New Receiver. <$3000

[Timos 125]

Ok, as per the title of the thread, I'm looking for your recommendations and why for a receiver around, or under, the $3,000AUD mark.

 

I was pretty much set on the Yamaha 3080, having had Yamaha stuff before, but have had some negative feedback - even from Yamaha dealers *weird* - whilst seeking quotes for my new system.

 

I've decided to go a HT setup with some long overdue insurance funds and will likely to be partnering with Paradigm Prestige speakers.

 

I have no need for bells & whistles, it will totally be Foxtel, Netflix, Xbox and AppleTV fed.  

 

Simple, 5.1 speaker setup is all I will be powering, with the 85F, 55C and Dipole/Bipole surrounds with the matching 1000SW or SVS SB4000 (I haven't decided).

 

I've been recommended a Marantz, the Anthem and I know there are other brands/competitors out there too.

 

I'm after SNA knowledge to help me out as usual.  I've only used the YPAO of Yamaha, but the ARC of the Anthem does look particularly enticing, partnering with the PBK of the 1000SW and the synergy 'supposedly' of the Anthem gear with Paradigm.

 

Please let me know if there's anything else you need to know, would recommend or any other bits or pieces.

 

Thanks.

 

Timos.

 

 

[betty boop 14,731]

I am not too sure yamaha and paradigm would make a good partner...

 

re yamaha... the main issue is their EQ system is a bit naff in the sub department...ie non existent. which his ok if pursuing other means to do this. there are other systems eg anthem you have mentioned , dirac and such come with nad and audyssey xt32 come with denon and marantz ... all these are more than capable. 

 

$3k is a bit to spend on an AVR. do self a BIG favour and pick up something from late 2015/16 ie that will have all you need tech wise with latest 4k and 3D audio capability. so what $3k will likely buy is something well above that range ie flagship AVR. 

 

my suggestion look denon, marantz, arcam, nad, anthem and like. 

 

ps one other to explore rotel... not sure where they are with AVRs these days...but they were always of excellent sound quality and go extremely well with paradigm....

[Bunno77 1,119]

I listened to your speakers and the major AVRs daily.

 

Not needing atmos etc means you can get some fantastic amps.

 

My choices are 

https://www.carltonaudiovisual.com.au/home-theatre/cambridge-audio-cxr200-surround-sound-receiver.html

https://lifestylestore.com.au/primare-spa23-a-v-amplifier.html

http://www.clefhifi.com.au/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=4285&gclid=CjwKCAjw3azoBRAXEiwA-_64OmC-E830aVC72bjFCdKhOX_93G78fqZDB8QD6X9tydQ-bBH9c_6udxoCru4QAvD_BwE

The Cambridge, Primare and Rotel I am sure you could get for your budget or very close to it. I wish I knew about these before I bought my receiver. All can be dialed in very well.

 

Then

Anthem

Marantz

Denon

 

The Anthem is slightly nicer sounding than Marantz and Denon but not the same as the first suggestions. I found these 3 pretty fatiguing and lack real grunt. The Yamaha isn't worth considering.

 

These are meant to be good to but it is used and I am not very familiar

https://www.stereo.net.au/forums/topic/286713-arcam-avr750-av-amplifier-with-hdmi-in-excellent-condition/

 

 

 

[betty boop 14,731]

indeed if absolutely no need future wise with anything bar 5.1 can pick up some sensational AVRs. id go arcam, nad, cambridge audio or rotel and will be just fine ! re primare in my limited experience of it with AV ... can be Quirky with a capital Q  good sound quality though.

[Timos 125]

Ahh good to know about the Primare - I just emailed them about that unit!

 

Cambridge looks good.  I was also thinking about a Krix Neuphonix/Epicentrix front three - so CAV might be a go.

 

[cwt 895]

As mentioned Timos consider the room eq of all the options ; if its manual parametric like the rotel a good sub with its own auto eq would pair well ;as would the primare or CA . If you want something auto not manual ARC 'Dirac; Audyssey xt32 can simplify the process . Otherwise learning the complexities of  REW can get the most out of parametric eq  [if you like to tinker]

 

Have a good listen to Anthem as you said ; its ARC room eq algorithm has recently been improved by Genesis .  similarly I think Arcam should be checked out to see if they have incorporated the improved dirac2.0 yet ?

https://www.avsforum.com/forum/90-receivers-amps-processors/2989980-arcam-beta-testing-dirac-livea-2-0-a.html#post56484542

[Snoopy8 2,640]

Have used and recommend both Anthem MRX 720 with Anthem Room Correction Genesis and NAD T758V3 with Dirac Live 2. Good room correction makes a difference.

 

The MRX 720 list price is more than your budget but will give you more flexibility than the MRX 520 should you want more channels in the future.

 

The NAD T758V3 is well within your budget and is what I use.

[Hi-Fi Whipped 932]

Can recommend the Cambridge, had mine for a couple of years now and hasn't skipped a beat. Plenty of grunt and is good enough with 2ch for me to not worry about integrating a 2ch pre/amp. No room eq but I use a seperate sub eq to tame the two Rel subs I have for HT. 

 

At first read I'd recommend the anthem given they are pretty much built to work with Paradign speakers but that said I've had zero experience with either.

[Lazz 191]

I'm curious , what was it about the Yamaha that was negative. I heard a 3070 at a hifi store on demo, and it seemed very good. 

[betty boop 14,731]

27 minutes ago, Lazz said:

I'm curious , what was it about the Yamaha that was negative. I heard a 3070 at a hifi store on demo, and it seemed very good. 

their Ypao eq system is naf.....

[cwt 895]

3 hours ago, Lazz said:

I'm curious , what was it about the Yamaha that was negative. I heard a 3070 at a hifi store on demo, and it seemed very good. 

Ive got a 5100 pre ; thankfully my sub has an auto parametric equaliser to handle the low frequencies Otherwise its sabre dacs and analogue stage have some nice detail and [if you like tweaking sound modes] you can lay a dsp expansion on top of dolby atmos etc [ typical Yamaha  ]

[Porkbuns69 226]

On 21/06/2019 at 7:41 PM, Snoopy8 said:

Have used and recommend both Anthem MRX 720 with Anthem Room Correction Genesis and NAD T758V3 with Dirac Live 2. Good room correction makes a difference.

 

The MRX 720 list price is more than your budget but will give you more flexibility than the MRX 520 should you want more channels in the future.

 

The NAD T758V3 is well within your budget and is what I use.

Snoop is pretty much on the ball here. Dirac 2.0 is pretty damn good!

[cwt 895]

36 minutes ago, shogo33 said:

Snoop is pretty much on the ball here. Dirac 2.0 is pretty damn good!

Yes indeed ; its starting to proliferate to lower price points like rotel 

 

[Primare Knob 344]

indeed if absolutely no need future wise with anything bar 5.1 can pick up some sensational AVRs. id go arcam, nad, cambridge audio or rotel and will be just fine ! re primare in my limited experience of it with AV ... can be Quirky with a capital Q [emoji3] good sound quality though.

What quirkiness did you experience with Primare? I found them always easy to deal with.

There is a bit of a delay at the start with audio due to an audio buffer, and they don't particularly like computers shutting down via HDMI, this can freeze the display of the unit, which requires to turn it off and on again.




Their build quality is very good and their UPD amplifier are very engaging and dynamic.

They don't advertise the SPA23 on their website at the moment, so they might come up with a newer version based upon the Prisma features and their new UPD2 amplifiers. Would be nice if the Prisma feature would become available via an upgrade board.

[Dogbert 8]

I am looking for a receiver around this price also. What are chances of getting the Arcam - AVR390 down closer to $3000? This look like a good option to add a power amp to later when more funds are available. I have an Electra power amp so don't need the internal amps.

*after some further reading from previous threads, it looks like the NAD 758 V3 is hard to beat for $2000.  I would love to get the Anthem 720 but at nearly double the price, in my situation, it is hard to justify the extra cost.

Edited August 26, 2019 by Dogbert

[Porkbuns69 226]

On 25/08/2019 at 6:26 PM, Dogbert said:

I am looking for a receiver around this price also. What are chances of getting the Arcam - AVR390 down closer to $3000? This look like a good option to add a power amp to later when more funds are available. I have an Electra power amp so don't need the internal amps.

*after some further reading from previous threads, it looks like the NAD 758 V3 is hard to beat for $2000.  I would love to get the Anthem 720 but at nearly double the price, in my situation, it is hard to justify the extra cost.

Nothing wrong with the NAD.  If you can use preouts into another set of poweramps, will bring this closer to the Arcam offering.  Only issue is that i has 1 sub out, but you could run a 'Y' cable out to the sub(s) if need be.   I am unsure if Dirac will correct for both subs accurately in this scenario.

[Snoopy8 2,640]

On 25/08/2019 at 6:26 PM, Dogbert said:

I am looking for a receiver around this price also. What are chances of getting the Arcam - AVR390 down closer to $3000? This look like a good option to add a power amp to later when more funds are available. I have an Electra power amp so don't need the internal amps.

*after some further reading from previous threads, it looks like the NAD 758 V3 is hard to beat for $2000.  I would love to get the Anthem 720 but at nearly double the price, in my situation, it is hard to justify the extra cost.

The NAD T758V3 has much more power than the Anthem MRX 720, but not needed in your case. Dirac Live and Anthem Genesis are comparable and are rated among the best room correction software. The MRX 720 is over priced...

28 minutes ago, shogo33 said:

Nothing wrong with the NAD.  If you can use preouts into another set of poweramps, will bring this closer to the Arcam offering.  Only issue is that i has 1 sub out, but you could run a 'Y' cable out to the sub(s) if need be.   I am unsure if Dirac will correct for both subs accurately in this scenario.

Before using Dirac Live, the subs need to be integrated. At the minimum, volume and phase of the subs need to be matched. Dirac Live will treat the subs as a single entity.

[Dogbert 8]

Thanks Snoopy8 and shogo33, all good information.

I have only one sub at the moment but am thinking of upgrading to two in the future.  With the NAD 758 (or any AVR with 1x sub preout) can you add on an external bass management system later to handle the subs?  Would you need to stop DIRAC from managing the subs?

I only have a 5.1 system (again may upgrade to 5.2.2 later), so would an Anthem 520 be better as it has 2x sub pre outs?

Edited August 27, 2019 by Dogbert

[thathifiguy 678]

22 minutes ago, Dogbert said:

Thanks Snoopy8 and shogo33, all good information.

I have only one sub at the moment but am thinking of upgrading to two in the future.  With the NAD 758 (or any AVR with 1x sub preout) can you add on an external bass management system later to handle the subs?  Would you need to stop DIRAC from managing the subs?

I only have a 5.1 system (again may upgrade to 5.2.2 later), so would an Anthem 520 be better as it has 2x sub pre outs?

The MRX-520 won't support any Atmos channels. You would need to step up to the MRX-720 in order to utilise Atmos via an Anthem.

[cwt 895]

48 minutes ago, Dogbert said:

Thanks Snoopy8 and shogo33, all good information.

I have only one sub at the moment but am thinking of upgrading to two in the future.  With the NAD 758 (or any AVR with 1x sub preout) can you add on an external bass management system later to handle the subs?  Would you need to stop DIRAC from managing the subs?

I only have a 5.1 system (again may upgrade to 5.2.2 later), so would an Anthem 520 be better as it has 2x sub pre outs?

Ide also consider which ce's will be getting the new Dirac bass management add on for Dirac2.0 Dogbert[ if your not buying as of now that is] . There will be extra cost add ons for higher echelon Dirac 2.0 avrs and a free upgrade that simplifies setting up 

https://restechtoday.com/dirac-live-bass-management/

 

[Snoopy8 2,640]

53 minutes ago, Dogbert said:

I have only one sub at the moment but am thinking of upgrading to two in the future.  With the NAD 758 (or any AVR with 1x sub preout) can you add on an external bass management system later to handle the subs?  Would you need to stop DIRAC from managing the subs?

You should be setting up the external bass management system before running Dirac. But why use an external bass management system?

57 minutes ago, Dogbert said:

I only have a 5.1 system (again may upgrade to 5.2.2 later), so would an Anthem 520 be better as it has 2x sub pre outs?

As thathifiguy mentioned, the 520 cannot do Atmos. By the way, the 2x sub pre outs on the Anthems are the same as a Y splitter and the room correction software treats them as a single sub.

[Dogbert 8]

My current amp is 8 years old so I am a bit behind in the progress of the room correction software.  I thought if I used a NAD 758 I could add on a miniDSP and use the  Multi-Sub Optimizer (MSO) program like this.  It sounds like the NAD is the best option for me, giving the option for upgrading my 5.1 setup to 5.2.2 in the future. Thanks for your help.

 

[Snoopy8 2,640]

19 minutes ago, Dogbert said:

My current amp is 8 years old so I am a bit behind in the progress of the room correction software.  I thought if I used a NAD 758 I could add on a miniDSP and use the  Multi-Sub Optimizer (MSO) program like this.  It sounds like the NAD is the best option for me, giving the option for upgrading my 5.1 setup to 5.2.2 in the future. Thanks for your help.

 

I am the MSO person on the forum!   

Your approach is correct. Use MSO (subs only option) to integrate the subs first, enter parameters into mini DSP,  then run Dirac Live on NAD.

[mcb 76]

There are also a couple of other good threads on SNA regarding MSO.  

This thread also contains a link to another earlier thread.  These may be off use.

 

I also found the following guide helpful https://www.minidsp.com/applications/home-theater-tuning/ddrc-88a-multi-sub-optimizer and most of the work flow applies even if a MiniDSP 88A or 2x4HD is not used.

Edited August 28, 2019 by mcb
typos