JoeMac
Auditioning
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2001
- Messages
- 11
Hi All, long time lurker, first time posting...and what better way to start off brand new than with something brand new!
I received my 520 on Friday, the 9th, and was one of the first people in the country to have one thanks to Jason at OneCall. Thanks again Jason!
I spent most of last weekend setting it up and trying different things. The amount of flexibility you have is amazing, especially in the area of channel setup for different functions. This past week found me fine tuning and trying different sources.
I am using this with Klipsch KLF-20 fronts, a KLF-C7 center, LF-10 subwoofer, and Klipsch surrounds.
2 major initial impressions:
1) QUIET ! pay attention, no what I mean is this unit is QUIET ! No matter what the source selected, no matter how loud I turn it up, as long as the media itself doesn't have noise you won't hear any. This is a night and day difference from the Marantz SR7200 that I just returned a few days before I got this. Yes, I had all the problems with the Marantz that everyone else is having, with the exception of the S-video noise.
2) LOW END ! The LFE channel is noticeably better. I'm not sure if it's the bass management or just the crossover frequency, or something else. I have tried it both ways, with the fronts set to both large and small, and there is a greater feeling of impact then I've ever had before. You can select freqs of 100, 80, 60, or 40. When I balanced the system using Avia and the ratshack SPL meter, I didn't have to change the gain of the sub much at all. It was only about 2 db different than the Marantz. I set the fronts to small with a xover of 100, to try and duplicate the Marantz. I then played some of my 'reference DVD's', with the scenes I prefer for rattling the room. It is fantastic, I don't know how or why, but it's great.
This receiver will play extremely loud without breathing hard. It helps that the Klipsch speakers are so efficient, but I have not noticed any distortion problems whatsoever. When I played this loud with my old Onkyo 575 and the SR7200, I could tell they were straining, and with the Marantz it actually started to hurt! I played the bonus track on the Eagles 'Hell Freezes Over' DVD, 'Seven Bridges Road', which has a different voice coming out of each speaker. When played loud I feel it pushes all the amps simultaneously. With the 520 there was a quality of effortlessness (that a word?) that dared me to turn it up louder. On the SR7200 it was more like, Okay, this really is starting to hurt my ears. The feeling was somewhat similar on the Onkyo but that was only rated at 70 watts per channel. Wait, the 520 is only rated at 75 ! I still can't believe the Marantz was spec'd at 105 watts. How about the quality of sound? Well, the Marantz was a definite improvement over the Onkyo, even though it was noisier. The HK is at least as good at low levels, with a better sense of spaciousness and localization (soundstage?). At louder volumes there is no comparison, the HK sounds more 'live' than the Marantz.
I'm sure I'll never use all the surround modes, but Logic 7 is a better implementation that Prologic II. The remote I think I like so far. It's easy to program, is backlit, and the EZ-Set function really works! I originally used the SPL meter and noted the level settings, than tried it using the remmote. Pretty cool! It was within 1 db of my manual levels. I even used this method to set many of the different modes that I didn't consider critical. You can set the speaker size and levels not only for the different sources, but for different surround modes using the same source! Again, amazing flexibility.
I haven't tried the MP3 or HDCD decoding yet. I have tried the 7.1 input. I have a JVC SA75 with DVD-audio and it is the best music I have ever heard. I wish I had a separate quality 5 channel amp to compare it with. I feel the amp section of the HK is more than I'll need for a long time.
Well, that's all I can think of for now. Overall I think it's the start of a new love affair. I'll try to answer any questions you might have.
(...previously posted at Home Theater Spot)
I received my 520 on Friday, the 9th, and was one of the first people in the country to have one thanks to Jason at OneCall. Thanks again Jason!
I spent most of last weekend setting it up and trying different things. The amount of flexibility you have is amazing, especially in the area of channel setup for different functions. This past week found me fine tuning and trying different sources.
I am using this with Klipsch KLF-20 fronts, a KLF-C7 center, LF-10 subwoofer, and Klipsch surrounds.
2 major initial impressions:
1) QUIET ! pay attention, no what I mean is this unit is QUIET ! No matter what the source selected, no matter how loud I turn it up, as long as the media itself doesn't have noise you won't hear any. This is a night and day difference from the Marantz SR7200 that I just returned a few days before I got this. Yes, I had all the problems with the Marantz that everyone else is having, with the exception of the S-video noise.
2) LOW END ! The LFE channel is noticeably better. I'm not sure if it's the bass management or just the crossover frequency, or something else. I have tried it both ways, with the fronts set to both large and small, and there is a greater feeling of impact then I've ever had before. You can select freqs of 100, 80, 60, or 40. When I balanced the system using Avia and the ratshack SPL meter, I didn't have to change the gain of the sub much at all. It was only about 2 db different than the Marantz. I set the fronts to small with a xover of 100, to try and duplicate the Marantz. I then played some of my 'reference DVD's', with the scenes I prefer for rattling the room. It is fantastic, I don't know how or why, but it's great.
This receiver will play extremely loud without breathing hard. It helps that the Klipsch speakers are so efficient, but I have not noticed any distortion problems whatsoever. When I played this loud with my old Onkyo 575 and the SR7200, I could tell they were straining, and with the Marantz it actually started to hurt! I played the bonus track on the Eagles 'Hell Freezes Over' DVD, 'Seven Bridges Road', which has a different voice coming out of each speaker. When played loud I feel it pushes all the amps simultaneously. With the 520 there was a quality of effortlessness (that a word?) that dared me to turn it up louder. On the SR7200 it was more like, Okay, this really is starting to hurt my ears. The feeling was somewhat similar on the Onkyo but that was only rated at 70 watts per channel. Wait, the 520 is only rated at 75 ! I still can't believe the Marantz was spec'd at 105 watts. How about the quality of sound? Well, the Marantz was a definite improvement over the Onkyo, even though it was noisier. The HK is at least as good at low levels, with a better sense of spaciousness and localization (soundstage?). At louder volumes there is no comparison, the HK sounds more 'live' than the Marantz.
I'm sure I'll never use all the surround modes, but Logic 7 is a better implementation that Prologic II. The remote I think I like so far. It's easy to program, is backlit, and the EZ-Set function really works! I originally used the SPL meter and noted the level settings, than tried it using the remmote. Pretty cool! It was within 1 db of my manual levels. I even used this method to set many of the different modes that I didn't consider critical. You can set the speaker size and levels not only for the different sources, but for different surround modes using the same source! Again, amazing flexibility.
I haven't tried the MP3 or HDCD decoding yet. I have tried the 7.1 input. I have a JVC SA75 with DVD-audio and it is the best music I have ever heard. I wish I had a separate quality 5 channel amp to compare it with. I feel the amp section of the HK is more than I'll need for a long time.
Well, that's all I can think of for now. Overall I think it's the start of a new love affair. I'll try to answer any questions you might have.
(...previously posted at Home Theater Spot)
