Hi everyone, I am interested in the user friendliness of AV-receivers and would like to ask you a quesion about it:
What kind of buttons do you find the most important on your receiver and which ones are you using the most? Which buttons do you want to have on your receiver for sure instead of having it only on the remote control? And what do you prefer; normal buttons, turnable buttons or touch buttons?
I doubt most HT folks are interested in 'keeping the signal path as simple as possible'..... Rather...they are interested in setup / options and EASE of use of 'em. Since the HT receiver is designed for use in a video environment, the logical choice is the OSD and how easy that makes things.
Once set up, I believe you only need power, input selector and vol control.
The rest? Window dressing and for those compulsive button pushers. Just my opinion....but once set up, leave it pretty much alone. TO set it up? You're gonna need the manual and plenty of time to wade thru PAGES of menu and option, some 3 and 4 levels deep.
An example I'm very familiar with is my pro-level camera. Many menu choices some of which lead to OTHER choices or restrict choices from being made. I have no less than 5 metering options from 'spot' to full frame averaging. But only 3 or so at a time are availabe without going into a menu. Likewise, autofocus and motor drive work together. I can set it to focus / lock OR to continuously focus, which I'd use with the high speed motor (9 frames / sec) to do action / sports. But.....unless I NEED a particular function, I simply leave the camera setup for the majority of use. Plan ahead!
I once designed my 'dream' amp control panel. triple turnover tone controls. 'q' selector for bandwidth. 3x tape monitors w/one designated as a processor loop. Multiple inputs..........including MM and MC phono with variable loading. The usual stuff for speaker outputs.....3 sets with any 2 at a time. or single. Various filter options......a workable lo-cut for TT rumble.....that sort of thing. Headphone output with its OWN vol control. Everything I'd ever seen that I liked, I included. And than some.
Must'a been 30+ buttons, knobs and adjustments.
I think the modern, wacky, HT stuff has me beat....and even with LESS functionality. All those sound fields and processing schemes? Huge power numbers without being able to really push the speakers I'd like? That's why I stuck with stereo. Set and forget with minimal monkeying around!
I stick w/stereo too for similar reasons. Most of the so called "features" on my receiver are for the tuner (don't listen to radio very much), XM Tuner imput (don't have XM) and zones 2 & 3. The tone defeat is on all the time, I only use loudness at low volumes or with recordings that need it according to my ears. So, the source selector and volume control are mostly what get used. My music room is small, so I don't want more speakers therein and the only way I'd get really into HT is if I could afford seperates, preferably, 7 monoblock amps.
Yeah, and YOU should see the HT setup I'VE got spec'd out.
Magnepan 20.7s front and rear. A pair of JL Fathom Subs or maybe the REL A Sony Pearl Projector or whatever the brand-new latest is......but it's gonna go for 20 grand, at least. Some kind of retractable 100"+ screen. Amps? All Big Class 'a' Pass amps....each on there OWN 20 amp circuit. A MAC for music / vid server. Tuner / Pre / Pro under investigation. OPPO 105 for disk spinner.
I'd like to find someone who could DIY a tube pre/pro sans tuner for me. Might be all but impossible. We'll see. For power amps, I'd have to investigate a bit. For speakers, Avant Garde comes to mind. Subs? Either Rel or hsu. The blu-ray player and either TV or projector & screen have yet to be determined. It'll probably never come to fruition, but it's good to have ideas in case.
I don't play lotto and don't know of any rich reletives that are likely to pass on before me. So, my dream HT system will likely never be. I just have a plan in case... As long as I have an audio system that pleases me, I'm good.
I don't touch my AVR that often, since it resides in a cabinet and is completely controlled by an RF remote in another room, but when I have any problem with it, and have to manage it manually, I need to be able to have a display that tells me what I need to see for setup, and have the ability to control it's settings manually, as well as change inputs and volume. Onkyo/Integra seem to have this figured out pretty well by now.
Glass, you've actually got a reasonable point. The most complex, functional piece of gear is worthless if the menu and control system is so convoluted as to require a PHD to run it.
I just bought a NEW camera. I replaced a Canon EOS professional outfit...L lenses and a 1D MkII body. Weighed a bunch all-up and was a drag to carry all day. Menu / controls were very flexible and complex.
Replaced with a Mirrorless camera which not only weighs a fraction of the Canon, but is even MORE complex with all sorts of options as to what function to assign WHICH button / knob / wheel / control. I even sent off for the paper copy of the Handbook, which is included on the cameras CD only. Once I get this hammered out and myself reprogrammed, I'm golden.
I've got a 20"x60" print (no joke) sitting on the LR table. It is IMMACULATE and would have taken hours to make using the Canon and photoshop. This huge (40 meg) file prints with incredible detail and color saturation. I sold 2 of 'em in the store......people looking over my shoulder want one!
The 'T' Series was the transition between EOS mount and FD mount lenses. The 'T' series had the old FD lens mount and started the experiments with the EOS system body.