Help Picking the Perfect Receiver for a Tricky Situation

 

Bronze Member
Username: Guygadois

Post Number: 15
Registered: Apr-05
Hi there, I posted this request a while ago but didn't come to a decision. I wanted to see if anyone else had some input.

We are in the middle of redoing our family room and it is time to toss the old equipment out and put in the new. I used to have Sony ES AV650 matched with small Paradigm Titans. Now, since I have more space and a bit more money I am going to buy a new receiver and need some help.

Here is my Setup:
Family Room:
- Front Speakers: Paradigm Studio 2
- Center Speakers: Paradigm Studio CC-420
- Woofer: Paradigm PW2100
- Rear (x2): Paradigm CS-160
- Sqeezebox music server

Dining Room:
- Pair of Klipsch CS-650-R (only for background music)

Living Room:
- Pair of Klipsch CS-650-R (only for background music)

Outside:
- Pair of KLH (cheap) speakers

60/40 (Music/5.1 movies)
Musical taste is adult contemporary, jazz, rock
I am looking to spend about $300-800 on a AV receiver

My desire is to be able to play two different inputs between zones. In other words, I want to be able to watch TV through the speakers in the family room and listen to a CD in the other zones. Or, listen to rock on the outside speakers and jazz in the dining room/living room. I also have volume controls in the outside, dining room and living room. The TV area (family room) will only have the main volume (so I don't want to have a problem turning up the volume in the family room and it going up in every other room). The dining room and living room each have their own volume controls but will alway play the same music as they are connecting rooms with no wall between them. So, at most I will need to inputs and at most the volume in the dining room and living room will be background and very low.

With this setup what would you recommend and why? I am by no means an audiophile so I don't nee the top of the line but I also don't want to buy something that will just bust in a few years. Also, where is the best place to buy the receiver you recommend?
 

Silver Member
Username: Dmwiley

Post Number: 813
Registered: Feb-05
Guy, can't you do some basic research on our own and then ask for input on your tentative selections?
 

Bronze Member
Username: Dakulis

Spokane, Washington United States

Post Number: 82
Registered: May-05
Guy,

I'd take a listen to the Yamaha 2500, Denon 2805 and a "B" stock Denon 3805 and there are other folks here that can talk about separates that might fit the bill. Marantz is another quality name receiver but I haven't previewed it so I can say whether it will work for you. But, those are my thoughts for starters after a bunch of research before i bought an incredible clean Denon 3803.
 

Bronze Member
Username: Guygadois

Post Number: 16
Registered: Apr-05
Dale, I have done a bit of research and think my question is very specific.I know Denon, arantz are very good but not sure any of those solutions alone will work because of the need to run various rooms. I wish my question could be more specific but I don't know what more to add.

Guy
 

Silver Member
Username: Dmwiley

Post Number: 815
Registered: Feb-05
There are many possibilities. Marantz, Denon, Onkyo, Yamaha might be starting points.
 

Bronze Member
Username: Guygadois

Post Number: 17
Registered: Apr-05
Let me further explain, I am not asking which brand name to pick. At this point I am trying to better understand which type of setup I should proceed with. I love Denon, but I understand that I would have to buy a 7.1 system and use 5 speakers and use the extra two for the other speakers. That still leaves me with two piar I need to power. Marantz, Denon, Yamaha, Goldstar? I am sure all these could do the trick but I am not sure if any can run as many speakers with the setup I am looking for. I do not think any of the receivers you offered can do what I am asking without either purchasing a dedicated amp or a speaker selector.

Does that make sense?
 

Silver Member
Username: Johnny

Missouri

Post Number: 556
Registered: Dec-03
Guy,

That makes perfect sense, and I think your suspicions are correct. Most of the lower priced receivers with a powered zone 2 can only run one other set of stereo speakers...unless you get some sort of speaker switcher or something. It seems like you are asking a lot out of a low priced receiver. The only receiver I know of that can do what you ask is the Denon 5805. It has 15...yes 15 powered channels. You can configure them any way you want. You can have 3 full 5.1 systems...or one 7.1 system and 4 2 channel systems. This would fit the bill for you, but unforutunately, it is $5000 I think.

I don't know a whole lot about whole house audio, but as far as I know, you can't get what you are looking for out of low or mid priced receiver. When you want to put independent audio throughout your house, it tends to get pretty pricey. You would probably need to go to a local custom install dealer who could give you more specifics on prices and such.
 

Silver Member
Username: Chitown

Post Number: 135
Registered: Apr-05
There is also the question of do you simply want to connect the extra 2 speakers to an existing zone, for which they are a lot of options or do you want them to act separately in which case you will have to go to the higher end 3 zone amps like the Deonon 4806 or 5805.

For example with a Denon 3805 you can still connect all of your speakers, but your zoning is more limited.

You can also pair up 4 of the speakers into two connections and connect them to a 2 zone 7.1 system.

 

Bronze Member
Username: Guygadois

Post Number: 18
Registered: Apr-05
Thanks for the replies, yes, I really only want two zones. The family room and the other rooms. Does it make sense to buy a Denon 3805 and then use the one extra speaker pairing in the 7.1 (I will only use 5 in my home theater) to go into a speaker selector. At that point I can turn off or on any of the speakers for the three other pairs? Can this extra set off the 7.1 system play independent music or does it have to play the same as the 5.1 systems?

Is it correct that I heard the 3805 has a pre amp output where all I would do is buy an amp, hook it up to the 3805 and then be able to power another set?

Guy
 

Silver Member
Username: Johnny

Missouri

Post Number: 557
Registered: Dec-03
The Denon 3805 does have preouts that would allow you to add a separate amp...BUT, it also has a POWERED zone 2. As you describe, it allows you to assign 2 of the 7 channels to a second zone. So, you could buy a separate power amp, but you don't need to.

If you choose to use the power from the Denon (and not get a separate amp), you would still get independent control of the second zone...you could listen to one thing in the main zone and something totally different in the second zone.

You can download the owners manual on the Denon website, but it is VERY long and it was hard for me to understand it all.
 

Bronze Member
Username: Guygadois

Post Number: 19
Registered: Apr-05
Would the Sony ES STR-DA3000ES Receiver work as well as a Denon 3805? I can find this one for about $500 out the door. I have had good luck with Sony ES in the past but have no idea how it rates next to Denon.
Guy
 

Silver Member
Username: Dmwiley

Post Number: 822
Registered: Feb-05
Work as well, perhaps. Sound as good it will not.
 

New member
Username: Joose

Post Number: 1
Registered: Jun-05
Guy, if you're still there you are trying to do exactly what I want to do. You're correct that with the 3805 you would assign the surr back/zone 2 speakers to zone 2 then run a speaker selector off of that. Zone 2 is like speaker 'b' but with the ability to play separate source and separate volume control. This way you can play TV in main room and CD or whatever in zone 2. Make sure you get a selector with impedence protection. If you want to spend around $150-$250 you can also get a selector with volume control so you can control volume in all areas (unecessary if you only want volume control for 2 zones as zone 2 option of the 3805 has separate volume control)
 

Silver Member
Username: Chitown

Post Number: 138
Registered: Apr-05
Dale I would not even say it will work as well. IMO Sony has been extremely disappointing in areas of quality control and innovations as of late (past 6-7 years). Sony has become a MNC conglomerate with more interest in its movie business and multitudes of other lines that they no longer seem to care about what brought them here.

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