Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Which receiver for my Epic 50 system?

Bob, welcome. Your 502 should be just fine with your Epic 50 system. If in the future you want a receiver with different features, there's time to look around. Certainly there's nothing urgently calling for a change because of basic amplifying ability.

Hey thanks everybody!

As I already mentioned, whenever it comes to A/V equipment I am a complete idiot, particularly the technical side of things. My current system consist of a Sony 37" KE37XS910 Plasma, the 502, a pair of Sony CDP-CX355 cd players, Sony DVP-NS315 dvd with a mixture of Infinity, Bose and DCM speakers...the lower end stuff.

The speakers are gonzo for sure and I'm sure the DVD will be updated at a later time, the thing is that we are in the closing laps of a complete home remodel and I want to at least have the the speaker system and receiver that I'll keep for awhile due to the way they will be installed. I just didn't know if the 502 would work well with the Axioms.

Also, another question. In laymans terms, and to a non-technical person like myself, what is the primary difference between the Epic 50 system and the 60? Will I notice the audible difference during everyday use?

Thanks again everybody!

The main differences between the 50 and 60 packages are :

- M60s have a dedicated midrange driver so have a bit flatter and more forward midrange... the 60s are part of the "more accurate, more clarity, but bad recordings can sound bad" family while the 50s are part of the "laid back, smooth sounding, everything sound good" family. Confused yet ?

- QS8s instead of QS4s -- main benefit is supposed to be ability to play louder and therefore work well in larger rooms but I haven't seen real A/B comparisons

The web site now offers three different subs with each of the packages so I'm not sure which sub the "Epic 50 package" includes these days. Sub size is pretty much a function of room size, although it looks like the EP350 is now getting the spiffy new driver from the EP500/600 which makes it pretty attractive.

i think the Onkyo 502 will be just fine. it has the standard feature set that most of your better receivers have, and it has a good amount of inputs/outputs to be very versatile. the only problem i might see is in the total wattage output. if you are a guy who is gonna really CRANK the volume a lot, then you might feel the need for some more power. but, i would wait til you get your speakers set-up in the living room, and give it a test run, and see what you think. you might find the 502 to be perfect, and then you could spend that cash on a new cd/dvd player or something else to improve your overall system.

BTW- i have the Onkyo 701, which pushes 100 watts per channel, and i have yet to crank it all the way with my M60's. its just TOO loud!! the 502 has 75 watts per channel, so i think you might be OK.

bigjohn