Best reciever for music? (1 Viewer)

[Mal P]

Hi there,
I'm after a replacement for my venerable Sony 555ES, and I was interested in what sort of recievers are available these days. In particular, I'm after ones which shine with music... the Sony isn't the best as it tends to become harsh at times.
Or maybe I should just buy a musical power-amp for my Sony? What do you think?
Thank you,
Mal

 

[Phuong]

Marantz, Onkyo, Denon, and Yamaha all seem to be good places to start. It sounds as though Outlaw is fantastic as well, if you're open to buying online.
If you're willing to spend Sony ES money, well then there's a lot of good musical receivers in that $700 and higher range. You can't go wrong with any of the above brands, in my opnion. Most pros seem to be in agreement that Marantz receivers have the best onboard FM tuners, though the top-of-the-line Yamaha RX-V1 has a good one, too.
peace and happy listening

 

[Henry Carmona]

Its up to your ears, but alot of people agree that the
B&K 307 is rock solid musically.
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"Charlie don't surf."

 

[Bob_A]

Depends on the speakers Mal...it is the system synergy which is most important, so you want to find a receiver which matches well with your speakers.

 

[Mal P]

Thanks for the replies guys!
Hi Bob,
I have VAF DC-Xs, which are as neutral a speaker under $2000 as one can get. So basically, it's all in the amplifier... if it's a bright amplifier, I'll get bright sound, if it's a warm amp, I'll get warm sound, these speakers add very little distortion, which is the way I like it

They are here: http://www.vaf.com.au/catalog/products/dcx.htm
Thanks,
Mal

 

[Gerard Martin]

Mal
For music its hard to beat
Marantz, I have their SR19, SR8000
SR7000 and Model 2275 (Era 1976)
all are warm and sound great.
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Jerry

 

[Chip E]

B&K 307 babyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!
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[KeithH]

What is your budget? Most people say that Marantz receivers are the most musical, but they can be overly warm. It depends on what you want. An overly warm sound may not be accurate. There is such a thing as too warm, at least to my ears.
NAD receivers are also well-regarded for music, but they sometimes take a hit when evaluated for home theater performance (I've heard the same thing about Marantz receivers, by the way). A recent issue of Hi-Fi Choice out of the UK gave a short review of the NAD T751 receiver, which I believe is NAD's least expensive A/V receiver (£500 or about $750 USD retail price in the UK). Hi-Fi Choice loved music through the T751. However, they said it lacked a bit of punch for home theater relative to similarly priced competitors. Still, Hi-Fi Choice gave the T751 a five-star rating. I have two NAD stereo integrated amps and love them. NAD certainly knows how to make good amps for music.
If you can spend a little more, take a look at Arcam's A/V receiver. It too is considered very good with music. I'm not sure how it rates for home theater though.
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My:
HT Pics ; Equipment List ; DVD Collection ; LD Collection
KeithH: Saving the Home Theater World Before Bedtime

 

[Max Knight]

What type of speakers do you have? That can make a big difference.
I favor Marantz, which mates well with my B&W 603s2 towers.
-Max

 

[Bob_A]

Some excellent receivers have been mentioned here...also check out the yamaha rx-v1 (which can be had for probably 1500-2000 NEW right now)...I have always found the dspA1 to be very neutral in its presentation.

 

[Nicholas A. Gallegos]

If you're going to get Yamaha, I'd strongly suggest waiting about a month. The RX-V1 is soon to be replaced by a new model with lots of new features (i.e. DTS ES Discrete, DPLII, DTS Neo 6, etc.).
I bought my HTR-5280 (a lower-end model) about three months ago and now I'm kind of wishing I would have waited a while longer to get the upcoming HTR-5490. Oh well......

 

[Andrew Beacom]

My favourites are Marantz and NAD. I own the Marantz SR8000. My one word of caution is that my NAD dealer, as of May, had stopped selling the T751 due to number of returns he had with it. If they have fixed their QC then it's worth a listen.
The bottom line is you really need to find somewhere you can auditon a reciever with your speakers. You will never be sure until you have heard them paired up.

 

[Bruce Abar]

I can say going from Denon 4800 to Marantz SR14ex, there was a huge difference in two channel music. If you want nice two channel, Marantz is hard to beat!
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Bruce
http://bruceabar.tripod.com/theabarshometheater/

 

[Mal P]

Hi all,
Thanks for the responses! So it looks like Marantz has some good opinions about it in terms of musical reproduction... I'll have a listen to a few of their mid-high priced recievers.
With my speakers, I'd believe Yamaha to be a touch too bright for the music side... but holy smokes do they play them movies well
Sincerely,
Mal