEN · 03-11-2005, 09:28 AM

Brian & Feisalk,

Hmm, I wonder if either of them (the new JVC or the Samsung) have binding posts? The current JVC and Pannys don't...spring clips annoy me!

JeremyErwin · 03-11-2005, 12:00 PM

The Samsung AV-R3000 will list for $5000. And yes it does have binding posts.

Kevin C Brown · 03-11-2005, 09:24 PM

A little birdy told me that Samsung is going to do a pre/pro too. In the $3k - $5k range. Will be interesting to check that out.

eddieZEN · 03-11-2005, 09:38 PM

Jeremy,

For $5K it darn better have binding posts!!!

Interesting: 250 wpc but at 8 ohms, I wonder how it's going to handle lower impedance speakers like Maggies.