Help balancing speakers / dynaudio S1.4 & receiver vs. pre/amp

[gileas]

I am upgrading my home audio / theater system.
I have purchased a pair of Dynaudio S 1.4s at a good price - 800$ for the pair. Now Im thinking of using these for the front left & right channels. I have infinity reference speakers for front & rear & center atm, driven by a Denon AVR 2400. I am looking for help with two items.
1) assuming I do not buy the dynaudio 'matching' center and rear speakers, can I get away with using my Infinity for rear and using the infinity center for a while, until I can find a good center?
2) new receiver. I have a Rotel 1056, but have the option of taking it back and getting rotel seperates, or Krell, Marantz, burmester, or a few other mid-high end receivers or seperates. I have 1300.00 in on the rotel, and can go another 700, or so.

The store sells the following (I have a $1300 credit with them and can spend maybe another grand at most) B&W, Benz Micro,Billy Bags, Burmester, Chief Manufacturing, Crestron, dCS ,Dynaudio,Faroudja
Finite Elemente, Fujitsu Plasmavision, Grado, Graham Engineering
Koetsu, Krell, Loewe Video, Lyra, Magnum Dynalab, Marantz
Meridian, Musical Fidelity, Nitty Gritty, Premiere Seating, Quadraspire
Rega, REL, Rotel, Russound, Salamander, Stewart Filmscreen
Sumiko, T+A, Tara Labs, Vidikron

Cables - these guys are way pushing Tara. Im happy with my monster. Comments appreciated all around.

Oh I can get a nice pair of Snell Type KIII for 100 a pair. Thoughts?
Thanks,
Gileas

[spacedeckman]

I like Dynaudio speakers, but they are kind of...pigs. I'm not sure how happy your Denon is going to be trying to drive them, but there is no way at all they will match up tonally with your Infinitys. The first step in all this is to identify and solve the biggest problem first. Try slipping the Dynes into you current system, first running some fairly dynamic music you are familiar with in two channel mode. If the Denon is up to your needs their, then put it into multichannel mode (I do believe that receiver has a 5 channel stereo mode), and see what happens. My guess is going to be that your Infinity center channel is going to be noticably louder and brighter than the Dynes. You can lower the center channel, but that center isn't going to voice match very well.

As long as the Denon is capable of driving the speakers to your satisfaction, your first step is to get a Dynaudio center channel. This will probably make it really clear that the surrounds have got to go as well, so you will need to head back to your Dynaudio dealer again. About that time, you will find out that the Denon isn't really going to have the guts to drive a full complement of Dynes (reality is always bad). In that case, I would recommend the Arcam AVR300 receiver. It is going to be the most reasonable, best sounding choice, although the 250 may be enough...and it will fit in your budget better. My experiences with Rotel have not been very positive. I've quite often called them "a Marantz in a shiny box", which, if you have any experience with Marantz receivers over the past decade, isn't a compliment (oops, just re-read your post, took care of two choices in one sentence). Krell is going to be too expensive and combined with Dynaudio tends to be really sterile sounding...one of my least favorite combos. The Burmeister is going to be similar to the Krell in that regard.

Forget the Snells, IMHO, I'd rather have the Dynes. Forget the wire, play with that when your system building is over. If you can tolerate the Infinitys in the rear, get the Dyne center and the Arcam, then the Dynes in the rear. I have found the Dynaudio/Arcam combo to work very well in my experience.

[gileas]

The Dynaudio are not happy with my Denon. It is way underpowering them. I think I am going to need a new amp for certain. Where does Rotel fall in the world of receiver / av amps? My investment with the amp is 1300$ - I bought a Rotel 1056 and it was damaged out of box. Now I can go back and either get another Rotel 1056 or I can choose a different model and make av amp - from the list of manufacturers in my first post. I will get a center channel for xmas - probably going to bite the bullet and get the Dynadudio center that comes with the s 1.4s, I want good speaker balance. But for now - what AV amp to buy?
Thanks.
Gileas

[kode3]

Where does Rotel fall in the world of receiver / av amps? My investment with the amp is 1300$ - I bought a Rotel 1056 and it was damaged out of box. Now I can go back and either get another Rotel 1056 or I can choose a different model and make av amp - from the list of manufacturers in my first post.
Thanks.
Gileas

I have a Rotel RMB-1075; it's a five channel amp. I would stay with them, I am very happy with mine. I believe that Rotel undersells there equipment, you get a lot for the money. Give them another try :)

[Geoffcin]

The Dynaudio are not happy with my Denon. It is way underpowering them. I think I am going to need a new amp for certain. Where does Rotel fall in the world of receiver / av amps? My investment with the amp is 1300$ - I bought a Rotel 1056 and it was damaged out of box. Now I can go back and either get another Rotel 1056 or I can choose a different model and make av amp - from the list of manufacturers in my first post. I will get a center channel for xmas - probably going to bite the bullet and get the Dynadudio center that comes with the s 1.4s, I want good speaker balance. But for now - what AV amp to buy?
Thanks.
Gileas

And it's a very good match. Most Receivers are NOT going to be good for your speakers. The exceptions being some of the flagships.

The B&K 200 watt amp has serious power, it never sounds strained driving his 4ohms speakers.

Rotel is a good brand, but I think you can do better. I am currently using a Musical Fidelity amp on my Gallos, and it's a sweet match . The MF has strong treble energy way up to the stratus, and the Danes that I've heard have a tendancy toward darkness, so I think the MF+Dynaudio would be a good match. The last think you want is mate the speaker with amp that's on the dark side like Krell. Don't get me wrong, a Krell amp with a brighter speaker like my Maggies can be magical, but I think less so with the Danes.