A receiver, or...

[RoyY51]

Greetings!

It's been a while since I posted...things have gotten busy at the Young household. I have, however, been lurking on and off, and have noticed that things have slowed down here a bit. Many of the Old Monikers are MIA, and the overall participation is not near what it was. Thankfully, I've also seen that some of the most trusted and trustworthy denizens are still hanging in there. It's to you stalwarts, as well as the Knowledgeable Knewbies, that I appeal to for help.

I'm looking for new home theater amplification to replace my Nad T763. The Nad, while delivering great sound on both movies and music, lacks a couple of features that would (I believe) greatly improve my theater experience. First, is has no HDMI connections, and, try as I might, I cannot get a perfect sync with the sound and picture. Running the HDMI video from the Oppo Blu-ray or the digital cable box directly to the TV and running the audio into the receiver creates a lag that I can't seem to eliminate. I understand (perhaps erroneously) that passing the HDMI signal through the amplification automatically syncs everything up. This would be a wonderful thing...that slight lag is driving me up a wall!

Secondly, I've read that room-correction technology has improved by leaps and bounds over the last few years.I have a wierd listening area (ceiling slopes from 8 feet on the left, to 7 feet on the right...room is 9 feet wide in the front, 12 feet wide in the rear) that I think would benefit from some good audio processing..."good" being the operative word. I've heard that there's also some crap out there. I'm hoping that a guru, or two, will help me winnow the wheat from the chaff.

Lastly, I'm not married to the concept of a receiver. I never listen to music on the radio, so the lack of a tuner would not be a deal-breaker. Affordable multi-channel separates, or an integrated multi-channel amp would definitely be an option.

That's about it...except, of course, for my budget. I would like to keep this in the $800 range. Options just got a little restrictive, didn't they? Believe me, I'm still going to have to do a lot of massaging to get the Better Half to agree to even that expenditure!

I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the matter...you folks have always been there for me in the past, and I know that you will do your best to steer me towards Video Nirvana.

Thank you!

[blackraven]

Hi Roy, if you don't mid a factory refurbished unit, take a look at the Marantz AVR's here at big discounts. From what I have read they are an authorized dealer and reliable.

Home Audio | Accessories4less (http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/category/homeaudio/home-audio/3.html)

[harley .guy07]

I just replaced an aging Yamaha with a Marantz sr5008 and love it. While I only use the power section for my center channel it mostly acts as a preamp processor and for the money it is awesome. The room correction setup is stupid easy and works well. And it sounds very warm and balanced. It is very simple to use as well.

[Unworthy]

I just replaced an aging Yamaha with a Marantz sr5008 and love it. The room correction setup is stupid easy and works well. And it sounds very warm and balanced. It is very simple to use as well.

I just got an SR5008 a few months ago and echo this response with one comment. The installer used the automatic room correction setup procedure, but apparently didn't actually listen to it afterward. As soon as I turned it on I realized something was wrong. After some probing I discovered that the LF speaker was set to +12dB while no other speaker was set higher than +4. Use technology, but trust your ears.

D

[Worf101]

Not knowing your budjet or how many speakers or what kind... I will say that I recently got an Open Box Onkyo 5010 from the Bay. I used vintage speakers so I didn't use Auddessy for room correction. still... a modern receiver is a wonder. I ripped almost all my music to my HD and I know stream all my music to my main system in lossless, this is a wonderful feature that you also might take advantage of. You can find great receivers in all price ranges from most of the "major players." I love using a receiver and run my cable, BluRay and Roku through it.

Worf

[RoyY51]

Thanks for the suggestions, guys! Your recommendations for the Marantz strike a chord with me...To this day, the best sounding AVR I've ever owned was the Marantz SR780. I traded it in for my current Nad T763, in order to experience the more advanced features of the Nad. In retrospect, I kinda wish I hadn't. I lost a lot of the musical magic that the Marantz delivered. Maybe the time has come to recapture some of it! I'll keep you posted.

[RoyY51]

Well, after a couple of days of on-line research on the Marantz SR5008, I placed the order. Thanks, again, for your recommendations. The wife says this takes care of my birthdays for the next 5 years...hope I make it that long! I'll post again when I receive it and give you my impressions.

[Mr Peabody]

Unworthy I'll take your word something may not have gone well with your auto set up but there could be reasons for the sub to be at a higher level, your other speakers could be efficient, the sub's volume may have been turned low or just not have enough power for room size.

Hi Roy, I think you will be happy with your choice.

I did see Onkyo is coming out with new receivers with 4k and some other cutting edge features.

[RoyY51]

Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy!

I unboxed my Marantz SR 5008 Tuesday night, set it up, and have been happily listening to music and watching movies ever since. The famed Magical Marantz Midrange is back...and so is my listening pleasure! I have no doubt that my Nad T763 bests the Marantz in all the areas that are so important to audiophiles, but to my old ears, this thing just sounds better! I'm sure that a big part of it has to do with the automatic room correction feature. I knew that it was supposed to level the volume of all the speakers, but it also seems to have affected the tonality, as well. The transitions from speaker to speaker to sub are seamless, resulting in a much more immersive soundstage. The aluminum tweeters of the MA's, which used to impart a slight ringing (especially with solo piano) have become true reproducers of the actual sound of the instruments. With movies,the subs are not even noticeable as a separate entity...they now sound as if my MA B2 bookshelves have morphed into floorstanders. Is this even possible? What kind of sorcery allows a few "pings" from your speakers, picked up by a 3" plastic microphone, to do this? The auto-correct system has also determined that, with music, my subs are not needed...and they're right, at least with the Marantz. One of the things that I missed most about my old Marantz was the ability to run the MA's full-range (they go down to 42 Hz) without sacrificing the bottom end. The Nad just couldn't play this game, and I had to try to integrate my subs...an integration that was never completely successful.

All in all, I am a Very Happy Camper! I would like to thank blackraven, harley guy07, Unworthy, Worf, and Mr. Peabody for your contributions. You made my decision much easier...and you were dead-on with your recommendation!

And since we're doing this gratitude thing, I would also like thank the mods, the admins, and the owners (whoever the hell they might be) for providing a venue where exchanges like this can take place. I know that it's all about the advertising money (Bose, anyone?), but you are also providing a valuable service to your members.

Kudos to everyone!

[Mr Peabody]

Excellent, glad it worked out for you. When I finally got around to trying my auto set up I too was very happy with the result. Like you described, just a nice response with no one area of the response being dominant