Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners A/V Receiver Upgrade?

Hey everyone, my first post here! Just wanted to get your opinions on whether I should upgrade my current A/V receiver, a Sony STRDE485, to something else. I bought it about two years ago on sale for $200 Cdn, and it has worked well with my Axiom M3Tis in my bedroom setup. However, I often feel like I am missing some power and clarity with this receiver. I feel like my M3Tis, which I am very happy with , are not being played to their full potential. They do sound musical, and the image is quite good, yet I find that they are not exceptional as other reviewers make them out to be. Will the speakers sound much better if say I purchased a Denon, Marantz, or another higher end receiver? I am willing to spend about $500 Cdn for new equipment. I am hoping for a significant improvement in sound if I do decide to upgrade.

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Axiom M3Ti
Sony STR-DE485
Panasonic DVD-RV32
QED Silver Anniversary Cable
Radioshack Evolution II Toslink Cable

2 channel system only?

I'd look into a stereo only receiver or integrated amp. Try looking at http://www.canuckaudiomart.com or http://www.audiogon.com for some used gear. Your $500 CAD will go much farther that way. No point in paying for seven channels of amplification if you're only going to be using two.

LK, welcome. Since you're using this in a(presumably fairly small)bedroom, it's highly unlikely that you're even using the 80 watt capacity of your 485, and since you're only using two channels, it's in fact coasting. If so, the distortion is inaudibly low and if there's a clarity problem it wouldn't have anything to do with the receiver. So no, spending more money on a replacement wouldn't improve the basic sound quality and wouldn't really be an "upgrade" in that respect.

Here's a couple to check out...

NAD C350 Integrated
NAD C352 Integrated
Rotel RA-1062 <-- I own this, and can attest that it's a winner!
another NAD C352

That should get you started.

I would say that if you're not sure the speakers are operating to their capability, make sure they're in the best positions possible and calibrated!

I also have two Athena ASB2s bookshelf speakers that I use for surrounds when watching movies. Saving up to get the Axiom VP100 center. So I use my system for 60% music / 40 % movies.

I am just curious if a better receiver will give me "better" sound. If I do get a new receiver I am hoping the sound is considerably better to be worth the upgrade!


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Axiom M3Ti
Sony STR-DE485
Panasonic DVD-RV32
QED Silver Anniversary Cable
Radioshack Evolution II Toslink Cable

I would suggest you take the money you have for a new receiver and use it to get your VP100.Nothing can improve the sound of a system as much as speakers.

Since you're looking for 5.1, completely disregard all my previous posts.

In my opinion, a receiver upgrade can give you a different sound. Better? That's up to you. (I've had receivers switched A/B and could hear a diference.)

I've always had good luck with Onkyo. Denon and H/K are also hightly touted on these boards.

I'm with Mark on this.
Speaker placement and position is sooooooo important.
I've played with different degrees of toe-in over the last year with my M60s and then one day I decided to try NO toe-in.
Although I've always thought my speakers sounded great, I was amazed at what an improvement this made. I can only explain it by saying the depth and the width of the sound increased two-fold.
Keep in mind though, every room is different.

There's no doubt placement must be played with. If you move them all over the place and find the very best spot, and still think something is missing, try buying a new receiver. If you look around, you'll likely be able to find a store that has a liberal return policy. That should give you the opportunity to bring it home, listen to it, and if it's not what you were hoping for, return it.

Good luck!