HiFi question. Need decent receiver.

[honkyjonk]

Hey guys,

I'm looking for a decent receiver that amplifies about 2 pairs of channels, but also has at least 2 pairs of relatively transparent, non amplified channels where I can route the CD player or the TV signal through on their way to a couple ADCOM amps.

Anything you guys recommend? I usually just have a crap stereo setup at my home, but the fiance's parents want me to "fix" their system, which is a total mess. So, short story, I don't know crap about Hi-Fi, and the "Hi" isn't going to be very high, just something under, say, $400, that isn't disposable with the feature set above. Is that too tall an order? Used is fine, but new is better of course.

Joel, I promise this is a 1 time thing. I won't pollute the forum with any hi-fi questions after this.

[inverseroom]

I think a silverface Marantz would fit the bill. I have a 2238. They sound good, they look cool, and they are cheap!

[I'm Painting Again]

the Fisher 250 sounds pretty good too..

[The Scum]

Another vote for old Marantz. I'm very happy with my 2245, for well under $100.

The front end is all class-A, discrete. They're built like tanks, and have plenty of inputs...tape in, tape monitor, and aux channels, plus phono/AM/FM.

If you need surround sound, look for their old Quad systems, they start with "44."

[rwc]

I think you just need an integrated amp. Unless you need a radio, this would give you more quality for any given price.

I like the Marantz 1060. Mine's over 30 years old and works like I bought it yesterday. Powers Thiel CS3.6 speakers.

[comfortstarr]

I need a new stereo for regular listening. I've been thinking of this:

http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=NAKC715

It's kind of pricey, $778, but I've heard those PSBs before and they're very nice. The NAD thingy seems to take care of everything else I want/need (iPod hook-up, CDs, AM/FM).

Aside from price, any reason not to get that? I don't listen at super high volumes. Any other ideas for a simple home stereo would be appreciated.

Thanks and happy holidays.

[rwc]

At low prices, the best you can do IMO are ascend and axiom speakers. Very low prices because they spend all their budget on research and development instead of marketing and dealers. They're usually only available by online purchase. I've yet to find a dealer for either of them, but they do better.. when I got my axioms, they offered free shipping and gave you a 30 day trial in your house.

They're great. They're similar to the thiels I have(the m22ti), but not as good.. same general character. and they cost 10% as much bought new.

Put the m22ti next to the paradigm studio 20 and do a double blind test. Then look at the price. They nearly sound the same, excluding a lame ass bass boost in the paradigms, but they cost half as much.

[centurymantra]

Sounds to me, unless I'm missing something that you just need a preamp, like you just need a preamp. Given you already have amps and don't need a radio or HT processing, I'd say you could skip the reciever angle. Maybe get a decent integrated amp if you don't do a pre - just make sure it has 'pre out' settings. A nice Rega integrated would be cool. I used to have one of those and they're pretty great. You can find used Rega Mira integrated amps at www.audiogon.com and that should be in your price range.

Many other options of course...

I think I'd angle towards looking for a decent little preamp.

[comfortstarr]

I pulled the trigger and got this:

http://nadelectronics.com/products/hifi ... ic-Systems

With these:

http://www.epos-acoustics.com/product_v ... ?name=els3

Plus 16' of nice speaker wire. It was relatively cheap. I probably could've gone the used route, but I punked out.

I was able to listen to the speakers and was fairly much blown away.

[comfortstarr]

So, I know we generally dis the hi-fi world on this board--and I'm right there with that. And while I'm sure my above purchase is probably not considered that hi-fi by those in that world, to me, it's a rather jaw-dropping improvement over my old Sony "micro system" for just listening to music in my house. Those speakers are really really something. All told, I shelled out $768 bucks for the speakers, the all-in-one NAD thing, and some cable. Can't believe I'm going to say this, but "the clarity" is remarkable. I was listening to Neil Young CD and hearing all sorts of nice artifacts from what I assume was the original recording. Nice little bits of distortion here and there.

[Chris Graham Mastering]

I have a fisher 400 that's all tube and from the 60's. they rock. soooooo musical. easy to mod and upgrade, and just plain cool looking.

[the_snowfields]

Pioneer SA-9500! I just got one and it sounds f'ing great

[Marc Alan Goodman]

Another vote for an old Marantz, though there are tons of things from that era that will do the job well (personally I think way better than most modern stuff and for WAY cheaper. Think like $10 at a local yard sale)

[Rolsen]

Apologies in advance for the hijack...

What is it about old receivers that make them better, more musical, etc? Is it simply the fact that you can cheaply-purchase used what was top-of-the-line back in the day? Is it a component thing?

[Chris Graham Mastering]

Just because they are older doesn't mean they sound better, some of them where better, some not. Some amp's will sound great with some speakers, some will sound horrible. Mine is all tube, so that has a huge difference from anything solid state. Sometimes a mellower amp will make a harsh speaker sound great, sometimes vise versa.