Boston or JBL

[Damasss]

newbie is here

would any audiophile assist me in choosing one of the following sets ..

set 1 :
denon 3000
boston a360 (pair)
boston a25 (pair)
boston a225c center
boston asw 650 subwoofer

set 2:

Harman 171
jbl studio 280 (pair)
jbl studio c220 (pair)
jbl studio c225 center
jbl studio sub 250

its clear that the denon much powerful than the 171 but its sold as set, i cant change, so which set is better ?

FYI
set 1 cost : 1920 US$
set 2 cost : 2240 US$

one more thing.. would any of the 2 sets works fine as a home theater 5.1 or a dedicated theater system like aquistimass 15 would perform better?



thanks..

[TheHills44060]

Hello Damasss...my vote goes to set 1. I really like the Bostons and you can't lose with the Denon 3000. Good combination for a 5.1 setup.

[Mr Peabody]

My vote goes to the JBL. JBL has been putting out excellent product, especially in the Studio line. I'm not that familiar with the HK A/V receivers. If you had a chance to listen I think you'd notice the JBL being much more revealing and dynamic over the Boston. If your Harmon dealer had access to the JBL LS series I like them even better.

[Damasss]

thx for the replies guys.
well.. iv checked the JBL , its noticeable that the jbl is more powerful in terms of speakers and sub, but there is no comparison between HK to Denon ?!

my question is, shall i sacrifice with the speakers or AVR?

i think to sacrifice with the avr! so later on in the future i can buy the denon separately.

[Mr Peabody]

HK stereo receivers were very nice, high current for good control and powerful sound, all discrete circuits, meanng no IC chips, very reliable. It's just no one in my area carries the AV stuff so I'm not sure if they same qualities carried on.

I don't understand why you couldn't buy the receiver from one place and the speakers from another. You could probably do that online with a 30 day return policy if not happy.

My set up of choice would be the JBL with a Marantz AVR. The Cambridge Audio receivers are very nice as well, however, the more mass market AVR's carry more bells & whistles.

If you just had to stick with those packages, another option to think about is whether either receiver offers preamp outputs. Those can be used to add an external amplifier down the road as money or good deal becomes available.

[harley .guy07]

I agree with Mr Peabody that the Marantz would be a viable option. I just went with a Marantz recently for the theater side of my system and really like it. It sound good and is very simple to set up and operate. I have not seen the Denon or the harmon receivers in years so I would not know how they are now but I used to be a dealer of both back in the 90's and while Harmon had more current Denon had more options but I can not say if that is still true today.