Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo Tell me what you think of this system:

So in theory a home theater won't sound as good as a stereo with something like the a300?

Josh, both in theory and in practice, unless you have a very large listening room, the 5550 should have plenty of clean power for your M2s. Note that it has bass management at 90Hz which would work well with the M2s and VX-10. Also, as you've mentioned, you'll be able to add surround speakers later when the time comes.

Could you please explain what a receiver does apart from having a remote and radio, as opposed to an amplifier? Most DVD players have Dolby DTS & Dolby Digital, so if that was playing the DVD, wouldn't you still be able to have a 5.1, or whatever, setup using just an amplifier such as the A300?

Is the receiver just for plugging a bunch of stuff into: for example if I have an XBox, Gamecube, and DVD/CD Player plugged into the receiver it will do them all, whereas with an amplifier I would have to plug in the XBox to use it, then unplug that and plug in the DVD player to use it etc?

And I'm also guessing you can't have an amo hooked up to your speakers, and in turn hooked up to a receiver in order to gain the better sound quality of the amp, with the features of the receiver?

Basically I just don't understand why you can't use a receiver with a home theater sort of setup. If I had a 2.1 setup, then would I be able to have it set up with my TV, or still no?

Josh

Hi Josh

A receiver combines the functions of various components into a single unit. Most receivers have an amplifier section. A stereo receiver has a 2 channel amplifier. A home theater receiver may have 5, 6 or 7 channels of amplification. A receiver also has a processor or preamp section. This allows you to connect and select sources and may include processing for instance DSP modes (digital sound processing), dolby decoding, etc. Most receivers also include a tuner for FM or FM and AM. This source is integrated into the unit. Onkyo and probably a few others have receivers with integrated DVD/CD players.

Receivers are convenient in that they save the user the trouble and expense of purchasing separate components. However, dedicated single function components are often of substantially higher quality than the integrated components used in a receiver.

A bit more. Yes, you can hook up an amp or a bunch of amps to your receiver, if your receiver has pre-outs. These pre outs, provide unamplified signals which you can transmit by cables to an outboard amplifier(s). Bypassing the onboard amp(s) of your receiver allows you to use your receiver as a preamp or processor.

I have a Sony STRDB 1070, 6 channel receiver rated at 100 watts per channel. No way does this thing's amplifier section put out that kind of power. The processing section is pretty good though. So, I picked up 3 Onkyo M282 2 channel amps, connected to the receiver from the receiver's pre-outs.

I have an Onkyo TXDS 797 receiver which I use as a processor. I use a 2 channel Onkyo M504 amp for the front L/R channels, and an Anthem PVA 5 amp with 5 channels for the center, side surrounds and back surrounds.

I'll try to answer your questions paragraph by paragraph.

1.
A receiver will generally offer many more features than an integrated amplifier. Here are some of the main things a receiver has that an integrated amp doesn't: video switching, at least 5 channels of amplification, multiple digital inputs (coax and optical), built in analog-digital and digital-analog converters, surround sound decoders (DD, DTS), and AM/FM tuner.

The A300 only has a 2 channel amplifier, so even if you bought a DVD player with a built-in decoder, you'd only have enough amplifiers for 2 channels. You'd have to buy more amps to drive the other channels.

2.
Did you mean amplifier, or integrated amplifier? A separate amp has only one input per channel, and is almost always used in conjunction with a pre-amp or receiver. So you'd plug all your devices into the pre-amp or receiver, and then plug your speakers into the amp.

3.
As mentioned above, yes, you CAN buy an amp AND a receiver and use them together. As long as the receiver has a pre-amp out feature (most do these days), you can connect a separate amplifier or multiple amplifiers directly to the receiver and bypass its built-in amps.

4.
Yes, you CAN use a receiver for home theater. Almost everyone does this as it's the easiest and most strightforward way to do it. If you choose to go with a 2.1 setup, you can have your TV connected to it by piping sound from it into one of the inputs on your integrated amp.


I'm of the opinion that you should go with a receiver, as it gives you many more options for your money.

Hey Josh784,

I agree with 2X6 in that a receiver will give you the best bang for your money. With a limited budget, going with a receiver allows you more flexibility to move up to a 5.1 set-up sooner than later. You'll already have the channels needed to drive a center and surround speakers once you have more money to add them. Once you get more money you could slowly upgrade to better components and speakers.

Yea - I agree with the reciever crowd as well because without that it will be hard to use that sub. If you wanted just stereo, the best would be to get a pre-amp with some kind of bass management (you need that to cross over your M2i's and Sub) and a power amp or 2 (mono or stereo).

In my opinion that HTR-5550 will have more than enough power especially considering you won't be using it for bass, as you will use its crossover.

In reply to:

---

Josh, both in theory and in practice, unless you have a very large listening room, the 5550 should have plenty of clean power for your M2s. Note that it has bass management at 90Hz which would work well with the M2s and VX-10. Also, as you've mentioned, you'll be able to add surround speakers later when the time comes.

---

JohnK hit the nail exactly on the head. And in addition, I'd say that in a larger room, he'd want bigger speakers (like say M60's or M80's as they have more drivers and a bigger cabinet to increase bass). I think for what you want, the best would be the M2i's with the Yamaha reciever and a sub that can be upgraded to surround sound later.

When you get this, try these 3 settings:
Main: Large | Bass: Both
Main: Small | Bass: Both
Main: Small | Bass: SWFR

I'd imagine that the middle one would be the best sounding or maybe the bottom one, as the bookshelves won't have to do much bass at all. But try all 3 settings.

josh,whatever you choose for a receiver,you might want to go with a matching dvd player just so you dont have to fumble 2 remotes.i dont know if yamaha makes one in your price range, but it might be worth a look.....good luck....ron