Any suggestions for receiver to pair up with Paradigm studio 40/v2

[Woochifer]

Thanks for all your help. I ended up going with the RX-V1300 purchased for $700 Cdn because the dealer insisted on keep his price well above the MSRP of $799 USD (actually was $1084 USD). I'm sure these guys offer top notch service but that is way too much of a mark-up from MSRP. He benefits greatly from being the only Yamaha dealer in town carrying the top of the line Yamaha products.

Interestingly enough, he is the one who sold me on the 1300 because the 1400 wasn't set up in his demo. It was still the 1300. It sounded great to me and I was sold. I searched the local ads and found a guy who was doing an upgrade to the reference line Yamaha who sold me his 1-year old Yamaha (purchased in Canada) for $700.

Any good web pages that will teach me how to do the equilibration with a SPL meter, or any good suggestions on buying a parametric equalizer?

Yamaha used to maintain similar list prices between Canada and the U.S., but it seems that they have joined their Denon/Marantz/Onkyo comrades by adding a markup on the exchange value. So, the price that you got is probably about as good as you'll get in Canada for the 1300.

I would suggest that you get the Sound & Vision Home Theater Setup DVD. It teaches you how to use the SPL meter for system calibration and has a set of test tones that you can use.

As far as parametric equalizers go, I would first suggest that you get the SPL meter and a test disc with low frequency tones, and first evaluate whether or not you even need the parametric EQ to begin with. The common usage for a parametric EQ is with self-powered subwoofers, since most AV receivers lack the tape monitor switches or premain couplers necessary to hook up an equalizer through the receiver.

If you get a subwoofer and hear overly boomy sounding bass that drowns out a lot of other sounds, then a parametric EQ would probably help. The most frequently recommended parametric EQ is the Behringer Feedback Destroyer simply because it's inexpensive, it works, and there are lots of resources out on the web that show you how to use it for subwoofer equalization. You can buy the BFD for $120USD. Here's a website that shows you how to use it.

http://www.snapbug.ws/bfd.htm

[PmR]

Yamaha used to maintain similar list prices between Canada and the U.S., but it seems that they have joined their Denon/Marantz/Onkyo comrades by adding a markup on the exchange value. So, the price that you got is probably about as good as you'll get in Canada for the 1300.

I would suggest that you get the Sound & Vision Home Theater Setup DVD. It teaches you how to use the SPL meter for system calibration and has a set of test tones that you can use.

As far as parametric equalizers go, I would first suggest that you get the SPL meter and a test disc with low frequency tones, and first evaluate whether or not you even need the parametric EQ to begin with. The common usage for a parametric EQ is with self-powered subwoofers, since most AV receivers lack the tape monitor switches or premain couplers necessary to hook up an equalizer through the receiver.

If you get a subwoofer and hear overly boomy sounding bass that drowns out a lot of other sounds, then a parametric EQ would probably help. The most frequently recommended parametric EQ is the Behringer Feedback Destroyer simply because it's inexpensive, it works, and there are lots of resources out on the web that show you how to use it for subwoofer equalization. You can buy the BFD for $120USD. Here's a website that shows you how to use it.

http://www.snapbug.ws/bfd.htm

Well, I've finally almost got everything put together. My sound system is now:


Receiver: Yamaha RX-V1300
Mains: Paradigm studio 40/v2
Center: Paradigm cc-470/v3
Rea: Paradigm Atoms/v3
Subwoofer: Paradigm pw2200/v2
CD: Arcam Diva CD62
DVD: Hitachi DVP415

The Hitachi is about 2.5 years old and is not progressive so it needs to be upgraded. I'm leaning towards waiting for the new Panasonics that will be using the Faroudja chips to come out and will probably grab the one that will also play DVD-A. I've heard rumours of a February release. The estimate that I have been hearing is MSRP $299 USD.

I must say the system sounds great overall and I would like to thank everyone who contributed to my threads.

I have noticed that it has been hard to find the right balance between the speakers and the sub (I have the mains, rears and center set to small and the sub set to large). It seems as though on some tracks the sub is too strong and I turn down the output levels. On the next track, it will seem to be too weak.

I have been to a few Radio Shacks around town but none seem to be carrying the SPL meters that have been referred to a great deal. There was a digital SPL available in a shop in Calgary that I visited but they had no analogues. I tried the Radio Shack web page but couldn't find a listing for this device.

Are the analogs really superior to the digitals? If so, does anyone know where I might be able to get one?