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December 28, 2006 - 11:17am
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Need Upgrade Advice
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Get rid of the 2 kids..........OR...move into a RANCH, all on one level..
Hi
Im in a similar situation with two systems, one in the bedroom and one in living room for surround.
Theres no doubt the Denon is the weak link downstairs, an idea would be to purchase a good integrated to suit your budget, Rega, Creek, Naim or whatever and then purchase a good quality speaker switch box. That way you could use the downstairs for surround with the denon and with the integrated for music.
The problem with trying to find a musical receiver will be cost, you will have to spend $3-5K on Arcam or something similar to get a receiver with the same music abilities as a good $1000 integtrated. As long as you get a good quality speaker switch box it will not introduce any noticable signal degredation into the speaker path.
Steve
Thanks for the advice, think I'll keep the kids though...
I used to have the Naim Nait5i in the system downstairs (it has an AV mode that allows it to be used as an amp for the reciever and then switch to an integrated for the CD player), but didn't feel like it matched well to my speakers. My budget is $3,000 to 5,000 for an upgrade.
If you have $3000 for the upgrade, my advice would be to go to the AYRE AX7e for $2950; this is an outstanding integrated amlifier that would put your system into a much higher performance level.
Another one that is excellent is the PS AUDIO GCC-100, for $2795.
For only $1500, the CREEK 5350SE would also give you MUCH better sound than your current DENON.
These are 2-channel recommendations though; would you still use the DENON with the 5-channel system for the TV?
If you want a 5-channel RECEIVER, then maybe the DENON AVR-4806 at $3500 would be an good upgrade from what you have. A review was done on this unit in Stereophile in January, I think; it should be here on the website. How does this unit compare to your 4800???
Your Denon may be the weak link but it ain't shabby, I owned the model below yours. If you desire to stick with a multi-channel reciever for numerous integration reasons, I don't think you would be dissapointed with the Arcam AVR 350. Using the 6th and 7th channels to bi-amp the fronts, and run in the "Pure Direct" mode which turns off all digital circuits it renders truly high end sound that rivals dedicated two channel integrateds in the $1000 to $3000 dollar range. Do audition one if possible.
RG
Guys, don't forget the Magnum Dynalab MD 208 receiver John Marks gave a thumbs up to at under $3K. Just need lots of breakin.
I'll throw in another vote for the Arcam receivers being highly musical and enjoyable to use.