Receiver Questions (1 Viewer)

[Troy R]

Earlier this year I bought a used pair of Dynaudio Contour 1.3mkII’s (I sold my HT to get them). I am currently driving them with my first receiver (Yamaha HTR 5240). I am much more critical of my music than I am of HT, but I REALLY miss having my HT when I watch movies. So since I don’t have room for two systems, and I can’t seem to get DVD movies to sound good in 2 channel, I was thinking of getting a nice receiver now and building a new HT around it. I have mainly been looking at the Rotel RSX 1055, would this receiver do my Dyn’s justice for 2 channel? Is it stable at 4 ohms?

Are there any other receivers out there that will do my Dyn’s justice in 2 channel? I have also looked at the Arcam AVR200, which is supposed to be very “musical” but lacks some of the crossover features the Rotel has.

I guess another question would be: is there a way to get DVD’s to sound good in 2 channel? I’ve made sure that all the DD and DTS is turned off on my DVD player and all DSP's turned off on my receiver, but DVD movies just don’t sound good on 2 channel. Any ideas?

Sorry for all the questions, but any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

Troy

 

[Mike_J_D]

Umm I don't know anything about the Arcam having cross-over issues. And I have never actually heard the Arcam, but I love the look. And Arcam has a kick azz reputation. But so does Rotel. I just traded my 1066 and it was really good with music. So I would listen to both (if the dealer will let you take them both home and listen to them in your house). I am really considering the Arcam. I would be using it as a processor only. But it is leaps and bounds better then my Denon 2801. I Like the fact that the Arcam doesn't do Component video switching. Instead they gave it a huge toroidal transformer instead. Power is more important to me. But only your ears can tell you what to buy..so I would go listen. Hope this helps. Mike

 

[Troy R]

oops, sorry, when I said crossover issues I meant the Rotel has an adjustable crossover. The Arcam seems to be fixed from what I can find.

Thanks for the input.

 

[Arup]

If you are looking for a musical HT reciever check out Yamaha's RXZ-1.

 

[larry crimmins]

I have had the Arcam AVR200 for well over a year. I use it with Sonus Faber Concertino Homes and Solo Home Center. Apparently, Sonus Fabers have a reputation for being a difficult load to drive but the Arcam while rated @ 70W per w/5 channels driven and 90W w/ 2 channels is quite good for a SS receiver amp.
I recently got my Sony scd-ce775 sacd player back from Matthew Anker @ SACDMODS where the transformer upgrade was done, it had previously had all the multi-channel upgrades. I've always liked the Arcam but the Sony now has so much greater definition and bass slam that I'm considering a tube integrated from Jolida to warm up my stereo listening. The Arcam driving the Concertinos and a Monitor Audio ASW110 sub through its speaker level inputs is teaching me about the short comings of solid state amplification. Sure ,its a receiver w/ a rep for providing good quality stereo sound but because of the improvements in my digital front end I now understand the term "grain."
I have read that the Dynaudio Contour line rewards powerful and clean electronics upstream. If they were mine, I might look for a used Jolida integrated either the 502B or 801A and good IC's and speaker cable, since those speakers are so revealing.
I have a bedroom system w/ stereo only sound that doesn't bother me. I just use the analog outputs from the DVD player to an integrated NAD and then to the fronts (Ascend Acoustics CBM170).

 

[Troy R]

Thanks guys!

Larry, what is the crossover on the Arcam? Is it adjustable? What are the bass management settings?

Thanks again!
Troy

 

[larry crimmins]

Troy:
The crossover on the Arcam is set to 100Hz when the fronts are set Small. There is not a great deal of flexibility. Fronts, Center or Surrounds can be set to Large or Small. I set everything to Large as 100HZ is too high to cut things off IMO.
If you use the inputs for any device, the Arcam processes the signal. Only on 5.1 Direct is there no processing. So the receiver will take any signal including an analog one and digitize it and then extract a low frequency signal and/or use one of the preset formats (stereo, PLII Movie, PLII Music, Hall etc.)
I have my CDP connected through the 5.1 direct to avoid any losses in processing and use the sub connected via speaker level inputs, to get the bottom octave. My DVD player and satellite receiver are through inputs that get processed. So the Arcam creates a bass signal if you let it process the input and you can cut off the fronts as a group @ 100HZ by selecting them as small (why bother?)
The amplifiers provide a sound stage that seems stronger to the middle and up and than to the sides. I have had mass market receivers such as are popular on this board and the Arcam just sounds better to my ears. It is not better than high end separates but then it doesn't cost what they do. As a compromise (and everything is a compromise) it provides better quality 2 channel sound than other receivers at its price point and probably most costng considerably more. I may end up using it as more of a pre/pro and that allows me to improve my system in reasonable economic steps. I just can't afford the Mark Levinson No. 33's and Dynaudio Evidence at the same time