Receiver Purchase

[mygear]

Hello All,
I am making a surround receiver purchase and I have it down to two. The NAD T763 and the Yamaha RX-V 2500. My current spaekers are older Infinity Models. The Crescendo to be exact. I have a Jolida tube CD player. I listen to music about 80% of the time. So two channel performance is very important to me. Any suggestions on which one to buy? Thank you!

[GMichael]

Hello All,
I am making a surround receiver purchase and I have it down to two. The NAD T763 and the Yamaha RX-V 2500. My current spaekers are older Infinity Models. The Crescendo to be exact. I have a Jolida tube CD player. I listen to music about 80% of the time. So two channel performance is very important to me. Any suggestions on which one to buy? Thank you!

It's a tough call. The NAD should have a better sound. But the Yammie has a better reliability rate going for it.

I have the RX-V2500 with the Infinity Primus 360's. It sounds very good to me but you may have higher expectations. Happy hunting.

[SlumpBuster]

I gotta go with choice (C) - The Yamaha RX-V2600. This is the new one with HDMI switching. If you have a high definition TV, you will want this feature for high capacity HD formats including HD-DVD and Blu-ray. It cost a bit more thant the 2500, but you could drop down to the 1600 which I believe has the same HDMI features.

As far as quality goes. I have the RX-V1500 and have been very pleased with it. Frankly I was never a big fan of NAD, but if like your Jolida, you'll probably like the looks and feel of the NAD. NAD spent an entire decade trying to convince people that their 30 watts was equal to everyone elses 100 watts. And while there was probably alot of truth to that, it always smacked of desperation. The Yammie has a neat "Pure Direct" feature for two channel listening. I've always liked that, but the NAD may have an identical feature.

Also, either reciever will have digital inputs, in which case your Jolida will only be acting as a transport and not doing any of the DAC. I'm pretty sure that this completely defeats ther purpose of the tubes, so you might not use the digial input. Or at least compare the two inputs, analog vs. digital. I know the Yammie will let you do it instantly for an A/B comparison.

[musicman1999]

i believe the nad would be far better for 2 channel music than the yamaha,although the yamaha would be quitr decent for home theater.in that price range there are other units to look at,such as the arcam avr-250,as you value stereo music playback over movies.how do you like your jolida,i have been looking at some of their gear with great interest.
thanks
bill

[kexodusc]

Interesting choice here.
The NAD is really in a whole other price category, MSRP is almost double the RX-V2500.
I have little doubt the NAD will have better amp and pre-amp sections. The only thing the Yamaha has going for it compared to the T763 is YPAO which can compensate for room induced variations in frequency response at your seating position. For home theatre I wouldn't be surprised at all if the RX-V2500 was as good or better sounding until its amps were pushed to the limits.

For 2-channel audio, I suspect the NAD would have a bit finer resolution and detail. And more power. When I shopped for my last receiver, I demoed a few units in my home. A Denon, H/K, Yamaha and the T762. The 762 was a standout for stereo among these. It's relative lack of features and setup flexibility made it a bit less desireable for home theater, which was what I was looking for since I was also buying a separate 2-channel rig. Great unit, but not the best way to get the most out of my system I determined based on what other gear I had and what I wanted to do.

If you're listening to music more than watching movies, I can't imagine the Yamaha being the right pick for you (except it's MSPR is about $600 lower).

Two receivers I've heard since then that are better still IMO are the previously mentioned Arcam avr-250 ($1200) and the Rotel RSX-1056 (I think also $1200). The Rotel in particular amazed me at how good it sounded. Anyone who thinks an a/v receiver can't sound as good as separates hasn't heard either of these. A friend of mine has the AVR 300 from Arcam, he replaced a Outlaw pre-pre (950 model) and mono-blocks setup with the receiver and says the improvement was worthwhile. High praise. Makes sense too, most of the comonents used in these receivers is found in their separate amps and pre-amps as well.

The downside to the RSX-1056 (which I like a bit better than the Arcam) is it only has 5 channels of amplification, you'll need a separate amp for 7.1 (it has the processing though). Buy $100 -$200 should get that easily on the used market if you even want 7 speakers.

To save me some money, I use a similar Yamaha receiver as a pre-pro (sound wise the differences between this and a true pre-pro are minute IMO, almost non-existant for Dolby Digital and DTS etc). The nice thing about this method is you get all the nice features and setup options packed into modern a/v receivers, and a bit better sound quality provided by better amplification. With Pure Direct modes on most a/v receivers these days, sound quality isn't that far off from higher grade pre-pros anymore, pretty close in fact. When I built my system, I wanted to have a pre-processor and separate amplifiers for the best sound quality, but after a few modest experiments with my friend's Outlaw 950, I couldn't justify dropping that kind of money into a pre-pro for the benefits it delivered. Especially since I have a dedicated 2-channel system in another room. Something like this might be a more cost effective option for you as well.

But between the NAD and Yamaha straight up, I can't see the Yammie being the better fit for you.

Let us know what you decide.

[edtyct]

Kexo doesn't need corroboration from me on his receiver evaluations, but I can back him up on the Arcam and Rotel recommendations. As a confirmed separates guy since way before the Civil War, I was astounded at how good the Rotel sounded. It's rated for 8 ohm loads, but with the 4-ohm fronts and 5 ohm center/surrounds in my room, it barely breaks a sweat. The rating is only a caution regarding heat dissipation. One other downside is that Rotels and Arcams don't get discounted much. You might get the Rotel from a local dealer for $1050 at best.

Ed

[RoyY51]

I've used the T763 for about 9 months now, and, with one reservation, can say that this unit was a very worthwhile purchase. The sound quality is first-rate on both 2-channel and surround sound and is very smooth from top to bottom. It's not the gutsiest at reproducing the bass octaves (very little "slam") but the bass is well defined and controlled. And, with the addition of a well integrated sub, it shouldn't be an issue. My one reservation, however, would make me think twice about purchasing the same unit again.

This is the third Nad receiver that I have owned. The first, a T762, had a multitude of problems that neccesitated a total of three trips to the local repair facility before it was declared unrepairable and a new T762 was sent to me. The second unit had a whole new laundry list of problems. I finally tired of shuttleing it back and forth (a total of 3 1/2 months at this point) and accepted my dealer's offer of a new T763 at his cost. This unit has only been in for repair once (so far) but still pops when changing audio sources. At this juncture, I have decided to live with the popping noise rather than go through all the hassle again. If it gets any worse, I'll probably bite the bullet and start playing the warranty game again, but I'm still a little ticked. It's been over a year now, and I still don't have the perfectly functioning unit that I paid for. Nad has a beautiful smooth sound, but is it worth all the fun and games? I'd have to think long and hard before I bought another one.

Hope this helps!

[mygear]

Great stuff here. MusicMan- I like the Jolida a lot. It's the JD100 Model. Very well built, nice looking and sounds great. You can change the tubes to craft the sound to your liking. Right now I am using Elector Harmonix tubes. It doesn't have quite the definitive Bass slam as some solid state players. And with some material it can be a tad bright but overall the resolution and detail is really good.

As far as the receiver, I talked to a local dealer and he said he would stay away from the NAD because of some of the quality control issues some of you spoke about. He recommended an Integra DTR 7.6 instead. Just because I was curious, I went and picked up a Yamaha 2500 from Tweeter just to test it out. I will test it with the internal amps and also with my HK PA5800 using the Yamaha as a pre-amp. Sounds decent so far, but it's early yet :) The Rotel and the Arcam rise some interesting choices as well. I am looking for reliability and great sound. It is a pain to uninstall one of these things get it serviced and reinstall it.

[kexodusc]

This unit has only been in for repair once (so far) but still pops when changing audio sources. At this juncture, I have decided to live with the popping noise rather than go through all the hassle again. If it gets any worse, I'll probably bite the bullet and start playing the warranty game again, but I'm still a little ticked. It's been over a year now, and I still don't have the perfectly functioning unit that I paid for. Nad has a beautiful smooth sound, but is it worth all the fun and games? I'd have to think long and hard before I bought another one.

Hope this helps!

Hi Roy,

I wouldn't worry about the popping noise too much. A lot of "beefier" a/v receivers exhibit this trait. It's not too loud I hope, more like a short burst of static? Your instantly cutting the voltage to the amp, then re-engaging it as you switch the source. Some designs do this a bit more smoothly than others, some just don't bother increasing costs to alleviate this minor pop. It could very well be that's NAD's design.
Do other T763's do that?

[kexodusc]

As far as the receiver, I talked to a local dealer and he said he would stay away from the NAD because of some of the quality control issues some of you spoke about. He recommended an Integra DTR 7.6 instead. Just because I was curious, I went and picked up a Yamaha 2500 from Tweeter just to test it out. I will test it with the internal amps and also with my HK PA5800 using the Yamaha as a pre-amp. Sounds decent so far, but it's early yet :) The Rotel and the Arcam rise some interesting choices as well. I am looking for reliability and great sound. It is a pain to uninstall one of these things get it serviced and reinstall it.

Yamaha is known for it's quality control, if nothing else. I wouldn't worry about that. But Rotel and Arcam are equally as discriminating when it comes to quality. I own a piece of gear from all 3 of these, and have full confidence in them. In fact, not many at these price points exhibit quality issues.

NAD unfortunately has come under some tough times. They've recently shifted production around a few countries. Sounds like they've still got the odd bug. I have 2 NAD integrated amps from the glory days of NAD - the 3020 and 3140. These were bougth by my Dad in the early 80's, 83 and 82 I think. Still going strong (though I had to replace 1 cap and a volume pot on one, and a push button switch on another - wear and tear). NAD can make things tough too. I bought some NAD stereo stuff in the late 90's and went through 3 or 4 replacement pieces before I finally got one that decided to keep working (just as the warranty expired, whew). It was a bit frustrating, but the dealer and NAD's support were 1st class all the way. That counts in my books. Anyone can make a lemon unintentionally now an then. Happens to everyone sooner or later. How they treat you when it does happen says a lot.

[RoyY51]

Hi Roy,

I wouldn't worry about the popping noise too much. A lot of "beefier" a/v receivers exhibit this trait. It's not too loud I hope, more like a short burst of static? Your instantly cutting the voltage to the amp, then re-engaging it as you switch the source. Some designs do this a bit more smoothly than others, some just don't bother increasing costs to alleviate this minor pop. It could very well be that's NAD's design.
Do other T763's do that?

Kex:

I haven't heard any other T763's but the one I own, so I have no idea if this an inherent trait of this model or not. However, both of the T762's did it (along with a bunch of other major and minor irritants), so maybe it is endemic to this manufacturer. Either way, it's obviously not enough of an issue (so far) for me to do anything about it, so I guess I shouldn't *****.

[kexodusc]

Yeah, sounds to me like it might just be the way it is. If it's a really loud pop, one that would wake someone up from a sleep, that's different. Wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on it, but I've had a few receivers that behaved like this now. Seems to be correlated with larger power supplies too, and the T763 certainly has that.

[accastil]

if you are into music, drop the yammie. nad, rotel, cambridge audio are better choices for you.