$2000 budget AVR choices

[Snoopy8 2,883]

2 minutes ago, MaxPlumage said:

True snoopy. We do have a long way to go before honest/transparent power ratings start showing up. I hope this is at least a (very small) step in the right direction...

To contrast some manufacturers were pushing 200w per ch at 1ch, 6 Ohm, 1KHz ratings at .9% distortion. Now that's really bad given most AVR buyers will look at power first (and maybe the number of stickers!) ... so this is a good place to be at today, but agree we have some ways to go....

At least people here are starting to learn how to read the numbers... 

[Hi-Fi Whipped 1,029]

• 1800w Max Power Consumption
• 170W RMS /ch (2ch driven @ 8 ohm)
• 120W RMS /ch (all 7ch driven @ 8ohms)

No distortion figures but that's the basic Cambridge CXR200 figures hence why I brought it. That said it looks like the days of the powerful Cambridge AVR are numbered, they've archived both AVRs from their website and I can't find any details about new models coming out.

[hopefullguy 331]

isnt this getting off what op was asking about? not everyone wants  100- 200w per channel separates to run what is basically rear + atmos effects speakers. op has his main 5 speakers covered.

 

i highly doubt in a home HT room a mid level avr can not power those mentioned speakers... 2 rears+2 atmos or 2 rears+ 4 atmos. yes avr figures are fudged but with normal 6/8 ohm speakers at say 90db sensitivity how many watts do they actually need?

 

if people want excess watts then good for them, avrs are for people that want to hear the movie not study, graph and dissect the sound. as for the B.S. power figures well thats life.. do you believe every piece of advertising you see/read?

 

my denon 4311 powers 6 of my 9 speakers fine, rotel runs front stage. dont really need to care about the output if you stick to mid/upper level avr for the "lesser" speakers . but we all have our own thinking.. op?

[Hi-Fi Whipped 1,029]

58 minutes ago, hopefullguy said:

isnt this getting off what op was asking about? not everyone wants  100- 200w per channel separates to run what is basically rear + atmos effects speakers. op has his main 5 speakers covered.

 

i highly doubt in a home HT room a mid level avr can not power those mentioned speakers... 2 rears+2 atmos or 2 rears+ 4 atmos. yes avr figures are fudged but with normal 6/8 ohm speakers at say 90db sensitivity how many watts do they actually need?

 

if people want excess watts then good for them, avrs are for people that want to hear the movie not study, graph and dissect the sound. as for the B.S. power figures well thats life.. do you believe every piece of advertising you see/read?

 

my denon 4311 powers 6 of my 9 speakers fine, rotel runs front stage. dont really need to care about the output if you stick to mid/upper level avr for the "lesser" speakers . but we all have our own thinking.. op?

I dont think so, the OP is looking to purchase an AVR and I would say with all of the contributions here he is now much better placed to understand what he is buying than before he posted. 

[Lukeqc 6]

After looking at reviews, I think the Marantz sr6014 is a goer. Is the Marantz a quality amp with good features and enough grunt at a reasonable price?

[Hi-Fi Whipped 1,029]

2 hours ago, Lukeqc said:

After looking at reviews, I think the Marantz sr6014 is a goer. Is the Marantz a quality amp with good features and enough grunt at a reasonable price?

You've got all the info here to make a sensible decision and if you think its the Marantz, buy the Marantz!

[Lukeqc 6]

22 minutes ago, Hi-Fi Whipped said:

You've got all the info here to make a sensible decision and if you think its the Marantz, buy the Marantz!

Is that insinuating that the Marantz isn’t the best option?

[betty boop 15,342]

2 hours ago, Lukeqc said:

After looking at reviews, I think the Marantz sr6014 is a goer. Is the Marantz a quality amp with good features and enough grunt at a reasonable price?

be nicer if can get in the 7 . instead of brand new 6014 i woudl look older gen 7011 as indicated, will miss out on nothing, will do everything throw at it. but in end if cant find a 7 series at budget and all that fits is 6 series so be it. they will be close and no doubt be happy  

[Hi-Fi Whipped 1,029]

23 minutes ago, Lukeqc said:

Is that insinuating that the Marantz isn’t the best option?

Not at all, I don’t have any experience with it, But if I was spending over $2k I’d be using more than reviews to make the decision at the very least.

[Lukeqc 6]

Ok no worries. More research needed. Cheers. 
 

haven’t seen a 7011 come up anywhere Betty 😩

[Neo 816]

 Neo

[Lukeqc 6]

Thank you for the heads up Neo. Legend

 

 

How does the onkyo stack up against the older Marantz that I’m looking for?

[Neo 816]

2 hours ago, Lukeqc said:

Thank you for the heads up Neo. Legend

 

 

How does the onkyo stack up against the older Marantz that I’m looking for?

Way above my knowledge on that one, but give a call to oztheatre and discuss with them. I suspect that you will be very close to the latest spec on this avr, compared to the older marantz that you are considering.  On the flip side when you upgrade later on a large portion of the depreciation already happened. 
I wouldn’t really wait for the feed back in here as more than likely it’s just one unit at a considerable saving.

Double check that it’s got proper manufacturers warranty and enjoy

Neo

 

ps: with avr almost every year they bring out sometimes new as a feature, then you are out of spec so to speak with the trend. Grab one at a considerable savings and enjoy what it has to offer as an avr as a whole, rather than the chase for being up to date.

Edited November 27, 2019 by Neo

[betty boop 15,342]

27 minutes ago, Neo said:

ps: with avr almost every year they bring out sometimes new as a feature, then you are out of spec so to speak with the trend. Grab one at a considerable savings and enjoy what it has to offer as an avr as a whole, rather than the chase for being up to date.

this as i mentioned to OP honestly I am running a 2015-6 av processor and not missing anything in fripperies they do with updates. for sound and capabilities i can chuck anything at it from any source disc to streaming. 

 

re onkyo just keep in mind EQ wise they dropped audyssey for some home brewed thing that isnt upto level audyssey achieves.  this was really to cut cost and save on processing needs on onkyos part. 

 

there is no need to buy latest and greatest...as long as buy something thats a 2016 model and later. buy 2nd hand and older if possible to save some bucks

[cwt 922]

4 hours ago, Lukeqc said:

Thank you for the heads up Neo. Legend

 

 

How does the onkyo stack up against the older Marantz that I’m looking for?

Its a case of the quick and the dead sometimes Luke ; the Onkyo is gone already [was a bargain in some ways as it had a 11ch amp for the full 7.1.4 atmos/dts-x rather than a 9ch amp for others] - not that it was very powerful  . The important difference to look for with avr's feature wise is the hdmi version as you want something that will handle 4k  @ 18gbps so high frame rates and HDR can pass through ..

 

The later Marantz and others have this bandwidth -hdmi 2.0a or b as has been mentioned

[Lukeqc 6]

There’s so much info to take in!

 

I got a pair of B&W 607’s and the htm6 centre yesterday. Really keen to get an amp and get the system up and running. 
 

Can I pose a question to the gurus...

 

I was going to go down the path of a ~$2k avr, and then look at the possibilities of a ~$1.5k power amp to use for stereo duties, utilising my existing Audiolab 6000a as a pre for stereo. 
 

Will a $3500 avr drive 2 channels (B&W 603) in stereo as well as the dedicated power amp and pre?

 

Is there other options available? Is this a crack pot idea?

 

Sorry for the lack of knowledge on avr’s as I haven’t had much experience with them. 

edit: The power amp I’m looking at is the March p502

P502 500 Watt Stereo Power Amplifier | March Audio

WWW.MARCHAUDIO.NET.AU

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The P500 stereo power amplifier offers tremendous power output for the most...

 

Edited November 27, 2019 by Lukeqc

[betty boop 15,342]

2 hours ago, Lukeqc said:

There’s so much info to take in!

 

I got a pair of B&W 607’s and the htm6 centre yesterday. Really keen to get an amp and get the system up and running. 
 

Can I pose a question to the gurus...

 

I was going to go down the path of a ~$2k avr, and then look at the possibilities of a ~$1.5k power amp to use for stereo duties, utilising my existing Audiolab 6000a as a pre for stereo. 
 

Will a $3500 avr drive 2 channels (B&W 603) in stereo as well as the dedicated power amp and pre?

 

Is there other options available? Is this a crack pot idea?

 

Sorry for the lack of knowledge on avr’s as I haven’t had much experience with them. 

edit: The power amp I’m looking at is the March p502

P502 500 Watt Stereo Power Amplifier | March Audio

WWW.MARCHAUDIO.NET.AU

---

The P500 stereo power amplifier offers tremendous power output for the most...

 

to be honest ... grab a rotel power as the great match they make for B&W speakers. and they often come up affordably 2nd hand as well. and yes can run your audio lab as a pre no problem (presume it has a ht bypass)  and yes the 7 series and suspect 6 series marantz will run these no problems. its the very cheap AVRs if buy dont come with pre outs and you are stuck !  

[blakey72 1,187]

This is very good value

 

https://www.carltonaudiovisual.com.au/home-theatre/surround-receivers/marantx-sr5013-7-2-channel-atmos-receiver.html

[cwt 922]

Another option if you want a small form factor [ it has a 2ch pre amp out if you want to boost its output with a rotel later on] and has the very latest audyssey editor app  ..

Marantz NR1710 Slim 7.2ch AV Receiver with HEOS Black | Klapp Audio Visual

KLAPPAV.COM.AU

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7.2 channel AV Receiver with 90W Dolby Atmos & DTS:X decoding Built-in HEOS Wireless Multi-Room Works With: Alexa / Google /...

 

[Lukeqc 6]

I have secured a sr7011. Thank you everybody. Can’t wait to test it out.

 

Next step is to get 4 height speakers to make my system a 5.2.4. What are some good quality height speakers that don’t cost an arm and a leg?

 

I’m going to hold off on the power amp and see if the 7011 has enough grunt to drive 2ch enough. 

[betty boop 15,342]

23 minutes ago, Lukeqc said:

I have secured a sr7011. Thank you everybody. Can’t wait to test it out.

 

Next step is to get 4 height speakers to make my system a 5.2.4. What are some good quality height speakers that don’t cost an arm and a leg?

 

I’m going to hold off on the power amp and see if the 7011 has enough grunt to drive 2ch enough. 

 

great to hear on the 7011

 

re height speakers ... given the B&W speakers already have, id stick with same brand for your heights.... no real need to go off brand  

 

can get quite affordably priced

 

https://www.radioparts.com.au/product/39818004/

 

[Lukeqc 6]

I’ve been told that the linked speakers will do for the rears but I want a 20* directional speaker for the mid heights. Any perceivable difference?

[betty boop 15,342]

6 hours ago, Lukeqc said:

I’ve been told that the linked speakers will do for the rears but I want a 20* directional speaker for the mid heights. Any perceivable difference?

no please dont be paying extra for angled speakers for atmos heights all these things can adjust tweeters angling them and work perfectly well for heights. you dont need angled speakers

[Lukeqc 6]

The SR7011 I had lined up was a 110V unit with a 240V sticker on the back. I don’t want a transformer adding clutter. Unfortunate. 
 

The hunt continues!

[betty boop 15,342]

1 hour ago, Lukeqc said:

The SR7011 I had lined up was a 110V unit with a 240V sticker on the back. I don’t want a transformer adding clutter. Unfortunate. 
 

The hunt continues!

oh my goodness ! how dodgy is that ? who would stick a 240V sticker on a 110V unit ? crazy. and yes you 100% do not want to be running transformers with amps. last thing need a big transformer  sitting there buzzing away in the room  keep on look out... now is the time to get something to with the sales... surely a demo or run out unit hanging around even if newer than 7011 but last gen.

 

ps the marantz alternative in denon is the 4300H

Denon AVR-X4300H vs Marantz SR7011 Detailed Comparison

WWW.ZKELECTRONICS.COM

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Read our detailed comparison of the Denon AVR-X4300H vs Marantz SR7011 to find out their common strengths and weaknesses, advantages and disadvantages, and decide which...