Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Stereo can denon receiver dra-395 drive M3?

Hi,
I'm looking for a stereo receiver for the bedroom. Denon dra-395 is cheap on ecost.com . BUt I have a couple of questions:
1> can dra-395 drive M3 or M60 efficiently? it's only 80wpc

2> has anyone tried Denon stereo receiver ? how's the quality?

3> why stereo receiver does not have digital input? Does that mean you will need a high quality Cd or dvd player?

thanks a lot .

Hi audiofan,

Denon stereo receivers have been high-quality for years, and will drive the M3ti's or M60s easily, the latter within the limitations of room volume and the Denon's rated power output. The latter may well be closer to its specs than many multichannel A/V receivers, which are often rated with just one channel driven, which can be very misleading in terms of the receiver's real power output driving five or more channels.

You can use an inexpensive CD player's analog output jacks to connect to the Denon. The CD player's internal D/A (digital-to-analog) converters will be indistinguishable from other brands (it's a mature technology) except with test signals auditioned at extremely high level. Even those in inexpensive Panasonic or Sony portables are excellent these days.

Likewise, you would have to use a DVD player's analog stereo audio output jacks to play back CDs or DVD audio in stereo.

Stereo receivers do not have digital inputs because the vast majority of customers want Dolby Digital/dts 5.1-channel playback for movie and DVD surround sound. The digital circuitry in multichannel A/V receivers will also decode stereo CDs into a 5.1-channel configuration with Dolby Pro LogicII. With classical, jazz and other acoustic recordings, as well as some pop/rock material, this can be a huge enhancement in listening pleasure and realism over 2-channel stereo.

Regards,

Thanks, Alan.

So, an a/v receiver may be better than stereo receiver? The reason i'm looking at stereo receiver is i only need music (jazz, classical, pop/rock/....).

There's also a large library of jazz and classical music available on SACD and DVD-A. (more so than pop music) You'd want a receiver that can handle the 5.1 analog inputs required of SACD and DVD-A.

spiffnme, thanks for the input. I actually have avr-3805 which is in basement where i can watch movie, listening to CD/SACD and so on. And I just want 2-channel stereo in my bedroom. If i also go with 5.1 channel , then i would need 5 speaker plus a sub. They already are over my cost. I'm looking into Rotel too, but it's too expensive for a bedroom listenning

audiofan - take a trip over to ecost and look at the refurb Denon gear. Great savings. They have the DRA-395 for $129.

Ooops - didn't see the mention of ecost on your posting.

AF, if you're absolutely sure that you won't want to use more than two speakers for your bedroom system, then of course a stereo receiver will be adequate. Among the several excellent points Alan made, however, note especially that DPLII can make a significant increase in naturalness with stereo material.

Your comment about "only" 80 watts doesn't recognize how powerful that is. At a comfortably loud listening level your speakers will be using 1-2 watts and unless your bedroom is extremely large and you listen at very high volume it's unlikely that even on brief peaks the speakers would use 80 watts. Bear in mind that even a 160 watt amp only has 3dB more headroom than a 80 watt amp(e.g. if one could handle a 110dB peak, the other could do 113dB).

Ray3, DRA-395 is the one i'm looking at. Price is good.

Johnk, I'm pretty sure that i don't want more than 2 speakers since i've already had a pair of M3 (i'm upgrading to QS4 for my basement hometheater). I think only A/V receiver offers DPLII.

thanks for all of your input.