Receiver for B&W (1 Viewer)

[Gianluca]

Hi everybody,

I am going to buy four B&W DM303 and a LCR3 for my home theatre.

What is the best receiver for these speakers?

I am looking at Marantz, Denon and Yamaha, what do you think?

 

[Winfred.S]

What's your price limit?

I listened to the Rotel RSX-1055 today and it sounds great. But I believe this one retails for $1,500.

My brother has the Denon AVR-1803 with B&W 601's/600's, I think it sounds excellent together. This one retails for 499 I believe.

I haven't heard any new Marantz or Yamaha receivers recently but both are great names and you should try them out as well.

Have fun shopping.

 

[Mark C.]

You're looking at the right brands as far as build, features and dependability. You shouldn't go wrong with any of those three.

 

[Mark Dickerson]

Gianluca:

Funny you should ask. I just demo'ed all three this morning, first the Marantz 6300 vs. the Yamaha RX-V730. The Marantz was pretty smooth, without being syrupy (is that a word?). By comparison, the Yamaha was bright and edgy, especially on music playback. Even on Dolby Digital, however, I found it a bit bright, but it wasn't edgy. Nevertheless, even in movie playback, I found the sound of the Marantz to be more real. If you intend to use this system for music playback at all, I do not recommend the Yamaha.

Later, at another dealer (who doesn't have Marantz, but does have Denon), I compared the Denon 1803 to the same Yamaha (since I already had a reference point). Pretty much the same result. Denon was much smoother and more realistic on the movie soundtracks, and definitely more enjoyable in music playback. It was too bad, too, because I had a wonderful offer on the Yamaha, and I was tempted to buy the Yamaha regardless, but I just couldn't get over the fact that it sounded brassy compared to the other receivers.

However, can't really say that either the Marantz or the Denon was better, as they were not in same same shop playing the same source material and driving the same speakers. Both are very good. If I had to choose, I would probably go with the Marantz based upon what I perceived was a slightly better sound, but it would be close.

Have you considered an NAD AVR? Fewer bells and whistles, but the sound is more detailed and realistic. I found listening to NAD to be a revelation in HT, and it is the direction I am leaning. You may want to give it a listen if you can. I love those B+Ws, and the NAD would be a great match. Just a thought . . .