I have the Pioneer 563-a with the ICBM and have no complaints (for the $). I'm not familiar enough with the Denon's to compare, but I can't believe the Bass Mgmt is any better than the ICBM. I'm using small Boston's and a lackluster Boston sub on the system with a Yamaha DSP-A1. It was a chore...
I'm in Georgia and Pioneer had me send mine to Michigan (ABL Electronics). I asked Pioneer if they would arrange a pick-up and they did (UPS)with a pre-paid shipping label. ABL finished the job last Thursday, said it would ship Friday and I'm patiently:angry: waiting... So, if you push a bit...
I don't know the Onkyo units, but the Pioneer 563-a is, IMHO, the best bang for buck out there with very good audio performance in all formats. Video is less of a factor for me because I don't have a non-interlaced TV, though most reviews give it a fair to good. One caveat on the audio side...
Just my opinion, but...Reading through this thread, I am reminded how completely off the planet Sony is in just about everything they touch. Their electronic's focus for years has been micro-engineering, as though the world is populated by midgets. They're low end electronic's is junk for the...
I've mentioned on another thread that I recently puchased the Pioneer 563-a and the Outlaw ICBM for bass management (yes, it's needed). But the price is $150 + $250 plus cables. Nice price, good sound, plays everything and the bass management is superb. FYI the DAC's, which imho are the costly...
I bought the Pioneer 563-a running into a Yamaha DSP-A1 and love it except for the bass issue. I purchased an Outlaw ICBM to deal with it ($329 with cables). No problem, sounds great. The other caveat is that the DAC's are very good on the main's, but inferior on the surround speakers. I would...
The advantage of both SACD and DVD-A is higher resolution than conventional (Red Book) CD's. Surround sound is more or less gravy, as most of the remastered music was never recorded in multi-channel format anyway. So the quality of sound in a stereo SACD should blow away a conventional CD. IMO...
I just got the Outlaw ICBM yesterday and their rule of thumb is F3 + 10Hz, then set the xo at next step. (ie 65Hz + 10=75Hz; next step on their unit is 80Hz).
I lived over there for about 13 years; the 'keep-ables" when moving either way are speakers, CD players, amps--but forget about video devices, PAL vs NTSC is a no go, though some DVD players will do both,and pre-amps. Receivers & amps: if you really like what you've got you can have the...
I purchased one last weekend for $149 at BB and am very impressed with audio; picture is fine (I don't use prog scan). Bang for buck probably impossible to beat if you want SACD & DVD-A. The only serious drawback is bass management in SACD & DVD-A. I've just purchased an Outlaw ICBM to handle...
I just plunked down $150 for the Pioneer last weekend, and heard or read somewhere that the converters are Burr Brown's (obviously basic, and maybe on only 3 front channels) but the sound is very good on all audio with one big caveat, the 200Hz x-over is way too high so there is a significant...
I just posted a reply to the other thread (563-A and Aria...) regarding this subject. I found that switching main and center to large, despite having small speakers, really helped with bass. My problem is putting a lot of LF into small speakers; it tends to stress the drivers and is not really a...
Went out and got a 563-As yesterday, been having fun with it. The only problem area I see are the LF when using analog outs, as in this thread. Comparing PCM input vs. analog there is a significant loss in sub activity when using analog. Switching speakers to Large(C, LM and RM) helps, but I've...
Top end budget in the $400 range; ideal player for me would be killer Redbook performance, SACD + DVD-A, good PQ (but interlaced only required), and be a 5 disc changer.!!! I'm expecting to see a bunch of models answering the description over the next 6 months or so, but I'm impatatient.
Has anyone heard the Pioneer 563A and the 2200? Is the audio quality difference significant. I like the idea of SACD + DVD-A on the same machine, as long as the Redbook performance is reasonably strong, where Denon probably has an edge.
Thanks Charles, are you familiar with the model? I know Cambridge from years ago, and wonder what the audio performance is like on this model, haven't seen any reviews or comments on this or other forums. Re DVD, I only watch films and concerts and will eventually have HD (2006 the year for...
I'm interested to hear of any experience with the Azur 540D DVD player. It doesn't seem to do SACD, but I have not heard about the Crystal DAC's it uses. Also, the video side is handled by 6 discrete DAC's. I'm curious how the video would compare to DSDI. In a nutshell, how's it sound and how's...
Are there any "universal" changers out yet? Specifics: 5 or 6 disc, emphasis on Audio quality, PQ secondary (no HD yet). If there aren't any, are any due within next 6 months or so? Faroujda would be nice:)
When you talk about the frequency of an instrument, remember there are lots of harmonics--don't even ask how many db down at, say, 20 KHz. They keep going way beyond human hearing and the point is the more you capture, the more true to the recorded sound it is. Why? I don't know, but I do know...
Just a little input from an old analog guy. Human hearing is generally regarded as sensitive to about 20KHz, depending on age, etc. However, sounds in nature occur significantly above that and CD's were brickwall filtered at 20K on this basis (sampling at 44.1 also because of this). Human...
My question is specifically about the center rear speaker in a (prospective)6.1 set up. My surrounds are matched for my mains & center; the question is how important the rear center is tonally. My guess is it's not too important as long as sensitivity, power handling, and at least a freq...
How important is it to voice the rear speaker in moving from 5.1 to 6.1? My understanding is that surrounds are not as important to voicing as mains and center, but am not clear how important the rear is from a voicing perspective. Any comments?
Any opinions on this amp? How does it compare to the current crop of 6.1 and 7.1 integrated amps on the market today? Question comes from whether it's worth paying $500 for it or for a 6 or 7.1 system. Speaker set up is Boston Acoustics Micro-90 5.1 system and don't have a lot of $ to burn.
Smiley is because very few people, I would guess, can put a sub in the middle of the room. If the sub is designed to be put in the corner, then it has been designed with 9 db less output, and is using the coupling of walls and floor to boost output. If so, then not putting the sub in the corner...
Subs in corners are not a good idea as low frequencies are omnidirectional. Best placement is right in the middle of the room:D The problem with a corner is you have3 reflecting surfaces that will re-inforce the output to where "the walls aren't". Putting them on the ground against the middle...
Thanks Stephen & Curtis,for your input. I've done some burrowing(?) on the web and have checked out Ascend and ELT, both of which seem to be well regarded on this forum and at attractive price levels. Specific question: which bookshelf speaker systems can run high levels (DTS, high SPL's in...