Putting together a budget (as in frugally cheap) 2 channel system, help!

[IRG]

I heard that Yamaha 1800 for music and it sounded pretty good. It compared well with the Denon 1910 that I have which is a pretty good cd player as well as a dvd player. For $75 its a great buy for a budget system.

I would still consider the HK receiver over the Onkyo. Its got preamp, phono preamp and sub outs. It also puts out high current with I believe 45 peak amps. It tends to have a slightly warmer sound which IMO would be better for budget speakers which tend to be bright. But either way you go you will have a decent 2ch receiver. And I agree that a receiver should be rated at least 20-20.

Good Luck!

Thanks man, appreciate the input again. Glad to hear the Yamaha sounds good. The Onkyo has a Phono input and sub output too, and I think pre amps as well, check out this photo to see if I'm wrong: http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Produ...0TX8555&tp=179

I trust the Onkyo to be more reliable than the HK, old prejudices perhaps. My goal would be to upgrade to a better integrated amp in a couplle of years. I had a Roksan Kandy integrated amp and cd player some time ago. Nice stuff, but frankly I didn't think it was worth the price of what they cost new (I got it used on Audiogon). So the budget stuff I'm looking at now, will suffice for a while. And ANYTHING is better than what I have now, I gotta remember that.

So I've down this system I think, to everything but the speakers. The Mordaunt Short 902 seem classy, the Polk Monitor 40 are a great buy, the Boston Acoustics seem good too, it will probably be a gamble to see what works best. The advantage of a more familiar name brand like the Polk or BA is that I could flip it quickly on CL.

I have some boutique guitar gear I'm trying to sell that isn't that well known, and it's hard to sell. So the Mordaunt Short could be at a disadvantage here, but they seem more "audiophile" than the other contenders here, so they're high on my list too. I gotta try and see what's available locally on Friday.

[IRG]

And on the receiver front, if I splurge for something a tad nicer, it would probably be the Marantz SR4023, nice features, specs, I saw it somewhere on the net, probably ac4less for $299. So maybe that one, maybe.

[LeRoy]

Thanks man, appreciate the input again. Glad to hear the Yamaha sounds good. The Onkyo has a Phono input and sub output too, and I think pre amps as well, check out this photo to see if I'm wrong: http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Produ...0TX8555&tp=179

I trust the Onkyo to be more reliable than the HK, old prejudices perhaps. My goal would be to upgrade to a better integrated amp in a couplle of years. I had a Roksan Kandy integrated amp and cd player some time ago. Nice stuff, but frankly I didn't think it was worth the price of what they cost new (I got it used on Audiogon). So the budget stuff I'm looking at now, will suffice for a while. And ANYTHING is better than what I have now, I gotta remember that.

So I've down this system I think, to everything but the speakers. The Mordaunt Short 902 seem classy, the Polk Monitor 40 are a great buy, the Boston Acoustics seem good too, it will probably be a gamble to see what works best. The advantage of a more familiar name brand like the Polk or BA is that I could flip it quickly on CL.

I have some boutique guitar gear I'm trying to sell that isn't that well known, and it's hard to sell. So the Mordaunt Short could be at a disadvantage here, but they seem more "audiophile" than the other contenders here, so they're high on my list too. I gotta try and see what's available locally on Friday.

http://www.mordauntshort.com/reviews.php

[IRG]

http://www.mordauntshort.com/reviews.php

Thanks man, I appreciate that. I think these are the ones for me. I should order soon, while they're still around. I'll have to make some story for the missus soon though

[frenchmon]

Thats pure BS, I auditioned them at a local store that sells Paradigm and NHT. Even the salesman steered me away from the Atoms because of their lack of bass. The NHT Classic 2's blew them out of the water. The Atoms sounded weak and anemic. They need a sub.

Raven...I see the stereophile review was in 2002 which may mean they where a earlier version, where the ones you auditioned the same model year as the ones in the review?

frenchmon

[blackraven]

Frenchmon, the Atoms I listened too were newer. It was about 2yrs ago. I was with an audio buddy and he thought the same thing, very weak and tinny.

[frenchmon]

Ok thanks. I listened to the new studio 60's and was not impressed. I'm sure it was the room they where in. Not set up in a good two channel configuration. But I do love my Paradigm monitor 7's V3. They are much better and bigger than the new line of 7's they have out now.

fremchmon

[blackraven]

Frenchie, I liked the Studio 100's and the Signature series. They sounded great player through a 60wpc Jolida tube integrated amp. But for that money I would rather have the PSB Synchrony's.

[LeRoy]

Thanks man, I appreciate that. I think these are the ones for me. I should order soon, while they're still around. I'll have to make some story for the missus soon though

I know you will enjoy listening to them.

LeRoy

[IRG]

I don't know anything about these speakers, but they're good looking. http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls....oni&1268686120

[IRG]

So a quick question about the "tones" of these various receivers, is this a fair assumption:

Yamaha - neutral to bright sounding.
Onkyo - fairly neutral overall
Marantz - warming sounding, less bright than the Yamaha

I'm not sure there is much difference at al in the sound of these budget receivers, but if there are, does one of their sonic signatures work better with the Mordaunt-Short 902s?

[blackraven]

I would always recommend going with the warmer sounding unit.

[philhh]

So a quick question about the "tones" of these various receivers, is this a fair assumption:

Yamaha - neutral to bright sounding.
Onkyo - fairly neutral overall
Marantz - warming sounding, less bright than the Yamaha

I'm not sure there is much difference at al in the sound of these budget receivers, but if there are, does one of their sonic signatures work better with the Mordaunt-Short 902s?

I'd second Blackraven to vote for a warmer sounding unit. I've always seemed to instinctively reduce the amount of time spent listening to a bright sounding system.

I'd be curious if anyone has any soundstage opinions regarding these? I'm thinking of putting together a similar setup fo my kids, and they love to be able to hear the instruments in their various places...

[IRG]

I would always recommend going with the warmer sounding unit.

I would too, all things considering. So I went to one local shop today, didn't stay long, just wanted to see what they had in stock (Paradigm dealer). The Atoms now cost $329. They did have a pair of Boston Acoustics CS-26, not bad looking either, $200. I'll have to do some demoing soon. They carry the Marantz/Denon/Boston Acoustics brands, all owned by DVM now I guess. The Marantz 4023 wasn't out on the shelf yet, but I may take a closer look.The Sherwood stuff looked cheap, Denon ok. The Denon turntable looks nice. They also sell Definitive Technology speakers.

I can get all of the stuff cheaper online though, plus no tax. I would like to support the local guy though, we'll see.

[mcbr1]

So a quick question about the "tones" of these various receivers, is this a fair assumption:

Yamaha - neutral to bright sounding.
Onkyo - fairly neutral overall
Marantz - warming sounding, less bright than the Yamaha

I'm not sure there is much difference at al in the sound of these budget receivers, but if there are, does one of their sonic signatures work better with the Mordaunt-Short 902s?

Where do Denon and H/K fit in this scale?

[IRG]

Where does Denon and H/K fit in this scale?

Others probably know more than me, but just based on reviews, the Denon's audio quality seems to be mid-pack, nothing wrong with it, nothing spectacular either, although at this price point, probaby nothing will be. The HK seems to have a loyal following, and would seem to rank it closer to the Marantz. I wonder though, with one company owning both Denon and Marantz, how different they might be.

The Marantz equipment looks and feels a step ahead, the Onkyo stuff is pretty decent too. I don't really like the layout of the H/K, everything is sort of hidden behind a screen. I like turning knobs like what the Onkyo or Yamaha has, they just have a nice feel about them. Instead of different menus and what not.

But at $500 and under, I'm not sure sonically, how really different any of these receivers can be from one another. I don't expect them to be the same, but i would think the differences would be fairly subtle.

To me, it comes down to ease of use, look/feel of controls, reliability and price. They all have phono inputs (not sure the HK does), 50 - 100 watts, spec wise pretty close.

I can get online the Onkyo for $199, the Marantz for $299, those are my two leading contenders. The Yamaha isn't bad either, but it doesn't have a sub out that I think now might not be bad to have. The mid range Yamaha does have it though.

[frenchmon]

Hey if I where you I'd snatch one of these up asap. They may not be there in a few hours. and Im sure they wont be there flonger than 2 days.

The Wharfdale Diamonds are only $155.

http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls....le-Diamond-9.1





These PSB are only $185






frenchmon

[IRG]

How are these Wharfedales, nice price on these at audiogon: http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls....oni&1268686120

[IRG]

Wow, we posted the same link. Good speakers then?

I don't like that he doesn't take paypal. No feedback either.

[frenchmon]

I just sent him a email asking why not paypal.

If you can score the 9.1's you should be set for a while. Though I've never heard them...I think LeRoy has and I trust his judgement. The price is right....I think the 9.1's where discontinued in 2008.

frenchmon

[LeRoy]

Wow, we posted the same link. Good speakers then?



I don't like that he doesn't take paypal. No feedback either.

I have owned the Wharfedale Diamond 9.1's, Usher S-520's,KEF IQ3's, Nola Mini's, Energy Connoisseur C-1's, PSB 1B, and Polk RTi-4. I would not buy any of these again.

If you find the price of the M.S. 902's to be too much then you may want to re-direct to the Cambridge Audio S-30's. Even the CA 30's are more musical than the list of speakers above that have now been kicked off my music island.

With the 902's or the CA 30's, I would recommend the Marantz and then the Yamaha. I have not heard Onkyo gear much so I have no opinion of them.

Hope this info helps you out.

LeRoy

[IRG]

I just sent him a email asking why not paypal.

If you can score the 9.1's you should be set for a while. Though I've never heard them...I think LeRoy has and I trust his judgement. The price is right....I think the 9.1's where discontinued in 2008.

frenchmon

I emailed him too. Not taking pp is a dealbreaker for me.

[LeRoy]

I just sent him a email asking why not paypal.

If you can score the 9.1's you should be set for a while. Though I've never heard them...I think LeRoy has and I trust his judgement. The price is right....I think the 9.1's where discontinued in 2008.

frenchmon

Yes, they were discontinued in 2008 and now Wharfedale has the 10.1's to replace the 9.1's. I think What Hi-Fi gave the 10.1s the product of the year award.

[IRG]

I have owned the Wharfedale Diamond 9.1's, Usher S-520's,KEF IQ3's, Nola Mini's, Energy Connoisseur C-1's, PSB 1B, and Polk RTi-4. I would not buy any of these again.

If you find the price of the M.S. 902's to be too much then you may want to re-direct to the Cambridge Audio S-30's. Even the CA 30's are more musical than the list of speakers above that have now been kicked off my music island.

With the 902's or the CA0's, I would recommend the Marantz and then the Yamaha. I have not heard Onkyo gear much so I have no opinion of them.

Hope this info helps you out.

LeRoy

Thanks LeRoy, I am still considering the MS, and maybe the Cambridge AUdio too.

I'm kinda torn with perhaps for now, going with a cheaper speaker, but (slightly) better amp. So maybe get the Marantz receiver, and the Boston Acoustics CS-26, and then upgrade the speakers later on, but the amp should suffice for a while. And with the Marantz, I could add a power amp, and use the receiver as a pre amp I suppose.

Or does it make sense to get (again, slightly) better speakers now, and a cheaper amp. I guess I'm not talking big bucks either way, but every dollar makes a difference this time. My new years resolution is to pay things in cash (if at all possible). Too easy to charge stuff.

[IRG]

LeRoy,

Do the CA30's have grill covers? THey look nice without them, but I have a certain 4 year old that has pushed in the cones on my Paradigms, and I can see her doing that with these in a heartbeat. Little rascal.

Also, what size stands should I use with the CA30s? They're pretty small, 24-26" I woud assume.