will a b&k 307 sound almost as good as stereo separates? (1 Viewer)

[Andre*C]

I am going to buy some good stereo separates and a mediocre receiver or a b&k 307. Will I here a big difference in cd play back? It would be so much easier to just get the b&k but I really want cd's to sound really good. What should I do?

 

[Chu Gai]

Big difference? Probably not although I'm sure an audio salesperson would love to steer you in that direction from the point of sales commission. Mind you I'm not taking a stand against separates!
Sounds to me like you're ready to drop some serious change. The B&K lists in the mid 3,000's. If I may ask, what're you presently running in the way of speakers and amplication? What is it that you want to improve?
My own personal philosophy is that speakers and the way they interact with the room play the LARGEST roles.

 

[Matt Sweadner]

I was seriously considering a 307 but found a Mac 206 amp

I just couldn't pass on. The 307 got rave reviews everywhere I looked.
If space is a concern then it may be better to pass on seperates.
If price is no object, look around for the new McIntosh MHT100 receiver. It is very nice with eight channels of power for dual zone coverage. You can find it on-line for about $4100.00. I never had the opportunity to compare the 2 side by side though.
Check out this forums classifieds as there is a guy (Joe Hays @ 763/757-6860) who has a slightly used 307 which you should be able to pick up for under 2K with about 4.5years of warranty left. If not for the Mac amp, I was going to buy his B&K.
Good luck

 

[Andre*C]

To answer your question about my gear, I have some 10 year old ESS speakers that I am replacing this month with vienna acoustics mozart (front) and maestro (center). I have a toshiba SD 9200 dvd/cd player and I just sold my yamaha rxv-795 to try to raise some dough for the b&k or separates. I didn't get much though seeing theres no resale values in outdated receivers. So you don't think there is much difference between seperates and the b&k receiver. thats good to know since it would be a pain getting sepetates and a dedicated receiver for movies. I know speakers and placement make a huge sound difference but isn't it important to have a really good receiver? If not I will just get a denon for $700.

 

[Martice]

that's good to know since it would be a pain getting separates and a dedicated receiver for movies.

If you are serious about music and gear that is geared toward playing music I would suggest you don't settle on a all in one box situation. The nature of separates is grounded in flexibility and the ability to mix and match components until you feel that you've reached a point of synergy within your system and listening experience. You may feel that the B&K brings you to that point and that's fine as well. However, unless you're open to mix and matching to reach a point that you're happy with the sound, I think that going separates may not be necessary in your case if your listening habits are not as CRITICAL as those who seek to have a more ACTIVE hand in the overall outcome of there audio presentation. I'm sure that the B&K unit is awesome but I also think that it's awesome in the circles in which it was made for which is HT. However, I don't think that it would be considered awesome in more critical circles. There are some here who feel that the $900 Outlaw 950 as a pre/pro sounds better or influences the sound less then the $3,000 B&K Ref30 pre/pro and if I'm correct, the 307 uses the same pre/pro section as the B&K unit. Go figure? This is not to say that this is what you'd find in a comparison.

I think that for the money, you can get a really nice receiver for about $800.00 and spend about $1,500 to about $2,000 on a variety of 'quality' 2-channel amps and have a wonderful 2/5/7 channel hybrid system that will play movies wonderfully and at the same time make you proud when it comes to 2-channel reproduction. There are many on this forum who will tell you that a receiver as a preamp is not as good as a dedicated pre/pro when it comes to playing music and I would think that the same holds true for a dedicated 2-channel preamp should outperform most pre/pro's in 2-channel performance.

The question for you sir is where do you fit in all of this and how important is it to you. It all comes down to your ears and how much you're willing to experiment to satisfy them. I know some folks that are extremely happy with their systems and they put out about $1,500 for their whole system.

Don't believe the hype! Believe your ears!!

 

[Chu Gai]

Martice's points are well taken and provide a cost effective alternative to an all-in-one solution. Whether its for you, is up to you to decide. Presently you've got new speakers coming in. Why don't you play with those for a while and see how things shake out? This is just me, but I like to take things slowly.

 

[Martice]

I agree. Make time your friend in these matters and all will work out.

Hi Chu. Good to hear from you again. I'm off to Union Square to hang out for a while.

Enjoy your day.

Until next time..

 

[Chu Gai]

Gonna segue over to Katz on Houston for a pasrtami sandwich? Good day for hanging out.
You've got nice speakers coming in and I'd suspect you'll find them very enjoyable. Work a little on finding good resting spots for those babies and enjoy the sounds

 

[ManojM]

The B&K is an excellent sounding receiver, and does a very respectable job of 2 channel, probably better than you might expect. I had a 202, which sonically is extremely similar to a 307 with a bit less power, and I have since replaced it with a few different separates, finally ending up with a Classe CAV150 amp and a Sunfire processor. This $7000 combo does sound better than the B&K, but made me realize that the B&K actually sounded pretty good (I have B&W Nautilus 804/805/HTM2). The bottom line, the B&K will sound better than inexpensive to mid range separates, but don't expect it to sound as good as more expensive separates. The B&K is a combination of the Ref 30 (excellent pre-amp), and a mediocre amp. Think of it as a $2500-$3000 pro combined with a $1000 7 channel amp, and that's the preformance that you get.

 

[Martice]

The B&K is a combination of the Ref 30 (excellent pre-amp), and a mediocre amp. Think of it as a $2500-$3000 pro combined with a $1000 7 channel amp, and that's the performance that you get.

Case and point, there are some who feel that the $900 Outlaw 950 and the $1200-$1500 Rotel 1060 are very comparable to the $2500-$3000 Ref30 if not a better performer to some who've heard both units. Is it the law and will everyone walk away with those similar findings? Of course not.

So it wouldn't be fair to make subjective statements like "the B&K is better then less expensive and mid-fi separates" in a text that sounds like your findings are conclusive and could be universally applied to all when actually, it is a personal finding using your equipment, your room and most importantly, your ears.

 

[Matt Jesty]

I think that for the money, you can get a really nice receiver for about $800.00 and spend about $1,500 to about $2,000 on a variety of 'quality' 2-channel amps and have a wonderful 2/5/7 channel hybrid system that will play movies wonderfully and at the same time make you proud when it comes to 2-channel reproduction. There are many on this forum who will tell you that a receiver as a preamp is not as good as a dedicated pre/pro when it comes to playing music and I would think that the same holds true for a dedicated 2-channel preamp should outperform most pre/pro's in 2-channel performance.
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A few things to keep in mind about the 307;
first, it is one of the very few rcvrs on the market with a toroidal transformer which (along with it's quality of amp design) will give it most of what many inexpensive "seperate" amps deliver....
second, it is one of even fewer (actually ,I think maybe only 2 current pieces) rcvrs that employ a "non-current-limiting" design, which also seperates it from it's Japanese rcvr competition and puts it more into a "seperates" class of equipment.
third, while I am one of the few who seems to articulate this point, it seems important to remember that the overwhekming majority of rcvrs use very low quality components in their pre-out sections, B&K builds this section identically to the pre-out section of their REF 30, so if you do decide to swap-ouy/upgrade amps later on ,then you still have a GREAT pre-amp.
fourth, If you ever decide to sell the B&K later, you'll find it easier to sell a rcvr than a pre-pro...
fifth, many people keep gravitating towards the LOWEST PRICE pre-pro and telling themselves and everyone else that it is better than the somewhat more expensive ones...let your ears decide!

 

[Martice]

fifth, many people keep gravitating toward the LOWEST PRICE pre-pro and telling themselves and everyone else that it is better than the somewhat more expensive ones...let your ears decide!

Here Here!! As far as design and quality parts goes, I totally agree. I also agree that your ears are the bottom line and believe it or not, there are still some from both sides of the spectrum who will feel that there $500 receiver sounds just as good as more expensive units and those with a $10,000 pre/amp combination that says that units like the B&K could not share the same rack with their system. My only argument here is that to make a statement that one unit is better sounding then another when it's all subjective and extremely personal, is like saying that you can here for everyone else. In your system, in your room with your ears? Yes. Can you say that I would like or even appreciate the sonic differences the superior parts and designs offer in the B&K unit? No. I have friends that can't hear significant differences in audio gear and some that walk away totally impressed. Some that are totally happy with their systems that cost way less then the price of the gear we are talking about now.

Regardless what quality components or design philosophy used, it does not mean that you'll get the same response from every set of ears or most for that matter. It's just too subjective, too many variables to consider and too personal to call. If I were a betting man, I would say that the B&K unit sounds wonderful and for the average listener it's a wonderful and solid unit. Heck, I have a 2-channel B&K Ref4420 power amp I use for my mains and I love it although judging by the reviews of the amp, it's not for everyone to the point that some say it's flat and uninspiring compared to some less expensive units. I personally have different findings but the reader of this post may have different findings than me.

However, regardless of my views on the amp I can't say that it is EQUAL or BETTER than any other unit until it was in my room, using my ears and still it couldn't be called a universal finding just a personal finding because I can't ultimately say that you'll like the unit better than any piece of gear regardless of price or category.

 

[Duke]

The B&K also has an Analog pass thru so you can use either the DAC's in your CD/DVD player or use the digital connection and use the B&K DAC's.
Nice to have a choice.