Receiver auditioning hints, tips and tricks

[Rich-n-Texas]

I don't know yet. The DVD changer I now use will be demoted to CD play only, because I like the convienence of loading up five disks, but I don't know if I'm ready to jump into Blu-ray/HD-DVD yet. The Oppo-981, although not a lossless audio player would satisfy my m/c music appetite just fine and is a good value for the money. This is another reason why I don't want to spend the entire budget on processing.

[Rich-n-Texas]

The Integra DTR-7.8 features independent block construction for the preamplifier and amplifier sections for improved low-noise performance. Each of the seven amplifier modules rated at 130 Watts per channel into 8 ohms (20Hz - 20 kHz, 0.05% THD) and incorporates a newly developed push-pull amplifier configuration and discrete power output devices. Integra's exclusive WRAT (Wide Range Amplifier Technology) and a high current power supply capable of delivering 60 amps of instantaneous current for transient response round out the fundamental performance of the receiver, which is capable of dynamic and linear response from 5 Hz all the way to 100 kHz. Finally, the receiver's rear surround amplifier channels can be reconfigured to reproduce the front L/R channel signals, allowing for biamplification of speakers capable of this function.

Still need to know if this qualifies the Integra as a receiver with *High Current* amplification.

Getting back to the original purpose of this topic and to partially answer my own question, I'll take s/w including a regular CD, a recently produced DVD (Batman Begins), and a DVD-A with me before I decide to bring an AVR home for further evaluation.

Any more tips?

[Mr Peabody]

Rich, the Integra is a high current design as is the Onkyos.

[Rich-n-Texas]

Thanks Mr P. And just to reiterate, I appreciate everybody's positive input.

[L.J.]

Come on Rich, you should be auditioning new gear and giving us your thoughts. We need as many reviewers as possible

[Rich-n-Texas]

To coincide with the opening of the new season of American Idol, auditions commence next week! There's a Kellum's (are they a national/regional firm?) not far from work so I'm going to get in touch and see what they've got that I can play with. It'll be up to all y'all to interpret my audio terminology challenged descriptions of what I see and hear.

Meanwhile, I'm spending time drawing up my new and (hopefully) improved room layout which I'll post in the Critique My Layout thread shortly, because there haven't been any hot women falling out of the sky and into my lap lately.

[L.J.]

One step at a time buddy! I can't even begin to tell you the huge improvements I have slowly made over the years. Wait, yes I can. It's all here, but you gotta find it somewhere in my 2300 posts.

[Rich-n-Texas]

The good thing is I don't have to rely too much on my memory. As a matter of fact...

Onkyo 805 Original AVR reviews

Thoughts on my 805 situation 805 follow-up review
and
Pics of my HT Pics of HT room

I'm now remembering why I thought you were of Oriental desent too. You used a Japanese symbol for love on your pannels.

[Mr Peabody]

Rich, I hear that there are places where for a bit of cash the women are more than willing to fall into your lap. Then they want to do some kind of dance, what's that all about ?

[Rich-n-Texas]

I know about those places Mr P, but it costs too much to get... in.

[Mr Peabody]

I was joking anyway, we wouldn't want to do anything that would tarnish our halo.

[Rich-n-Texas]

Just to review L.J.'s panel assembly...

Hey Topspeed, the asian characters mean Love & Happiness. The theme goes throughout the house. They're glued to the panel using a light spray of adhesive. They should pull right off if I wanted to ever remove them. The panels are Owens 703 fiberglass and the fabric is burlap. I got the material from atsacoustic.

I glued my panels to a 1/4" board using spray adhesive and hung on the wall using saw tooth picture hanging hardware.

Okay, what panel thickness did you go with? Wasn't it 2"? I'm going to buy a 6 pack of DIY panels, a roll of burlap and 3M spay adhesive. How did you fasten the burlap to the panel, and how did you keep the fabric taught during that step? I'll buy some sheets of 1/4" backing board and have Home Depot cut them in 2' x 4' pieces. Thanks teach!

[L.J.]

Read this thread. Kex posted some great info including step by step panel instructions.

Acoustic panels, base traps etc...

[pixelthis]

Still need to know if this qualifies the Integra as a receiver with *High Current* amplification.

Getting back to the original purpose of this topic and to partially answer my own question, I'll take s/w including a regular CD, a recently produced DVD (Batman Begins), and a DVD-A with me before I decide to bring an AVR home for further evaluation.

Any more tips?

Yeah, don't eat butterbeans and stand next to a candle
AND you have two rear center channel amps, that can also be used for B speakers.
Or you can take the jumpers off of the rear of your speakers, run you mains into one
set, the "B" channel into another.
This will give you bi-amping, not to mention 200 w into each front speaker, but you will have to leave your B speakers on all of the time of course.
Be plenty loud though (havent tried it myself)

[StevenSurprenant]

I just went through this (finding a home theater receiver) myself. Cost was an issue for me as was being able to drive 4 ohm speakers (Magnepan).

Up to this point I was a 2 channel guy and went the high end route for many years. I sold my Quads and levinson gear and built a homebrew pair of Newform Research R465's powered by a lowly Panasonic XR25 receiver and not looked back since. Ironically, I have the best sound ever in my home.

I always wanted to go surround sound on the cheap and so my search began for speakers and amps. I decided on Magnepan because of the deep expansive sound stage they produce. I takes very good box speakers to do what the Maggies do for very little money. Besides, the models I bought hang on the wall and out of the way of my main system. I can find much to criticize the Magnepans, but that would apply to almost every speaker I have heard at any price. That said, they have one major defect and that is they are 5 ohm and 88dB efficient. Not that bad considering the rest of Magnepans lineup, but still an issue that needs to be addressed with adequate power. Oh, by the way, one of their better attributes is the way the handle voices, very nicely and important to me for movies.

Anyway, to get to the point, I bought a Yamaha RX1800 fo $850 delivered from Audiogon and am in the process of running it through its paces.

I am running Magnepan MMGW on the front mains and a pair of System Audio for the center channel until the rest of the Magenpans get here on Tuesday. Now I realize that this is not a final test, but I thought I'd give you some input to get you interested until then. My room is about 13 ft wide X 18 ft deep (approx). This is much smaller than your room and therefore I do not need as much power as you would. Of course that depends on your speaker efficiency.

At this point,

Power:
Power is a total non issue, there is way more than enough. After hours of watching movies the receiver is barely warm.

Auto setup:
This is a wonderful thing. It sets up all the speakers in minutes and I had only to plug in the microphone (supplied) and press one button. The interesting thing is that since the center speakers are box speakers and the mains are planers the match between them is much better after the auto adjustment then I would have expected.

Soundstaging:
Using only the mains for this test, It was very good. This is one area that Magnepan performs their magic and the Yamaha did not stand in their way. I have also heard Magnepans using Marantz, Integra, and NAD and they all sounded about the same. I heard these in different stores at different times, so take this with a grain of salt.

Menu system:
Awkward but it works.

Equalizer:
This unit uses parametric (auto setup) and graphic (user setup) equalizers. This helps to make all your speakers sound the same regardless of where they are in the room therefore creating a seemless soundfield.

Okay, let's stop here. If you have any questions please ask and I will tell you what I know.

I will tell you this, I am happy with the results so far.

One last point...

When it comes to surround, I am a total amateur here! I'm sure that many patrons of this forum are more qualified to answer your questions, but I still will try to help.

[Rich-n-Texas]

Yeah, don't eat butterbeans and stand next to a candle

Why not? We used to light farts. It was fun!!!

AND you have two rear center channel amps, that can also be used for B speakers.
Or you can take the jumpers off of the rear of your speakers, run you mains into one
set, the "B" channel into another.
This will give you bi-amping, not to mention 200 w into each front speaker, but you will have to leave your B speakers on all of the time of course.
Be plenty loud though (havent tried it myself)

Thanks for the refresher but I've already completed that chapter.

I'm finding the Integra line very hard to come by and I think it's because this receiver is described as an "installer friendly" unit. I read an article where the reviewer had no problems setting it up (and he gave it high marks BTW). My concern is still that I won't get competitive pricing when I'm ready to make the purchase.

[pixelthis]

Why not? We used to light farts. It was fun!!!

Thanks for the refresher but I've already completed that chapter.

I'm finding the Integra line very hard to come by and I think it's because this receiver is described as an "installer friendly" unit. I read an article where the reviewer had no problems setting it up (and he gave it high marks BTW). My concern is still that I won't get competitive pricing when I'm ready to make the purchase.

Obviously a carpetbagger whos not serious about his butterbeans.
And I hate to tell ya, but lighting farts (at least diliberately ) is consider kind of "gay"
(not that theres anything wrong with that)
And installers do like the integra, its a prepro at a receiver price, if I got a seperate amp
and hooked it up I would have a serious seperates system, which was my original intent,
to step up to a seperates system, the Integra was going to be a stepping stone
(darn dogtrack)

[Rich-n-Texas]

Obviously a carpetbagger whos not serious about his butterbeans.

I don't even know what butterbeans are butterball.

And I hate to tell ya, but lighting farts (at least diliberately ) is consider kind of "gay"
(not that theres anything wrong with that)

It wasn't "gay" back in the early 60's when my friends and I invented it. In fact, it was all the rage!

"Kind" of gay? You're either gay or not gay. There's no middle ground.

And installers do like the integra, its a prepro at a receiver price, if I got a seperate amp
and hooked it up I would have a serious seperates system, which was my original intent,
to step up to a seperates system, the Integra was going to be a stepping stone
(darn dogtrack)

What's this? You lost all your money at the dog races?

[L.J.]

I'm finding the Integra line very hard to come by and I think it's because this receiver is described as an "installer friendly" unit. I read an article where the reviewer had no problems setting it up (and he gave it high marks BTW). My concern is still that I won't get competitive pricing when I'm ready to make the purchase.

This was my experience as well. No competitive pricing(both places would only do the MSRP$1300 for the 7.8) and no way to audition the unit. I had to special order, purchase and be stuck with it. Not that being stuck with a 7.8 would have been a bad thing

My understanding is that the 7.8 offers a few advantages over the 805(build quality, more flexibility.....) but the question is, is it worth the difference in price?

[Rich-n-Texas]

Can some one tell me what this spec from the 804's sheet means? (B&W 804 speaker that is)


Free-Field Response:

Listening axis +/- 2db, 31Hz - 20KHz
+/- 30 degree horizontal +/- 2dB to 10KHz
+/- 5 degree verticle +/- 2dB to 20KHz

[Mr Peabody]

I believe Spearitsound might carry Onkyo and Integra, I've seen both on their "used/demo" page. You might email them, if they carry both Jack is pretty good about breaking down differences between lines of gear you are looking at. If they stock Integra he will allow a reasonable audition and return but it's usually not as long as 30 days. I've always found them a class act to deal with.

I can't blame anyone though for not wanting to buy a product sight unseen and no way to return if it don't satisfy your needs.

[basite]

Can some one tell me what this spec from the 804's sheet means? (B&W 804 speaker that is)


Free-Field Response:

Listening axis +/- 2db, 31Hz - 20KHz
+/- 30 degree horizontal +/- 2dB to 10KHz
+/- 5 degree verticle +/- 2dB to 20KHz

If I'm correct that's the optimal listening axis...


I made a little drawing, because I can't explain it that easy (well, I could, but it'd be hard to understand...)

you should aim the speakers so your ears are definately within the 2 outer lines...

you'll get the best frequency response if your ears are on both the middle lines (the optimal listening axis), but this is not always the nicest to listen too, so that's why we play around with placement...
this is why so many people say that the sound is best when your tweeters are at 'ear level', but while this is (theoretically speaking) true, you might more like the sound when you're sitting under the tweeter level, or above...


I hope this was understandable...
(see pic below, note that the drawing is definately not on scale, and the outer and inner line doesn't really form the given angle (30°))

Keep them spinning,
Bert.

[Rich-n-Texas]

Thank you! That's exactly what I thought.

(argument coming soon)

[Rich-n-Texas]

If I drew a line 30 degrees out from my speaker to the wall, why would that not be the point where the first reflection is going to occur? According to the procedure for finding the first reflection point that Wooch linked to, the point is where you see the reflection of your tweeter in a mirror slid along a wall from where you're sitting. To me that means the first reflection depends on seating position. That doesn't sound right to me. If the SPEAKER is stationary and the wall is stationary, how can the reflection point not be a constant?

[Mr Peabody]

The first reflection would not have anything to do with where you sit. It would be a constant, it would only change if you changed the direction, or toe, of the speaker. It looks to me like your figures are showing what the frequency response is inside the speakers optimum disspersion pattern. As you get outside that area the frequency response will not be as good. A speaker is only capable of radiating sound so many degrees vertically or horisontally.