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I have the Denon 3803 and I would never suggest it was "musical". The sound is dry and sterile, and with the wrong speakers, I find its sound gets grainy and loses all impact. I would agree that the NAD 752 is the best, but the Marantz 7300 and H/K 525 are good choices as well. However, I...

RussellB: I think Chris is giving some good advice. The 640 has one very important advantage over the 5660--it has pre-outs which will allow you to add an external amplifier later on. Yamahas lower end receivers are notorious for having a very weak amp section (lousy power supply) and an...

Jim: I don't know if you would be interested, but the NHT line of speakers are a superb value. They come in a gloss black "piano" finish that looks beautiful (yes, they look like the finish on a high quality black piano). Better than their looks, the sound is quite good and a very good match...

I would get either the Outlaw 950/7100 combo, available from Outlaw for $1598, or an NAD 762 which has an MSRP of $1299 (but which can be had for less), which has the sound quality of separates.

Hmmm. I did get a 3803 for its processing power and I could not be more disappointed. The sound is polite and dry, but when pushed the sounds gets grainy sounding. The stereo image just breaks up. While its pre/pro section makes for a competent HT receiver, the amp section is really poor and for...

I have a difficult installation problem which requires that I have speakers affixed directly to the walls. I have looked everywhere for speakers that will hang on the wall and that I like to listen to. That really cuts down the field as most of these wall hanging speakers are very flat sounding...

Michael: The 45 wpc of the H/K not enough for you? Well, I have the answer! Check out the NAD CI 9120 which is 12 x 80 wpc! That means it can handle up to 6 new zones and it handles 4 ohm loads, too. Weighs 80 lbs., so get help when installing it. Cheers!

Hey, I would get the NAD in a heartbeat. I compared them directly at a local dealer, along with a Denon and an Onkyo, and the NAD was far better, sonically, IMO. Not only was the music more convincing, the DVDs were cleaner sounding as the NAD was able to reproduce things like background...

Missions are a very, very good speaker manufacturer from England and they are very highly regarded. I really like them (I have a pair of Mission 71s for my stereo in my study). It has been a little hard to find them for the past year as Denon USA and Mission came to a serious disagreement a...

Steve is correct, you may try an external amp if your old home theater receiver has pre-amp outs for all channels. The receiver is no doubt the limiting factor here and since you are doing this in stages, you might select a good amp while you wait to get your Rotel pre/pro. You might try...

Mark: The TX-SR600 is a fairly new unit. I am surprised you would want to replace it so soon if you like it functionally and sound-wise. I have compared an Onkyo 800 head to head with an NAD 742 (which shouldn't be a fair comparison since the 742 costs $350 less) and the 742 was far...

Receiver manufacturers have to make a lot of choices when designing their products. One of the choices is what kind of speaker load can they tolerate. It costs a lot more to build a product that will handle low impedance speakers (4 ohm). Earlier this year, I went looking for a new receiver that...

I went to the Paradigm website and checked the specs on your speakers, then I went to the Onkyo website and checked out the 601. Based upon what I saw, I don't think you will have a problem with them causing damage to your speakers, provided you don't have your receiver cranked to maximum...

Rick: Tough price point, but I can make a couple of suggestions: 1. If he can stretch just a little bit, he can get a Marantz 5200 (last year's model, but a very good one) from accessories4less.com for $329.99. 2. He can get a Denon 1803 (refurbished) from eCost.com for $299.00 (MSRP is...

First off, let me congratulate you on excellent gear. Those PSBs and the SVS sub are pretty awesome, and the choice of an NAD receiver I think is the right one. The differences are as follows: 1. The 762 has a Holmgren Toroidal power supply, which is a high quality outside brand. The 752...

Johan: The Black Diamonds are a good choice, but I have to agree the Yamaha is too bright for that speaker. I would suggest the Marantz or a Pioneer Elite for the Diamonds. They are both warmer and smoother than a Denon or Onkyo (I have a Denon so I know). I am aware that Pioneer Elite is not...

Sean: Nice speaker system. I have to agree with Mike, you should be looking at an NAD, but I will go one further. I have compared my Denon 3803 with an NAD 742 and I think the bottom of the line NAD is better. The sound is like quality separates and has as much usable power as does my...

Given your Klipsch speakers, I would tend to go with either a Pioneer Elite or a Harman/Kardon. The reason is that Klipsch tend to be rather bright and forward. A bright sounding receiver, such as a Yamaha or JVC, would not be a very enjoyable sound with those speakers. A Pioneer Elite (which...

Tarek: Another reason to go with the 600 is that the 501 has only one amplifier for all channels--the 600 has fully discrete amplifiers, a big plus in my book.

Actually, this issue was litigated about 28 years ago at the U. S. Supreme Court. It has been a long time since my class in anti-trust law, but the Supreme's agreed that a manufacturer could disavow products that were not sold through its authorized dealer network (regardless of the source)...

HienD: You have correctly identified the great scandal in HT receivers. In your example, that is pretty much what it means--57 wpc if you are lucky. Most receivers have badly undersized power supplies and that is why most of these receiver makers rate their product only two channels at a time...

Rick: A couple of suggestions: First, for your budget I would strongly recommend an NHT system (SB-2s for the fronts, SC-1 Center, and SB-1s for the rear, and an SW-10 for your sub). They are meant to be wall mounted and would work well with your Yamaha receiver. MSRP would be about $1475...

Alex: For just a few dollars more, One Call (www.onecall.com) has a great system for $590, that is made for your receiver--five NHT SuperZeros with a Phase Tech Power 8 sub. The SuperZeros have been on Stereophile's Recommended Components list for several years. Their small size is perfect...

Kevin: What are you using for a receiver (or, if separates, what are you driving your speakers with)? It makes a real difference in what I might suggest for speakers.

I find the Athenas to be very bright sounding, thus they probably sound good at a Best Buy. If it were me, I would get the PSBs, especially if you really want to listen to jazz. The PSBs are more laid back, but also much more accurate, IMHO.

Mike: E-mail me. I can help you with an authorized dealer to get what you want. BTW, how are things by the Bay? I lived in the City for 20 years until recently moving to Colorado last year.

pablo, It stays at 100 wpc, although it does mean that the active channels do not "run out of gas" as quickly on demanding material because the power supply is only having to drive five speakers instead of seven.

Given the following info: 1. They are for your parents; 2. They are primarily for music; 3. They are connected to a Denon 1803 (amp is a bit dry); 4. You would prefer a cherry veneer finish; and, 5. You have a budget of $600 or less; I would recommend you go to Audio Advisor...

I agree with James. I have been doing a lot of head to head comparison shopping and the NAD is flat out better sounding to me than anything else out there until you get to separates. When I compared the NAD to other receivers in the $1K category, using the same speakers and source material, I...

Steve: Since you are aware that current is more important than watts, I suggest that you skip both the Onkyo and the Denon and go directly to an NAD 752 (which can be had for the same amount of money as the Onkyo), thereby saving yourself a lot of heartache, not to mention buyer's remorse...