confused, choose a receiver

[geoyil]

Hi guys!

Im not an expert in this area so I need some help. I am about to buy Jbl studio 580 (only 2 floor speakers) And I want a receiver for around 500£.
Any tips?

I rather lose functionality than sound quality.

Had my eyes on onkyo nr626 But what suggestions do you guys have?

Just had a guy telling me that with jbl 580 I have to buy a receiver that is more expensive . And I was told differenlty from another guy.

Please help!

 

[bigboss]

JBL 580 are large speakers, and the Onkyo may feel a bit underpowered to drive it properly. Look at some older models from Denon and Yamaha.

 

[geoyil]

What about. One of these?

Yamaha a830

Yamaha rx v676

Pioneer vsx 923

Sony str dn1040

Marantz nr1604

 

[bigboss]

Yamaha RX-A830 is the best of the lot. It belongs to the superior Aventage range. Demo before purchase.

 

[Andy Madden]

HI geoyil. What are the other speakers in your system, particularly your centre channel? Are they JBLs too?

 

[geoyil]

I will only use the JBL front speakers. So a stereoamp would be great but I might att a center later that is why I would like a A/V receiver.

what about these Marantz SR5008 or the onkyo tx-nr727? I have them for a good price.

You guys think the marantz will do the job better than onkyo?

Thanks!

 

[Andy Madden]

Hi Geoyil. I think you'll struggle to do the JBL's justce if you go for a receiver around this pricepoint - If you're definitely going to look to add a centre speaker (and surrounds) at a later date, we'd rcommend using something like the Yamaha RX-A1030 as the bare minimum. Otherwise, it may be a better option to go for a stereo amp.

 

[Leeps]

Is there a particular reason you're stuck on the JBL's?

If I had a £2k total budget, I'd be looking to spend more like a 50/50 balance between amp & speakers. Also, if I was considering adding centre and rear channels later, I'd definitely be looking at listening to a receiver & whole speaker package together to make sure the end result is to your liking, even if you didn't buy all the speakers straight away. (Is there a dealer near you who can demonstrate a complete surround package based on the JBL's? If not and you've just seen a "great deal on the internet" then check their returns policy very carefully! You may not like them.)

What's your percentage of listening for music & movies? How big is the intended room? How far away from the rear & side walls are you able to place the speakers?

If I were you, if you feel you're "not an expert", I wouldn't get too set on a particular product before having a demo. You may not be an expert in terms of products, but I'm sure if a dealer let you listen to 2 or 3 options, you'd be quite capable of choosing which ones you like. Just tell the dealer(s) the answers to the questions I mentioned above, let him know your maximum budget and let them come up with a couple of options for you to listen to. Take some music & your favourite movies along and let your ears, rather than spec sheets or looks decide. If you were buying a car, would you do so without driving it & just on somebody else's recommendation?

 

[Andy Madden]

And as Leeps mentions, it would be good to get an idea about room layout and speaker positioning. There may be a speaker better suited than the JBLs - the more information you can give us, the better

 

[JohnKK]

I think that direction that you are going is not good option and you will not be satisfied at the end.

Those JBLs are very big floorstanders rated 6 ohms and can handle up to 200W per channel and even 1000 pounds AVR (new) would be questionable, everything in 500 range is way to underpowered for them.

Either buy smaller floorstanders and 500 AV amp, either save for higher grade AVR.

There is another route - take S/H AVR with preouts and S/H power amp, that way you will able to upgrade later with center speaker.

With this combo you will be able to take full potential from you speakers for not too high budget, but it will be for sure again above 500.

 

[geoyil]

Thanks a lot for the help guys!

I was at the dealer but unfortunately there is no dealer around here that got the jbl. The reason I want them (might want them) is because I like JBL and there was a good price for them atm. Anyway I have checked with the company and I can try them out and return them if I dont like them so that will be no problem. I also listened to the monitor audio pro bronxe br5 which sounded good.

I ask some experts that work here in different dealers and said that the marantz sr5008 could be used together with the jbl studio 580 of course iI know its far from the best.

Also If i consider to build on with surround and so on I will probably consider another receiver.

I will try the studio 580 with the marantz 5008 and see if it sounds good together with the room etc.

Do you guys dont agree when they said that marantz sr5008 would be "enough"?

I can add that the room is around 17 square metres

 

[bigboss]

Demo and check it for yourself. If you're happy with the sound, go for it.

 

[Leeps]

It's not all about watts per channel, but quality of amplification and whether the type of sound balance of each component will sound to your liking when you hear them together.

Sure, the Marantz will be able to drive a pair of speakers; but will it sound any good? Who can tell?

Asking if a certain amp will go well with speakers is a bit like asking whether two humans will go together well. There are too many variables to predict unless someone has actually seen them getting on well. Sorry mate, but I don't see the point in buying hifi this way and I think it's a very quick way to wasting lots of money.

You did ask for our advice! Sorry of it's not what you wanted to hear.

 

[geoyil]

No! this is really good you make me think! I will buy everything but i made sure I can try the speakers at home together with the amp so I just wanted your opinion eventhough I can try it at home So of course I will try them and see if I like it or not. I just wanted to know if there was like a "rule" or a big NO for something that I was doing wrong when picking 580 with the amp.

Just a bit worried that my room is too small but we will see when they arrive

 

[Leeps]

One potential problem with the JBL's is that they're fairly sizeable floorstanders that are rear ported.

Rear ported speakers can interact with the wall and create bass boom - an overwhelming bass that spoils the rest of the frequency range - and this can be apparent more in some points in the room than others. The ways to counteract this are:

1. Experimenting with speaker positioning - generally moving them further away from rear walls and particularly corners of a room, but sometimes domestic circumstances make this awkward.

2. Using port bungs - I don't know if the JBL's have them supplied, but some ported speakers come with foam bungs to calm down the bass boom. Some have found that, whilst this tones down the bass, it also shrinks the soundstage, so needs to be done carefully. Some speakers (KEF R series for example) come with 2-part bungs to be able to more finely tune any adjustment. If the JBL's don't come with bungs, you can use socks - but don't stuff them in the ports too tightly.

3. Bass traps - there are all sorts of acoustic panels you can buy to attach to walls or place in corners to prevent the bass boom. Again, domestic circumstances / aesthetics don't always allow this.

4. Buy sealed or front-ported speakers instead. For the UK market where our homes are generally quite small compared to some other major countries, I'm wondering why so many speaker manufacturers persist with rear ports. If the speaker is quite small however, a rear port's interaction with the wall can actually help generate more bass if it was lacking in the first place. Rear ports do at least allow some flexibility with the sound, but can create more problems than solutions.

Hope this helps and let us know how you get on when you fire the system up.

 

[bigboss]

A home demo is very important prior to committing to purchase. Large speakers may not sound good in a relatively small room. What are your room's dimensions?

 

[geoyil]

Thanks for the info leeps I'll look into that. The dealer told me to try to push them away from the wall around 30-50 cm. I will try with around 30-40 and see if it is enough.

The room is around 5*4m (not exact numbers) maybe a little bit smaller.