Receiver Recommendations for Sierra-2

[Kisakuku]

I'm giving the Denon X4000 due consideration; what is the heat output like on this unit? Is the X4311 any more power efficient? Besides the feature differences, would I notice any sound quality difference in these units? What are recommended online stores to purchase new Denon units from?

Thanks!

They both run relatively cool, but it never hurts having a cheap quiet external fan (or two). SQ will be the same. AVS is always a good bet, but I doubt they still have any 4311's at this point.

[eliwankenobi]

Hello,

I should add that THX certification allows you to make changes to the Audyssey crossover settings after the calibration is done. I don't think non THX AVRs would allow this unless you buy the Audyssey Pro kit.

[Kisakuku]

Hello,

I should add that THX certification allows you to make changes to the Audyssey crossover settings after the calibration is done. I don't think non THX AVRs would allow this unless you buy the Audyssey Pro kit.

Nothing stops you from changing crossover values after calibration. The advantage of the Pro kit is that it recalculates the filters after a new crossover value is picked.

[dtsequoia]

Any thoughts on Pioneer's Elite line of receivers?

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PU...eivers.Compare

Hey GrandMasterJ,

I personally love my SC-65. Though I don't have any Ascend speakers (YET!), the sound that this receiver puts out is amazing. I had a HK 430, I would say the sound is similar, but the Pioneer is way more detailed and clean. Plus, I like that I can control the whole thing from my iPhone. MCACC is an easy and great calibration tool. The only draw back is you cannot EQ the sub and you have one global x-over (which I have set at the default of 80). But, what it can do with standing wave, EQ, reverb, distance and speaker settings is great. My system has never sounded so good. My father in law has an Onkyo and I much prefer the sound of the Pioneer if that helps. It sounds much more full and vivid. I found Onkyo's sound to be thin and weak. I highly recommend it. Just my 2 cents.

[GrandMasterJ]

Hey GrandMasterJ,

I personally love my SC-65. Though I don't have any Ascend speakers (YET!), the sound that this receiver puts out is amazing. I had a HK 430, I would say the sound is similar, but the Pioneer is way more detailed and clean. Plus, I like that I can control the whole thing from my iPhone. MCACC is an easy and great calibration tool. The only draw back is you cannot EQ the sub and you have one global x-over (which I have set at the default of 80). But, what it can do with standing wave, EQ, reverb, distance and speaker settings is great. My system has never sounded so good. My father in law has an Onkyo and I much prefer the sound of the Pioneer if that helps. It sounds much more full and vivid. I found Onkyo's sound to be thin and weak. I highly recommend it. Just my 2 cents.

Thank you. How is the heat output of the Pioneer unit? I got mixed answers regarding the SC-79.

[JustABrah]

I'm not sure what your price limit is but I can fully recommend Anthem MRX AVRs, they have hands down the best room correction software with ARC, its great and their AVRs are very solid, Anthem also has a solid customer care where most AVRs companies are pretty bad, I've dealt with Pioneer, HK and Cambridge in the past and they weren't that helpful at all pretty much blow you off, on the other hand Anthem is very helpful and has a great rep with their after care support. AVRs are pretty known to have issues, so make sure you buy from a good store.

[GrandMasterJ]

I'm not sure what your price limit is but I can fully recommend Anthem MRX AVRs, they have hands down the best room correction software with ARC, its great and their AVRs are very solid, Anthem also has a solid customer care where most AVRs companies are pretty bad, I've dealt with Pioneer, HK and Cambridge in the past and they weren't that helpful at all pretty much blow you off, on the other hand Anthem is very helpful and has a great rep with their after care support. AVRs are pretty known to have issues, so make sure you buy from a good store.

The budget was $1k, but it is flexible if more money will buy me better quality and durability. I was interested in Anthem since finding them a couple of days ago. Can you provide any more insight? I started reading a few threads on them on AVS. Also, Cambridge Audio looks interesting if anybody cares to elaborate on them.

Are all the receiver recommendations thus far a good match for the Sierra line of speakers?

[JustABrah]

The budget was $1k, but it is flexible if more money will buy me better quality and durability. I was interested in Anthem since finding them a couple of days ago. Can you provide any more insight? I started reading a few threads on them on AVS. Also, Cambridge Audio looks interesting if anybody cares to elaborate on them.

Are all the receiver recommendations thus far a good match for the Sierra line of speakers?

The thing I really like with Anthem MRX is how well it uses the surrounds, no other avr used them as well, I really liked the Cambridge too but their after care sucks so if you buy a Cambridge buy it from a reputable store with a good return policy. Cambridge doesn't have a room correction, well it does but not a good one and doesn't correct bass, if that matters to you you'd need to buy something external to get that. The one thing with the new MRX -10 is that they don't offer 6 channels support and the 310 is only 5 channels so the 310 doesn't support 6 or 7 speakers, if you run 6 speakers your sol or need to buy another speaker or drop one, 510 and 710 will support 7 speaker. Also, you can get great deals on the first gen MRX just beware that used ones do not have transferable warranties but you can find a MRX 300 used for like $500 now, just make sure it comes with the mic and disc for ARC even some Anthem dealers still have stock and blowing them out., the plus with the first gen MRX is that they support 5,6 and 7 channels and that's the only reason why I'm not upgrading to the new ones. I'm running the MRX 300 with the Sierra-2 and before that the Sierra-1s NrT and none of the AVRs I've had had trouble running them.

[GrandMasterJ]

The thing I really like with Anthem MRX is how well it uses the surrounds, no other avr used them as well, I really liked the Cambridge too but their after care sucks so if you buy a Cambridge buy it from a reputable store with a good return policy. Cambridge doesn't have a room correction, well it does but not a good one and doesn't correct bass, if that matters to you you'd need to buy something external to get that. The one thing with the new MRX -10 is that they don't offer 6 channels support and the 310 is only 5 channels so the 310 doesn't support 6 or 7 speakers, if you run 6 speakers your sol or need to buy another speaker or drop one, 510 and 710 will support 7 speaker. Also, you can get great deals on the first gen MRX just beware that used ones do not have transferable warranties but you can find a MRX 300 used for like $500 now, just make sure it comes with the mic and disc for ARC even some Anthem dealers still have stock and blowing them out., the plus with the first gen MRX is that they support 5,6 and 7 channels and that's the only reason why I'm not upgrading to the new ones. I'm running the MRX 300 with the Sierra-2 and before that the Sierra-1s NrT and none of the AVRs I've had had trouble running them.

Thanks for the information! Can you give me any insight into the efficiency of the Anthem units (yours) and the heat output? What am I gaining to go from the MX 300 line to the MX 310 line (or 500 to 510, etc.)? The few reviews I've read so far appear to praise the Anthem units quite well.

[JustABrah]

Thanks for the information! Can you give me any insight into the efficiency of the Anthem units (yours) and the heat output? What am I gaining to go from the MX 300 line to the MX 310 line (or 500 to 510, etc.)? The few reviews I've read so far appear to praise the Anthem units quite well.

My Anthem doesn't really put out a lot of heat, it's never hot, rarely warm. The new ones have a better version of their room corrections, its able to get a flatter response. You also get more HDMI inputs and a extra HDMI output, you lose support for 6 and 7 channels with the 310 and as well as height speakers, the 1st gen 300 offers 5, 6 or 7 channels and supports height speakers. Just depends if you don't need 6 or 7 or height speakers than the 310 is a solid option. They've also done some changes inside the unit. Its weird cause you do get some more options with the newer 310 but they also stripped it from some, like the ones I've pointed out. If your just running a 5.1 or 5.2 than the 310 is the one I'd go for. Go check them out at a Anthem dealer, there very nice AVRs, many have moved down from the Arcam fmj 600 to the MRX 300 and called it an improvement, you can find that on the UK AV forums in the Anthem MRX owners thread for the 1st gen.