Receiver Recommendations for Sierra-2

[dtsequoia]

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

Heat output, even when watching movies at 75 - 85 db in 7.1, on the SC-65 is minimal. Sorry about taking so long to get back to you. Any other questions and I'll be happy to help.

PS - The Auto sound retriever is amazing with CDs and especially with MP3s. The only caveat is this thing really makes poorly sounded recordings sound like crap.

[GrandMasterJ]

I am going to demo an Anthem unit today or tomorrow. After doing a bunch of reading it seems like the Anthem units are "great sound, no frills, excellent room correction." I've been slowly making my way through the AVS Forum thread on them. I'll match it up against some other units depending what the dealer has. Unfortunately I can't use it with the Sierra-2 speakers which I know I want after listening to the Sierra-1s for a couple of years!

I hope the Anthem units are sold below MSRP, though... yeesh.

I wish my income had coincided with the height of my hearing capabilities. Alas, such is life.

[petmotel]

"I wish my income had coincided with the height of my hearing capabilities. Alas, such is life."

I'm hearing you, probably not as well as in earlier years though LOL.

I've always been able to negotiate a healthy discount from MSRP on Anthem gear.

Jay

[GrandMasterJ]

"I wish my income had coincided with the height of my hearing capabilities. Alas, such is life."

I'm hearing you, probably not as well as in earlier years though LOL.

I've always been able to negotiate a healthy discount from MSRP on Anthem gear.

Jay

Hrm, the one dealer I've called so far (no showroom) said they're sold at MSRP everywhere. How did you negotiate a better price?

There was a time I could hear tube TVs muted from 100 feet and 2 rooms away just from the whine of the electronics or the wind rustle blades of green grass. Music had "feeling" because there were frequencies in there so subtle that even, unheard, they were "felt." Well, maybe researchers will figure out how to repair hearing in my lifetime!

[JustABrah]

I paid a $1000 for my MRX 300 last summer... It depends on the dealer, some won't budge at all and some will. Might be hard to get the new MRX at discount cause their hot right now.

[GrandMasterJ]

I paid a $1000 for my MRX 300 last summer... It depends on the dealer, some won't budge at all and some will. Might be hard to get the new MRX at discount cause their hot right now.

I thought I would update that I picked up an Anthem MRX 310 today, after a bunch of research, for $1k. The shop I went to had a very knowledgeable gentleman that seemed to do this more as a hobby; definitely not a salesman. After hearing my stipulations and thoughts he thought the Anthem was also the best choice and a better pick than the Denon which he also likes and sells. I pulled up the Sierra-2 speaker specs on my phone (he didn't know Ascend Acoustics) but he was impressed with the use of the ribbon tweeter and stated that with a ribbon tweeter the Anthem was definitely the way to go because of the clarity and soundstage I would get with the pair (also, their ARC software played a big factor). He sold me some Audioquest Cinemaquest perfect surface copper+ wires with an interesting (from an electrical standpoint) feature of which provides a charge on the inside of the shielding to help keep electrons from escaping in what he called "electron bleed." Will I hear a difference? I doubt it and was never of the argument that cables could make that much of a difference, but he gave me a large discount on those as well and I did need speaker cable, so what the hell! Now to wait for the Sierra-2s...

[eliwankenobi]

I thought I would update that I picked up an Anthem MRX 310 today, after a bunch of research, for $1k. The shop I went to had a very knowledgeable gentleman that seemed to do this more as a hobby; definitely not a salesman. After hearing my stipulations and thoughts he thought the Anthem was also the best choice and a better pick than the Denon which he also likes and sells. I pulled up the Sierra-2 speaker specs on my phone (he didn't know Ascend Acoustics) but he was impressed with the use of the ribbon tweeter and stated that with a ribbon tweeter the Anthem was definitely the way to go because of the clarity and soundstage I would get with the pair (also, their ARC software played a big factor). He sold me some Audioquest Cinemaquest perfect surface copper+ wires with an interesting (from an electrical standpoint) feature of which provides a charge on the inside of the shielding to help keep electrons from escaping in what he called "electron bleed." Will I hear a difference? I doubt it and was never of the argument that cables could make that much of a difference, but he gave me a large discount on those as well and I did need speaker cable, so what the hell! Now to wait for the Sierra-2s...

Great! enjoy your purchase... please update us on those cables... To me Audioquest cables are snake oil to some extent. But if you got them for a good price... hey, great!

I remember DaveF said that there is a correction that Audyssey does for speakers, that you can't turn off unless you have the Pro kit, and it affects ribbon tweeters for some reason. So maybe the Anthem will not do that.

[Kisakuku]

I remember DaveF said that there is a correction that Audyssey does for speakers, that you can't turn off unless you have the Pro kit, and it affects ribbon tweeters for some reason. So maybe the Anthem will not do that.

Audyssey's midrange compensation notch is at 2kHz, so it would affect the 70-20XR RAAL tweeters in the Sierra Towers / Horizon a lot more than the custom RAALs in Sierra 2's, as the latter are crossed over quite a bit higher.

[eliwankenobi]

Audyssey's midrange compensation notch is at 2kHz, so it would affect the 70-20XR RAAL tweeters in the Sierra Towers / Horizon a lot more than the custom RAALs in Sierra 2's, as the latter are crossed over quite a bit higher.

Ah, that was it!

Thank you very much for the reminder...

[GrandMasterJ]

Great! enjoy your purchase... please update us on those cables... To me Audioquest cables are snake oil to some extent. But if you got them for a good price... hey, great!

Well, I just got an email today saying that the Sierra-2s won't be back in stock for 4-6 weeks, so I'll let you know eventually.

I could always return the cables. I'm not sure I would term it "a good price" as it is still ridiculously priced for copper and insulation. He charged me $325 for 8' of these(MSRP of $500):
http://www.amazon.com/Audioquest-Cv4.../dp/B002TIUZKG
The guy knew what he was talking about and offered to make me up cheaper cables if I wanted to wait. He stated the cheaper ones would offer 90% of the performance. Knowing a little about EE, I can see why stranded cabling would not be recommended.

Having put little research into the matter, I went with his suggestion (which was to take the deal he was offering me on the Audioquest). Just MAYBE I could have heard a slight difference at 22 years old, but I doubt I could now.

What's your thoughts?