What AV receiver

[leevitalone1]

Yes Leevitalone Mario has a Anthem at his shop that a customer balked on I almost went that way however opted for the Integra. You sure do find good deals

I got lucky on the Integra. The Denon the seller was not into making any money. he wanted it to go where it was appreciated, all I did was ask. The e bay auction went to $80.00 but he let it go at $71.00. I think it's karma. after all I am a good guy!

 

[SMS]

I'm looking forward to the XMC-1 too. Unfortunately it has no release date yet and I couldn't wait since I'm without a recveiver in my main set-up. One of the great things about Emotiva is their "Upgrade for Life " policy. If I decide I want the XMC-1 when it comes out, I can get it for 25% off.

Yes, the upgrade program is a nice perk. I've got a 40% discount card (one time use... their old upgrade program) that I have ready for the XMC1. I won't buy right away. I'll wait to read a few reviews in case it has issues.

 

[SMS]

I got lucky on the Integra. The Denon the seller was not into making any money. he wanted it to go where it was appreciated, all I did was ask. The e bay auction went to $80.00 but he let it go at $71.00. I think it's karma. after all I am a good guy!

That is an amazing deal. Congrats! I've generally preferred the sound of Denon over Onkyo/Integra. I expect you'll like it given time.

 

[leevitalone1]

That is an amazing deal. Congrats! I've generally preferred the sound of Denon over Onkyo/Integra. I expect you'll like it given time.

I know it takes time to get used to a different amp. Funny how they all have a different sound quality. I always used to love the sound of Marantz in the 70's. I will say this, it has a wider sound, more open than Integra- it seems to be more (open) is the word I would use. Add the Oppo 93 NE and after some tweaking it does the job quite well. My exp. was with the eagle vision sampler, then on to a flac of the new fagen album, and then some Dan on dvd a. I really need more time to get used to it, but I like it. same thing-only different.

 

[Fishhead]

Well the Integra dtr70.4 arrived and I have it unpacked. It will have to wait for hook up till sometime this weekend. One nice touch are speaker labels for the wires and color coded. Also this rig is very large at 63 pounds the stereo thieves will think it is nailed down. With the members here getting new gear it is nice we can share our child like glee. I will hire this guy to guard my stuff

 

[leevitalone1]

Well the Integra dtr70.4 arrived and I have it unpacked. It will have to wait for hook up till sometime this weekend. One nice touch are speaker labels for the wires and color coded. Also this rig is very large at 63 pounds the stereo thieves will think it is nailed down. With the members here getting new gear it is nice we can share our child like glee. I will hire this guy to guard my stuffView attachment 10124

Pretty nice deal. The Integra has most of the same as the Denon you had. But, Intgra packs them with stuff, and gives you a shtload more of features. I like the wrat amps. 4 independent power supplies, and multi analog in, that most receivers no longer include and pre outs. I like those monster amps. Too much for me in every respect.. some advice-go to radio shack and get some deoxit and clean off all the cable ends,in and outer sections, same with hdmi lines. They have a 2 pack with cleaner and protect spray. Real good investment especially while it's all apart a good thing do do, they all build up oxidation that is degrading to the signal. I did all my ports on the avr too. all this red crap came off them. most have been in place more than 10 yrs.

 

[Fishhead]

Well I have the Integra hooked up It is driving 8 speakers . This is the rear section

 

[Fishhead]

 

[leevitalone1]

I see you got speaker sickness addiction also. You have it for avr's. This is a highly commucative disease, and can be spread easily through photos and the net. IT starts with a small setup, then you hear a nicer one and go for it, before you know it-you have the audio monkey on your back. The only way to satisfy the craving is more expensive, higher end equipment. Dr. Lee Vitalone

 

[Fishhead]

I see you got speaker sickness addiction also. You have it for avr's. This is a highly commucative disease, and can be spread easily through photos and the net. IT starts with a small setup, then you hear a nicer one and go for it, before you know it-you have the audio monkey on your back. The only way to satisfy the craving is more expensive, higher end equipment. Dr. Lee Vitalone

Yes it is a good sickness Doc. My cure is when I turn on these toys they turn me on. When you have a collection Such as the members here you are enjoying something few people will ever hear.

 

[Fishhead]

Well I have dialed in the Integra . I skipped the Audyssey set up ( I will sample it later) and set it by ear. I must say the EQ on this thing is the finest I ever enjoyed. The B&W 801s are Bi amped. I have 280 watts on demand powering these beasts. My personal taste is all channel stereo. This unit is still in its breaking in period . 100 hours of play time and the capacitors will be set. Although I cant imagine it playing better. Before I bi amped the B&w s I played it at full volume. It is clear as a bell. Hands down the finest AVR I have ever had the pleasure to enjoy. The kicker to this is I got the Best Buy refund check from the Denon . 2394.00 (I purchased a two year replacement policy) And I got it cheaper than the original asking price due to the bad demo at the store. With the Integra plus rack mounts the cost to me 2100.00 plus 130.00 in sales tax. Thanks to Audioworkshop. I can honestly say that the Integra DTR 70.4 is a bad ass monster. Who ever purchases this unit will be extremely happy. The sound is fantastic. True story

 

[leevitalone1]

Well I have dialed in the Integra . I skipped the Audyssey set up ( I will sample it later) and set it by ear. I must say the EQ on this thing is the finest I ever enjoyed. The B&W 801s are Bi amped. I have 280 watts on demand powering these beasts. My personal taste is all channel stereo. This unit is still in its breaking in period . 100 hours of play time and the capacitors will be set. Although I cant imagine it playing better. Before I bi amped the B&w s I played it at full volume. It is clear as a bell. Hands down the finest AVR I have ever had the pleasure to enjoy. The kicker to this is I got the Best Buy refund check from the Denon . 2394.00 (I purchased a two year replacement policy) And I got it cheaper than the original asking price due to the bad demo at the store. With the Integra plus rack mounts the cost to me 2100.00 plus 130.00 in sales tax. Thanks to Audioworkshop. I can honestly say that the Integra DTR 70.4 is a bad ass monster. Who ever purchases this unit will be extremely happy. The sound is fantastic. True story

I really like the EQ function. All rooms are different. And room treatments are not always the logical answer, although it does work well. Probably the only new feature in avr's now I like is that. I always used one in my stereo setups, once I heard how much of a difference it makes. Plus the cost. You got one great deal! I just noticed though it has no MC analog input. Looks as though it is being phased out, and that is a mistake.

 

[leevitalone1]

So, fishhead, how is the Integra? It must be "burned in" by now. I swear that Denon I bought was not used very much, I was enjoying it last nite at nice volume levels, and it was getting better as the nite went on. I swear it's just now getting used to being run, or "burning in". The sound from the Denon is different from Integra I used for 14 yrs. IT took me a bit to get used to it but I feel it's like it Marantz sound. I can't get over my dvd a of kamakiriad. Not much compares to the production work that went into this album in 5.1. IF there is I have not heard it. My collection needs to grow.

 

[Fishhead]

Hey there leveitalone , Glad you like your Denon. The Integra has maybe 15 hours of play time on it . Had it fired up during Happy hour last night. One thing I miss is the easy way you can adjust the tone and balance on my vintage gear vs the menu with the new gear that we have. All in all the Integra is still settling in. Cheers

 

[Quad Linda]

 

[Fishhead]

Ha Ha Ha haaa

View attachment 10271

 

[Odys]

I own the UMC1 pre-amp, XPA-5 5x200W amp, and a UPA-2 2x125W amp, plus a XDA1 DAC. I am quite happy with them. The UMC1 has some useability flaws, but I have been able to work around them. For example, the EMO-Q room correction is mostly useless, but I don't really care about that. It has manual EQ capabilities if you want to tweak by ear or use your own room correction software. The sound quality using the multi-channel analog inputs from my Oppo BDP83SE is very good. MUCH better than the AVR I had before, and it was the same price originally. I am waiting for them to release the XMC-1, their high-end pre/pro. I may upgrade to that if the reviews are good.

Let us know how you like it!

Here's an update on the Emotiva UMC-200 7.1 Pre-amp/Surround Processor and the UPA-700 amp. It took longer than I'd like to get the equipment in, the UMC-200 was out of stock. I was finally able to set them up yesterday, a pretty easy process and the system sounded great...for about an hour and a half. Then all of a sudden I began having HDMI handshake issues, it kept trying to find the source, sometimes I'd get a picture with no sound for a few seconds, then back to constant flickering. I powered off, unplugged it and restarted, this time the Pre-amp wouldn't get past the firmware boot-up screen. It was just frozen. Needless to say, I was pissed off!

I called tech support today, and after 4 hours and three calls, I finally got through to someone. They offered to send a replacement, in two weeks. They're backlogged on the UMC-200 again. I said no thanks and am shipping it back. I really wanted to like this set-up.

The good news is I was able to pick up a Pioneer Elite SC-63 at Best Buy today. They were selling it for $1299 and I was able to get them to price match Amazon for $839. So ultimately I'm pretty happy. Now I have to set up the Pioneer after work today.

 

[leevitalone1]

Here's an update on the Emotiva UMC-200 7.1 Pre-amp/Surround Processor and the UPA-700 amp. It took longer than I'd like to get the equipment in, the UMC-200 was out of stock. I was finally able to set them up yesterday, a pretty easy process and the system sounded great...for about an hour and a half. Then all of a sudden I began having HDMI handshake issues, it kept trying to find the source, sometimes I'd get a picture with no sound for a few seconds, then back to constant flickering. I powered off, unplugged it and restarted, this time the Pre-amp wouldn't get past the firmware boot-up screen. It was just frozen. Needless to say, I was pissed off!

I called tech support today, and after 4 hours and three calls, I finally got through to someone. They offered to send a replacement, in two weeks. They're backlogged on the UMC-200 again. I said no thanks and am shipping it back. I really wanted to like this set-up.

The good news is I was able to pick up a Pioneer Elite SC-63 at Best Buy today. They were selling it for $1299 and I was able to get them to price match Amazon for $839. So ultimately I'm pretty happy. Now I have to set up the Pioneer after work today.

That suks. You would think it to be better than off the shelf consumer stuff-that suks.

 

[The Bright Side]

Hello Quaddies. I found this thread looking for "handshake" and I'm wondering if you have some advice for me... I'm currently looking into getting a new receiver (nowhere near the OP's budget though - I have around 500 dollars). Quick back story, I bought a Yamaha RX-V661 (from 2008) to replace my Samsung HW-C560 HTIB (from 2010, but I thought it would be technically inferior). Despite its excellent rep, the Yamaha underperforms in pretty much everything I want to do.

The Yamaha is great for Oppo BDP-83 over HDMI (SACD, DVD-A, Blu Rayany other source), but I rarely use that. I usually play back all my sound from PC over analogue 5.1 (Sound Blaster X-Fi Surround 5.1 Pro). Sources vary from MP3 to hi-res FLAC. And for that, the Yamaha fails tremendously. It sounds like a transistor radio.

I have spent the past 4 days troubleshooting every piece of equipment I have and I have now decided to sell the Yamaha again. The next time, I want to be sure I get a receiver that does well what I want.

That said, I have found out that in addition to the Sound Blaster's 6-channel analogue out, I can also use my NVIDIA card's HDMI for anything from stereo to 7.1. That works with my Samsung, but leaves the Yamaha silent (haven't figured out why. My best guess is it passes the audio through to my VGA screen instead of just playing it back. It has no option to change that behaviour). Over the Samsung, I am getting pretty bad handshake issues:

When I play back any source from the PC over HDMI with the Samsung receiver, the first 2-3 seconds are cut off before I hear audio. That's, I guess, the time it takes for the HDMI handshake. The issue is compounded by the fact that whenever there is silence, the next note after it is cut off as well. When I change the source (load any other file or playback program), I lose another 2-3 seconds. When there is silence in the same source, the first milliseconds of the next note are cut off. An example is this song at 2:45:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y48PTClxPVw

The music after the breaks are quickly faded in over HDMI and optical, while over analogue, everything sounds as it should.

This only happens from my PC, not from the Oppo. So that leads me to believe the Samsung loses the sound signal from PC as soon as there is any silence.

Before I buy another receiver, can you let me know your experiences with handshaking? Is this simply something one has to contend with in the digital age, or do modern receivers no longer have this issue? If so, which brand do you recommend? Really, all I want is to listen to stereo or surround sources from my PC in good quality. I'm not a gourmet, just a guy who appreciates nice sounding music from any source.

Let me know if you need any more info, and I hope you can help me. Thanks!

 

[ProgRules]

I'm far from an expert on computer-based audio, but isn't there a way to stream your files to the oppo from the computer, then play through the yammie? If not stream, can't you put the files on a hd and go through the oppo that way? There must be (I would hope) a way to avoid the PC's sound-card; which seems to be the root of the problem???