Topic: Home stereo questions

[rhett]

I am in the process of putting together a new home system that will NOT be used for a home theater.  There will be no TV hooked in to this. I was interested in hearing peoples opinions in a few areas.

1. The whole power thing.  When you go into a high end dealer they immediately show you a 1300 dolar receiver that is rated at 50 watts per channel and tell you it has more power than a 600 dollar 100 watts per channel receiver. I dont get it. Also what about integrated preamps?

2. Speakers -I know that it is based on what you like but just looking for opinions.

3. CD players - the hight end ones cost 600 bucks.  Single tray.  is there that much of a difference between a 600 dollar single tray vs a 300 dollar denon 5 cd changer?

Any inputs is greatly appreciated.



Rhett
Pittsburgh

[John R]

i predict this will be moved

[jpschust]

well its gonna get moved, but what the hell. ill take a shot.

1. Power is more than just wpc.  Power is clenliness, warmth, coloration, tone, etc.  Better components =more expensive.  I generally dont like integrated pres, see below for my reasoning.

2. I like the b&w nautilus series, the magnepan, wilson audio stuff.  

3. Yes there is a difference.  The difference comes in jitter, speed of transfer, laser alignment, etc.  BTW, the high end cd players arent 600 bucks, they are more like 2k.  I know, I was looking at the new Arcam that came out about 6 mo ago.  I'm not a fan of multidisc changers and here is why- I am under the impression that it is better to have something that does one thing really well than a lot of things poorly.  That being said, there are many affordable options out there for CD transports.

[Tim]

price range? that would help a lot!

[jpschust]

price range? that would help a lot!

you of all people should know that price range changes once you start listening :-)

[Tim]

who, me?

[rhett]

So this is my first post so Im sorry if this is in the wrong place, my apologies.

So price range would be helpful eh?

1.  I would like to get a good stereo receiver for 600-1000 bucks.  Can it be done?
2. The wife says no to floor speakers so I have been looking at bookshelfs in the 500 -1200 range.

I khave looked at
B and W
Phase tech
mirage
energy and polk audio

so farI liked the phasetech


Rhett

[jpschust]

good receivers come in that range.  the nad's are good, the denons are nice.

as per speakers, look towards paradigm as well.  i have a pair of b&w nautilus 805s.  wonderful speakers.  Also talk to the woman about magnepans- they can be wall mounted.

[Tim]

alright, that's a decent budget...

one suggestion is to start looking at used gear, you can stretch your dollars farther.

one tip, with bookshelves you'll probably want a sub... just something else to budget for.

www.audiogon.com
www.audioreview.com

they will be your friends!

[BobW]

Or a different take:

How about a pair of Mackie or Tannoy or better yet, Adam,  powered near-fields ? A Benchmark D/A ?  And a DAW feeding them ?
And certainly some good room baffles to tighten up the bass and reduce reflections.

It makes for a personal listening experience for one, or perhaps for two very friendly folks, tops.
Definately no fun for a party.

[jpschust]

i would nix the mackie.  never heard a pair of mackie monitors that sound remotely clear

[Nick's Picks]

I've got a Manley Stingray for sale.  Its brand new, still in the box.
www.manleylabs.com  check it out..!  $1750 shipped. ($2150 MSRP)
pretty sweet high-end sexy tubes! 
sorry for the shamless plug, now for some real suggestions....


I can't help but recomend the Sony STR-DA2000ES.  I think it runs about $4-500 new.  120wpc digital amp.
Its a 7.1 reciever...not what you want, I know..but it SMOKES in 2 channel direct mode.  You have to hear a broken in one to really "hear" it, but  I'd be willing to bet anything that it will run circles around anything else that was mentioned.  + it is ready for HT when you are.  It is almost crazy sounding performance for the money.
I was a non-believer until I bought, broke in and really listened to the DA3000ES, which is the same thing but w/a little more power.
If you live anywhere in New England and want to hear one, you're welcome to come over for a test drive.

[Nick's Picks]

plus, I forgot to mention..
you wouldn't need an outboard DAC or a good CD player w/the Sony.
It has a great sounding DAC in it that just works real nice w/the rest of the internal guts.  Just feed it a digital signal and you are golden.
Say a Toshiba 4960 univesal deck (DVD-A, SACD, CD, DVD..etc) for $140 and buy a good used S/PDIF cable (say another $100) and you would have a very pleasing system.

Speakers...
that's harder to pick out.
I'm a big fan of the von schweikert line.  the VR1 monitors go for about $500 used and are very available on audiogon

[Tim]

fwiw - I'm thinking of moving towards the Sony str-da2000es and the Toshiba 4960...

I need to hear the sony to be sure but it sounds like a great budget piece...

[dnsacks]

Tim:

Drop by

I run the sony strda5000es, which is closer to $1k -- it has the same feature set as the 2000, but the power jumps to 170watts per channel.  I have  a biggish room and thought the additional power would be a good idea -- don't know if the 2000es would have worked just as well for me -- all I know is this thing sure sounds CLEAN when cranked loud.

Can't stress enough how much I enjoy the musicality of this piece -- real glad Nick is agreeing with my assessments so far.