Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Ordering Receiver Today -- Any Last Advice?

Exlabdriver,
Very nice!! Nothing more to my question. I went from Marantz 8001, to 8002, then replaced it with Denon 3208, followed by 4520.

The 8001 and 8002 could not be upgraded w/o taking it into an authorized reseller. Just a few years back, constant FW upgrades were needed to deal with bitstreaming and various bug fixes.

BTW, I rode in Huey's and Blackhawks in the Army, but never got to fly one. So now, I spend my time flying the Huey on computers: http://www.digitalcombatsimulator.com/en/products/huey/

Love that game! that's yet another expensive hobby. By the time I buy the collective, cyclic and the rudder, it's going to set me back a few thousand dollars. Crazy!

PS: Awesome pics!

hansang

Yup, some of these virtual cockpits in people's basements can get pretty complex & expensive.

I used to be a big Flight Sim fan at one time & actually built a software Labrador cockpit for it. I would actually practice my Instrument Rating Test routes on it before ever getting into the actual airplane so I knew what to expect, ha!

If you want to experience expensive, rent or lease a helicopter for a few hours - the larger it is the more $$$$...

TAM

Serenity:

Thanks for 'prodding' the testers over at HTS to try to come up with something definitive!

In the end, it seems that there are such minute differences in the way that amps sound that it is hardly worth the huge effort it takes to undertake such an exercise. Even then, they often weren't really sure of what they heard or perceived to have heard.

The pragmatic side of me makes me look elsewhere for differences & so far with me it is only with speakers...

TAM

Quick update -- Couldn't wait any more to try the Marantz out, and I wanted to have it ready to go for when the speakers arrive -- currently in Houston, which is the nearest Fedex distribution/sort center.

I brought our Mirage FRX-one bookshelves up from the living room to try things out in my office. These are respectable little boxes, and have served us very well for what must be almost 15 years now. Speaker wire was connected, as well as a pair of RCA cables for the ep500s when they arrive. The network was linked in, and I put an old 13" tv nearby to try and do the on-screen setup. (This turns out not to work so well, as the GUI is apparently HMDI only). The firmware update was fully automated (after manual request to initiate) and went cleanly. The absolutely coolest thing is that I can turn the receiver on from my computer via iTunes and stream lossless rips off of CDs from the iTunes controls.

Everything sounds pretty good for the time being. I'm looking forward to comparing against the m80s when they get here. There is certainly room for improvement. I might even chip a few thoughts into the bookshelves vs. towers discussion, with and without addition of the subs, as that will be a natural thing to compare. These little Mirage units have a surprising amount of bass alone though, I should say. Maybe not in the deepest registers, but a decent rendering of a plucked upright acoustic. Clarity and separation could be improved, maybe. It will be interesting to get a better sense of what they are missing by contrast with (what is expected to be) a substantial set of upgrades. The office room is upstairs, with an open railing into the full kitchen, living, dining, breakfast areas. This is a radically different acoustic space than the enclosed ~20x16x8 theater area where things will end up. Excited ...