Jeff.bart
Stunt Coordinator
- Joined
- Sep 6, 2002
- Messages
- 93
Time for agonizing almost over. Time to purchase almost here. And yet, still torn. This receiver, or that? A move to separates? Or is there a “third way?”
Ideally, I’d love to buy separates. I can spend as much as $1250 on a receiver, so why not $2000 or so for separates? I just got some extra, unexpected cash.
Except that leaves me with only one choice if I buy new (I don’t want used). And that’s Outlaw, of course. The 950 looks nice, but is the hiss problem truly fixed? And I’d want to pair it with the 100 watt x 7 amplifier, the Outlaw 710, that is still not available. It may not be until early next year. If I wait, figure $1700 plus shipping if the Outlaw pricing pattern holds up.
Alternatively, I could buy a 5-channel Nad 925 THX amp for $1000 and add a 2-channel amp later (I need 2 more for a pair of speakers in kitchen). This would work especially well if the Outlaw 950 had an A and B speaker design, though that doesn’t appear to be the case.
The question is, is it worth it? Whatever I buy will have to last 10 years at least. Getting WAF has been harder for me than most. My wife only agreed to let my build a home theater by extracting my approval of a $30,000 remodeling of the master bedroom bath and the attic (for her home office). I have to make what I spend count and have some left over next year for the HDTV that she is (still) resisting me on.
If I don’t go separates, I am leaning toward the Nad T762. It has only six channels, but an A + B switch that supposedly can be controlled via remote. That would allow me to use it for HT room and kitchen, with the help of some IR repeaters. I couldn’t use both rooms at once, but that’s unlikely in my situation anyway.
Of course, I could add a 2-channel amp later to power the kitchen. Which begs another question. Would I get near-separates sound by buying the Nad T752 ($750), a 5-channel AVR (80 watts x 5), and adding a powerful 2-channel amp to drive the main speakers. Say the Nad C270 (120 watts x 2), which I can get for about $450.
The remaining alternative is to buy HK’s 525 ($700 and tax) and whatever I save, put toward purchase of separates in a couple of years. A good multichannel amp to drive the HKs, and then a pre/pro.
When I listen to good midrange AVRs these days, they seems to sound just fine. In fact, damn good. But in the back of my mind is this nagging fear that I am missing out -- buying half a loaf, so to speak -- by resisting the extra dollars to move up to separates. In turn, that fear is countered by a skepticism of how much better the sound of separates really is. My ears can't always tell in the confines of audio shops where the game is always rigged.
As someone else here said recently, “you people are trouble.” You’ve got me drowning in choices. Once I make a purchase, I don’t get a second chance for quite some time – barring a winning lottery ticket.
Ideally, I’d love to buy separates. I can spend as much as $1250 on a receiver, so why not $2000 or so for separates? I just got some extra, unexpected cash.
Except that leaves me with only one choice if I buy new (I don’t want used). And that’s Outlaw, of course. The 950 looks nice, but is the hiss problem truly fixed? And I’d want to pair it with the 100 watt x 7 amplifier, the Outlaw 710, that is still not available. It may not be until early next year. If I wait, figure $1700 plus shipping if the Outlaw pricing pattern holds up.
Alternatively, I could buy a 5-channel Nad 925 THX amp for $1000 and add a 2-channel amp later (I need 2 more for a pair of speakers in kitchen). This would work especially well if the Outlaw 950 had an A and B speaker design, though that doesn’t appear to be the case.
The question is, is it worth it? Whatever I buy will have to last 10 years at least. Getting WAF has been harder for me than most. My wife only agreed to let my build a home theater by extracting my approval of a $30,000 remodeling of the master bedroom bath and the attic (for her home office). I have to make what I spend count and have some left over next year for the HDTV that she is (still) resisting me on.
If I don’t go separates, I am leaning toward the Nad T762. It has only six channels, but an A + B switch that supposedly can be controlled via remote. That would allow me to use it for HT room and kitchen, with the help of some IR repeaters. I couldn’t use both rooms at once, but that’s unlikely in my situation anyway.
Of course, I could add a 2-channel amp later to power the kitchen. Which begs another question. Would I get near-separates sound by buying the Nad T752 ($750), a 5-channel AVR (80 watts x 5), and adding a powerful 2-channel amp to drive the main speakers. Say the Nad C270 (120 watts x 2), which I can get for about $450.
The remaining alternative is to buy HK’s 525 ($700 and tax) and whatever I save, put toward purchase of separates in a couple of years. A good multichannel amp to drive the HKs, and then a pre/pro.
When I listen to good midrange AVRs these days, they seems to sound just fine. In fact, damn good. But in the back of my mind is this nagging fear that I am missing out -- buying half a loaf, so to speak -- by resisting the extra dollars to move up to separates. In turn, that fear is countered by a skepticism of how much better the sound of separates really is. My ears can't always tell in the confines of audio shops where the game is always rigged.
As someone else here said recently, “you people are trouble.” You’ve got me drowning in choices. Once I make a purchase, I don’t get a second chance for quite some time – barring a winning lottery ticket.
