WHATHIFI AV RECIEVER REVIEWS

[skipper]

Hi All.I have been reading Whathifi for more than 10 years now,and based on Whathifi recommendations,I built a fabulous sounding budget Rotel/Nad/BW stereo system.I have been hunting for an AV Recieverfor a while now,because like the vast majority out there ,I simply dont have the space[finnancial or real estate] for separate stereo and movie systems.This is where I feel somewhat frustrated by some of the AV Reciever reviews in Whathifi.Some say there is no contest between a similarly priced AV Reciever and stereo amp when it comes to music making.I agree to a certain extent.Ironically,one can only trully enjoy high resolution multichannel music through a multi-channel amplifier of some sort.Sadly, for people like me looking for a one stop amplfier solution for both music and movies,the Whathifi reviewers give hardly more than a mere passing comment when describing an AV Recievers music making capabilities.Take for example,the Pioneer LX52 and the Pioneer LX82 reviews in the October and November issues respectively and see what I mean.All that was said of the Denon AVR 1910 was that it is a "frighteningly good all rounder,with movies and music"[Whathifi,September 2009] So,er,can I now [pending an audition off course],safley consider replacing my Rotel RA -02 with the Denon?

Skipper

 

[Big Aura]

I think the general wisdom is an AV reciever worth £1000 will be close to the match of a £300-400 stereo amp. When what hi-fi claim a product to be a good all-rounder, that statement is very much tied to the implicit "vis-a-vis similar products at that price-point".

 

[Anonymous]

Is that the general perceived ratio (about 3 to 1)? I had wondered myself about this. Before I had my recent spurge on Pioneer AV equipment, I used to have a £400 AV Yamaha amp for my home cinema and a £250 Stereo Marantz amp for my stereo. Occasionally I would play a CD via my AV amp, and the difference in musicality (is that a word?) was very evident.

Now I'm lucky enough to have a £1600 AV amp, so if I was to buy a stereo amp I should be looking at spending at least £550?

 

[jacobmorrison]

The best advice I saw in this area was to keep your existing 2 ch amp for stereo, add a cheap av receiver (slimmer than the expensive ones), and use the av amp to run the center and surround speakers only. Connect the two via the pre-amp front l/r outputs on the receiver to the spare line inputs on the stereo amp. That way you have the best of both worlds. A good stereo amp will provide the sound quality and headroom for the front channels that an integrated receiver will struggle to produce. As long as the receiver has the codecs required and enough power for the center and rear speakers you should be fine.

 

[Anonymous]

I totally support your thread and question. I am also looking for AV receiver that will be good both for music and movies, and to provide a sound similar to a 300-400£ stereo amp. I am also having difficulties because where I live there is no way or its very difficult to have a test listening of the equipment at your home. The reviews are shallow and doesn't provide you with all the necessary information. You have to wonder from forums to forums in order to get some conclusion by yourself.

 

[Andy Clough]

The vast majority of AV receivers are a compromise when it comes to stereo playback for music. Yes, the best ones make a fair stab at it, but we'd rarely say an AV amp or receiver is as good as an equivalently priced stereo hi-fi amp.

 

[Anonymous]

The Denon 1910 is a 7.1 amp priced at c£450. Therefore the £££ per speaker is £450/8 = £56.

A comparable 2 channel amp would therefore be 2 x £56 = £112.

Or is this too simplistic?!! Maybe - but you get the idea.

 

[skipper]

Thanks heystak! Perhaps a bit too simplistic considering that the Rotel Ra-02 is now 6 years old and obviously not worth 250 pounds any more but I get your drift.In defence of AV Recievers,other UK based HiFi and Home Cinema magazines have written very positive reviews of many AV Recievers music prowess.For example,one magazine compared the Yamaha Z11 to a 2000pound stereo amp.But off course that needs to be heard to be believed.

Skipper

 

[TheHomeCinemaCentre]

It does depend on the manufacturer and the set up in question. Some of the Marantz AV products get very very close to their 2ch counterparts. Some AV amps are just that though and 2ch performance can be poor in comparison to the stereo amps at far lesser value.

Dave, you are fine with your LX81 - I would think an amp over £1k would be more in order for the gains to even start to be worthwhile.

 

[kinda]

I think I've seen a few suprising comments lately about how AV receivers matched up to stereo amps, with them maybe matching amps at more than half their price. I'm not saying this is true in all cases.

Also, a decent AV amp will have good DACs, and appropriate bass management if you're using a sub / sat system, (might be heresy to hi fi purists, but many people are now). If you get a stereo amp, most won't have a DAC, so you've got to factor having a good one elsewhere. And, as mentioned above, an AV amp will do DVD-A and other forms of multi-channel music.

I can't help thinking if you want music and film sound, with the right amp it's better to spend all the money on a musical AV amp, and get the benefits in films as well, (music's important in films).

I use an approximately £800 Marantz AV amp, fed digitally by a Sonos, (DACs were better in the amp), through a set of Tannoy Arenas. I think it sounds very good, even though I appreciate there are much better systems, and I'm not sure I could have got as good sound for films and music with the same budget by going the route of separate stereo and AV amps.

 

[Anonymous]

jacobmorrison:The best advice I saw in this area was to keep your existing 2 ch amp for stereo, add a cheap av receiver (slimmer than the expensive ones), and use the av amp to run the center and surround speakers only. Connect the two via the pre-amp front l/r outputs on the receiver to the spare line inputs on the stereo amp. That way you have the best of both worlds. A good stereo amp will provide the sound quality and headroom for the front channels that an integrated receiver will struggle to produce. As long as the receiver has the codecs required and enough power for the center and rear speakers you should be fine.

The downside to this is matching the sound of the AV amp for the centre and rears to the stereo amp for the fronts - we're always being told how important it is to have matching speakers across all 5 / 7 channels. Surely, the same must apply in this scenario ?

You also need to match the volumes. When you turn up the volume on the stereo amp the volume on the AVR will need adjustment as well. Unless you want to mess around with a sound meter each time you're going to throw out the balance of your speakers across the soundfield.