Receiver for 99% HT (1 Viewer)

[dale^g]

Is that how you get those receivers to work?

works better than that mouse spinning a wheel inside your Pioneer Elite............Elite????........yeah, right!

 

[SeanV]

Ernest,
Yeah I forgot to list the Studio CC v2.

Everyone else,
Thanks for your opinions. This weekend will be making my final round of auditions. My short list is now

Marantz 7300
HK Avr525
Pioneer Elite 53tx

I know there are many, many, many, many other possibilities, but like I said earlier, I just want my system in place.

 

[Nathan Porteous]

Maybe hk and paradigm are not at many stores together because every time you plug the damb thing in something goes wrong with it

 

[ShaunLB]

Anything short of HK's top models would be almost a waste on a nice Paradigm setup IMHO. HK makes some decent stuff but until you break the $1k barrier I see too many other good choices...and just a little beyond the 1k barrier is the realm of seperates (Outlaw in particular). A nice pairing I've heard with Paradigmns at a local shop was with some nice Integra recievers. To each their own though.

 

[Vincent_S]

quote:
Maybe hk and paradigm are not at many stores together because every time you plug the damb thing in something goes wrong with it


LOL! There must be at LEAST a handfull of posts every week about a problem with a H/K. And that's just the people that own them that are on THIS website. I say stay away from them.

 

[altan]

I haven't had any problems with my 525. I've had it for about 9 months now.

... Altan

 

[TimMc]

Sean - just one last shot across the bow before you head off for your weekend of (in)decision...

Listen (or read) carefully what Robert said. Most of us have gone through this same thing, and some (much) more than once.

The part that will really, really tick you (and all of us correctly opinionated lurkers) off is... it ain't gonna matter all that much. We are talking about the electronics here - if you're happy with your speakers and you won't have a lengthy, extensive time to A/B all of your alternatives, then be happy with the one that has the features you really want. There are orders of magnitude difference between the distortion from the mechanicals (speakers, etc.) and the electronics - yes, there are differences or "personalities" between your various choices in electronics, but their influence will be but a fraction of any coloration introduced by your speakers. You like your speakers? Then you'll probably like the electronics - just don't buy something with "features" that make you crazy. If you had all your choices side-by-side and could A/B them for days then you might find the perfect choices. If you can find what sounds fine - and if you can find it at a great price - then be thrilled.

Your options are all pretty good choices - even the Elites (Or is that especially the Elites? Sorry, Dale. ;-) Look - I had a perfectly adequate (and wonderfully on-sale) Yamaha w/ my mostly Paradigms and it sounded just fine. Then I got the bug, but even more importantly I had the patience to lurk until I got lucky and scored an Elite 43TX for under $400 (quite a bit less that the 53's go for). I looked @ HK and even Marantz locally, and they were quite OK. But in the end I just wanted the Elite. Is it the best thing since sliced bread? Come on - has anyone ever tried to spread peanut butter on a 43?

Anyway, the point to this rambling is that this cheapo find sounds mostly wonderful. Is it really a huge leap forward from the Yamaha? Well, who are we kidding - nope, it's not. Do we like the 43 better? Yup - 'cause once I spent the better part of a day on and off setting it up (yeah, I prefer manual tweaking because it beats having time to mow the lawn or paint) it really puts a grin on our faces (and having 7.1 in certain movies, etc. really is occasionally cool). The bass management and calibration are for sure a step forward from what we had (while the DSP programs are probably not). We have a decent HT setup and now good sound in the den too. I might flip/flop the receivers next year just cause. And the best part of all - I can still afford Older Boy's tuition payments after this stupid purchase without batting an eyelash (so you know I was lusting over something much more impressive and much more expensive, too).


Bottom line - is that whatever you choose ain't really gonna be the end of the world (or the end of your A/V wants). Just get the one that YOU want - the one that you just lust after in your gut and that puts a grin on your face.

Have fun this weekend, and Good luck!

 

[Marty M]

From this and other threads I have also put HK on my list of possible receivers. The only problem in my area is that Circuit City is the only dealer that carries HK. I'm not sure if they even allow taking home their equipment to demo.

I don't know because I went to my local CC and stood by the receivers for almost 20 minutes and no one came over to even wait on me. I will not give my money to a store with such terrible customer service.

 

[Stephen Hopkins]

Circuit City's return policy is 30-days w/ or w/out receipt (they keep their receipt info in their computers now), and no questions asked. You can purchase an HK from them and return within 30days, giving you 30 days of in-home demo time free of charge (if you use a credit-card).

 

[Shiu]

I kind of agree with Tim, once you get pass the $600 mark, I am really not sure about those saying of one being layback, warm, another being bright or forward sounding. I spent enough time listening to a HKAVR225 based system in a friend's HT room and a HKAVR525 in the demo room of a store, using the same Polk Audio speakers and subwoofer that I have at home. I did not hear significant difference between the HK's and my supposedly bright sounding Sony 4ES.

Most receivers within the $600 to $1000 (street price) range are, at least based on bench test results, are quite true to the 20 to 20,000 +-1dB, at very low THD. I also feel that there are much greater variability in tonal characteristics in speakers than in "mid end" receivers. And if your speakers are of the low sensitivity type, then you need a more powerful receiver. So Sean, given the speakers you have, I don't think you can go wrong with any of the HK, Marantz and Pioneer models suggested to you.