Best Sound Quality Home Cinema Amp...

[Chewy]

I'm looking for a recommendation for a home cinema amp (or processor amp combo);

My only concern is for the best possible sound quality for movies in a 7.1 set-up.

I'm not concerned with stereo music playback, extensive features, upscaling tricky, 3D gimmicks, extensive connections (I only need 1 x HDMI in) or any other shenanigans - just purely the best possible honest-to-goodness movie sound quality...

Any recommedations or thoughts welcome...

 

[Anonymous]

Just a bit of friendly advice as some guy on here had his email address as his user name.

Its not good to have Date of birth and your name as people would be able to easly steal your details.

 

[Chewy]

canada16:

Just a bit of friendly advice as some guy on here had his email address as his user name.

Its not good to have Date of birth and your name as people would be able to easly steal your details.

Thanks for the advice canada16, but its not my DOB, so it'd be a bit of a dead end to some identity thief!

Cheers anyway.

 

[Anonymous]

Any budget in particular. and any speakers favoured, and room size will help in giving any advice.

 

[Ronald Archiebald]

GDavies,

Is it 'best sound quality home cinema amp' regardless of price or within a certain budget?

Ronald

 

[Chewy]

Sorry guys, yes, budget up to £3k (I could be pursuaded to go a little higher - but only if it represented a significant leap up in SQ), current speakers are Monitor Audio SIlver with RX8's up front and RSFX's as side and rear surrounds (7.1) Room sizes is approximately 18ft x 11ft (not the biggest I know - but we have to make the most of what we have!)...

Recommendations from personal experience from demos or purchases are the most welcome, as opposed to recommendations from magazine reviews...

 

[Anonymous]

Lexicon all the way. You would be looking at used in your budget though. Google Lexocon RV8 of MC12 reviews.

 

[MUSICRAFT]

gdavies09031977:
Sorry guys, yes, budget up to £3k (I could be pursuaded to go a little higher - but only if it represented a significant leap up in SQ), current speakers are Monitor Audio SIlver with RX8's up front and RSFX's as side and rear surrounds (7.1) Room sizes is approximately 18ft x 11ft (not the biggest I know - but we have to make the most of what we have!)...

Recommendations from personal experience from demos or purchases are the most welcome, as opposed to recommendations from magazine reviews...

Hi gdavies09031977

At the moment i'll recommend Yamaha's DSP-Z7. It is already excellent at its full RRP of £2300 however DSP-Z7's are now generally available for around £1.4k which i feel makes them a bargain. I think with your Silver RX speakers an amp such as the DSP-Z7 will be more than good enough however if you still wish go further and are prepared to stretch your budget then an AV amplifier also worth considering is the superb DSP-Z11.

Ime both amplifiers are an excellent tonal match with your speakers and which can be listened to for hours without fatigue.

Btw, what amp and other components are you currently using please?

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[Ronald Archiebald]

GDavies,

In this instance, I agree with Musicraft's recommendation of the DSP-Z7 or possibly, if your budget permits, the Z11.

Either will work brilliantly with your MA kit.

Ronald

 

[Big Chris]

Arcam AVR600?

 

[Chewy]

MUSICRAFT:

Btw, what amp and other components are you currently using please?

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

Hi Rick,

Currently using an Onkyo 905 amp, source devices are an Oppo BDP-80 blu-ray transport, Sky HD and Divco TViX 6500 all fed to a Lumagen Radiance XS; the Radiance spits out the audio to the amp via HDMI. Video is sent up from the Radiance to a JVC HD950 PJ.

The Onkyo 905 is a decent amp, but it never quite fulfilled my expectations. Its got plenty of thump, but lacks a little finesse particularly the surround effects steering, despite by best efforts to calibrate with both the set-up mick and a SPL meter.

I am therefore looking for a new amp that digs out more detail, and provides a more immersive sound.

Gareth

 

[Anonymous]

http://www.tlcbroadcast.co.uk/pioneer-sc-lx90-ex-demo-susano-high-definition-amplifier-p-1076.html?ref=6

Only if I had the money

 

[cwalduck]

gdavies09031977:

Hi Rick,

Currently using an Onkyo 905 amp, source devices are an Oppo BDP-80 blu-ray transport, Sky HD and Divco TViX 6500 all fed to a Lumagen Radiance XS; the Radiance spits out the audio to the amp via HDMI. Video is sent up from the Radiance to a JVC HD950 PJ.

The Onkyo 905 is a decent amp, but it never quite fulfilled my expectations. Its got plenty of thump, but lacks a little finesse particularly the surround effects steering, despite by best efforts to calibrate with both the set-up mick and a SPL meter.

I am therefore looking for a new amp that digs out more detail, and provides a more immersive sound.

Gareth

I had exactly the same problem with my onkyo, so I went back to a 5.1 setup and bi-amped the front speakers turned off Audyssey wow what a difference much more dynamic sound all round. Give it a try

 

[Chewy]

Yeah, not sure about dropping back to a 5.1 set-up, though I have thought about it before.

What differences did you notice in bi-amping the fronts?

 

[grifz]

Yes bi- amp fronts and put in pure direct mode improves surround sound by far for my rx6s with qed speaker cables .

 

[markyd]

That Pioneer looks a beast - though I would go for the Arcam AVR600 too.

 

[MUSICRAFT]

gdavies09031977:
MUSICRAFT:

Btw, what amp and other components are you currently using please?

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

Hi Rick,

Currently using an Onkyo 905 amp, source devices are an Oppo BDP-80 blu-ray transport, Sky HD and Divco TViX 6500 all fed to a Lumagen Radiance XS; the Radiance spits out the audio to the amp via HDMI. Video is sent up from the Radiance to a JVC HD950 PJ.

The Onkyo 905 is a decent amp, but it never quite fulfilled my expectations. Its got plenty of thump, but lacks a little finesse particularly the surround effects steering, despite by best efforts to calibrate with both the set-up mick and a SPL meter.

I am therefore looking for a new amp that digs out more detail, and provides a more immersive sound.

Gareth

Hi Gareth

Thanks for your reply.

The Onkyo is a good amp however it can be bettered upon and also particularly in the areas which you are looking to have better performance from.

The DSP-Z7 with Yamaha's powerful Cinema DSP processing will not only dig up more detail but will also steer effects and place them in clear, very precise and stable sound fields. All of this will be done with superb coherence and above all in a natural manner. Ime the ability of Cinema DSP to immerse listeners (with movie soundtracks in particular) is the finest around. The DSP-Z11 offers significant improvements over the DSP-Z7 although as good as your speakers are they will be a limiting factor.

Btw, i've had a few clients change from 905's to DSP-Z7's over the last year (a couple of whom are also using Silver RX AV speakers) and they are all happy with the upgrade.

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[bob.g]

Rick, I would value your opinion please. I have a Bose Acoustimass 15 speaker system (which I am very happy with and do not propose changing) and was also considering upgrading to a Yamaha DSP-Z7. Would they be a good match ?

 

[MUSICRAFT]

bob.g:Rick, I would value your opinion please. I have a Bose Acoustimass 15 speaker system (which I am very happy with and do not propose changing) and was also considering upgrading to a Yamaha DSP-Z7. Would they be a good match ?

Hi bob.g

Thanks.

What other components are you also using please?

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[bob.g]

Rick, all other components are ages old and will be upgraded to match the amplififer / speaker setup. However have to say that (apart from the Z7) my preference is for all Panasonic, especially the display.

 

[bigboss]

I think the DSP Z7 will be a bit of an overkill for Bose Acoustimass 15 system. Demo Yamaha RX-V2067, Denon 3311, Pioneer VSX-LX53 & Onkyo TX-NR808. I've heard that Onkyo pairs well with Bose speakers, but trust your ears.

 

[Anonymous]

At that pricepoint go PRE PRO
NEW MARANTZ 7005 PROCESSOR @ 1700 OR SO
PLUS EITHER THE MATCHING MARANTZ POWER AMP @ 1300
OR SOMETHING LIKE AN EX DEM ARCAM P7 FOR ABOUT 1200
PROCESSOR WISE WATCH OUT FOR THE NEW AUDIOLAB 8200AS WELL
THE 906 YOU HAVE WAS ALWAYS WELL REVIEWED AND POWER OUTPUT WISE HAS A LOT OF GRUNT SO WATCHBOUTVYOU DO NOT MAKE A SIDEWAYS JUMP
SORRY ABOUT CAPITALS FORIM IS NOT VERY IPHONE FRIENDLY
PS IF IT WAS MY MONEY I WOULD FORGO HDMI AND GO FOR AN EX-DEM LEXICON MC12 OR ARCAM AV9 PLUS A DECENT POWER AMP AND GO REAALLY HIGH END JUST WITHOUT HDMI AND NEW FORMATS

 

[TheHomeCinemaCentre]

If you can stretch it to the Pioneer SC-LX90 I would opt for that everytime - over the AVR600 and the Z11. If you want to keep to your budget then I strongly suggest an audition of the Pioneer SC-LX83 and the new Anthem MRX700. The Pioneer produces an amazing surround sound with bags of control and power. My team are universal in praise for it and that rarely happens.

The Anthem will be released in a few weeks and if it can take even a small slice of the performance from the flagship processor it will be a real contender at the £2k price point. The room correction that Anthem employs take a good sound and shines it to perfection.

As to the Z7 with the AM15 I would suggest the 1067 as a better partner.

 

[MUSICRAFT]

bob.g:Rick, all other components are ages old and will be upgraded to match the amplififer / speaker setup. However have to say that (apart from the Z7) my preference is for all Panasonic, especially the display.

Hi bob.g

Thanks for your reply.

Ime Yamaha AV amps work with their Cinema DSP technology and Bose's Direct Reflecting technology also compliment each other really well. Over the last few years my clients who own Bose speakers are happily using AV amps such as the RX-V1700, RX-V3800, DSP-AX863SE, DSP-AX763, RX-V3900 and RX-V765. I've not heard the DSP-Z7 with Bose speakers however looking at the AV amps my clients use with their Bose speakers than i am sure the DSP-Z7 will be a superb match for your speakers. However having said this i would say the DSP-Z7 is capable of being partnered with even higher calibre of speakers. Other models to also consider at the moment are RX-V3900 and the RX-V2065.

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[v1c]

Pioneer SC-LX90 or the new SC-LX83.

Found an interesting piece about the Air studio involvement here.

Also one on MCAAC here.

Finally one on Pioneers philosophy here.

That's my attempt to sell you on a pioneer.