Denon AVR587 versus Marantz SR7200 - Axiom Message Boards

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Just curious to get a few opinions, here.

I picked up a Denon AVR-587 from eBay for $150 for use with another television (non home theater) and to run a couple pairs of speakers in my kitchen and living room. I bought it knowing that it is Denon's lower end av receiver, but for what I have envisioned using it for, it seems to fit my needs and Denon owners are well represented here speaking highly of the product.

Do you think it could possibly compare to my Marantz SR7200 that I am currently using to drive my 60's, 100, and Hsu STF-2 in my "home theater room"?

Just going by the specs on both, I think you would find it difficult to notice any real difference between the 2. I take it the Denon has not arrived yet?

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Just going by the specs on both, I think you would find it difficult to notice any real difference between the 2. I take it the Denon has not arrived yet?

No, the Denon has not arrived. I ask this question for a couple of reasons.

1. The Marantz does not allow me to change the crossover setting to my sub, it is internally set at 100 Hz.

2. My Wife, GOD love her, needs to watch movies with the volume turned way up because she says she can't hear the dialog from the center channel very well. That seems to put a strain on my VP100 and I am hearing a bit of distortion in the left woofer. I'm wondering if the 100 Hz crossover is too high and, thus, too much bass is going to my VP100 and causing the problem.

I posed this dilemma around last Thanksgiving prior to my owning my Hsu subwoofer. I had hoped that the inclusion of a sub into my system would cure the distortion problem, but it doesn't seem to have worked.

My room is approximately 14' x 20' and I sit approximately 15' away from the center channel. I have calibrated the system with an SPL meter and Avia disk with the speakers all reading 75dB. I have "upped" the dB level to the sub and it is set around 85 dB, I think. Alan, and others, suggested that maybe I should be running a VP150 and that would take care of it.

I just thought that using the Denon's adjustable crossover to 80 Hz may be a viable option. If not, then the next step will be a VP150 before the Q8's.

I had big success when I moved the VP100 from under the TV to on top of the TV (using one of the omnimount shelf things). It very noticably cleaned up the dialog for me.

I doubt the VP100 is choking on that 80-100Hz content. Are you sure you're not just driving the Marantz into clipping?

I don't think it could hurt to try the Denon. It'll take forever to wire everything, though.

I've got the VP100 sitting on top of my TV, right at the front edge, and a pair of doorstops helping to angle it more toward the premier listening position on my couch.

I'm not quite sure I understand what you mean by "driving the Marantz into clipping". Does that mean I am turning the volume up too loud and the amp cannot handle it? Wouldn't that mean that the Marantz is underpowered and I need a more powerful amp? That doesn't seem logical to me.

You're right, rewiring would be somewhat of a nightmare and the Wife would probably just roll her eyes and say..."Haven't you gotten that thing figured out yet?"

I know that curiosity will get the best of me, so I'll probably try to switch out the amps.

Raz, of course experiment with the 587 when it arrives, but note that setting the crossover lower puts more, not less, bass load on the VP100.

Another thing to try is to lower the setting on the sub. It seems you are running it around 10db to hot, that is way to high. Remember there is a correction factor on the spl meter so you very well might be running the sub even higher than you think.

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My Wife, GOD love her, needs to watch movies with the volume turned way up because she says she can't hear the dialog from the center channel very well.

Have you tried turning up the center channel by a few decibels in the receiver's menu? The problem may be simply that the center channel is too soft in relation to the other speakers. If she has a hard time making out the dialog because it's being drowned out by the other channels, turning up the whole system won't help.

If that doesn't help and you've already played around with positioning, maybe a 150 is worth trying?

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Another thing to try is to lower the setting on the sub. It seems you are running it around 10db to hot, that is way to high. Remember there is a correction factor on the spl meter so you very well might be running the sub even higher than you think.

I've got it set that high because it seems that I am not getting the bass that I thought I would. It's set that high through my receiver and the volume on the sub is at 12:00, this gives me "acceptable" levels of bass to my ears.

I've never done the "sub crawl", so maybe it's time to turn the dB levels down a bit and hit the floor!

Should the sub also be calibrated to 75 dB to match my other speakers?, because I tried that and wasn't getting enough bass for my liking.

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Have you tried turning up the center channel by a few decibels in the receiver's menu? The problem may be simply that the center channel is too soft in relation to the other speakers. If she has a hard time making out the dialog because it's being drowned out by the other channels, turning up the whole system won't help.

If that doesn't help and you've already played around with positioning, maybe a 150 is worth trying?

Yeah, I've tried that, but it still seemed to put a strain on the VP100. I'll try again. Bottom line is...I need to dedicate more time to performing some of these fine tweaks to the system in between kid's lacrosse, basketball, ballet, etc., etc.

Yes the sub should be calibrated @ 75 db also. This would actually make the sub around 78 db when using the RatShack meter due to the correction table that should be applied.

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That seems to put a strain on my VP100 and I am hearing a bit of distortion in the left woofer.

You specifically can hear distortion from just the one woofer? Could be a loose internal connection or bad woofer if it is just the one and not both. I am about 12 ft away from my VP100 and it is crystal clear.

I set my sub to 10 dB above everything else. But that may be a peculiarity of my test disk (DVE).

It is.