Good Amp/Receiver for Drum & Bass Music

[kiwijunglist]

Hi,

I'm looking for a good amp/receiver main stream brand at around US$500.

I am asking for main stream brands eg. onkyo/HK/yamaha/denon/pioneer etc. , because i live in New Zealand and it's hard to get some of the brands over here, i'm thinking of getting something sent over from the states.

I mostly listen to Drum & bass - also a bit of hiphop/trip hop and pop stuff, any suggestions would be most welcome.

[skeptic]

Strange as it may seem, in order to do full justice to reproducing drums, you need a sound system which easly covers the entire audio range. Not only is high frequency reproduction required to reproduce the correct sound of the cymbals and the drumsticks, but even the timbre of a low thwack has much mor high frequency content which defines its musical tone than you might think.

The low frequency impact of drums, basses, pipe organs and even pianos which you hear and to some degree feel is the most expensive part of the audio range to reproduce well. Since your budget is tight, you should consider a powered subwoofer. This is where you will get the most bass for your money. Really good ones unfortunately start at $1000 which is twice your budget. I'd look at Parts Express. They have a one hour kit for $688;

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshow...number=300-764

or you might try the slightly cheaper version for $536;

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshow...number=300-762

If you must have a receiver, I'd go for a used Marantz from the 1970s/1980s, something like a 2325 with about 125 wpc or greater. These old units had excellent power supplies and were very rugged, two characteristics needed for reliable loud low frequency reproduction. Remember however that you will need an excellent loudspeaker that has the capabilities as well. An excellent amplifier or receiver can't do the job alone.

[skeptic]

You can also consider a Crown CE-1000 power amplifier for $445. You'll find it on Parts Express's web site as well. Crown is owned by Harman International, parent company of Harman Kardon. Crown is known among professionals as an exceptionally fine performing reliable amplifier and is used worldwide in many professionally installed sound systems. Audiophiles generally turn their noses up at it for what are usually illogical reasons. But for $500, you probably won't find a better amplifier at least not new. And it's practically bulletproof.

[RGA]

Hi,

I'm looking for a good amp/receiver main stream brand at around US$500.

I am asking for main stream brands eg. onkyo/HK/yamaha/denon/pioneer etc. , because i live in New Zealand and it's hard to get some of the brands over here, i'm thinking of getting something sent over from the states.

I mostly listen to Drum & bass - also a bit of hiphop/trip hop and pop stuff, any suggestions would be most welcome.

Do you have speakers? What are they?

Also Ask your question on Audio Asylum forums - http://www.audioasylum.com/audio/index.html

[skeptic]

"Also Ask your question on Audio Asylum forums "

If you do, don't be surprised if John Curl or someone tells you about Fermi Velocity or some equally arcane irrelavent nonsense. What makes you think anyone at Audio Asylum knows anything about under $500 equipment. After all, according to PC Tower, we are the Best Buy crowd, not AA. Now if you'd like to hear about equipment over $10,000, that might be the place to go. Peter Qtwerp can tell you about how an 8 watt per channel tube amplifier driving a pair of two way 8 inch AN E exp(ensive) will reproduce deeper better bass than say a JBL paragon for just a few thousand more.

[RGA]

Peter Q backs up what he says - He already showed the disbelieving B&W designer's and other makers/individuals. Peter's design team? - Well if engineers from competitors keep saying it can't be done that's fine with Audio Note. They obviously are not smart enough to work for Audio Note.

And as for going to AA - afraid of alternate opinions? Afraid you will be exposed as a fraud - or an incompetant? Yes it is obvious you are afraid to allow someone to get an alternate opinion - pleny of discussion there is on sub $500.00 gear - plenty of posts are not answered by John Curl. So in fact you're already proving yourself wrong on the claims you make about that forum so it stands to reason you're wrong about your technical advice.

[skeptic]

"Afraid you will be exposed as a fraud - or an incompetant? Yes it is obvious you are afraid to allow someone to get an alternate opinion - pleny of discussion there is on sub $500.00 gear - plenty of posts are not answered by John Curl."

Those are not MY KIND OF PEOPLE. I feel much more at home here.

John Curl has said he will not even talk to people who are NOT degreed engineers. He would talk to me. I on the other hand, will not talk to him. He and his kind do not have the intellectual capacity to engage me in sufficiently interesting dialogue to hold my interest.

As for Peter Qtwerp, what does he offer our contributor from down under? Silver wire to upgrade an 8 inch two way 20 year old design his employees tweaked? Would I work for Qtwerp? Since he is dumb enough to hire people who never have to show up or do anything and still draw a paycheck, why not? He steals his customer's money, I'd steal his. After all, isn't that what you are subsidizing when you buy his product. Will it get better? Read the proposed EU constitution lately?

[markw]

You're gonna want a unit with gobs of power on reserve. Your type of music is almost as demanding as hip hop, what with those bass drums and such. Actually , when you factor in the twinkling highs, it might even be more demanding.

Since you are somewhat related to the UK, I'd recommend the most powerful NAD amp (not receiver) you can find. All HT receivers tend to lack real world power when compared to two channel amps in the same price range, particularly in your price range.

[RGA]

Since he lives in Great Britain and his market is there then it stands to reason he would have his business there. Any American and Canadian maker must also be a horses ass for not building everything in China to reduce prices by 90%.

And even then he is moving his operations to Canada to reduce costs and pricing. Things don't happen instantaneously and he could build in China - but then he doesn't want a company large enough that he has no direct control over. Ask him why - do your own homework about his prior company and how much money he has. He doesn't NEED to run this company - it is a passion - If Harman tomorrow felt they could make $1.00 more per year in net profit selling Gum Ball machines they would turn to that in one second. Peter has said often that he could easily make more money doing other things than running Audio Note - and has done.

You attack his product without hearing them so you totally fail as an audiophile - you lie because John Curl has talked to me and I have no degree - and plenty of other people without a degree. John Curl is one of hundreds of people on that forum. Why don't you try other engineers - or do you base everyone there off of what John Curl and JR says?

You're claims about degreed engineers and their intellectual capacity - well most engineers I have met are arrogant and think they know everything about all subjects when in fact they should stick to engineering. But I would trust an actual doctor over some guy who thinks he knows a lot because he read some medical journals - thanks the degree has some checks and balances to make sure they know what they're talking about. The enginners are there as a check on YOU. And if they say you are wrong instead of engaging them you come to this forum and say they don't know anything. Now how should people take that? Skeptic knows more than all the engineers because he says so? And if you were a genius like an Einstein then you would get an honorary degree in the field - you would take your speaker design and it would go over like gangbusters.

20 year old design? How old is your AR 9 buddy and how old is the 901? Why does the design HAVE TO BE 2 weeks old to get your support? Why does it have to have 15 drivers+ in order to have bass? Answer = They don't - a good designer knows that. And besides the AN box design is 60 years old.

You always bring up cost - you obviously don't get it - running a company requires things like mark-ups and profit margins. Please tell me your AR9 and Bose 901 were run by companies who were not for profit companies. Tell me Bose is one of the best in the business for giving you the most cost in actual parts versus the price they sell the speaker at.

[piece-it pete]

Hi,

I'm looking for a good amp/receiver main stream brand at around US$500.

I am asking for main stream brands eg. onkyo/HK/yamaha/denon/pioneer etc. , because i live in New Zealand and it's hard to get some of the brands over here, i'm thinking of getting something sent over from the states.

I mostly listen to Drum & bass - also a bit of hiphop/trip hop and pop stuff, any suggestions would be most welcome.

kiwi,

I checked eBay New Zealand and I have to admit, there's not a lot on there yet .

If you want to rock the suggestions put forth are very good. I currently run a vintage Marantz 1152dc, rated at 76 wpc, that will smoke a lot of new gear with higher wattage claims, in a similar price range. It has the added advantage of sounding quite good at lower volumes, as well. I found a 2330b on eBay (130 wpc) willing to ship worldwide (with killer feedback):

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...705740668&rd=1

though there's no recent sales to guess the final sell price. Now is the slow time on eBay and you might end up with a better deal than usual.

There has GOT to be a place out your way that sells pro gear.

There's some kiwis that frequent AudioKarma.org, maybe one of them has some spare equipment, I would ask.

I would think in your price range you'll end up with something good, just take your time, don't settle too quickly.

Good Luck!!

Pete

PS - What is "trip hop" ??