AV Receiver Advice

Tommy B

Tommy B

Tommy B

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My thread in Sound City was terribly messy, so I'll try and keep this concise and simple.

I'm looking to buy an AV receiver that doubles as an amp. I've already got an old AMP with three Hi-Fi speakers connected to my X-fi. I'm looking to go 5.1.

I've been looking at AV receivers such as the DENON AVR2105 HOME CINEMA RECEIVER. What I want to do is use three Jack>Dual Phono wires plugged from the X-Fi and into the AV receiver. I will then attach the Hi-Fi speakers (and buy two more in the process, as well as a sub) via traditional speaker cable. Finaly, I'll have an external DVD player connected via either optical or co-axial.

My question is, the AVR2105 is £300. Is there any need to spend this much money? The design looks really nice, but I've seen a Cambridge AV receiver for only £200 that seems to do exactly the same job.

Cheers,
 
I use a Mystique to transfer sound from my PC using a single optical cable :)

The answer to your question is entirely dependant on the quality you want, what you do with the set up and how much you want to spend. If your speakers aren't great and you're not watching movies from a distance then an inexpesive AV amp will do the job just fine :)

MB
 
Mainly listening to music, but also gaming and movies. It would be nice to get something future proof though, so that it lasts a good 10-15 years.

When I bought the X-fi, I had no idea how crap it was. I can't believe it doesn't even output a 7.1 signal via optical; it's a disgrace for a company like Creative. I may sell it and buy a Mystique.
 
Look out for a Denon 1906 also , which you may be able to find for a little less than £300, I have this ( which has componant switching abilities if this interests you) and I think its a great av amp myself
 
I've got a Denon AVR1906 and it's fantastic for the money (~£230). The auto-setup works a treat and it has a good balance between music and film sound quality. There's lots of inputs and is flexible enough to suit most needs.

The only thing about the Denon I don't like is the user interface. It's a bit clumsy at times.

I've got an Audigy 2 Platinum Pro ZS Turbo ++ or whatever Creative call it and I was shocked when I found out that it couldn't output Dolby Digital 5.1 via optical. I'd swap it for a Mystique but I love having the external box. :(
 
Tunney said:
I've got a Denon AVR1906 and it's fantastic for the money (~£230). The auto-setup works a treat and it has a good balance between music and film sound quality. There's lots of inputs and is flexible enough to suit most needs.

The only thing about the Denon I don't like is the user interface. It's a bit clumsy at times.

I've got an Audigy 2 Platinum Pro ZS Turbo ++ or whatever Creative call it and I was shocked when I found out that it couldn't output Dolby Digital 5.1 via optical. I'd swap it for a Mystique but I love having the external box. :(
Click to expand...

Yeah, Denon are pretty clever I have been told in that they give their distributors choice of two licences to sell ( so I have been told). If the distributor does NOT sell Denon by mail order then the final customer can get a £300 amp for about £240 or so, but as soon as you go to mail order company - no matter which one - the price jumps around £60 -sneaky but I would say this amp is still worth the £300 that I paid, however you get a total bargain if you can pick it up (I had no access to a car and couldnt find anyone close by that sold onsite only)

I would also fully agree that the interface is clumsy, but once set up to your liking its a hugely impressive piece of kit

I would also invest in a Harmony remote for £50+ ( depending on the model you get) the ones under this price are pretty limited in the functionality but the H688 that I use to contrrol My Samsung 32" hdtv, Denon and Sony S715 DVd/hdd recorder is excellent and pretty easy to setup (all done via the web)
 
Its the 2106 now. Awesome piece of kit to be honest , powerful yet can deliver real subtlety in movie soundtracks, sounds great with the xbox 360.
 
And would the sound quality be just as good as a dedicated £200 AMP?

On the subject of Hi-Fi, what the hell has happened to my speakers. I used to have a mission getting bass out of them, I'd need sound card EQ, bass EQ on the amp. Now, the bass is much better with everything in neutral. Have I messed up the speaker drivers?
 
Tommy

I personally think in stereo a £200 amp sounds better for music ( not mp3's unless encoded very high) but its much of a muchness really

but in my opinion if you really love movies then a 5.1 or greater av amp is the way to go ( there is a long thread from a few days ago which refutes this opinion )

Inregards to your speakers, it can take some time for speakers to warm up and work as they were designed - depending on how long you have had the ones in question and how much they have been used , there shouldnt be much to worry about

this is actually true of amps as well, the more they are used at reasonable power levels the the more warm the sound gets - or the nearer it gets to how it was designed to sound
 
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FrankJH said:
Tommy

I personally think in stereo a £200 amp sounds better for music ( not mp3's unless encoded very high) but its much of a muchness really

but in my opinion if you really love movies then a 5.1 or greater av amp is the way to go ( there is a long thread from a few days ago which refutes this opinion )

Inregards to your speakers, it can take some time for speakers to warm up and work as they were designed - depending on how long you have had the ones in question and how much they have been used , there shouldnt be much to worry about

this is actually true of amps as well, the more they are used at reasonable power levels the the more warm the sound gets - or the nearer it gets to how it was designed to sound
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If you were well off, you could combine an AV Receiver and an amp? Surely you'd just connect the normal amp to the front output on the sound card (hence music just wants the front 2 speakers) and the centre/side/rear/sub to the AV receiver.
 
You can very easily connect a stereo amp to an AV receiver to use as a power amp. I've done this to very good effect. You don't need to be well off, and most dedicated stereo amps will beat the stereo sound reproduction quality of the AV amps in your budget.

What exactly are you after out of this system. If it's just music forget the AV amp.
 
Tommy B said:
And would the sound quality be just as good as a dedicated £200 AMP?

On the subject of Hi-Fi, what the hell has happened to my speakers. I used to have a mission getting bass out of them, I'd need sound card EQ, bass EQ on the amp. Now, the bass is much better with everything in neutral. Have I messed up the speaker drivers?
Click to expand...

Have you changed anything, doesn't sound like warm up or run in to me, sounds like they were wired up wrong or something. "Flat" setting should be more or less sounding right in a well set up system.

Just make sure you get an AV amp with "Pre Outs" then if you want to use a stereo amp to get better music you can hook them up later, so a CDP plugs into the stereo amp, and the Left and Right speakers are then driven directly by the Stereo amp, and not the AV. (The AV L*R pre out plugs into AUX on the Stereo amp for movies etc)
 
9designs2 said:
Have you changed anything, doesn't sound like warm up or run in to me, sounds like they were wired up wrong or something. "Flat" setting should be more or less sounding right in a well set up system.

Just make sure you get an AV amp with "Pre Outs" then if you want to use a stereo amp to get better music you can hook them up later, so a CDP plugs into the stereo amp, and the Left and Right speakers are then driven directly by the Stereo amp, and not the AV. (The AV L*R pre out plugs into AUX on the Stereo amp for movies etc)
Click to expand...

Do you mean that I use phono outputs on the AV receiver and then use the phono inputs on the AMP?
 
yep link the "AV line out" to a Stereo amp in socket...... The old Yamaha DSPE800 was designed to work this way for people (like me) who did not want to screw up the hifi......
This has been a long running "debate" of late, kind of lost the sight of the problem,,,,, there isn't one with a bit of setting up !!!!
Only draw back is, when watching a film, you have to turn volume on stereo amp to the same setting as you set the system levels up to.... Then the movie volume can be control by the AV amp/remote.
My old Linn Kairn pre-amp could be set so when you seleted the AUX input the amp volume went to a preset "pass through" mode.... made life easy for the wife ;) Don't now if any other amp does this sort of thing. If not just preset it to say half way.... Before you do your 5.1 speaker level set.
 
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