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#1
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Advice - high-end expectation // beer budget
If this is the wrong ng, apologies and request pointer to the right one...
My Harmon/Kardon amp is now 20 years old. Time to move on. The world has changed. I want a new amp. Actually I want the "home entertainment" thing in here too (is that blasphemy here?). I am looking at inputs/outputs for: -turntable -two cassette tapes -two VHS VCR's -one DVD -one television -I only have my faithful Mission 707's (still pumping), but they will likely be replaced. -I will do the "home theatre" thing, which means at least 4/5 main loudspeakers and a subwoofer. The amp will include (I assume) the AM/FM tuner, although I don't listen to radio at home very much. My DVD player has analog, "5.1-channel", Dolby Pro Logic, Dolby Digital and dts. What brands/models of "receiver" will fill my needs at a modest cost. "BIG SOUND" is not as important as quality sound. If I put a limit of US$300 on this amp... where does that get me? ...$500? --what "good" brands? Particular models. --what brands to run from? Cheers, Alan. |
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#2
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Advice - high-end expectation // beer budget
If you need a built-in turntable input, you have already narrowed the field
considerably. Denon receivers are a good place to start. "Alan Browne" wrote in message ... If this is the wrong ng, apologies and request pointer to the right one... My Harmon/Kardon amp is now 20 years old. Time to move on. The world has changed. I want a new amp. Actually I want the "home entertainment" thing in here too (is that blasphemy here?). I am looking at inputs/outputs for: -turntable -two cassette tapes -two VHS VCR's -one DVD -one television -I only have my faithful Mission 707's (still pumping), but they will likely be replaced. -I will do the "home theatre" thing, which means at least 4/5 main loudspeakers and a subwoofer. The amp will include (I assume) the AM/FM tuner, although I don't listen to radio at home very much. My DVD player has analog, "5.1-channel", Dolby Pro Logic, Dolby Digital and dts. What brands/models of "receiver" will fill my needs at a modest cost. "BIG SOUND" is not as important as quality sound. If I put a limit of US$300 on this amp... where does that get me? ...$500? --what "good" brands? Particular models. --what brands to run from? Cheers, Alan. |
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#3
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Advice - high-end expectation // beer budget
Alan Browne wrote:
If this is the wrong ng, apologies and request pointer to the right one... My Harmon/Kardon amp is now 20 years old. Time to move on. The world has changed. I want a new amp. Actually I want the "home entertainment" thing in here too (is that blasphemy here?). I am looking at inputs/outputs for: -turntable -two cassette tapes -two VHS VCR's -one DVD -one television Q: will your current amplifier handle all of this? I'm talking iunput switching only. If so, use this as a phono/tape preamp. Take the jumper blocks out or wires inside out of the case(properly done, mind you - don't hurt yourself or the amp) and feed them to a bigger A/V amplifier. I don't remember if your model has pre-outs, but it would also make a great tuner compared to most of the newer units, believe it or not. The new unit would be something like a Denon 3803 or Nad or Rotel. The Denon line is a real price shocker. Bad remote and tuner section, but superb power handling and A/V processing. If you use your old amplifier as a preamp/switchbox, you get rid of the negatives and pare it down to one or two input selections and no futzing with presets and such. Good, solid A/V features and plenty of power for typical speakers without breaking your budget. Tuner, pre-ins, and whatnot are moot here - the old unit handles all of that. -I only have my faithful Mission 707's (still pumping), but they will likely be replaced. -I will do the "home theatre" thing, which means at least 4/5 main loudspeakers and a subwoofer. HSU, Velodyne, and Martin Logan make nice under $1000 subs. The noteable addition is the ML - which came out this month. Servo controlled 250watt sub for under $1000. Nice. Cheaping out on a subwoofer is a generally a bad idea as you can get car-stereo boominess really easily and hate it greatly by going for something really inexpensive. As for speakers, we need a realistic budget before we can recommend something. Mind you, 5 speakers will run $750+ for anything that is halfway decent as roughly $150 a speaker is about as low as you can spend and get good quality. |
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#4
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Advice - high-end expectation // beer budget
Joseph Oberlander wrote:
Alan Browne wrote: If this is the wrong ng, apologies and request pointer to the right one... My Harmon/Kardon amp is now 20 years old. Time to move on. The world has changed. I want a new amp. Actually I want the "home entertainment" thing in here too (is that blasphemy here?). I am looking at inputs/outputs for: -turntable -two cassette tapes -two VHS VCR's -one DVD -one television Q: will your current amplifier handle all of this? I'm talking iunput switching only. If so, use this as a phono/tape preamp. Take the jumper blocks out or wires inside out of the case(properly done, mind you - don't hurt yourself or the amp) and feed them to a bigger A/V amplifier. I don't remember if your model has pre-outs, but it would also make a great tuner compared to most of the newer units, believe it or not. I want a new amp. Mine does not have enough inputs for audio. does not control video. does not use the best sound from the DVD. As I said .... my H/K amp is over 20 years old... I occasionally, just after power on hear scratching noise... I suspect the caps are at the end of their lives... The new unit would be something like a Denon 3803 or Nad or Rotel. I have a Denon CD player that I am very happy with for the sound, but the door mechanism is occasionally balky. (bad closure switch, I beleive). NAD I know well too. The Denon line is a real price shocker. Bad remote and tuner section, but superb power handling and A/V processing. If you use your old amplifier as a preamp/switchbox, you get rid of the negatives and pare it down to one or two input selections and no futzing with presets and such. Good, solid A/V features and plenty of power for typical speakers without breaking your budget. Tuner, pre-ins, and whatnot are moot here - the old unit handles all of that. -I only have my faithful Mission 707's (still pumping), but they will likely be replaced. -I will do the "home theatre" thing, which means at least 4/5 main loudspeakers and a subwoofer. HSU, Velodyne, and Martin Logan make nice under $1000 subs. The noteable addition is the ML - which came out this month. Servo controlled 250watt sub for under $1000. Nice. Educate me please: what does servo controlled mean? A circuit local to the s.w. to control the waveform? Cheaping out on a subwoofer is a generally a bad idea as you can get car-stereo boominess really easily and hate it greatly by going for something really inexpensive. Another option here is to replicate what a friend built for himself. Amazing deep lows without any disturbing distortions to the sound. As for speakers, we need a realistic budget before we can recommend something. Mind you, 5 speakers will run $750+ for anything that is halfway decent as roughly $150 a speaker is about as low as you can spend and get good quality. I'm just worring about the amp for now. But your suggestions on speaker brands/models would be welcome. I am tempted to go back to Mission ... I like the "dry" sound of my 707's.... Thanks for your replies. Cheers, Alan. |
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#5
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Advice - high-end expectation // beer budget
Alan Browne wrote:
As for speakers, we need a realistic budget before we can recommend something. Mind you, 5 speakers will run $750+ for anything that is halfway decent as roughly $150 a speaker is about as low as you can spend and get good quality. I'm just worring about the amp for now. But your suggestions on speaker brands/models would be welcome. I am tempted to go back to Mission ... I like the "dry" sound of my 707's.... We need a speaker budget. |
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#6
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Advice - high-end expectation // beer budget
When doing my search a couple of years ago I found that there were great buys
on used B&K home theater pre-amps. I also came across Parasound amplifiers which seem to be a high end design assembling in Asia. But you get a lot of clean power for little money. Also, people are telling me that todays $300 DVD players will deliver awesome CD sound as well as DVD performance. Speakers? Mission is still good, we just added a pair of bookshelfs to the studio. They sounds great, amazing low end response for such a small box in a large room. I would also consider used speakers as long as they are in great shape. I see Polk audio and Acoustic Research that seem to have somewhat poor resale value so they make great used buys. Paradigm is another good low priced speaker. Good luck. Jon http://www.jonlayephotography.com |
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#7
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Advice - high-end expectation // beer budget
Steven Sullivan wrote:
Joseph Oberlander wrote: HSU, Velodyne, and Martin Logan make nice under $1000 subs. The noteable addition is the ML - which came out this month. Servo controlled 250watt sub for under $1000. Nice. The september issue of Sound & Vision has a very nice analytical round-up of cheap-ish subwoofers currently on the market. Q: does the new ML sub appear in it? It came out a few weeks ago so it may not be tested by them yet. |
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#8
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Advice - high-end expectation // beer budget
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#9
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Advice - high-end expectation // beer budget
Joseph Oberlander wrote:
Steven Sullivan wrote: Joseph Oberlander wrote: HSU, Velodyne, and Martin Logan make nice under $1000 subs. The noteable addition is the ML - which came out this month. Servo controlled 250watt sub for under $1000. Nice. The september issue of Sound & Vision has a very nice analytical round-up of cheap-ish subwoofers currently on the market. Q: does the new ML sub appear in it? It came out a few weeks ago so it may not be tested by them yet. here';s the article (by Tom Nousaine, btw) http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/art...age_numbe r=1 No ML subs. The reviewed subs are all in the $399-$1690 price range: Canton AS 20 SC Atlantic Technology T70.1 PBM PSB SubSonic 5i Velodyne CHT-15 M&K V-76 JBL S120P II Cambridge SoundWorks Newton P500 Pinnacle Baby Boomer B&W ASW 675 Bag End Infrasub-12 -- -S. |
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#10
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Advice - high-end expectation // beer budget
Paradigm Reference Servo 115 = great sub!
"Steven Sullivan" wrote in message t... Joseph Oberlander wrote: Steven Sullivan wrote: Joseph Oberlander wrote: HSU, Velodyne, and Martin Logan make nice under $1000 subs. The noteable addition is the ML - which came out this month. Servo controlled 250watt sub for under $1000. Nice. The september issue of Sound & Vision has a very nice analytical round-up of cheap-ish subwoofers currently on the market. Q: does the new ML sub appear in it? It came out a few weeks ago so it may not be tested by them yet. here';s the article (by Tom Nousaine, btw) http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/art...ion_id=3&artic le_id=478&page_number=1 No ML subs. The reviewed subs are all in the $399-$1690 price range: Canton AS 20 SC Atlantic Technology T70.1 PBM PSB SubSonic 5i Velodyne CHT-15 M&K V-76 JBL S120P II Cambridge SoundWorks Newton P500 Pinnacle Baby Boomer B&W ASW 675 Bag End Infrasub-12 -- -S. |
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#12
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Advice - high-end expectation // beer budget
On 25 Aug 2003 15:41:35 GMT, "Mike Littlefield" wrote:
Paradigm Reference Servo 115 = great sub! Wow! I only have the Servo 15. Yours must be huge! Kal |
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#13
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Advice - high-end expectation // beer budget
Hehehe {:-))) It does sound huge sometimes.
"Kalman Rubinson" wrote in message news:aiC2b.262440$Ho3.34867@sccrnsc03... On 25 Aug 2003 15:41:35 GMT, "Mike Littlefield" wrote: Paradigm Reference Servo 115 = great sub! Wow! I only have the Servo 15. Yours must be huge! Kal |
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