Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Stereo Receiver Only

One thing we should probably make clear is that we're not talking about actually using the video inputs themselves for audio -- it's just that every video input also has a corresponding set of audio inputs (so the sound matches the picture).

There was a period where the trend was to design amplifiers with ultra-low THD even if that meant higher intermodulation distortion (IMD), since nobody was measuring IMD at the time. Once some scary IMD numbers were published, I get the feeling the design focus changed so THD went up a bit but IMD numbers went down. I doubt you will hear any difference, in fact the overall result should probably be better.

Stereo receivers have not seen a lot of progress because most of the people buying receivers are now buying AV receivers, and most of the people buying stereo are buying high end separatees. Manufactures keep their stereo offerings real simple; I don't think they sell a huge number of them and doubt they would sell more even if they had every new bell and whistle under the sun.

I run an HK3270 which is the predecessor of the model below the 3480 and am very happy with it although on occasion I do wish I had a bit more power. For me, the 3480 seems like the way to go -- it's available at a good price and seems to have all the features you want except 3 speakers, midrange tone control, and I haven't checked the tape monitor details.