Replacement Receiver Needed

[cciaffone]

My aged Denon 635R has been slowly dying over the last year,
so I need to start looking for a replacement. Two channels only!

I am pushing 4 AR 2ax acoustic suspension, inefficient, speakers
(2 in each of 2 rooms, A and B) with no AV and no surround sound.
I need a PHONO input, along with CD, DVD, VCR, and tape. I use the
turntable a lot.

So far I have looked at Denon 685, Yamaha RX 777, Onkyo TX8511
and SONY STR DE898. The Onkyo has no coax connector for the antenna.
The Denon's input switching (relays?) sounds really cheesy. Don't know
much about the Yamaha, but it seems likely. The SONY looked
kinda chintzy.

Suggestions or preferences welcome!

[paul_pci]

What's your budget? If you're going with two channels only, why not get an integrated amp?

[N. Abstentia]

I'll agree with Paul, an integrated would be much better.

[Resident Loser]

...of the four mentioned, I'd opt for the Denon...It has a lot of connectivity...and a true "tape mon" if you need it, pre-in/pwr-out jacks, the Zone two stuff and the phono jks...

Not familiar w/the Yammie or Sony...the Onkyo is a good choice but it is limited in the above mentioned "connectivity" dept. P.S. All you need is the proper adapter to connect the coax antenna cable.

Two others you may want to look at are the HK3480 rated 120Wpc and the Marantz 4320...it has a three-year warranty...of the two, the HK gets the nod in my book, but only due to that "connectivity" factor...with two tape decks, an outboard Eq and a turntable, my requirements are not typical(whatever that means)...

If you do start looking at integrateds...the Marantz PM 7200 looks good, it's only downfall(at least for me) is the lack of pre-/pwr jks. but it does have that 3yr. warranty.

jimHJJ(...FWIW...)

[cciaffone]

Thanks for the suggestions. I really need FM radio capability because we have
two incredible all-jazz all-day stations nearby, and I'm afraid that a separate
tuner will blow my available space. Back in the day, we ran separate tuner and
amp, but the receiver is so much more convenient what with all the other
input components cluttering up the space.

Had a Marantz back in the 70's just about when they stopped being a world-class
audio manufacturer and I've never trusted them since. Have they moved back
up in quality??

I really like my current Denon 635 (as long as I can keep nagging it along) but I was
not pleased with the input-switching on the new DRA-685. Are they all that clattery??

BTW - Budget is not an issue.

[amperex]

My reply may be unpopular. I owned a few HT sets. The better one at the time was a Denon AVR 87. I use it for HT only today. When I purchased a tube amp, I could not believe the sonic difference. However, my Pro Ac 2.5s are a tube friendly load, thus do not require a lot of watts output.

Anyways, I do not find HT receivers music friendly at all, just loud at high volumes. An inexpensive entry into better 2-channel audio would be a vintage stereo amp such as a Marantz 2270, 2265B or 2285B to play with your speakers for starters. These vintage amps would be very expensive if manufactured today. In that 'hey day' of design, cost was of little concern with the management. SS devices are not that much more advanced today with the exceptions of op-amps & microprocessors. The present receiver (tuners) on an IC chip sound simply horrid compared to a good analog FM tuner.

Once you hear the difference, you could start searching newer SS component type systems for more money.

[twochannelsonly]

Reciever-Thats a all one piece thing isnt it?
Im sorry there is no hope for you finding a good one :(

[JohnMichael]

Stereophile just covered in their October issue the Magnum Dynalab MD208 receiver. I know the tuner section would be awesome and the overall quality should be very good. I don't know your budget but it should be a long lasting product.