My slow journey to upgrade to 4K

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macdiddy

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Sep 3, 2010
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can we all agree that unless you have a living room (or media room) the size of the Albert hall then probably all of the a/v amps on the market at the moment from 5.1 to 13.2 (and beyond) have the power to fill a room with sound at neighbour banging on the wall volumes (unless you are luckly enough to live in a detatched house).

My secondhand Onyko TX-NR646 says in the manual that it outputs 160w per channel (its a 7.2 amp), the volume display goes from 0 to 100 and over, watched the film "Atomic Blonde" on blu-ray in DTS-X with five speakers plus two overhead and two subs, it has a very dynamic soundtrack with lots of eighties music, started with the amp at level 40, pressed play and straight away had to reach for the remote as the opening song "Blue Monday" by New Order turned my room into a club.

I have neighbours and I really didn't want them banging on the wall just as I was starting to watch the film so I turned the volume down to around level 28, still quite loud enough.

Compared to some other a/v amps I have owned this Onyko is much lighter and smaller yet still gives out the same level of sound.

*music2*
 

abacus

Well-known member
Nothing to do with the loudness (To double the volume you need to have 10 times the power anyway) as most of the time you are only using a few watts of power, but when the dynamics come along (Which can be really big swings) if the power supply is not up to it, the sound falls flat. (Dynamic compression)

A good amp will sound effortless no matter what the music or speakers used, whereas a lesser amp will sound forced. (It can go loud but doesn’t have the dynamic capability to sound effortless)

Bill
 

Leeps

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Dec 10, 2012
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abacus said:
Nothing to do with the loudness (To double the volume you need to have 10 times the power anyway) as most of the time you are only using a few watts of power, but when the dynamics come along (Which can be really big swings) if the power supply is not up to it, the sound falls flat. (Dynamic compression)

A good amp will sound effortless no matter what the music or speakers used, whereas a lesser amp will sound forced. (It can go loud but doesn’t have the dynamic capability to sound effortless)

Bill

Absolutely!

A figure that's useful to look out for is comparing the watts per channel at 8ohms with the wpc at 4ohms. If the power rating is on its way to double at 4ohms, then the amp will better be able to cope with the typical dynamic shifts actually experienced in movies and music rather than playing test tones at 1khz, which is something many users don't sit around doing!! Unfortunately many manufacturers don't quote comparative ratings at 8 & 4 ohms.

And it's worth mentioning that the benefits of an amp that's good at handling dynamic power is just as beneficial at lower volumes. It has nothing to do with how loud you want it played, which I'm sure BB is already aware of bearing in mind the posts above.

Interesting case in point: my old Pioneer VSX-2021 was rated at 150wpc (which may have been a little ambitious in reality I know). My Anthem MRX710 is rated at 120wpc, and yet the Anthem is far better at dealing with dynamic shifts in music and has far better bass grip and timing.

So as far as in-use quality is concerned, I can certainly advocate Anthem. The tonal balance is very neutral: it has decent bite and excitement but the treble is less grainy and it's sweeter than the Pioneer, albeit never dull. The Anthem's downside is its UK price hike the last couple of years.

Another topic: I heard on some video that when using power amps off an AVR's pre-outs, that the pre-amp can sometimes limit the dynamic power to what would have been possible if it was using its own internal amps. Not sure how universal or true that is?
 

ellisdj

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Doesnt matter the 11 you use will sound better for the better quality product

Also scope to add more if you hear 13 channels somewhere and really want it
 
D

Deleted member 2457

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bigboss said:
My plan is to slowly upgrade my system to 4K by the end of 2019.

The first step is to get the Denon AVR-X6400H. Then sell my Marantz SR7009 and PM6005 and get a 4K blu ray player with it (perhaps Oppo or Panasonic). I'll wait for Easter deals.

My still waiting for a decently priced 4K capable projector (not too fussed about pseudo or native 4K because the reviewers themselves aren't discerning the difference that much). Optoma UHD51A is due to be released shortly, will wait for reviews.

Lastly, I'll upgrade my TV to a Philips OLED next year.
I am thinking about upgrading this year to a Philips Oled although I am extremely weary of them. Can’t see anything about price yet and measurements of stands etc. I think some of this years range is still the same as last years too.
 
D

Deleted member 2457

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At the moment I got the LG 65e6v Oled tv and my sister has the LG 65e7v Oled TV, the E7 was making clicking noises but I did like the HDR picture quality. John Lewis are still offering me a refund on the E7 at the moment but my sister has it and doesn’t want to get rid of it. I am thinking about selling my E6 and buying a Panasonic 65fz802 TV now. I am forgetting about Philips Oled TVs.
 
D

Deleted member 2457

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ellisdj said:
can any oled do a calibrated mode 1000 nits yet?
According to the manufacturers they did 1000 nits in 2017. But when Steve Withers measured them they were something like 700 nits. No word on the 2018 ones yet although Philips were claiming 900 nits but they are the same as the 2017 models (I think). And when measured again were 650 nits. I think Oled has reached its limits now, until something new comes out.
 

abacus

Well-known member
bigboss said:
Placed the order for Denon AVR-X6400H! Should be delivered on Thursday. First step done then!

I always found Denon gave a rather boring uninteresting sound, (Didn’t hold you attention) whereas Marantz gave you a warmer toe tapping sound, (You felt really engaged in the music) so as you already have Marantz equipment it will be interesting to see how the latest Denon equipment compares.

Hopefully you will give a brief review when you have had it a time, and got all the settings sorted.

Have fun

Bill
 
F

FunkyMonkey

Guest
Funny what you say about Marantz and Denon, my experience is the complete opposite.
 
buzz_lightclick said:
bigboss said:
Placed the order for Denon AVR-X6400H! Should be delivered on Thursday. First step done then!

Is your system 7.1.4 then? 

I thought you were criticising 11 channel  amps last week?  

Did you consider a pre/pro combo? 
Yes, my system is 7.1.4. The whole point of upgrading is to reduce the box count to one. Space is a premium in the cabinet.

My main criticism is for those who won't use most of the amplification channels. They can get much better amps for the money.
 

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