Topic: Reciever suggestions...

[halteh]

Now that i'm selling off my tape rig I thought I'd invest a little bit in a decent playback system for my bedroom. I was thinking about going with a pair of bookshelves at first; like dm303 by B&W and later adding some more speakers for a 5.1 if I decided. As far as a reciever goes I was thinking about the sony STR-DA3000ES. I currently have an m902 headphone amp, would it be worth putting the m902 in the chain as a pre-amp if i went with the sony reciever? I remember reading a lot of good things about the STR-DA series AV recievers by sony a while back, are they still the best things since sliced bread? I'm a little out the loop, sorry.

Any suggestions/help is always greatly appreciated!

Thanks
--F

[BC]

personally I would use the 902 as a preamp and just buy a power amp to drive the speakers. The 902 acts as a very high performance preamplifier, I think the sony receiver would be the weak link in the chain.

Now if you are sure you want to go 5.1 then yes, you would need a receiver. In that case probably use the Sony as a receiver/preamp and maybe just use the 902 as a DAC to feed it.

Happy shopping!
Ben

[Craig T]

I have the Sony 7000ES receiver.  Sounds nice.  I'm not running a surround system.  I'm using the surround channels to "bi-amp" my speakers.  You can set it to send the same signal to all amps - pretty sweet.  It is definitely a step up from my CAL d/a > B&K mono's setup.

My recommendation would be to use the 902 as a preamp, pick up a used amp(s) for your bookshelf speakers, then shop for a receiver once you make the move to surround.  A good used amp will hold its value for years, so if you decide to go the receiver route, you should get almost all your $$ out of the amp.

[Wes]

It sounds like it may not be all that important, but if you need all of the surround sound processing stuff, the m902 isn't going to cut it.  Having owned a STR-3000ES, I can say that it performs very well for the price.  I don't know your budget, but if you can afford it get a Arcam AVR-300.  It is a kick-ass piece of gear - better than any of the sony digitals, IMO. It has a headphone output, unlike many receivers, but I haven't had a chance to compare it to the m902.  You can also use it to bi-amp your front speakers.

[halteh]

personally I would use the 902 as a preamp and just buy a power amp to drive the speakers. The 902 acts as a very high performance preamplifier, I think the sony receiver would be the weak link in the chain.

Now if you are sure you want to go 5.1 then yes, you would need a receiver. In that case probably use the Sony as a receiver/preamp and maybe just use the 902 as a DAC to feed it.

Happy shopping!
Ben

Thanks for the tips everyone; I really appreciate! My noobie question to this is: if i used the m902 as a DAC to feed the sony reciever, would it only be feeding 2 channels? I am not sure if i have this right, but my setup would be dvd player/computer > m902 > dual rca cables > sony str. There would be two analog cables from the m902 to the receiver, one for left the other for right channel. Where would the 5.1 work here? Or is there no way to include the m902 in this setup?

I listen to a lot of music and watch quite a bit of tv/movies. What's my best move here? Just stick with a 2 channel system and drop the sony reciever? I want the m902 to play as large as a role as it can here because it's the best component I own.

Thanks
--F

[Nick's Picks]

the strength of the Sony's lie in their DAC, which is still sub-par to your m902.  IMO, get some small digital amp to throw behind the Grace and you'll be in like flynn.

the Sony's I/O sucks.  the parts are cheap and there is no noticable sound improvement that I could ever tell running either a preamp or a power amp in front or behind my 3000es.  IMO, its best used as  preamp/DAC combo.  the DAC is really nice...but not as nice as what you already have.

[halteh]

the strength of the Sony's lie in their DAC, which is still sub-par to your m902.  IMO, get some small digital amp to throw behind the Grace and you'll be in like flynn.

Any small digital amp suggestions?

Thanks for the reply.
--F

[Nick's Picks]

not really.  depends what you want to spend.  I think a great deal would be to score one of those PS-Audio HCA-2 dealio's.  they are supposed to be pretty awesome.  i've never heard one though.  I know a bunch of people here either have or have had them at one point in time.  i'm sure someone can chime in.

[BobW]

I've always fancied the idea of driving a pair of Manley Snappers with an M902.

[halteh]

not really.  depends what you want to spend.  I think a great deal would be to score one of those PS-Audio HCA-2 dealio's.  they are supposed to be pretty awesome.  i've never heard one though.  I know a bunch of people here either have or have had them at one point in time.  i'm sure someone can chime in.

I think i'm going to just go ahead and look into an amp and drop the idea of 5.1 for now. Hmmm.....so how does B&W 805 > PS-Audio HCA-2 > m902 sound?

--F

[Nick's Picks]

I've always fancied the idea of driving a pair of Manley Snappers with an M902.

that was my target playback system for a while.
if anyone wants to pull that trigger, talk to me.  i can get deals on manley gear well below retail