Matching monitor audio radius

[hybridauth_Google_115978370387078222860]

Hi all, I'm looking for an AV amp to match a newly acquired Monitor Audio Radius 5.1 speaker set.

At the moment I have a basic Sony AV amp (bought for about £150 3-4 years ago) which I will be replacing soon.

I'll only be running 5.1 and don't really need Atmos, but I want to make the most of the speakers for films and also music as much as I can.

Some ability to play things over WiFi / home network would be a plus.

I've been looking at something like these three, but interested in other suggestions or people's opinions in general:

- http://www.whathifi.com/sony/str-dn860/review

- http://www.whathifi.com/denon/avr-x2200w/review

- http://www.whathifi.com/onkyo/tx-nr545/review

Any info greatly appreciated.

 

[bigboss]

I've had Monitor Audio Radius speakers in my previous house. Worked brilliantly with Yamaha. If you only want 5.1, I would highly recommend Yamaha RX-A550. It belongs to the superior Aventage range.

 

[bigboss]

There's a free wireless speaker promotion running currently:

http://exceptional-av.co.uk/yamaha-rx-a550-aventage-receiver.html?gclid=Cj0KEQiA496zBRDoi5OY3p2xmaUBEiQArLNnK1RZ_A4Vk64KIs-FAjQm7tkbJTfleNOSdjWKkVYxe7caAtqc8P8HAQ

 

[bigboss]

There's a free wireless speaker promotion running currently:

http://exceptional-av.co.uk/yamaha-rx-a550-aventage-receiver.html?gclid=...

 

[hybridauth_Google_115978370387078222860]

Thanks for the suggestion bigboss, the amp does look like great value for the features.

I can't seem to find a WHF review for the amp, but the 850 review looks excellent and the feature list looks excellent. I will keep an eye on things and plan my purchase in as soon as I can justify it!

 

[Leeps]

I personally found the Radius range suited my Pioneer amp very well. But I will acknowledge that it's a bit of a Marmite receiver! Some people love the sound and others don't. The Pioneer is absolutely stunning with anything multi-channel with real drama and impact and has a real "wow" to steering effects in movies. And the Pioneer/Radius combo is great for jazz (which I listen to a lot), mainly because it creates a real sense of space around the notes and gets the timbre of piano absolutely spot-on. But it is less successful with edgy electric guitars if that's your thing.

If you can, it's really worth auditioning first because the tonal balance is often very personal.

The other thing I'd recommend is being prepared to spend time really getting to know your AV receiver's features well, whicever AVR you end up choosing. A poorly set-up receiver can sound dreadful - there is a great deal more to learn with a modern AVR than a typical stereo integrated amp, but one of their benefits is that the sound CAN be tailored to your room, personal taste and even each source you use.

One of the things I love doing for music is using all channels on its "Extended Stereo" option and altering the balance half way in favour of the front speakers. With a sub/sat system like the Radius I think this works really well. Take the time to learn the differences between the different sound setups. With the Pioneer for example, Pure Direct (if playing stereo music) will ONLY engage the front left and right speakers and will not perform any of the room-calibration effects on the sound. Whereas "Direct" will both engage the sub and introduce the room-calibration. Another one I use occasionally is "Optimum Surround" which improves the punch with some movies, particularly if you're listening at low volumes.

So be prepared to tweak in your set-up menus and get it just right for your room and your taste and don't be too perturbed if it doesn't sound how you like it out of the box.