Panasonic SA-XR55 receiver

[Lou-the-dog]

> It puzzles me that aside from audio forums, the Panny hasn't been getting that much buzz.

Hey Eddie, the buzz has to start somewhere! That Panny sure does merit a listen me thinks. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Randy

[Eddie]

you're very welcome, Randy. Yeah I think that even if you aren't in the market for a receiver, paying $15-20 for return shipping to Amazon is worth an in-home listen.

The XR series has been out for at least a year I think...will have to look at that humongous thread on the avsforum to see when it started.

You'd think that at this pricepoint, it'd be sold at all the big places like Target, Walmart as well as BB and CC. Why is Panasonic not pushing this thing more I wonder? Maybe they're not making enough of a margin on it or something...

[Kurt C.]

It puzzles me that aside from audio forums, the Panny hasn't been getting that much buzz.

Actually, Consumer Reports ranked the XR50 as their "Best Buy". The magazine does have its faults, but at least they're honest and earnestly try to arrive at the truth.

Consumer reports has no advertising, which means they can review products without thinking about the bottom line. Too bad that most audio magazines (and the forums that the readers of those magazines populate) are addicted to advertising money from dishonest manufactureres.

Unfortunately, I hear even Consumer Reports has to worry about money sometimes. The story I heard was that CR once gave a really bad review to (a company that must remain unnamed) because if you measure them from a single spot, those speakers are extremely inaccurate. The company sued. Consumer reports changed their method of measuring speakers. Too bad. I have a hard time putting my head more than one place at once--which would be required to hear good sound out of a pair of those speakers I used to own.

Funny! I just learned that auto censoring prevents me from writing the word **** on this website. CR must not be the only ones afraid of getting sued!

[bikeman]

Funny! I just learned that auto censoring prevents me from writing the word **** on this website. CR must not be the only ones afraid of getting sued!

Yeah, that really B(l)OSE!

David

[svenyun]

Well I thought I would check back in. The XR55 found a new home in the tv stand. I took the opportunity to take everything out, drill some cable holes in shelves and get it set up right. I'll just say that if I was in the market for a receiver, it would be the XR55 hands down. You'd have to spend a lot more money to get a better analog amp. The HK 7200 is a nice beast of a receiver but except for more inputs, more flexible crossover, and more power (which I don't need) it doesn't really offer better sound, especially when you consider the price differential. The 7200 did heat the room and keep the tv stand anchored in place though

I doubt I'll ever buy an analog receiver/amp over a digital one that's for sure. I really like what the XR55 offers for $250. I'm very interested to see what future design Panasonic will come up with.

[fastbike]

Well, since I'm upgrading everything, and based on the good experiences here and on AVS, I just got an XR55. Like its been said, I don't think you can go wrong for $236.

Still waiting for my 170s/340C to arrive so nothing is making music yet. However, if I understand how a digital amp works, and the Panny in particular, some of our old concerns with DVD and CD players may not matter. I can't find any detail on the XR55 so I'm hoping the wizards on this forum can chime in.

Anyway, as I understand, one advantage of a digital amp is that it doesn't need a DAC for output. The amp is capable of varying the signal at the speaker terminal sufficiently for the waveform. If so, then a digital signal from a DVD or CD (i.e. optical) is a straight pass-through from the media to the speaker. The player is just the transport. How cool is that! No more worrying about DAC in the player (which Burr-Brown etc). Should be much more fidelity. Seems like free lunch, so I wonder if I am missing something.

[bikeman]

Seems like free lunch, so I wonder if I am missing something.

No free lunch. At least not until the speakers go digital. One of the things I like about the 55 is the analog is just as good as the digital signal. At least with my music and my ears.
The DAC situation has been talked about on the 55 thread on AVS. Makes my head hurt just to think about it.
You are gonna like this set-up.

David

[fastbike]

I know I'm gonna like it. I'm upgrading everything over the next few months. Will shortly be ordering a HSU STF-2 to go with the Ascends. Am waiting for the new HK DVD-47 to upgrade to a universal player. Still haven't picked the HDTV yet.

But everything is so mcuh better than my HT or stereo that I'm afraid my face will freeze with the huge stupid grin.

[fastbike]

No free lunch. At least not until the speakers go digital. One of the things I like about the 55 is the analog is just as good as the digital signal. At least with my music and my ears.
The DAC situation has been talked about on the 55 thread on AVS. Makes my head hurt just to think about it.
You are gonna like this set-up.

David

Are you sure? I've read one article that said that the pure digital amp put the analog signal at the speaker terminal, no DAC involved in the input signal was already digital.

[Kurt C.]

Are you sure? I've read one article that said that the pure digital amp put the analog signal at the speaker terminal, no DAC involved in the input signal was already digital.

He's right. If there were no DAC, the sound coming out of your speaker would sound something like a modem connecting to a server...

The 55 differs from typical receivers in that the DAC is placed after the amp section rather than before.

If my understanding is correct, even when we do get speakers that can accept a digital imput, there will have to be the equavalent of a digital to analog conversion at the point where the digital signal is converted to sound.