Stereo Receivers

[Piano Mouth]

hello, I think we had this thread before, but anyway, what are some of your recommendations on a high quality awesome sounding stereo receiver? any brands worth looking into? I want it to sound GOOD. thanks in advance.

[james]

old post, but did you pick something? budget? speakers?

[Piano Mouth]

I have an Onkyo receiver. When I play records on it it's kind of shitty, but the Micca speakers I got are pretty good. CDs, cassettes and mp3s sound good on it. Dunno what it is about the record player. damn it.

[james]

The turntable is the hardest part of the equation with the most care needed. So many variables. What kind of table?

[Piano Mouth]

I got it from Newbury Comics, it's an audiology turntable. It sounds really faint and fuzz heavy.

[Mo Noyz]

Sorry I missed this. I do seperate componants these days, but have to admit that the current crop of mass market audio receivers these days are usually quite similar, and sound very good. You can buy a Yamaha, Sony, Onkyo, Harman Kardon, Teac, whatever. The differences with be minimal, if they exist at all.

Glad to hear you like your Onkyo. What speakers are you driving with it?

[Piano Mouth]

Me? I'm driving with Micca speakers. They aren't bad at all, gives me great sound on NBA games too.

[Mo Noyz]

I've often wondered how important the accuracy of a system is to the music that most people here listen to. Is it as important as it would be be to genres like Jazz and Classical, for example?

[james]

I got it from Newbury Comics, it's an audiology turntable. It sounds really faint and fuzz heavy.

it's a super entry level turntable...i can't imagine it would sound very good. sorry

[james]

I've often wondered how important the accuracy of a system is to the music that most people here listen to. Is it as important as it would be be to genres like Jazz and Classical, for example?

makes an even greater difference to me. ability to convey micro and macro dynamics makes a big difference to me. good timbre, too

[Mo Noyz]

Interesting. I've never heard it on an entry level system, so I had no idea. But, what you said makes sense.

[Piano Mouth]

What kind of turntable would you recommend? I know I have a shitty record player lol

[james]

What kind of turntable would you recommend? I know I have a shitty record player lol

no offense intended!

I personally think the Rega RP1 is the minimum entry point to make playing vinyl records worth the expense. A cheaper or improperly setup turntable can ruin your records and will sound like crap.

Low cost digital is so good now that you have to spend a good amount to make your analog front end sound as good as a digital front end of less cost.

[Mo Noyz]

Which illustrates the inferior nature of analog in a home audio setting.

Digital will always sound better (unless you like harmonic distortion), and cost FAR less.

[james]

Which illustrates the inferior nature of analog in a home audio setting.

Digital will always sound better (unless you like harmonic distortion), and cost FAR less.

Certainly subjective, but yes, cheap digital is great now...even though my analog front end costs less than my digital front end...and both sound great.

[The G Man]

Digital doesn't necessarily sound better than analog. Everything else being equal, it will be a more accurate representation of what was played but "better" is subjective. I know audiophiles who prefer vinyl to digital. They think that analog is warmer and digital is too analytical. The equipment matters, of course.

I have a high-end audio system in a treated room and mostly listen to digital. Some of my lps, especially the 45 rpm Music Matters Blue Notes, remastered from the original master tapes sound incredible. OTOH, a great system exposes flaws of poorly recorded analog to a much greater degree than digital. I spent more than I intented on analog because I have a lot of records, but many of them sound terrible on my system.

[Piano Mouth]

Fantasy Registry Wish List: What is the very best supreme record player you can get with the best needles and all that shit.

[Mo Noyz]

Which illustrates the inferior nature of analog in a home audio setting.

Digital will always sound better (unless you like harmonic distortion), and cost FAR less.

Certainly subjective, but yes, cheap digital is great now...even though my analog front end costs less than my digital front end...and both sound great.

I'm not sure what you mean by cheap digital. Do you mean components and transports?

[Mo Noyz]

Fantasy Registry Wish List: What is the very best supreme record player you can get with the best needles and all that shit.

Unless you're a multi-millionaire, you may want to aim slightly lower. Turntables and their needed accessories can soar quite easily into the upper five figure range if you're wanting the supposed "best of the best".

James mentioned Rega earlier, and I've always heard nothing but positive comments about their models. Probably a good place to start.

Or just start getting everything from iTunes. Their standard 256K AAC VBR format is indistinguishable from CD.

If not: http://www.musicstack.com/guide-to-coll ... ables.html

[james]

Which illustrates the inferior nature of analog in a home audio setting.

Digital will always sound better (unless you like harmonic distortion), and cost FAR less.

Certainly subjective, but yes, cheap digital is great now...even though my analog front end costs less than my digital front end...and both sound great.

I'm not sure what you mean by cheap digital. Do you mean components and transports?

an inexpensive digital front-end, such as an Audioquest Dragonfly, Schiit Modi or modern, lower end CD player. All are way better now than products at those price points 10 years ago