Panasonic SA-XR55 receiver

[bikeman]

BTW, small world. I'm located in Auburn.

Let me know if you want to show off your new speakers. I'm usually up for a road trip. I've been meaning to check out the Bass Pro Shop to see what the buzz is all about.

David

[Beuby]

Let me know if you want to show off your new speakers. I'm usually up for a road trip. I've been meaning to check out the Bass Pro Shop to see what the buzz is all about.

David

Will do... XR-55 should arrive mid-week and about 2 weeks for the 340SEs. Oh yes, must not forget the stands...

OT: Bass Pro is heaven for "sportsmen", more a curiosity for me. Still, it's worth a visit.

[muzz]

Anyone here try the XR57?
It can be gotten for less than 3 beans nowadays.

I never owned a digital Amp before, and I am wondering if it will be better than my Yamaha HTR-5550 in sound reproduction.

Some folks say the older Yammys(mine will fall into that category- it's probably 4-5 yrs old) are a bit bright.

The 5550 has plenty of power in my small room, it's rated at 75X5, and it will split your head open in my room, so the slight upgrade in power means nothing to me, I am aware of the need to jump quite a bit more for a real perceived loudness level, but as I said it doesn't matter, 75X5 is plenty already.
RF Amplification is the same, the need for ALOT more power to get to the next level is astounding(I know this from building RF Linear Amplifiers in the past)

Anyone here ever tested the XR57 vs a modern Yammy AVR?
If so, what were your conclusions?

This would be driven by a Toshiba HD-A1 HDDVD player, that I also use as a CD transport. I use both the 5.1 analogs, and the Optical out to my current Yammy.

Thx

m

[bikeman]

Anyone here ever tested the XR57 vs a modern Yammy AVR?

I did compare the XR-55 to a Yamaha CR-840 but that won't be of much value here. I bought the 840 in 1980.

If so, what were your conclusions?

It's a tough call. There won't be a night and day difference so the only way to find out is try it yourself. I replaced a Kenwood receiver that was very close to the Yamaha. I doubt I could have told the difference sound wise between those two. I like the Panny a bit more but I sacrificed some features in the trade-off. I've read a hundred opinions on the Panny and they're all over the place in their conclusions. If you buy the Panny from someone with a good return policy, it's worth the effort to compare. I'd be real interested in your impressions and I'm sure several others here would be as well.

David

[muzz]

Hey Dave,

I am reading the huge threads over at AVS, Duaner seems to have changed his initial reaction....

One of the things I was hoping to be able do is Bass management, My 5550 is very weak at this, it does NOT allow me to set XOvers per channel, it only allows large or small, meaning small gets 90hz, and thats it!!

I was hoping I could get per channel management, but it seems it will give you more frequency options, but they are across the board once selected.
The HD-A1 has issues with BM, so I was hoping to be able and tune it the way I wanted, seems a no-go

I also was hoping to get something that I could drop to 60HZ if I wanted, am I right in thinking the 57 only allows down to 80 hz?

The reason I was looking at the 57 is price, IF I buy a new AVR, I don't wanna spend alot, I don't need video upconversion or anything like that, but the HDMI input is wanted(hence the 55 being out of the question), in case I need it to get TrueHD or something like that(the HD-A2 doesn't have analog outs, I think the A1 is the last VG and CHEAP player that will get them for awhile). Toshiba smartened up and took them out of the $400 model this time!! I guarantee they lost $ with folks buying the A1 instead of the XA1.
If the A1 craps out on me, I will need the HDMI input, and I thought that I saw you could apply BM if using the HDMI interface(analogs are a no-go?)

Thanks for your help, those threads over there are huge, 3 day reading sessions!!

m

[bikeman]

I also was hoping to get something that I could drop to 60HZ if I wanted, am I right in thinking the 57 only allows down to 80 hz?

Yep. 80hz is as low as she goes. If I could make just one change to the 55, it would be a lower crossover.

David

[muzz]

Thanks David

[bikeman]

Just fried my 55. Don't know what happened but it now displays "overload" and then shuts off. May we have a moment of silence for the dearly departed.

David

[chas]

Sorry to hear that David. So what's next after the wake?

[debo]

That Bites