I'm not against Denon by any means, I'm just having a hard time justifying a 1200 receiver. I appreciate the help however...I may be PM'ing you in the future.Quote:
Originally Posted by jahjd2000
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I'm not against Denon by any means, I'm just having a hard time justifying a 1200 receiver. I appreciate the help however...I may be PM'ing you in the future.Quote:
Originally Posted by jahjd2000
I would like Audyessy, but from what I've read, it seems the quality of sound with it enabled varies greatly from brand to brand...what quirks of the Sherwood are you referring to?Quote:
Originally Posted by Sam1000
HT because I have 3 speakers. If I had known what an issue this would be, I would have gone 2-channel since quality is a priority. Is 50W enough to power the 55-200W Sierra's?Quote:
Originally Posted by Veda
If you consider sound pressure level - SPL, there is a calculator that you can use to determine the SPL for a given speaker sensitivity and amp output
http://myhometheater.homestead.com/splcalculator.html
The Sierra-1 spec says it has 86.5db @ 1W @ 1M. If you trust/believe the calculator the difference between a 50W AMP and 200W AMP @ a distance of 6 feet is 6db. To be twice as loud you need an increase of 10db.
101.3db vs. 107.3db. You can find on google sounds that have those levels to give you an idea of what they are like.
When I upgraded to NRT, I did notice that the speaker is a bit louder but I don't know what the sensitivity is. Interesting that the Towers using the NRT tweeter has a sensitivity of 89db and the Horizon 90db. Maybe some out there knows what the sensitivity of the Sierra NRT is?
I would say for 2 channel audio 50W is plenty. I power my Sierra NRT's with a 15W AMP and according to my wife, it's real loud.....but in all seriousness it's fine for my needs, only once in a while to I wish I had more power. SPL was a concern because I was buying a 15W AMP and I can get about 96db (if you trust/believe the calculator). Check out the link below
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vY2XV8oqSqE
For HT, depending on how loud you like your explosions, you might be at the point of clipping with a 50W AMP. Problem is 100W only buys you 3db more which is not alot...
And if you watch the youtube video posted above until the end those look like Horizons. Maybe an early model if you consider it was posted on Feb. 2012
I think you should take a look at the Cambridge 551R, Hometheater and sound and vision reviewed it very highly and I really can't think of another AVR that's using toroidal transformer in that price range which speaks for it's quality over features, also it's low profile look is killer and it's made out of all metal vs plastic which also has it's benefits.
I looked into the 551R AV and for that price I'm leaning towards Emotiva UMC200 + UPA700. The UPA only has 80W@8 per ch vs the 90W of the 551R but also uses toroidal. The separates are cheaper as well. Real world benefits of metal vs plastic casing is subjective.Quote:
Originally Posted by JustABrah
Having said that, I'd rather just get the Pioneer SC-61 7.2 with its super powerful and efficient 125W/ch ICE amps and plenty of features. Given their highest damping ratio out of any class d I'd say the ICE is more suitable for HT than music. I think it's discounted to about $750 online. But 50W@8 is plenty enough to drive a speaker like the Towers even for a large room so you can opt for the new 2ch NAD as well.
Save a little longer--spend a little more--you'll be glad you did. Don't overlook Arcam--Rotel--NAD. I've had Outlaw--Harman Kardon--Lexicon--NAD--Pioneer--Sansui--JVC over the years. I'm very pleased with my current Rotel. The exotics are nice but they're just that--exotic. Think $1500 and up (MSRP) for a machine and they pretty much all sound good with Ascend speakers. Amps send current to speakers that move air. A more expensive amp typically has fewer distortions in the current it moves. Make your own speaker cable with 10 guage wire and banana plugs and spend the rest of your money for source material you enjoy.
^ or you can just get a pair of 10 gauge with ultrasonic welded banana plugs from www.bluejeanscable.com. Saves a lot of time for only $70 :)
The difference between 80 and 90 watts is small and offers less than 0.4 dB additional headroom. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Veda
Also, I looked up the specs for both the UPA-700 and Azur 551R.
* The UPA-700 is rated at 80 wpc into 8 ohms (and 100 wpc into 4 ohms) all channels driven.
* The Azur 551R is rated at 90 wpc into 8 ohms (no 4 ohm power listed) with two channels driven. However, when all channels are loaded simultaneously, the specs change: 60 wpc into 8 ohms all channels driven. No listed power output for ACD with 4 ohm loads.
Note that typical use won't be driving all channels to the max. That's usually reserved for the test bench. The 551R power handling is typical of most receivers. The UPA-700 power handling is typical of most external amplifiers (power measured with ACD). Technically, the UPA-700 is the more powerful amplifier based purely on power output capabilities.