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My receiver conundrum


kelley

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I'm trying to find a receiver, I've been looking for the last month and I'm starting to narrow down the field. I've set myself a budget of $1000 and the receiver must have HDMI audio and be able to drive my DefTechs. So far I've got it down to:

 

Integra DTR-7.6

Pioneer Elite 82txs

Yamaha RX-V2600

 

I'm leaning towards the Integra, I really like the sonic quality of the unit, its ease of use, and the remote is great. Its not as powerful as the other two.

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I'm trying to find a receiver, I've been looking for the last month and I'm starting to narrow down the field. I've set myself a budget of $1000 and the receiver must have HDMI audio and be able to drive my DefTechs. So far I've got it down to:

 

Integra DTR-7.6

Pioneer Elite 82txs

Yamaha RX-V2600

 

I'm leaning towards the Integra, I really like the sonic quality of the unit, its ease of use, and the remote is great. Its not as powerful as the other two.

 

Kelley

I was just telling Dean the other day how big of a fan of the design of the Integra's. I had a 2 channel Integra for twenty years, and it gave out pure solid power.

On the flipside, do you think its enough power to feed your Def Techs? With my Def Techs coming I have been eyeing the Denon 4306. A lot of features, more power, and you can get it(granted from an unauthorized dealer) for around $1500.00. Cnet reviewed it and gave it a 9.0. If I can sell my old speakers this unit is mine. I figure if I can get it for that price and if something sweet comes down with HDMI 1.3 I can probably unload it and just lose a few hundred bucks.

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I'm just not a fan of Denon's dry sound. I'm a big fan of warm/high sound. The power output of the Integra is my main worry, but the place I'm listening to them at has it hooked up Klipsch's largest Reference speakers set, the RF-83. Just look at the size of that center channel! One other thing I like about the Integra is its 3 year warranty.

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I'm just not a fan of Denon's dry sound. I'm a big fan of warm/high sound. The power output of the Integra is my main worry, but the place I'm listening to them at has it hooked up Klipsch's largest Reference speakers set, the RF-83. Just look at the size of that center channel! One other thing I like about the Integra is its 3 year warranty.

 

kelley- Are all these receivers at the same store? The place I've dealt with in the past has let me bring in my own speakers and hooked them up to different receivers in a listening room. I know the Def tech's arent easy to lug around but if the retailer is willing, it might be worth it.

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Bruce,

With the 4308 coming I think the bottom will drop out of the 4306 pretty quick. Be ready to upgrade quickly.

 

The only thing that worries me about the Integra is the power reserves. I know the 82 has the power(it's been tested as such) but I don't think the integras were tested. Onkyo's regular line don't produce their rated power or get anywhere close.

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DefTechs are very efficient speakers and don't need a ton of power to get good performance. I ran a DefTech setup for a time with an 80 wpc Denon, an 85 wpc H/K, and an piece of crap Sony (non-ES). While there were quality differences the speakers never became too much of a load.

 

I think the quality of the amps in any of Kelley's final 3 are significantly better than what he is currently using and will be a substantial upgrade. My vote is for the Pioneer Elite or the Integra.

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What specs do you look at in a speaker as far as their efficiency and how do you interpret them?

 

That's a leading question. I'm not walking into that debate. Been there before ;)

 

I actually wasn't using any specs. Just my own empirical evidence. If an old and crappy Sony receiver can produce impressive SPL's with a speaker then it must be easy to drive.

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What specs do you look at in a speaker as far as their efficiency and how do you interpret them?

Efficiency is often defined by the sensitivity rating on the speaker. Let's look at the BW 603 for example. It's 90db.

 

Now to achieve 3db you need 2x the power. So 90db is at 1 watt. To achieve 93db you need 2 watts, to achieve 96db you need 4 watts.

 

A speaker like a Magnepan are usually 84db efficient so to achieve 90db it requires 4 watts as opposed to the 1 watt the BW's require.

 

The Ohm rating really will determine how much overall current you need. If your speakers dip in to the lower ohm octaves then it'll require 2x the am current there as well so if the speaker is 4 ohm rated it requires 2x the current than an 8 ohm speaker.

 

Keep in mind that all of this assumes that 1 watt = 1 watt which is hardly ever the case ;)

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