separates or receiver?? (1 Viewer)

[Paul_Spalvieri]

I need help to determine whether to buy the new Onkyo 989 receiver or the anthem avm20 + mca5 amp? I am running MartinLogan cinema, aerius i and scripts.

 

[Ted Lee]

i've always bought receivers simply because they were what i could afford. i've always been happy with them. i also believe that many people (myself included) feel that todays receivers (especially flag-ship models) can compete with separates.
that being said...
i think i will be considering separates next time. i like the idea of having a separate amp. to me, it just makes sense that it will be able to deliver more power to my speakers. plus, i like the idea of a dedicated pre/pro. also, i like the added flexibility that this will provide next time i get upgraditis.
but i'll also still look at some receivers too...
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You step in the stream,
But the water has moved on.
This page is not here.
[Edited last by Ted Lee on September 17, 2001 at 11:20 AM]

 

[AjayM]

I need help to determine whether to buy the new Onkyo 989 receiver or the anthem avm20 + mca5 amp? I am running MartinLogan cinema, aerius i and scripts.

Well, if you go the Anthem route you'll need another 2 channels of amplification. So you would need an MCA5 and an MCA2 to get the full 7 channels. Or you could get the new Anthem PVA7 amp, but I think it's going to be a bit under-powered for your Martin Logan setup. The MCA5 & 2 with the AVM20 pre/pro will certainly make your setup shine, lots of power and headroom. Much more so than you will find with the Onkyo reciever.
Your Martin Logan are difficult to drive for most amps, look at the specs
Impedance: 4 ohms, 1.7 at 20kHz
Drops down to 1.7Ohm at 20,000Hz (thankfully there isn't much info up there).
Of course the Anthem setup is probably a little more money, but I would say well worth it.
Andrew
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[Martice]

I for one decided to get out of the receiver game a while ago and here's why. I found myself growing tired of the fact that everytime I wanted to upgrade receivers I had to not only change processors but the amplification and overall sound as well. As many have noted on this forum that the Denon 3801 sounded very different than the Denon 3300 of a few years back. I went out and bought me some good quality amplification that provided me with power that provided me with almost unlimited headroom along with a boost in clarity and detail. Some may say that receivers are just as good as seperates but I look at it this way. Yes receivers do do the same thing as seperates do. They both can play at reference levels but the question is how well do they play at reference levels? I don't agree with spending $2,000 or more for receivers because you have no room for a quick switch if you want to tailor your sound. If you decide that you don't like the processing that a particular receiver has but you love the sound of the system altogether or what if you feel that the processing is awesome but you don't like the power limitations provided by the receiver? You are now faced with having to buy a new receiver which was supposed to handle your power hungry speakers according to the distorted specs provided by the manufacturer or use the pre outs and bypass the main two channels with seperate amplification which relieves the receiver of doing what it was supposed to do in the first place and which means that you have a sort of semi-seperate system anyway.
Buying an all in one system is very attractive for a number of reasons but think about it. In terms of quality, the more capabilities a single all in one unit has, the less likely it will perform most of it's functions as advertised or as expected by the consumer, especially when compared to a unit that does one thing specifically. There are some receivers that supposedly perform on par with some seperate systems but then lok at the price tags of those units.
In simple terms what do you want a value meal or a steak dinner. You can have steak well done with mashed potatoes and mixed veggies or steak medium rare with mack and cheese and string beans. The choice is truly yours. However, you have to take the value meal as is, as advertised, with all of it's pros and cons and hope it does the job. You can't seperate the Big Mac from the fries and the drink or else it's no longer considered a value meal or in this case, a receiver and this brings you back to the beauty of seperates.
Having it your way is the way of seperates and over the long haul, is the real choice of value. Having it the way it is, to me is no real value at all.
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What if it gets no better than this!?!

 

[Russell _T]

Outlaw Audio is supposed to have their pre/pro 950 out in a month or so along with the 770 seven channel amp at 200 wpc. It should have everything you are looking for. The matching pair will be under $3000.00. Check out www.outlawaudio.com.
Russ
[Edited last by Russell _T on September 17, 2001 at 03:49 PM]
[Edited last by Russell _T on September 17, 2001 at 03:49 PM]

 

[Geo]

Well my take is a litlle different then the above posters.
I would like to go the separates route. And in the past I have, Lexicon DC-1, Aragon Soundstage........... but separates have become either too expensive or outdated too quickly (by the time promised upgrades finally become available there outdated).... SO....... I've adopted a new approach due to the fact that new desirable formats such as DPLII, DTS ES discrete, THX Ultra, etc... appear on high-end receivers first and seem to trickle down into separtes at a painfully slow rate. Just look at the new Denon AVR-4802 and the new receivers on the horizon, try to find a separate pre/pro that has all the goodies of the 4802. Try to find a pre/pro that can match the Denon 5800 used as a pre/pro, for less than $3K. I'm not saying these new, feature loaded receivers sound better than the super high end, super buck separates, but I'm not willing to wait forever to enjoy these new formats either. Besides I am not one of the lucky Golden Ear audiophiles.
Regardless of the receiver, I'm still using outboard amps for either all channels or at least the front three, just can't give up that separates power.
So I now have sort of an inter-changable system heart. Presently using the Denon 5800 as a preamp/processor, which is about to be replaced with the 4802. I try to replace the heart at least once a year so the ex-heart can be sold at a very small dollar loss if any. And if a separate pre/pro comes along that has the right stuff, then my system will be ready for it. In the mean time I'm having a lot of fun and listening enjoyment with heart transplants.........
geo
[Edited last by Geo on September 17, 2001 at 07:44 PM]
[Edited last by Geo on September 17, 2001 at 11:39 PM]

 

[Phuong]

My take is...
aside from new features that arise on the market every year... (do we really need 7.1 channels of sound or is it another way for manufacturers to keep moving products?)...here's my take on receivers vs. separates..
Get a receiver if...
1. Home theater is not your passion
2. You'd rather spend your money on software
3. A good tuner is not a priority
4. You run your speakers "SMALL"
Get separates if
1. you can really afford it
2. you are trying to power larger speakers
3. You want a really good tuner
If anything, the safest separates purchases would be a really good tuner and a 2 or 5-channel amp. Those can be used with most any receiver, as long as the receiver has pre-outs for all channels.
Peace, and happy listening

 

[Henry W]

Seperates is the way to go. If you try receivers you will be very disappointed in the lack of upgrades and customer service as well as the lower quality sound and video reproduction.
Please note Anthem and Sonic Frontier are out of business. Paradigm, the new owner, has laid off the entire staff and folded all operations with the exception of a repair facility and a parts depot, with a rapidly depleting inventory, into their own production facility. Supposedly, Paradigm is still interested in home theater equipment such as the multi channel a/v controllers and amps under the Anthem banner and may in some way continue this product from either their own production or via outsourcing.
Best regards-Henry
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[AjayM]

Please note Anthem and Sonic Frontier are out of business. Paradigm, the new owner, has laid off the entire staff and folded all operations with the exception of a repair facility and a parts depot, with a rapidly depleting inventory, into their own production facility. Supposedly, Paradigm is still interested in home theater equipment such as the multi channel a/v controllers and amps under the Anthem banner and may in some way continue this product from either their own production or via outsourcing.

Henry where did you hear about this? Paradigm has owned Sonic Frontiers for over a year I believe (I started looking at Anthem seperates about a year ago and they were owned by Paradigm), and they've just released a bunch of new products (not something you would do if you were closing).
Andrew
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[Henry W]

There is a thread on Audio Asylum with all the information.
http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/general/bbs.html
Best regards-Henry
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[Martice]

If you feel that you need to constantly upgrade your processor every year than it seems that some peoples priority are based more on features than on spending money on hardware that doesn't need to be upgrade often if not ever. As far as seperates being more expensive goes, that's true but doesn't have to be. You can purchase very good amplification on the used market for peanuts especially if you are comparing the amps in a typical receiver to outboard amps such as Acurus, Parasound etc.. I'm sure that an extra speaker (6.1, 7.1) sounds awesome in some systems but a properly amplified, calibrated, setup and matched 5.1 system is still breath taking and I'm sure will knock the shoes off most who hear it.
I'm sure 10.1 is coming and there will be some of us who feel compelled to chase that dream as well. However if the guy/gal who has a 5.1 setup does all that they can to get the most out of their system, I can assure you that you will not be missing much if anything at all as far as performance goes.
Get into your hobby and maximize the technology that you have.
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What if it gets no better than this!?!
[Edited last by Martice on September 18, 2001 at 02:28 PM]

 

[Norm Strong]

I'll answer the original question. Does the Anthem pre/proc have a headphone jack on the front panel? If it doesn't then don't buy it.
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Norm Strong ([email protected])