Money burnin a hole in my pocket!

 

ineedtospendmoney!
Unregistered guest
i got money burnin a hole in my pocket and i need to spend it. Havent bought myself anything for a long while sooo, im gonna make a move. And of course i want to upgrade my toys. So im thinkin gettn a new receiver.

I currently have a pioneer 1014. I have about 1G to spend, and im thinking about getting a HK. I have paradigm speakers and i love them, so i dont wanna part with them! Im thinkin of gettn the HK avr 630 orrrr i might spring for the model above that. What do you guys figure? should i be lookin somewhere else? Give me some choices!
 

New member
Username: Ht_addict

Post Number: 7
Registered: May-05
NAD T763 or T773 if you can swing it. I have a T773 powering my Studio 40/ADP470/CC570 and the sound is sweet.

ht_addict
 

New member
Username: Torchum

Post Number: 8
Registered: Jun-05
I'm going to listen in on this one as I am very interested as to the HK popularity. Of course the VERY reveared name is synominous with quality from years ago but has since joined the long list of great companies that have been on a different road to success.( and you will find them all sitting together at BB & CC)
My wife worked at The Great Indoors a Sears sister company and the A/V salesmen there wouldn't even suggest a listen to the HK as they were tired of having them returned with problems. That's pretty bad when salesmen steer you away from a product. I know that HK must still make a great product but at what price range.
Ineed...I battled the Nad, Rotel, Outlaw, Marantz etc..question waaay to long. Used over new, seperates over receiver blah blah blah. I sure made my head swim. I ended up buying the Rotel 1056 and decided to just buy more and compare Keep the best sell the rest. It really isn't that life threating as I geared it up to be. I really want to check out a B&K as well. Have a great weekend!
 

New member
Username: Rikmeister

Hometown, Pa Usa

Post Number: 4
Registered: Jun-05
harman has refurbished units on ebay with same waranty as the same new model. with a rather large savings. also you can find marantz at ubid.com and denon at both same senerio. check it out. you could get the 7300 for about 700 to 800.00 easily. they have new ones about every two days or so.
 

Gvenk
Unregistered guest
HK AVR635 is reviewed better than the AVR630 which it replaced. I noticed that J&R is selling the AVR635 for $699 shipping included as their Friday sale today.

But for your question, depends. Are you looking for a primarily audio system or a primarily video system or a combination? If the latter two, how good is your video monitor/tuner and what connectivity? Do you have complete Paradigm surrounds? If not, you may want to spend some money to upgrade the surrounds depending on what they are.

Unless one is looking at this as primarily audio, I think plunking $1000 at this point for a receiver is a bad idea especially if you have or are thinking of upgrading your video monitor/TV to one of the latest ones with HDMI connectivity etc.

Two choices, buy a cheap receiver (sub $300) if you must and then upgrade when the next generation of receivers with full video processing and connectivity appear. The other option is to buy a receiver that can be used primarily as a audio pre/power amp later (the NADs have good connectivity for that) and upgrade to a new a/v front-end switching processor later on but you may have audio/video sync problems in the latter if the amp does not provide sync control (allow you to introduce delays).
 

New member
Username: Ziggyzoggyoioi

Outside Philadelphia, PA

Post Number: 3
Registered: Jun-05
Gvenk... great points in that post. I wrestled with the same questions myself. I ended up with an HK AVR235 (refurb from Harman direct on Ebay) and an Outlaw Audio 755. That ended up at a little over the $1000 budget presented here ($1350 is more like it), but gives me great sound as well as the flexibility to switch out pre/pros as needed. But the AV sync was my most critical feature, and HK offers it in all models from the 235 up.
 

Silver Member
Username: John_s

Columbus, Ohio US

Post Number: 353
Registered: Feb-04
Listen up...
First, ineed already owns a Pio 1014 which is a very serious piece...much better than any $300 receiver on the market. The HK 635 is maybe a marginally better receiver in terms of features and sound....although the Pio's MOSFET outputs may be better with most speakers than HK or any other receivers on the market. So the HK 635 is a lateral move, for the most part, in my opinion.

I just "won" a HK AVR 7300 on eBay for $930+38 shipping. It is a serious leap above the lower HK receivers. I do not have it yet, and it remains to be seen whether this HK factory refurb unit works out. If it does, it is a steal at under $1K, in my opinion.

Good luck. :-)
 

Silver Member
Username: Edster922

Abubala, Ababala The Occupation

Post Number: 961
Registered: Mar-05
HK 635 would be a step up in music performance, not as significant for HT.

For stunning music performance with your budget just get a NAD 2-channel amp and hook it up to your 1014's preouts. Add a NAD pre/pro and you're set---probably would need to go used in order to stay within your budget though.

Or try one of the all-digital receivers like the Kenwood VR7100, JVC 302/402---cheap, around $200-400 but can blow away analog receivers/amps costing 10 times as much, by some accounts.
 

Gold Member
Username: Paul_ohstbucks

Post Number: 1367
Registered: Jan-05
I agree with Torch, and would avoid the HK. Plus....they're pretty ugly. It would make me cringe to be forced to look at that thing everyday.
 

Gvenk
Unregistered guest
I have heard that HK designer's mother wears combat boots too...
 

Gold Member
Username: Paul_ohstbucks

Post Number: 1373
Registered: Jan-05
LOL....

Hey, c'mon....If you were shopping for a chair, would you buy the ugliest chair in the store if it was comfy???

Oh wait.....nevermind. I forgot that most of the men in this forum are submissive allow the spouse/boss make buying decisions for them, so the chair purchase would depend on the WAF. The purchase would depend on whether or not 'SHE' thought it was ugly.

I apologize for asking a question that cannot be answered by the men of this forum......
HEH
 

ineedtospendmoney!
Unregistered guest
paul. ur a dumb@ss all that im saying about you.

HK in my opinion look not to shabby, got a nice pretty blue happening, slick black, and grey. not to bad at all. ive been looking at outlaw's stuff, and hmm, they seem to make pretty awesome stuff. I might spring for them with extra cash! would you guys say it would be worth it?

Also..i need a DVD player lol. anyone help me out there?
 

New member
Username: Rikmeister

Hometown, Pa Usa

Post Number: 6
Registered: Jun-05
for a dvd buy an oppo. they are 199.00 and really tested very well. best in class for that price. you will not find them for less so buy it from oppo. read the reviews on it. if you do you will buy it.
 

Silver Member
Username: Edster922

Abubala, Ababala The Occupation

Post Number: 972
Registered: Mar-05
Paul, I'm SHOCKED!!! You'd base your buying decision on how something LOOKS???

Bejesus, that's the kind of decision-making logic I'd expect from a WOMAN! For shame, for shame!

(Personally I think the HKs are the coolest-looking receivers out there, but I'd buy one for its music performance and quality-to-price ratio, nothing else.)
 

ineedtospendmoney!
Unregistered guest
Lol, paul sounds sexest.

Anyway, yes HK is one of the coolest lookin receivers, i think so too edster.

should i spring for outlaw??? or consider somethin else??? i think im gonna get that oppo dvd player! thanx RIK
 

Silver Member
Username: Edster922

Abubala, Ababala The Occupation

Post Number: 984
Registered: Mar-05
The Outlaw would be great if it fits your budget. Also look into NAD gear, new or used.
 

ineedtospendmoney!
Unregistered guest
yeah, i can spring for the outlaw. I could also possibly spring for the NAD new. Would the Outlaw be better then the NAD or the other way around?
 

New member
Username: Ziggyzoggyoioi

Outside Philadelphia, PA

Post Number: 4
Registered: Jun-05
The NAD amps are a little more musical than the Outlaw, but the NAD AV receivers tend to be noisy. The Outlaw has a slight edge over the NAD amps for movies, IMHO. I do believe the Outlaw 755 (5x200W) and 770 (7x200W) are sigificantly less money than the NAD 5 and 7 channel amps.
 

ineedtospendmoney!
Unregistered guest
Awesome, im set, im gonna pick up the outlaw! should i grab the new 990 pre/pro aswell? lol like i said im on a spendin craaaze! jeez i wanna buy new speakers now. anyone help me out there? lol! idont have allot of space, so im lookin into VERY space saving speakers!
 

New member
Username: Ziggyzoggyoioi

Outside Philadelphia, PA

Post Number: 6
Registered: Jun-05
The 990 pre/pro has some nice features, and should be good quality. If you've got the money, go for it... It wasn't a real high priority for me.
 

Silver Member
Username: Chitown

Post Number: 142
Registered: Apr-05
"I forgot that most of the men in this forum are submissive allow the spouse/boss make buying decisions for them, "

Paul I resemble that remark!
 

ineedtospendmoney!
Unregistered guest
right on, outlaw here i come!
 

Gold Member
Username: Paul_ohstbucks

Post Number: 1410
Registered: Jan-05
Stof,
Based on what I've read from others in this forum, you are not alone:-)

I recommend that all the men who have WAF restrictions should pass the HiFi research duties off to the Mrs. since she's the one who actually makes the buying decisions around the home anyway.
 

Gold Member
Username: Edster922

Abubala, Ababala The Occupation

Post Number: 1005
Registered: Mar-05
guys guys guys,

you have to understand that Paul is behaving like a troll because he wants to be loved.

So hey all, let's give a big GROUP HUG for our dear ole Paul!!!!
 

New member
Username: Rikmeister

Hometown, Pa Usa

Post Number: 9
Registered: Jun-05
look on ubid they have 20 denon 3805 now high bid is 105.00. i think you might get one for like 450.00 to 500.00 and that would be a steal too.
 

New member
Username: Torchum

Post Number: 10
Registered: Jun-05
Ineedtospend..."VERY space saving" and pretty darn cool looks as well as sound would make Anthony Gallo pop to mind. Morel are extremely tight quartered as well. Check em out. Maybe some of the more proficient posters will be able to concur...or not. Remember though, Size Does Matter.
 

ineedtospendmoney!
Unregistered guest
Aww, does paul need a hug. Maybe his wife isnt giving him enough attention. lol.

Torchum, ive heard of them. but i was thinking of going on walls for speakers. Anyone know a good company that makes those/
 

New member
Username: Ziggyzoggyoioi

Outside Philadelphia, PA

Post Number: 8
Registered: Jun-05
The MartinLogan Frescos are very nice, but very high. Magnepan makes some nice on-wall speakers, too. And several people I've spoken to like the Definitive Technology Mythos speakers.
 

Ineedtospendmoney
Unregistered guest
And here i was limiting my choice down to the Paradigm On wall monitor 5. can u give me a price range ziggy for these, u just mentioned?
 

Gvenk
Unregistered guest
I have the Magnepan MMG-Ws as L+R speakers in the den. Great from a space saving perspective but they need to be matched with a nice subwoofer as they have nothing below 100hz. Also depending on positioning they can roll off even higher. A 10" subwoofer may be better than a 12" one to get decent sound around 100hz but that will limit how low the subwoofer can go.

You will need to pair this with a very warm receiver, not a bright one which will annoy you very quickly.

Unfortunately, the MMG-C center speakers that these match in timbre aren't very good and so I don't recommend them. It is much better to have a pair of MMG-Ws wired in series right next to the screen to create a phantom center. The sound will stay glued on the monitor.

For $399/pair, the MMG-Ws have one fantastic sound and the transparency and soundstage that only planar speakers can provide. And they look great next to a flat screen mounted on the wall.

I wouldn't recommend MMG-W if you listen to music a lot (the MC-1 at $800/pair or better for music and can also be hung on a wall).

The best use for the MMG-Ws is a den or a small area where you just want to set up a 2.1 H/T system although many people are happy with these things as their L+R and aditionally two of them in series as the center channel.

These are rated 5-ohm and can be easily driven by a NAD or HK or a Marantz. A marantz is probably a better match for these in terms of tone. Lesser Onkyos, Yamahas, Denons, etc., that don't have a 4-ohm rating won't work as well.
 

ineedtospendmoney!
Unregistered guest
Thanks Gvenk!

Im actually looking, and considering either the martin logans. Or the Definitive tech stuff.. although the paradigm onwall monitor 5's are in there. ahh i need help llol! and im gonna go with the outlaw pre pro and the amp too. the 750 i beleive!
 

New member
Username: Ziggyzoggyoioi

Outside Philadelphia, PA

Post Number: 9
Registered: Jun-05
The Martin Logan Frescos I believe are about $2k/pair. The DefTechs considerably less... Here's a link to the Mythos wall-mount speakers, and there are other links to the rest of the line:
http://www.definitivetech.com/loudspeakers/mythos/mythos_table.html

The Outlaw combo should work very well with all of them. It definitely has the power to drive the Maggies (and I agree with Gvenk on recommending the MC-1s for music). The Outlaw amps seem to work really well with DefTech speakers as well, although I don't know of anyone using them with the Mythos line.

Any on/in-wall speaker is going to be limited in bass reproduction, so if you go that route you will most likely need to consider a sub as well.
 

ineedtospendmoney!
Unregistered guest
Ziggy.

Thank you for your input. Yeah im pretty sure about the martin logan frescos, and the deftechs. But in the back of my mind, the Paradigm on wall monitor 5's are still there. Would the logans and deftechs be better then the paradigms?

As you said with bass reproduction, on the sites it lists them as they go pretty low. like 40hz. I do plan on getting a sub. An SVS im thinkin. Afterall this is going into my bedroom.
 

New member
Username: Ziggyzoggyoioi

Outside Philadelphia, PA

Post Number: 10
Registered: Jun-05
I have no experience with those Paradigms, but I have liked the floorstanders that I've heard. I also haven't heard the DefTech Mythos. Even the Maggie's and MartinLogans I didn't listen to critically - I wasn't considering on-wall speakers at all. Speakers, more than any other component, are a matter of personal taste.
 

ineedtospendmoney
Unregistered guest
hmm, i suppose ill haveta try. After reading some reviews and such, im leaning pretty good on the martin logans. im not feelin the magnepans though. But actually i just came across some B&W on walla speakers. The FPM i beleive. so lol now its between B&W, Martin logan, Deftech, and Paradigm. oh boy
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