New to Ascend

[davef]

Hi Nate and David!

I am most interested in listening to music. Especially, listening to an old Vinyl Collection that's been with me for 40+ years. I have an old Marantz Receiver that's been dedicated to driving a set of **** 901"s for as long as I can remember. I don't have an Amp. The old Marantz Turntable bit the dust while my children and pets were growing up so I will need to purchase a new one. I was thinking of getting a DAC as there are some that are advertised as taking the place of a Receiver without the Radio. I have Satelite Radio now. The room where the sound system will be set up is about 40 feet by 20 feet The room has a vaulted ceiling that is about 14 feet at the peak.The room is sealed or closed off from other rooms. I could use some auxillary sound for the Plasma TV I have in the room but I really do miss the music and that takes 1st priority. I like all kinds of music from Jazz to Rock, Classical and even some Rap. I see Emotiva has Amps at good prices. So give me some more ideas. Thank you so much for your help.

Hi MarriJ,

There are so many possibilities. My recommendation is to find something that interests you and then post it here. We can then let you know if it would be a good match for the towers.

[marriJAI]

Thank you David for answering...
I have been searching the Internet for reviews on Receivers. Crutchfield seems to have some good options at not too outlandish prices. I really don't need a Receiver with capabilities for more than "1" listening area. It seems that they tack extra's that I don't need and cost $$. The Denon AVRX 5200 seems to be a good buy right now. But the 4 Ohm's would shut it down I'm afraid. The alternative is the Denon X 7200WA which is "new" and possibly Denon's best right now. It's also, a grand+ more. It may be worth it. I don't know. I don't really care about the 4K TV capability. I think they have a ways to go to perfect that and that's another one of those new options they are selling that I don't really need. I would like crisp, clean, authentic, alive, fluid, enigmatic sounding audio. I may also like to crank up the Rock Music once every so often and see if my neighbors can be resurrected from the dead! Thank you so much for your thoughts. The Sierra 2's are expected tomorrow and I still am in limbo. As far as a sub I am leaning towards the SVS PB 13 Ultra to go with the Towers with the Ribbon.

[Sivar]

If you are mainly interested in music, I suggest looking into sealed subwoofers, and in particular Rythmik sealed subwoofers.
"Sealed vs. ported (like the SVS PB 13)?" is an open question, but broadly, "sealed for music, ported for home theater" is the mantra.
I researched subwoofers for a long, long time before making a purchase. SVS makes great subwoofers, but my research indicated that Rythmiks are better in terms of output and quality at a given price range (though I like the look of SVS subs a little more).
I have some of their sealed subs and it is quite remarkable how well they blend in with the main speakers.

I wouldn't worry too much about the receiver. Get a good brand and don't go with a low-end model. If you are uninterested in the latest buzzwords (like 4K, Atmos, etc.) I suggest looking into the used market. Audio gear provenance matters little and you can take advantage of those that upgrade frequently. You might look at Audiogon.com, though it tends to cater to people with more money than brains.

The Sierra Towers will quite the upgrade over the old 901 speakers even though I suspect you got yours before B0se made a strict policy of selling junk.

[marriJAI]

Thanks for the advise. I just read a side-to-side comparison on the AVS Forum between the SVS SB13 Ultra vs Rythmic E15HP. The Rythmic won out though both were excellent. The Sierra 2"s arrived this evening so I've really got to work on getting a Receiver. The price range is anticipated to be between $2,000 and $3,000. The Denon AVRX 5200 is said to be one of the last Japanese builds. According to my son there are stricter quality controls in Japan as opposed to China.
Denon's "newest" Flagship model is the AVR-X7200W. Any ideas fellow ascend fans? Time is awaiting and awasting and I'm so anxious to hear all that beautful sound and music out there!
And yes those 901's must be 30 years old. They sound nothing like the cardboard sound of the new **** and they still work. Thank you Sivar and thank you all for your support. MariJ

[davef]

Thank you David for answering...
I have been searching the Internet for reviews on Receivers. Crutchfield seems to have some good options at not too outlandish prices. I really don't need a Receiver with capabilities for more than "1" listening area. It seems that they tack extra's that I don't need and cost $$. The Denon AVRX 5200 seems to be a good buy right now. But the 4 Ohm's would shut it down I'm afraid. The alternative is the Denon X 7200WA which is "new" and possibly Denon's best right now. It's also, a grand+ more. It may be worth it. I don't know. I don't really care about the 4K TV capability. I think they have a ways to go to perfect that and that's another one of those new options they are selling that I don't really need. I would like crisp, clean, authentic, alive, fluid, enigmatic sounding audio. I may also like to crank up the Rock Music once every so often and see if my neighbors can be resurrected from the dead! Thank you so much for your thoughts. The Sierra 2's are expected tomorrow and I still am in limbo. As far as a sub I am leaning towards the SVS PB 13 Ultra to go with the Towers with the Ribbon.

Hi marri,

The Denon 5200 is a very good receiver but I am a little confused when you mentioned the unit shutting down. I understand that speaker impedance can be a bit confusing, but none of our speakers will present any issues with any of the Denon receivers, or any other receiver for the matter. In 15+ years, we have never had a customer report any receiver or amp issues using our speakers, even with underpowered models (of which the 5200 is certainly not)

Hope this helps!

[marriJAI]

Thanks David!
Hi David!
Regarding the Denon 5200:
In one of the reviews I read. Someone wrote that it with 4 Ohm speakers they may draw too much power and cause the Receiver to overheat if run at Reference Levels. So that is what I'm concerned about. Another owner said it would off a lot of heat and hooked up an external fan to cool it. Then another owner said it isn't a good idea to use an external fan to cool it because this caused the heat to become trapped inside the Denon 5200 Receiver.
I think I am going to have to get a locking audio cabinet to protect all this expensive equipment!

Thanks so much!

MariJ

[davef]

Thanks David!
Hi David!
Regarding the Denon 5200:
In one of the reviews I read. Someone wrote that it with 4 Ohm speakers they may draw too much power and cause the Receiver to overheat if run at Reference Levels. So that is what I'm concerned about. Another owner said it would off a lot of heat and hooked up an external fan to cool it. Then another owner said it isn't a good idea to use an external fan to cool it because this caused the heat to become trapped inside the Denon 5200 Receiver.
I think I am going to have to get a locking audio cabinet to protect all this expensive equipment!

Thanks so much!

MariJ

You really don't have anything to be concerned with. That said, our towers are not 4 ohm speakers. Their *minimum* impedance is 4 ohms, their average impedance is 8 ohms. I know it can be confusing, but speaker impedance varies with frequency. It can often be as low as 2-3 ohms and can jump as high as 50 ohms. Look at the impedance graph for the towers. It hovers at around 5 ohms from about 100Hz to 1kHz (about 3 octaves) and then hovers around 9-10 ohms from about 1.5kHz and up. The real issue is impedance in combination with phase angle. At lower impedances, you want less reactance (minor phase angles). You will notice with the towers, when the impedance is at 5 ohms, the phase angle is very minor

you will have no issues with any Denon receiver.

Nominal or Average impedance is typically determined by what the average impedance is, not the minimum impedance. Minimum impedance for 4 ohm speakers typically drops well below 3 ohms.

[marriJAI]

Hi David!
Thanks for taking the time to explain it all to me. There seem to be a good number of people who don't understand (like me) the physics behind the working of the electronic components in a music system. I have drooled over the Ascend Towers for 2 years and have finally gotten enough $$ together to get them. I want to make sure I get the right receiver to do them justice. I've seen some good reviews on Marantz, Anthem and Cambridge Audio Receivers, also. Should I buy the newest model like the DenonAVR-7200W or Marantz SR 7010? Have they improved the quality of the signal? The sound quality? That is the question.
Happy listening to you.

MariJ

[davef]

Hi David!
Thanks for taking the time to explain it all to me. There seem to be a good number of people who don't understand (like me) the physics behind the working of the electronic components in a music system. I have drooled over the Ascend Towers for 2 years and have finally gotten enough $$ together to get them. I want to make sure I get the right receiver to do them justice. I've seen some good reviews on Marantz, Anthem and Cambridge Audio Receivers, also. Should I buy the newest model like the DenonAVR-7200W or Marantz SR 7010? Have they improved the quality of the signal? The sound quality? That is the question.
Happy listening to you.

MariJ

I am now using a pair of ribbon towers in my home with a measly Onkyo TX SR-600 and they sound fantastic and fill a very large room.... Honestly, you are not going to go wrong with any of your choices

[pierreterrier]

Hey marrijay

If you like Marantz and have $3,000.00 to spend then the reference PM-14S1 integrated amp is the way to go. Lots of great clean power, superb integrated phono amp both mm and mc, for stereo music listening nothing beats it in my opinion. I have the raal towers with the PM-15S2 (earlier similar model) and a VPI Classic turntable/Lyra Kleos cart and I would put up that sound against anyone. Simplicity in the set up and yet complete, that's the beauty of the Marantz, and the reference line is built in Japan, which is a huge plus as your son pointed out. And if you already bought an amp, discard this info
Pierre