Need a good Hi-Fi Integrated Amp for less then $500.00?

[m500]

Had a disasterous weekend with my MB Quart S830 when team up with my Yamaha RX-V650. It souded horrible. I took it back to the dealer and they went thru a great deal convincing me that there is nothing wrong with it except my Receiver wasn't set up right. The pros there show me some hidden menu in Yahama that only show up when I hook up the Monitor out to my TV. They also recommended that I might to go with a true Hi-Fi integrated receiver like NAD C320BEE instead of the 7.1 receiver running in 2 channel mode.

At the show room the same speaker that is hook up to a NAD C320BEE with some Cheap All region DVD player and its sounded amazing with nice Bass extension.

I went home and locate the Speaker set up the pros was refering to and made the speaker size changes from Small to Large. It still not sounded right. I then discover there is a speaker distance setting, I then set it to 18 feet instead of the 10 feet default. This speaker distance setting had a dramatic effect on them. Its sounded a lot nicer after I let it run for 20 minutes. But still not as good as when my speaker running on NAD C320BEE in the showroom.

So, My question here are :
1) do I really need to replace my 3 days old Yamaha RX-V650? And
2) what are the good Hi-Fi Integrated Amp out there for under $500.00?

[mounirtaha]

Hi, I bought the rxv640 to drive my B&W 600 series but it sounds bad. Now what I'm gonna do is buying a Nad stereo power amp (C272) to drive the fronts and let the Yamaha do the rest. I also listened to my speakers (DM604S3) with the Nad C320 and it was great. Maybe you should do the same if you like Nad.

[topspeed]

So, My question here are :
1) do I really need to replace my 3 days old Yamaha RX-V650? And
2) what are the good Hi-Fi Integrated Amp out there for under $500.00?
1) Probably not. Consider these:
* Have you thoroghly calibrated your system? Sure, you've got the distance setting in and have them set to "large," but have you taken out your spl meter and level matched them as well?
* Have you check to make sure your polarity is right?
* Have you tried tweaking the speaker positions for optimal imaging and sound?
* Can you move your listening position closer? 18' might be good for monsters like Grand Utopia Be's or VR11's, but for more conventional speakers you seem to be awfully far away and are just begging for weird room issues. Which brings us to...
* Do you have room interaction issues such as highly reflective surfaces (glass, tile, concrete) or possibly a room that is too dead?

While your amp can have an affect on sound, the difference is minimal compared to the affect that some of the items mentioned will impart. Understand, you'll never get your system to sound like your dealer's, even if you used the exact same equipment, right down to the interconnects. Why? Your room has different acoustical properties than his, which was likely well treated btw. Address the easy and cheap fixes first before you go opening your wallet again.

2) The usual suspects are the C320bee, which you know about, this Rotel RA01, (http://rotel.com/products/specs/ra01.htm) and this Cambridge Audio 540a. (http://audioadvisor.com/store/productdetail.asp?Variant=1&AttribNum=1&pf_id=6722&sku=CAMB540A&selAttribute_1=Silver) All are very good and offer excellent bang for the buck. The RA02 is a RA01 with a remote but beware, that's a $100(!) remote your going to be paying for.

Hope this helps.

[Geoffcin]

Had a disasterous weekend with my MB Quart S830 when team up with my Yamaha RX-V650. It souded horrible. I took it back to the dealer and they went thru a great deal convincing me that there is nothing wrong with it except my Receiver wasn't set up right. The pros there show me some hidden menu in Yahama that only show up when I hook up the Monitor out to my TV. They also recommended that I might to go with a true Hi-Fi integrated receiver like NAD C320BEE instead of the 7.1 receiver running in 2 channel mode.

At the show room the same speaker that is hook up to a NAD C320BEE with some Cheap All region DVD player and its sounded amazing with nice Bass extension.

I went home and locate the Speaker set up the pros was refering to and made the speaker size changes from Small to Large. It still not sounded right. I then discover there is a speaker distance setting, I then set it to 18 feet instead of the 10 feet default. This speaker distance setting had a dramatic effect on them. Its sounded a lot nicer after I let it run for 20 minutes. But still not as good as when my speaker running on NAD C320BEE in the showroom.

So, My question here are :
1) do I really need to replace my 3 days old Yamaha RX-V650? And
2) what are the good Hi-Fi Integrated Amp out there for under $500.00?

If they are 4ohm they may cause problems with your receiver.

[Mr Peabody]

Give a listen to the Marantz (I think the model is PM-7200) it will switch between Class A at 25 wpc and Class A/B at 95 wpc. Retail is slightly over $500.00 but I bet it could be found for less.

No personal experience but the Cambridge Audio integrated amps may be in your price and they get favorable comments.

[RGA]

Are you running a surround system?

There should be a dyual setting -- for listening to two channel music you don;t want to be runnuing any of the crap any of these receivers offer up -- ie the thing should be set to two channel stereo(that is if new receivers are even bothering with this -- it's a good way to hide difficiencies with surround delay modes and distortion generating channel separation/delay.

You should make sure you have your speakers positioned correctly - receiver in 2 channel with bass and treble set to FLAT. -- all delay and any surround modes OFF. Any balance and size modes OFF. Running two and ONLY two speakers.

If it cannot do 2-ch correctly then there is no point IMO to go any further. The NAD 320 I have heard now on two occasions (I would avoid it like the plague). Rotel RA 1 is far better and the same general price -- or the NAD C352 or older NAD 320 models -- just not the 320Bee.

The Yamaha should be about as good as the NAD -- if you can get the settings right on the receiver -- they are bloody nightmares to get right and counterintuitive -- my Marantz is downright annoying for functionality.

[m500]

Are you running a surround system?

There should be a dyual setting -- for listening to two channel music you don;t want to be runnuing any of the crap any of these receivers offer up -- ie the thing should be set to two channel stereo(that is if new receivers are even bothering with this -- it's a good way to hide difficiencies with surround delay modes and distortion generating channel separation/delay.

You should make sure you have your speakers positioned correctly - receiver in 2 channel with bass and treble set to FLAT. -- all delay and any surround modes OFF. Any balance and size modes OFF. Running two and ONLY two speakers.

If it cannot do 2-ch correctly then there is no point IMO to go any further. The NAD 320 I have heard now on two occasions (I would avoid it like the plague). Rotel RA 1 is far better and the same general price -- or the NAD C352 or older NAD 320 models -- just not the 320Bee.

The Yamaha should be about as good as the NAD -- if you can get the settings right on the receiver -- they are bloody nightmares to get right and counterintuitive -- my Marantz is downright annoying for functionality.


I'm gonna try to play with the setup a bit more. I'll need to find sometime to take my own demo CD down to YAWA to see how their setup sound like with NAD C320 and C352. So far all I know is they sounded very good in Piano playing with my Yamaha and when Yawa demo their own CDs which is piano playing as well. The only problem is when I playing rock or R&B the vocal & bass get distored when hits higher note.

[SlumpBuster]

Hey m500,

You might want to monitor responses to your other posts. There is a very simple solution that will reveal your set up problems. Hit the "Pure Direct" button on your receiver. See here: http://forums.audioreview.com/showthread.php?t=11075

[anamorphic96]

How loud are you playing ? Are turning up the bass and treble to much with the volume up to high ? Also keep in mind MB Quart is a bright sounding speaker.
Remeber things will not sound the same as they do at Yawa. Rooms can affect sound in a big way.

[m500]

Hey m500,

You might want to monitor responses to your other posts. There is a very simple solution that will reveal your set up problems. Hit the "Pure Direct" button on your receiver. See here: http://forums.audioreview.com/showthread.php?t=11075

SlumpBuster,
I did try the "Pure Direct" button and its sounded the same as in 2 channel stereo mode except brighter. I'm starting to think it all mental, hopefully. As the bass reproduction on the speaker is very poor but other then that the mid and treble are awesome. I'm gonna find time to go down to YAWA to test it with the CDs I demo at home to see what's the differences. Why the dramatic differences in mid and especially the bass reproduction. For now, I'm thinking its either mental or the Yamaha is just not up to the job.