A warm sounding receiver for my B&W 600 setup - need help. (1 Viewer)

[Marius M]

This is the setup:
602 S3 (fronts), LCR600 (center), DS6 S3 (surround) and 600 S3 (surround back), PB10 (sub).

The 600's are very good speakers IMO, but they are on the bright side soundwise, and the treble can be a bit hard, so I'm looking for a warm sounding receiver that can match my B&W's. Also, a good room EQ and calibrator is a big plus.

I'm gonna use it mainly for movies (95%), so musicality in stereo isn't important. Dynamic and cinematic are key words.

I have some candidates, like the H/K 435, Marantz 7500 and Denon 3805. This is the price range I'm aiming at.

Advice and receiver recommendations would be a great.

 

[Shannon S.]

I have a similar setup with an Arcam AVR 250. It sounds great, but is a little pricey.

 

[John Garcia]

H/K and Marantz are generally warmer. Denon is more neutral to my ears. Me personally, I'd go with the 7500. Around that price, you may also be able to find a Rotel - check with your dealer for any demo / open box units.

For Denon, the 3806 is just around the corner too, so I'd expect to see the 3805 on closeout.

 

[Paul Anthony]

Yes, the Denon is neutral. If you lower the treble a tad, you can delete the harshness a bit. However, if you want a much warmer sound, I would pick a Marantz. I've owned BOTH a Denon and H/K, and thought the Denon had more a natural sound with good bass response. The Marantz is just perfect for music.

 

[mackie]

Buy the one you get the best deal on and has the features you want. You won't make a mistake on any of the ones you listed since the speaker has the most impact on the sound. A receiver can impact the sound but to a much, much lesser degree as long as it has the power to drive the speakers. Also consider Yamaha and Onkyo.

 

[Marius M]

Thanks for the answers guys!

I've heard that the Marantz receivers are very musical and have a warm, round sound. This is what I'm looking for, so the 7500 is clearly a good alternative. But, if I have read the specs correctly, the 7500 doesn't have an EQ like the Denon and H/K. I'm not a tech freak, so a receiver that could help me tune my system would be awesome. Does anyone know which brand that has the best room calibrator for their receivers?

It's not easy choosing new equipment, but I'm sure I'll be happy with whatever I decide to go for.

 

[Marius M]

Oh, Shannon S, you mention the Arcam 250, and it looks really great. I didn't know Arcam had 7.1 receivers. Too bad it only has one component input. I kinda need at least two.

Maybe I should get me one of those Switch Boxes instead of relying on the receivers video inputs. I live in Europe, so I'm not sure about the availibility of these Switch Boxes. Any recommendations?

 

[John Garcia]

The 7500 does have MRAC - auto EQ and level calibration like the others.

I have an 8300 and I've found no need to upgrade from it. Music is the reason why I went with this guy.

IMO, Arcam will sound better. You might give NAD a listen also. Quite warm and very musical.

 

[Brian L]

I drive a Series 1 600 system (604, 601, CC6) with a NAD 762, and am very pleased with the sound. I am not sure I subscribe to the notion that an AVR would sound "warm" or "bright" unless it were broken, but the 762/B&W rig, to my ears sounds quite good.

Yesterday, I was playing a new CD by an 18 year old piano prodigy called "Eldar", and the sound via the DACs in my Denon 3910 and the 5.1 analog ins on the NAD was fabulous.

Having said that, the NAD's don't go in for any of the auto set-up/EQ stuff, so if you want that, you will need to look elsewhere. And the Q&C of the 7x2 series has been less then stellar. Don't know about the 7x3 stuff.

Brian

 

[John Garcia]

Receivers definitely sound different from one another, there's no question about that. Amps have a slight infulence on sound, but a receiver's preamp and processing section has a LOT to do with what you hear poviding you are using a digital connection (using the receiver's DACs). When using the player's DACs, you are more or less hearing the player's capabilty and the receiver's amps.

 

[Marius M]

Too bad the T773 is the only 7.1 receiver out of the NAD models.

Both the Arcam and the NAD t773 are a bit out of my price range, and they also lack some of the features that I'm looking for.

I guess, if I'm going for Auto Setup/EQ, two or more component inputs and 7.1, the H/K AVR435 and the Denon 3805 are the receivers that stand out. I've considered Pioneer and Yamaha, but I've heard people say that they wouldn't match well with the B&W 600 series.

What I really should do, is to borrow a few receivers and try them out in my home theater. I don't know if Im up for that though. Too much work. I'm lazy, I know.

 

[Steve_L]

Pioneer has excellent auto-calibration capabilities. I'm not sure what you need for power with those speakers, but the Pioneer 1015 and up the price range are worth a look and listen. Neutral sound too.

 

[ChrisCan]

I run 4 601S3's and a LCR60S3 with my Pioneer 1014. I love the sound. I had the speakers running off an older less powerful Pioneer before. The 1014/15 absoutly woke the B&W up! It was like getting a whole new HT setup all over. Most B&W's are power hungry so make sure whatever you buy has a strong amplifier. but I am 100% satisfied with my B&W Pioneer setup.

 

[Steve_L]

Chris, that sounds like a sweet HT you got there! Nice to hear that the Pioneer was a great improvement to you system.

I'm thinking that the more than adequate power on top of the excellent MCACC auto-equalization brought out the best in your room accoustics. Did you just set up using MCACC, or did you find you needed to moodify the setting manually quite a bit? I find the auto MCACC settings to be right on in my system.

Rock-on!!

 

[ChrisCan]

I did run the MCACC and am very happy with it. But even before I ran the auto cal the improvement was dramatic to say the least. I think 1014/15's Mosfet amplifier is such an improvement over my last receiver there is just no comparison. I'm impressed every time I listen. Now I just need a better Sub when I can afford it.

 

[Andrew Pratt]

There's also the Sherwood-Newcastle line that should be in that price range and has the features you're looking at (Auto calibrate, EQ on all 7 channels plus subwoofer, component inputs etc)

 

[GregoriusM]

The Marantz receivers do NOT have auto-EQ at this time, except for the pricey 9600. They have auto-calibration, but not of the EQ.

I was hoping that my new 8500 had it, but it doesn't.

Only the 9600 has a 9 band parametric EQ.