Best Sound Quality Home Cinema Amp...

[Anonymous]

I'd love to be able to afford the LX90 - but out of my price range- that said on of hte US forums reckoned that someone from Europe ordered a LX90 new - from a UK Retailer for 2999 - but no idea who or if true

I have the previous Flagship the AX10Ai - and sounded far better (to me in my system) than the SC-LX71 with ICE amps I owned - and 2nd hand cost less than 1/2 that the 71

 

[Chewy]

Thanks for all the feedback and opinions guys, so the current runners within the £3k budget range are:

Yamaha Z7 (available at about £1,400)

Pioneer LX83 (available at about £2,000)

Arcam AVR600 (available for about £3,000)

There's quite a difference there in price!! Can the Z7 really compete with the Arcam that costs twice the price? Of those of you that have demo'd or owned these amps, what would you say are the main sonic differences between them?

 

[v1c]

GD don't forget the Arcam AVR500 which is approx £2200

 

[MUSICRAFT]

gdavies09031977:
Thanks for all the feedback and opinions guys, so the current runners within the £3k budget range are:

Yamaha Z7 (available at about £1,400)

Pioneer LX83 (available at about £2,000)

Arcam AVR600 (available for about £3,000)

There's quite a difference there in price!! Can the Z7 really compete with the Arcam that costs twice the price? Of those of you that have demo'd or owned these amps, what would you say are the main sonic differences between them?

Hi Gareth

I would advise you to choose an amplifier with a fuller balance as IME this will offer a better balance with your Silver RX speakers rather than an amp with a forward presentation.

The DSP-Z7 is an excellent amplifier even at its full RRP of £2300. I think the AVR600 still retails at £3500. Imo the DSP-Z7 betters the AVR600 with movie soundtracks whereas the AVR600 betters the DSP-Z7 for two channel/music listening. I don't feel the AVR600 offers £1200 worth of better two channel performance over the DSP-Z7 let alone a £1600 difference (£1.4k - £3k). The DSP-Z7 is a bargain at £1.4k.

BTW, i've not listened to the LX83 and if you are prepared to stretch your budget than Yamaha's reference DSP-Z11 is the one to go for.

All the best

Rick @ Musicrarft

 

[Anonymous]

why have you discounted idea of going pre-pro ? or not enough rack space ?

still think you'll get a better "sound" for the money

only real way to find out which receiver is best for you - and provides an upgrade from the 906 - is to get your local dealer to allow you to demo one at home - after all you're spending up to £3k its a lot of money.

if you buy online its a risk - but don't forget in most-cases if you are genuinely not happy you could always return under Distance Selling Rights - see DSR website for full details or on one of the threads on here

personally though - local dealer and get a home demo

how each of these amps drive your speakers, in your room is the most important thing after all

I spent about 7 evenings in total swapping between Receivers and results can be quite different from one to another - and doesn't always follow from what advice you get from owners of amps - as its how it works for your system thats important. I think I got each swap down to 5 mins - not bad for a 7.1 system.

 

[TKratz]

gdavies09031977:

Thanks for all the feedback and opinions guys, so the current runners within the £3k budget range are:

Yamaha Z7 (available at about £1,400)

Pioneer LX83 (available at about £2,000)

Arcam AVR600 (available for about £3,000)

There's quite a difference there in price!! Can the Z7 really compete with the Arcam that costs twice the price? Of those of you that have demo'd or owned these amps, what would you say are the main sonic differences between them?

I believe the user Pete321 on this forum had the Arcam AVR600 for some time until he got tired of all the compatibility problems (have these been fixed by the way?) and decided to replace it with the Yamaha Z7.

In his opinion, the Z7 was overall as good as the Arcam AVR600.
I haven't heard neither the Arcam or Pioneer and therefore do not know which is best. As usual it also comes down to system matching and perfonal preferences.

 

[Anonymous]

to be honest i`ve just upgraded from a 905 to the 5507/5500 combination which is in your budget and it has transformed my MK150`s so I know it`ll do the same for your MA speakers as well.

Everything is better, detail, positioning, placement, you name it, its better

It has the benefit of Audyssey DSX as well if you ever wanted to go extra wide fronts which to me is the way forward, if not, being 9 channels use to 2 unused ones to biamp if you feel the need to.

Also it runs a whole lot cooler than my 905 did as well lol

Al

 

[Frank Harvey]

gdavies09031977: Thanks for all the feedback and opinions guys, so the current runners within the £3k budget range are:

Yamaha Z7 (available at about £1,400)

Pioneer LX83 (available at about £2,000)

Arcam AVR600 (available for about £3,000)

There's quite a difference there in price!! Can the Z7 really compete with the Arcam that costs twice the price? Of those of you that have demo'd or owned these amps, what would you say are the main sonic differences between them?

The AVR600 is a better sounding amp, but I think most people would wait until all issues are sorted. After all, you want an AV that will work faultlessly seeing as it is the heart of the system.

With the RX series, the DSPZ7 or the SCLX83 (as long as nothing drastic happens to it changing from the 82) will work very well with your speakers. Because the RX series is a little on the smoother side, I'd say go with the LX83, as it has a leaner, more attacking sound over the Yamaha, which is smoother and a little softer - the LX83 will bring the RX's to life more. There's some nice new touches to the LX83 too, which is making me want one over my LX82.....

Although if you're able to stretch to the AVR600 budget, look out for reduced DSPZ11's.....the Ultimate.

 

[Ronald Archiebald]

GDavies,

There is a 3 month old Z-11 (not a refurbished unit or US import) on E-bay going for £2799.00.

Ronald

 

[Anonymous]

FrankHarveyHiFi:gdavies09031977: Thanks for all the feedback and opinions guys, so the current runners within the £3k budget range are:

Yamaha Z7 (available at about £1,400)

Pioneer LX83 (available at about £2,000)

Arcam AVR600 (available for about £3,000)

There's quite a difference there in price!! Can the Z7 really compete with the Arcam that costs twice the price? Of those of you that have demo'd or owned these amps, what would you say are the main sonic differences between them?

The AVR600 is a better sounding amp, but I think most people would wait until all issues are sorted. After all, you want an AV that will work faultlessly seeing as it is the heart of the system.

With the RX series, the DSPZ7 or the SCLX83 (as long as nothing drastic happens to it changing from the 82) will work very well with your speakers. Because the RX series is a little on the smoother side, I'd say go with the LX83, as it has a leaner, more attacking sound over the Yamaha, which is smoother and a little softer - the LX83 will bring the RX's to life more. There's some nice new touches to the LX83 too, which is making me want one over my LX82.....

Although if you're able to stretch to the AVR600 budget, look out for reduced DSPZ11's.....the Ultimate.

Hi David

What are the differences you prefer on the LX83 over the 82?

 

[Frank Harvey]

I can't remember them all! I remember the rep going over all the differences between the 82 and 83 (after I'd just bought the 82) and thinking, damn! One was iPod control - the 83 comes with a remote that is capable of RF (the LX73 it's an optional extra). I think the remote was a 2 way thing as well. I need a refresher course in it's capabilities!!

 

[Anonymous]

FrankHarveyHiFi:
I can't remember them all! I remember the rep going over all the differences between the 82 and 83 (after I'd just bought the 82) and thinking, damn! One was iPod control - the 83 comes with a remote that is capable of RF (the LX73 it's an optional extra). I think the remote was a 2 way thing as well. I need a refresher course in it's capabilities!!

........ipod control aside, does the 83 sound much better than the 82?

 

[Anonymous]

As for a cinema power amp, you cant do much better than this http://www.earthquakesound.com/cng_7.htm

It is 7 monoblocks..

I was going to buy this power amp, but could not fit in my room

I find rotel power amps very good for home cinema, especially if you are on a budget.

Hope this helps.

 

[TheHomeCinemaCentre]

John Barlow:FrankHarveyHiFi:

I can't remember them all! I remember the rep going over all the differences between the 82 and 83 (after I'd just bought the 82) and thinking, damn! One was iPod control - the 83 comes with a remote that is capable of RF (the LX73 it's an optional extra). I think the remote was a 2 way thing as well. I need a refresher course in it's capabilities!!

........ipod control aside, does the 83 sound much better than the 82?

Yes it does. The SC-LX83 is a real development of the sound we had with the 82 and is much closer to the LX90 . The 82 was a step up form the 81 but only slightly, we now have a very different product. I always thought the SC-LX82 outperformed the Z7 and I have no doubt that the 83 will. With the Z7 discontinued it is not a comparison we are likely to complete first hand unless we trade one in.

 

[Anonymous]

TheHomeCinemaCentre:John Barlow:FrankHarveyHiFi:

I can't remember them all! I remember the rep going over all the differences between the 82 and 83 (after I'd just bought the 82) and thinking, damn! One was iPod control - the 83 comes with a remote that is capable of RF (the LX73 it's an optional extra). I think the remote was a 2 way thing as well. I need a refresher course in it's capabilities!!

........ipod control aside, does the 83 sound much better than the 82?

Yes it does. The SC-LX83 is a real development of the sound we had with the 82 and is much closer to the LX90 . The 82 was a step up form the 81 but only slightly, we now have a very different product. I always thought the SC-LX82 outperformed the Z7 and I have no doubt that the 83 will. With the Z7 discontinued it is not a comparison we are likely to complete first hand unless we trade one in.

much closer in SQ to the LX90 - thats quite a bold statement - exciting then as I'd love a LX90 but can't afford one

do you know if they've improved the power amp stage of the LX83 ? as I found my LX71 a bit lacking in power for my setup

interestingly according to other forums the LX83 moved away from using Wolfson DACs used in the 81 and 82

 

[TheHomeCinemaCentre]

The 83 does have the clean concise sound of the 90 but lacks the scale to run large speakers in a large room properly. The 83 is certainly a good slice of what the 90 offers.

I am very surprised that you found the 71 lacking with your speakers, it is a strong amp and should easily run them. It may be that your auto setup is causing an issue. I would think that with your system you may want to upgrade the speakers prior to moving to the 83 . As much as the 83 will improve your sound you would find far large gains investing in speakers or a sub. I take it you have the 71 instead of the AX10?

 

[Anonymous]

Nick,

thanks for reply. I was hoping for the 71 to be everything I wanted as I really wanted to have HD audio and convenience of HDMI video switching etc and I'm a bit of a Pioneer fan (although I defected for 8 months with an Arcam AVR350) - but I just found it sounded "flat" in my system - dynamics wise - I tried both with MCACC on and off, all dynamic volume, compression etc was all turned off. Don't get me wrong - it went very loud, but didn't sound dynamic - hard to explain.

My front 3 Tannoys are 6 ohms - perhaps they arein realityeven lower impedance than they are rated or quite hard to drive - but just didn't sound how I hoped - others have had very good results so I think its very speaker dependant, and may be that the load my Tannoys put onto the Class D Power amp stage - was a bit too much - no idea.

AX10Ai has no such problems

I sold the 71 and went onto the AX10Ai instead - and much happier. Byt missing the convenience of HDMI and video switching

cheers

 

[Anonymous]

There is MINT Z11 at Audiogon.com going for $1800...

 

[Anonymous]

If you want the best of the best and if your budget could stretch to the PIONEER SC-LX90 then i will guarantee you that you will definatly not be dissapointed. If that's stretching your budget too much then i would say go for the new PIONEER SC-LX83 because the previouse outgoing SC-LX82 has a whf 5 star rating and is a very, very good receiver indeed and the SC-LX83 improves on it even more. So without a doubt I would go for either the above without any hesitation.

 

[Anonymous]

Dammit I've got to stop reading these forums and just be happy with what I've got , maybe the LX90 when I win the lottery.

 

[Anonymous]

if only we had US prices - weren't they clearing Z11s new @ 1999 dollars or something - absolute bargain

 

[TKratz]

Buckshar:

thanks for reply. I was hoping for the 71 to be everything I wanted as I really wanted to have HD audio and convenience of HDMI video switching etc and I'm a bit of a Pioneer fan (although I defected for 8 months with an Arcam AVR350) - but I just found it sounded "flat" in my system - dynamics wise - I tried both with MCACC on and off, all dynamic volume, compression etc was all turned off. Don't get me wrong - it went very loud, but didn't sound dynamic - hard to explain.

That was exactly how I felt when I auditioned the LX71!
Reading all the praises for the LX71 and LX81 I also thought this would be my new receiver. But I found it no match for the Yamaha RX-V3900, and then I - unfortunately - gave the Yamaha Z7 a try as well and was completely sold...

 

[Chewy]

For those that have mentioned in this thread that the Poineer LX-82/3 has more detail and attack, where as the Yamaha Z7 is more smooth and laid back, does the same presentation hold true for the Z11? (Being as this seems to be coming down in price!)

The balance of opinion seems to be for the LX83 over the Z7, but presumably the Z11 kicks the LX83 out of the park, being a step up in budget and spec?

Can those who have heard both confirm their opinions?

 

[MUSICRAFT]

gdavies09031977:
For those that have mentioned in this thread that the Poineer LX-82/3 has more detail and attack, where as the Yamaha Z7 is more smooth and laid back, does the same presentation hold true for the Z11? (Being as this seems to be coming down in price!)

The balance of opinion seems to be for the LX83 over the Z7, but presumably the Z11 kicks the LX83 out of the park, being a step up in budget and spec?

Can those who have heard both confirm their opinions?

Hi Gareth

I not yet heard the LX83 although i have heard the LX82 and the DSP-Z7. The DSP-Z11 is significantly better then either of these and imo fully justifies the premium at RRP of £5k v £2k let alone with DSP-Z11's being available at reduced prices.

Btw, the Yamaha's are smooth and clear but are also very dynamic (particularly the DSP-Z11). You can listen to them for hours without fatigue. Ime the one thing i have learnt over the years is that (and i don't say this likely) when it comes to AV amps in particular Yamaha inpires confidence.

All the best

Rick @ Musicraft

 

[TheHomeCinemaCentre]

The Z11 is an amazing amplifier and exceptionally capable. It still has the Yamaha sound but does have serious gains in performance against the Pioneer. It would be interesting to hear it against the Pioneer with your speakers. Where the Z11 would really win is with a larger speaker set up.