Receiver to match JBL speakers (1 Viewer)

[Jo_M]

What's a good receiver for speakers that tend to be on the bright site (at least the tweeter is)?
I have a Denon 1802 currently and I'm looking at the Yamaha 5590/RX-v1300 or the Denon 2802. Are there warm sounding receivers that I should be looking at? Price range is under $900.

 

[Stephen Hopkins]

If you have an 1802, i wouldn't look at the 2802 as being much of an upgrade (other than the support of the newer sound formats). In the sub $900 range, you could quite easily pick up a 3802, or possibly even a 3803. You may also want to look at the Pioneer Elite 45TX. It's been labeled as a bit more neutral than the 3802. The best would be to find a place where you can demo your speakers (or similar) with the receivers you're looking at... or even better, if you could demo the receivers in your home.

Hope this helps.

 

[Robert James Clark]

It's been said that the warmer sound of the Harman Kardon receivers are the result of having been designed/tested using the JBL speaker (from a different division of HK).


Robert

 

[Jo_M]

That would make sense. I have plenty of resources (shops)available that would let me demo the units at home. I guess I just need to take some trips and try one at a time. BTW, what's the deal with the low wattage of the H/K units? Their $1000 model 525 has 70W per channel. That's 7 channels, if I'm only driving 5 does that number go up?

 

[Brian Ruth]

Jo:

From my understanding, HK is a bit more honest about their wattage than other companies (i.e. they don't inflate it as much). Think of a 70W per channel HK as being equivalent to a 95W or 100W per channel rating from another company.

EDIT: As an aside, I too am looking at the 5590. The reason I'm looking at it, though, is because I get a tidy discount for it by working at Best Buy, and because it happens to be the 'best' receiver we sell there (i.e. I can't get discounts on any other receivers that are comparable to it). You'll probably be better off looking at the 3802, as it is what I probably would get if I didn't get the discount on the 5590.

 

[Jo_M]

What's the employee cost for the 5590, you can PM if you don't want to make it public. Brian, which speakers do you have? I had a feeling H/K just did it a little different because it really wasn't making sense. Does BB has the 5590 now or is it coming soon? I'm closest to the Rockville store so I'll check this weekend.

 

[Pablo Abularach]

Jo,

Another good options is the new Marantz SR7300, for $700 it is one of the best receivers under $1000. I have an SR6200 pair with JBL S26 and S center, and to me it is a very good match. Maybe Harman Kardon could be a good option, but maker sure you also listen to marantz.

Hope this helps,
Pablo

 

[Jo_M]

Marantz is definitely on my list. I was looking at either the SR7300 or the SR8000. I may be getting a Yamaha RX-v2300 tomorrow to test out.

 

[KyleGS]

Brain stated 70w of HK power is equivalent to 100w from another company. I agree but I will expound on that- my 45wx5 on my HK 125 is MORE than equivalent to my 100x5 of Sony DE watts. The HK has more than matched anything in the same category during my recent auditions. I've gone with TWO H/K's to mate with my S-series JBLs. They seem made for ea other! Highly recommended

 

[Jo_M]

I'm going to try and find a H/K 525. Seems to have everything I need. I'll try it for 30 days. J and R has it for $749 which seems like a good price.

 

[Jo_M]

Picked up the H/K 520 this weekend. Got it at Circuit City so I could try it out for 30 days. First impressions are that it helps my speakers come alive. I definitely notice a difference but it's not all good. One some CD's I noticed a lack on detail but I really love the adjustable cross-over, makes a huge difference and lets the 10" woofers in my towers do some work. I like the setup of the Denon, I think it's more straight forward. The H/K does have a lot more options which I really like. The until is much heavier than my Denon but puts out twice the heat. The universal remote is much better than the tiny cluttered Denon remote. I've only watched a few scenes from a few movies so far. It's hard to tell who wins with movies. I thought the speaker transistions (sweeps) were smoother with the H/K. The two channel sound field is definitely different from the Denon which I though did a good job. In some cases the H/K put out a narrow, localized field. I'll have to try to adjust my speakers a little. Hopefully the next week will allow me more time to see if it's a keeper or not. I still want to spend some time with the Yamaha 5590 and see how that unit is.

 

[Jo_M]

board was acting up.