Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater What is a good value receiver?

Well my friends my system is about complete. The Yamaha DSP-A1000 is sitting on the floor and the "new" receiver is in place. Here is the setup:

Axiom Epic 80 minus the subwoofer
Harmon Kardon 230-Z reconditioned from HK
Home Depot 14 gauge speaker wire, RCA brand, about a 30' run to the surrounds
Cheap gold plated banana plugs on eBay $1 each
Cheap Samsung DVD player
Digital Cable box
Really cheap audio visual stand from a school

I am happy to say this is one of the best sounding systems I have ever heard. All done as inexpensively as possible, but the money is where it counts. I follow the philosiphy that most of the money should be put into the speakers.

I spent a little more than I thought I would on the receiver. Five years from now I will be glad I spent it.

A cd or dvd changer is in my future. Just waiting for a good deal for now.

Naturally when you test run your system the all important and fun question is what music do we put in first? Since Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy was already in the dvd player I just went with that. Hey I was antsy, just wanted to hear something. I was actually disappointed because the vocals were hissing. You know when a band checks their PA and repeats 'check check' so the ch sound is normal. Something was wrong here.

Next cd please - Black Sabbath #1 damn that sounds good. I have heard this album 100 times. It sounds good to me whatever I play it on.

Next cd - hed PLANET EARTH - Broke. hed is a band I guess you could compare to Limp Bizkit (sp?) There is some serious bass drum and bass guitar on that cd. Wow Let's turn that up a little, a little more, a little more, is that the doorbell? When I went to hide in the bedroom suite I think the bass was even louder.

Next cd Dave Matthews Band - crash. Very very nice. Talk about being able to hear every instrument so clearly and new sounds you never heard before. I guess that's what people mean. The cymbals sound like a real cymbal. Instead of just hearing a tsk tsk tsk, you actually hear the full sound. What a great recording.

Going back to Led Zeppelin, I think the recording is just bad. I spent the day with the digital cable on the Classic Rock channel. Just listening to bands you have heard so many times before and now they sound fuller, more dynamic. Even songs I don't like are actually enjoyable.

I used the auto setup on the HK 230. I guess it works fine. I can tweak later when I'm up to it.
I have been playing all this on HK's Logic 7, music mode. I need to play around with what sounds best to me.

Naturally showing off to friends the receiver went into protection mode. Woops I was playing Northern Exposure, Expeditions - techno - basically some heavy driving bass beat, not drum or guitar, just a serious bass note. We were at -10 dB and the receiver went see ya.

I really can't complain about that cut out. That is a lot to ask of an amp. I'm just glad it didn't melt down. It seems like when I play music not too loud the receiver gets warm to the touch. Nothing major, just warm. When I play stupid loud it gets warm, not hot, warm. The Yamaha got hotter.

Time for some movies. Matrix is on HBO, crank it. You know the part where they go to rescue Morpheus and set off the metal detector with the ensuing gun battle? The HK was outstanding. You can tell they put some effort into the surround sound reproduction. I had it on logic 7, cinema - HK proprietary surround decoding. Smooth and clear. The speakers had no trouble.

I saw a post on this board with someone's HK 230 settings for music and movies. If that guy is reading this, shoot me a link to that post. please

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
I am a bargain shopper that does not like to compromise. I have purchased a system that will blow your head off. With a steadier revenue, my receiver would be more powerful, probably multi-room capable, but if anyone wants to know if a Harmon Kardon 230-Z can power the Epic 80? Absolutely. Can you keep it at full volume with driving techno beats? No, that is asking too much. I enjoy my music because I like music and would enjoy it out of a transistor radio if that's all I had. Don't get caught up in the tech aspect too much and you will be happy with a system as cheap, or rather frugal, as this for a long time.

Cheers!

Great feedback.

My HK 230 gets so loud that my wife and kids have to leave the room when gets to about -13 on most recordings. So then I crank it up some more and I can take it to about -3 or so... I've never had any problem with it cutting out - but then all my speakers are 8 ohms. Any plans for a subwoofer? Even though you are frugal, I suspect you would find it worth your while if you could find an inexpensive high quality sub.

sirblastalot,

i wouldn' delay the new cd or dvd too much. am an uncompromising bargain hunter like you. didn't realize what i was missing w/ a "cheap" dvd player until i upgraded to an h/k dvd 22 several months back. a warmer, more open sound plus crisper video. cheers.

I OWN THE M80'S

I OWN A DENON 1602 - it's low end, worth maybe $500 USD.

they work perfectly and never shuts down, even after hours of play. no worries there mate.

Hey, congratulations on getting everything up and running. I bet that's an awesome sound you're getting. Glad you went with the 230, I think you'll be real happy with it.

One nice thing about having the M80s is that you can run without a sub for a while and still get great bass. Having said that, save up for a good sub in the future and you will be blown away yet again.