Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Most Musical HT Receiver

Out of the following, which one is the most musical? I am leaning twords the Denon at the moment..

Harmon Kardon AVR-125
Outlaw Audio 1050
Denon 1803

Any other suggestions? Nothing more than 500 bucks please

If the CD or whatever you're playing is "musical", any properly designed amp or receiver will be equally so. Don't get caught up in the music/HT nonsense. Also consider the Kenwood 6070 and Marantz 5300.

well I have a kenwood now and I can't stand the thing..that's why Im upgrading...
you mean the receiver doesn't affect sound at all?

I'm almost certain that the Outlaw will be the best performer on that list for music, judging from everything I've read on various web sites. Marantz is also a brand worth considering.

The most musical receivers (not counting the megabuck B&K units) are the Arcam AVR100 and AVR200 by a runaway margin. Neither have 6.1 processing or component switching, but the music performance is night-and-day better than a Denon or Yamaha unit.

AMD,
I echo JohnK's opinion.

With the equipment you are looking at, it is unlikely you would hear any significant difference between those receivers.
Differences between speakers is usually apparent to almost anyone. However, differences between electronics so close in design will not likely be distinguishable by the usual home users (if at all) unless you were using some very high tech measuring equipment.
If you want some warm and sludgy sounding music, buy some Bose speakers instead of the Axioms. The speaker change will produce a far different 'musical' sound than swapping between any of those 3 receivers you mentioned.

I too say you won't hear any difference between the two.

AMD, an amp or receiver doesn't care whether the information it's been given is music, speech, explosions, or whatever; if it amplifies one accurately, it'll do the same for the others.

I began to wonder if your receiver had developed a defect, but then I read your other thread. If the sound on movies is in fact "very good", that indicates that the DVD player, receiver and speakers aren't the problem. If the music isn't good, then that's because the music coming into the receiver isn't good.

CD's blow. Boycott music until a reasonably priced alternative with quality recording and media is available at more than one worthwhile song per disc.

I just did a side by side comparison between a 320Kbps rip of the Donnie Darko remake of Mad World and the one on the DVD extras. To my ears the quality was exactly the same...I should try this again, with a 128 rip. What receiver would you guys get in terms of features and bang for the buck?

Yes, that's a better question. For features and bang for the buck it's not likely that you'll be able to beat the Kenwood 6070, a THX certified receiver with all the bells and whistles except on screen display, and which you can get for around $400.