Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Reciever Opinions?

Haha..that's reassuring. Perhaps I should give up before I begin.

If I was still single I would tend to agree with you, but even with my wife being as supportive as she is, I'm not betting on things getting too out of hand. I have too many other expensive hobbies that I'm unwilling to sacrifice.

I know just enough to not buy stuff at a major electronics store, but not so much that I'll make the time to get too hardcore.

In fact to be honest, I get more enjoyment out of the research, learning, and then getting kick-ass (relative term) equipment while others stupidly overpay for lesser grade than anything.

Perhaps the real hobby is purchase research :-)

Do the new Pioneers peform bass management on the 5.1 analog inputs?

So, Nick, tell us about those other expensive hobbies. We're always eager to learn from each other (and hijack any given thread)

I really liked your observation about "Purchase Research"!

You're dead-on about 5.1 v 6.1 v 7.1. Many people are absolutely delighted with a high-quality 5.1 system, especially using the much-loved Axiom QS8's as surrounds. Implementing more speakers may make sense depending upon the size and configration of you room. However, there is very little native source material for 6.1 and none (I believe) for 7.1; typically, the 6th and 7th channels are synthesized or matrixed by the receiver.

There are many fine receivers in the sub-$1000 range. Shop for features. Listen to Sushi about the MCACC/YPAO and front projection stuff.

You might want to leave some money available for a universal remote control.

I purchased Axiom M60's not long ago and could not be happier with them. They are rich, smooth and detailed beyond my expectations. And the depth and breadth of soundstage they convey reminded me just how glorious "stereo" can be.

Hmm..other hobbies. Well, I'm an avid golfer. Wife even caddies in my tournaments...As I said she's supportive. I guess that's really my only other expensive hobby. But as sports go it's not the cheapest.

I'm certainly learning a lot here and other boards and am looking forward to ending up with something good. I have to admit the boards here are confusing as the thread gets choppy with people responding to different posts. I almost missed some other suggestions because it wasn't numerical posts.

Anyway, my list of receivers seems to be growing:

Yamaha RX-V2400
Denon 3803
Pioneer Elite 53TX or 55TXi
NAD T752 or 762

I'm interested in this being a nice setup so that it will play music well and also movies TV. Do any of these receivers stand out for this? I hope to have the romper room in the basement so music while the pool table is being used is a requirement!

I'll respond in the other "branch" of the thread about the video

-Nick

I'm certainly willing to consider a front projection setup. As I mentioned in another part of the thread I'll probably do this in the basement so I could certainly manage the light issue. I don't know much about them however so I guess it'll give me something else to research. Are they suitable for all viewing formats? I would probably do a fair amount of PS2 gaming on this setup. Would that be a problem?

Also, I guess I'll have to figure out the SACD & DVA-A stuff. I'm not really familiar with it yet although I believe that DVD-A is DVD audio right? God only knows how I'm going to address this issue...I figured I'd be fine with a normal high quality DVD player and get a CD player seperately. As I said I'm a newbie.

Oh..I guess these posts are in numerical order. For some reason I just missed a couple...oops! At least I feel confident I won't miss good info now. Other than being an idiot of course.

Curtis, I don't think so. The receiver doesn't do A/D and D/A conversions on the 5.1 analog inputs. I believe all you can tweak on these inputs is the channel level, as in the case in my 45TX.

Nick, if you're willing to spend that much, my view is that only receivers providing automatic room and speaker equalization should be considered. That would mean the Pioneer 53TX or 55TXi and the Yamaha 2400 which have already been mentioned.

SACD and DVD Audio are for high resolution music. I love DVD Audio and am waiting to have enough extra cash for a Denon 2200 to be able to finally play SACD. They are both excellent formats and worth the investment if you love music. The sound quality is usually much better than CD or vinyl, while also often being in full 5.1 sound as well as stereo.

Also I do not know about the Pioneer and Yamaha recievers, but Denon has an excellent feature called 5/6/7 channel stereo that turns stereo music which would normally only come out of the front two speakers and adds the other speakers making the same noise as the front. It is a similar effect to having front speakers and rear speakers in a car. It is an excellent feature for when you are hanging out with friends playing pool and want room filling sound beyond the limitations of Stereo.

So that technology will actually configure the speakers in the room for me? So I wouldn't need one of those sound meters to configure it myself? Or would that just handle the basics and I'd need to tweak it myself?

It sounds like an impressive feature.

Last night I'd read a lot of good things about the NAD T752 & 762...the cool thing about this is when it comes down to it there appears to be a lot of quality options. The downside is it appears it'll be tough to make a choice. No wonder you guys keep upgrading!

-Nick