Panasonic SA-XR70 the future?

[guitz]

No less than Ken Pohlman has given a positive review to this new HT receiver.....it uses digital amps, the benefit of that is cleaner sound, far less current demand, runs cooler, the weight of these things is like, 9 pounds!.....and they are much, much more compact looking than the typical huge HT receiver...they might be mistaken for a HTIB in looks ...I love the scaled down look...question is , does anyone have one of these?....the 1 negative I see seems to be no analog outs...I seem to have read this thing doesn't even use a DAC, your speakers are the DACS!, so to speak....

[ericl]

I have the previous model, the xr50, and it's pretty nice. I haven't done many serious comparisons, but it's a nice little receiver. If i didn'y have vinyl and horns in my system I might use this as my main amp with some nice paradigm monitors and a sub.. add a dvdp and a computer source and you're all set.

[Hawkeye]

The SA-XR55 (the 70's kid brother) has been discussed to death over at the ecoustics board. I'm providing a few sample threads, get comfortable and dig in. I would assume the 55 and 70 would share many of the same sonic qualities (or detractors, depending on your taste). Personally, I haven't listened to either one, I'm not currently looking to replace my NAD. If you are interested in the panny, see if either Best buy or Circuit City stocks it. They have a liberal 30 day return policy. Try it for two or three weeks and if you don't like it, take it back for a refund.


http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/1/161749.html
http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/1/160136.html
http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/1/168741.html
http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/1/176342.html
http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/1/178629.html
http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/1/174075.html
http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/1/175914.html
http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/1/179531.html

[Woochifer]

Just try it out yourself. In general, I think Ken Pohlman's more in love with technology and fancy features than sound quality, so I wouldn't put totally rely on his word.

Digital amps are definitely going to become more popular because the costs are going down and they have a lot of advantages with the power delivery, cool operation, and light weight. With the low end HTIB market, they've already raised the bar on what components in that price range are capable of.

But, whether or not they progress en masse beyond the entry level (or high end markets like the Bel Cantos) depends on whether they can legitimately establish a track record for sound quality and reliability. The digital amps in the past that I've heard had a harsh quality to them, but the digital Bel Cantos are supposed to have legitimate high end sound quality. And both Sharp and Yamaha have come out with very well regarded (but expensive) digital amps that sell in the two-channel separates market. The only manufacturer that has used digital amps in midlevel components is Sony with the Digital Drive receivers, and those have had reliability problems and a reputation for mediocre sound quality.

[guitz]

.....thanks for the links...definitely need to hear one of these bad boys......

[edtyct]

Damping apparently is a problem, since these amps don't easily handle speaker loads that vary without expensive filters and God knows what else. I can imagine that they would work well in HTIB systems that kept the impedance relatively steady. On the other hand, they could also work well for systems in which cost is no object, since such amps wouldn't have to spare any expense.

[MCH]

I have the XR-50 and think it sounds very good with CDs and home theater. It is very, very noise free. My previous Outlaw 1050 gave me problems with TV picture interference when on (used the receiver for the sound). It sat below the TV so I think the large transformers were a problem. My subwoofer had a hum. When I switched to the Panasonic all these ailments were gone.
The only bad issue is using the analog outs (like SACD) the sound is not as good and the receiver will quickly display 'overflow' when trying higher volumes (I like my music loud). When using it in digital mode there is no problem in higher volume levels.
I'm very pleased with the purity of the sound. My speakers virtually disappear, the soundstage is that good. The low price for this sound is embarassing.

[guitz]

I'm very pleased with the purity of the sound. My speakers virtually disappear, the soundstage is that good. The low price for this sound is embarassing.

Great news...I love getting max performance for low $$.....it's like your sorta cheating the whole system (not really, but you know what I mean lol)....you mentioned the receiver dispalyed 'overflow' when using the analog outs ( I didn't know it had analog outs?...you use those into a seperate amp then I guess....) I don't know about SACD, but have read that DVD-A discs can take advantage of the HDMI port , assuming your DVD player has one, and pass the full higher resolution 24 bit , 6.1 spec, pretty cool....

[MCH]

....you mentioned the receiver dispalyed 'overflow' when using the analog outs ( I didn't know it had analog outs?...you use those into a seperate amp then I guess....) ....

I think I used the wrong terminology. The receiver has 5.1 analog inputs for DVD-A and SACD. No you cannot add external amps to the Panny XR-50 (don't know about the other models). Using the analog inputs on this receiver are the weak points. The best results are from the digital inputs (coaxial or TOS). For nice analog sound, the hybrid digital receiver by JVC (the F-10 model) is highly toted. But for digital useage the JVC is said to be mediocre.

My advice is to buy this receiver that offers a good return policy and try it for yourself. Obviously there are different opionions. But for me this Panny is working out very well.

[Rock789]

Bringing up this old thread because I am looking at one for my brother...
anyone here audition a panasonic receiver?
if so, with what speakers ?

thanks

btw regarding:

I seem to have read this thing doesn't even use a DAC, your speakers are the DACS!, so to speak....

the term, "Digital Amp" simply refers to a high power Digital to Analog Converter... rather than using a standard DAC, then amplifying the analog signal...

later
mike

[pixelthis]

ONKYO (or integra) has a digital integrated amp, and it probably does a better jop thatn the panny.
Fisher (or one of his other companies) came out with one of these years ago, wondered what ever happened to it?
They've pretty much been limited to subs and cheap applications,
they certainly arent anything new.
The main question is , how do they sound?