Please help....Yamaha RX-A3030 or a Pioneer SC-LX87 for Montior Audio setup

[BlueMoon]

Hi,

Im looking to upgrade my avr from Denon AVR-2307. My speakers consist of Monitor Audio GS-20's, Monitor Audio GSC center and a REL R-505 subwoofer. Can I use Montor Audio GX50's as rears.

Can someone please recommend which of the 2 AVR's (Yamaha RX-A3030 or Pioneer SC-LX87) work best, for listening to music (70% music and 30% movies), with my set up or any other second hand AVR's around £700.

Thank you!

 

[expat_mike]

I have a Yamaha RX-A1020 and Monitor Audio speakers, and have no plans to change. I think that Monitor Audio speakers have a reputation for working well with both Yamaha and Arcam equipment.

 

[Leeps]

Hi,

Im looking to upgrade my avr from Denon AVR-2307. My speakers consist of Monitor Audio GS-20's, Monitor Audio GSC center and a REL R-505 subwoofer. Can I use Montor Audio GX50's as rears.

Can someone please recommend which of the 2 AVR's (Yamaha RX-A3030 or Pioneer SC-LX87) work best, for listening to music (70% music and 30% movies), with my set up or any other second hand AVR's around £700.

Thank you!

What tweeters do your GS's have? If they're not ribbons like the GX50's, then I wouldn't recommend mixing them. Tweeters especially are best matched across your system. It might be worth trawling Ebay for some used GS's for the rears.

I've found Pioneer to suit recent MA very well: Radius and Apex. But the GS's might be better suited to the warmth of the Yammy. Pioneer's Extended Stereo setting is really good for music though.

 

[BlueMoon]

Hi,

Im looking to upgrade my avr from Denon AVR-2307. My speakers consist of Monitor Audio GS-20's, Monitor Audio GSC center and a REL R-505 subwoofer. Can I use Montor Audio GX50's as rears.

Can someone please recommend which of the 2 AVR's (Yamaha RX-A3030 or Pioneer SC-LX87) work best, for listening to music (70% music and 30% movies), with my set up or any other second hand AVR's around £700.

Thank you!

What tweeters do your GS's have? If they're not ribbons like the GX50's, then I wouldn't recommend mixing them. Tweeters especially are best matched across your system. It might be worth trawling Ebay for some used GS's for the rears.

I've found Pioneer to suit recent MA very well: Radius and Apex. But the GS's might be better suited to the warmth of the Yammy. Pioneer's Extended Stereo setting is really good for music though.

Hi,

Thank you so much for your advice. I will be searching for gold series as rears. Just one quick question, is it better to have small speakers as rears as compared to the tall ones.

Thank you!

 

[Frank Harvey]

It depends how you usually set up your speakers (large/small and crossover points). If you like setting all of your speakers to small and letting the sub do the hard work, either receiver will be fine. If you prefer to set your front left and right to large, then the Yamaha will be the better choice as the Pioneer can only have one crossover point set for all speakers set to small. The Yamaha allows different crossover points for different speakers.

 

[BlueMoon]

It depends how you usually set up your speakers (large/small and crossover points). If you like setting all of your speakers to small and letting the sub do the hard work, either receiver will be fine. If you prefer to set your front left and right to large, then the Yamaha will be the better choice as the Pioneer can only have one crossover point set for all speakers set to small. The Yamaha allows different crossover points for different speakers.

Thank you David. My current amp is so complicated that I can not figure out many of the settings. I will play about with it tomorrow to see which suits me best. Which of the two, would you say is more user friendly? Also, is there a lot of difference between the rx-a2040 and the rx-a3040? Thank you once again!

 

[Frank Harvey]

Thank you David. My current amp is so complicated that I can not figure out many of the settings. I will play about with it tomorrow to see which suits me best. Which of the two, would you say is more user friendly? Also, is there a lot of difference between the rx-a2040 and the rx-a3040? Thank you once again!

With floorstanding speakers, it's usually best to get as much power into them as possible, with as good a quality amplification you can, so I'd usually recommend the RXA30*0 models for speakers like those you are using, and Ganges like KEF's R Series and B&W's CM Series.

I usually tend to recommend using the same crossover point all round with all speakers set to small, despite their size. I just find systems where all the speakers are dealing with the same frequency range tend to gel together better, but that's my preference. Many people prefer their floorstanders to reach deeper and give a fuller sound. When I set demos up, I will usually set them all to small, and experiment with the crossover point, usually between about 70-120Hz, depending on the speakers.

 

[BlueMoon]

Thank you David. My current amp is so complicated that I can not figure out many of the settings. I will play about with it tomorrow to see which suits me best. Which of the two, would you say is more user friendly? Also, is there a lot of difference between the rx-a2040 and the rx-a3040? Thank you once again!

With floorstanding speakers, it's usually best to get as much power into them as possible, with as good a quality amplification you can, so I'd usually recommend the RXA30*0 models for speakers like those you are using, and Ganges like KEF's R Series and B&W's CM Series.

I usually tend to recommend using the same crossover point all round with all speakers set to small, despite their size. I just find systems where all the speakers are dealing with the same frequency range tend to gel together better, but that's my preference. Many people prefer their floorstanders to reach deeper and give a fuller sound. When I set demos up, I will usually set them all to small, and experiment with the crossover point, usually between about 70-120Hz, depending on the speakers.

 

[BlueMoon]

Hi again David, According to Minitor Audio website, my speakers impedence is 6 ohm. Can I run the yamaha avr, which has 155w at 8 ohm or would it be a better option to go for the pioneer lx87? Which is 220w at 6 ohm. Thank you!

 

[Frank Harvey]

Hi again David, According to Minitor Audio website, my speakers impedence is 6 ohm. Can I run the yamaha avr, which has 155w at 8 ohm or would it be a better option to go for the pioneer lx87? Which is 220w at 6 ohm. Thank you!

Don't worry too much about 6ohm speakers, as the load the amp sees isn't that different to 8 - it is 4ohm speakers that need to be carefully partnered.

The lower the impedance the manufacturer quotes, the higher the wattage they can publish. But wattage isn't the be all and end all, as there's many other factors taking effect. Between a top Pioneer and top Yamaha, I wouldn't say the wattage difference is too much to worry about as chances are you'll never use the little bit extra the Class D (more efficient) Pioneer might have, unless the speakers are particularly demanding.

 

[BlueMoon]

Hi again David, According to Minitor Audio website, my speakers impedence is 6 ohm. Can I run the yamaha avr, which has 155w at 8 ohm or would it be a better option to go for the pioneer lx87? Which is 220w at 6 ohm. Thank you!

Don't worry too much about 6ohm soeakers, as the load the amp sees isn't that different to 8 - it is 4ohm speakers that need to be carefully partnered.

The lower the impedance the manufacturer quotes, the higher the wattage they can publish. But wattage isn't the be all and end all, as there's many other factors taking effect. Between a top Pioneer and top Yamaha, I wouldn't say the wattage difference is too much to worry about as chances are you'll never use the little bit extra the Class D (more efficient) Pioneer might have, unless the speakers are particularly demanding.