Decision Time

Hi Chris;

I have an integrated NAD/Naim AV/HiFi setup. I'm using a NAD T753 which will be due for a change soon. I'd personally consider an Onlyo receiver. Choose whichever suits your power needs as options you need are being offered even in the most basic entry models. Back when the AV receiver had to handle music duties as well as movies, I felt that NAD was a better option than anything else in the price range. Since we are both relying on Naim to produce beautiful music then Onkyo becomes more appealing than NAD. Technology advances so fast with AV receivers and NAD seem to be at the back end of the que when it comes to offering more features.

Regards...

Hi Chris ,

You haven't stated your exact budget , but for around £500-£600 the following HD audio compatible, video upscaling AV amps will be worth short listing :-

Marantz SR 6003
Onkyo SR 706
Yahama DSP AX 863 SE
Denon AVR 2309
Sony STR DA 2400 ES

All have varying facilities , which may or may not be necessary to you .

Perhaps Frank Abela could be of help here to single out one or two of these .

I am looking at one of these options myself sometime in the near future .

Hope this helps ,

Rod

If you're not bothered about onboard HD audio and upscaling then the current Arcam AVR sale is excellent value.

Nap-ster makes a good point. I believe there may still be Arcam AVR350s around for £599 or so. The AVR350 was a fine machine which really would beat the pants off any of those in that list above when using standard DVD (and musically of course).

However, if you wanted to be a bit more future proof so you could take advantage of blu-ray high resolution audio (and possible future blu-ray music), then that list above is a good list to be looking at. I could tell you that I like the Onkyo TX-SR706 as the value for money item in the Onkyo range which has done very well in the last year, or that Denon have pulled out the stops to catch up with the Onkyos, but the fact is those are the two brands I deal with so I would say that wouldn't I?

Frank - Have you tried experimenting with Audyssey Dynamic Eq/Dynamic Volume at all by any chance , which apparently helps to retain dynamics/bass impact/clarity at low level listening levels , for those of us who need to keep the volume down .

Apparently the Denon AVR 2309 contains this feature and I wonder how effective it is in operation ?

Thanks,

Rod

I think you're talking about Dolby Volume in which case sorry Rod I haven't. I didn't know it was on the 2309 as well. I should try it. That said it sounds like a glorified bandwidth limitation exercise to me. Its basic premise is to keep loud bits from being too loud - the main argument for its use appears to be for when the adverts come on too loudly during a film. If Dolby Volume does this then how is it going to know that an explosive part of a film is not an advert?

That said, since I haven't played with it I shouldn't poo-poo it. I'll give it a whirl sometime.

Also, if you are actually talking about Audyssey, you may be talking about a different thing. Dynamic EQ strikes me like a similar thing though. I need to do some homework it seems.

Thanks , Frank for your info. I have heard praise about this Audyssey Dynamic Eq/Dynamic volume and how it is a cut above usual 'night mode' compression type processing.
Apparently Onkyo are using it as well on their high end models and Denon are providing it as a firmware upgrade on their prestige models too.
I was'nt referring to Dolby volume, although Arcam are supplying it on their new super-duper receiver, so I guess it must be of worth.

Kind regards,

Rod