|   My Story | Adam
May 15, 2001 2:17 PM | | Well if you remember about a month ago I was shopping for a new Receiver. I had decided on the Carver C1000. Got it from One Call for about 1450, I was excited when it arrived before I even went to work. Well I went home that night plugged it in made sure all the connections were set and then ta da....not exactly the reciver didn't work, it would turn on and then turn itself off after less than 5 seconds. Heart broken, dissapointed, SOL (I had sold my Sony STR-DE935 the day before for 300.00).
Well I called One Call the next day and they said just UPS it back to us and they'll refund the money. Cool I thought, buy I still don't have a receiver. So I did my homework, read the reviews, went to Tweeter and Ultimate Electronics. I narrowed the field to: Sony STR-V555ES, Denon 3801, NAD T761, and Onkyo 787. I listened to them all, but not in my own house :(. Well after much deliberation I had to start narrowing the choices down, which was difficult considering they were all priced the same roughly. Though the Denon had a great reputation I just didn't think it made sense to pay for features (6.1, 7.1, etc.) I didn't think I would use. So we had narrowed the field to 3. I didn't like the way the Onkyo sounded and in truth it probably was not hooked to the righ type of speakers. I loved the way the NAD sounded and it looked like it was built like a tank. Only one problem I had read in numerous posts about some remote problem. Well I chose the Sony.
All you regulars around here (Bryan, Justin, PJ, Chuck, and the whole lot of you) know how much I like Sony and I how I think that it is unfairly knocked on this and other forums. Anyhoot, neither here nor there. I liked the learning touch screen remote and I figured Virtual Matrix 6.1 would be good enough, I also was a huge fan of the adjustable cross overs (adjustable for each set of speakers).
I've had the Sony in my apartment now for 36 days. It is good but I had a problem with two things. 1. after about 2 weeks the "cool" remote became a pain in the ass and lossed it's novelty. There wasn't anything worng with it just kinda overkill I guess. 2. It was eating me up on the inside knowing I had spent about 250 more for the V555ES (because of the remote) when I could have had the V444ES (same thing, just no cool remote). Well so I started looking at receivers again, hoping I could sell my Sony and pick up something else.
While waiting to sell my Sony I went back and demoed some receivers. This time I got company's to let me audition them in my APT (I just had to leave my credit card). Well I was impressed to say the least with the Onkyo and the Denon and not so impressed with the NAD for HT although IMHO it beat anything I have ever listened to for 2 channel music. So I was set, it was gonna be the Denon or the Onkyo until I came across a post in AR saying the Outlaw was now 499.99. Wow I thought that would be a steal. I read the reviews did some homework and my only problem the only reason I didn't buy it was because it would not do DTS ES according to their FAQ. I figured hey if it could do DD EX why not DTS ES?
Well after no real luck selling the Sony for what I wanted I had this thought: "Why don't I examine the receipt from the Sony." So I examined it and saw that Tweeter has a 60 day upgrade policy. If in 60 days you want to upgrade what you bought, bring it back they will give you full credit for the item (so long as you have everything) and you can use the money towards an upgrade. I had paid 950 roughly for the Sony at Tweeter (I know 125 more than what I could have had on the web). Well the Denon was 1199 at the time I bought the Sony. I called them up last night and inquired about the Denon again. They said hey the Denon is on sale for 949.99. I had a 50.00 gift card to Tweeter as it was which meant that basically I would make around 15.00 bucks off the upgrade/trade in. Well that pretty much made my mind up for me. |
| Continued | Adam
May 15, 2001 2:18 PM | | So today I went to Tweeter and picked up the Denon 3801. Haven't had a chance to play with it at all yet, still at work :(. But tonight I figure on giving it the run through.
Why the Denon you ask? Well it does 6.1 and 7.1. I know there isn't much available yet in the way of 6.1 and 7.1 (is there anything in 7.1?), but the key for me was that it did 5/7 channel stereo, which was something I really liked the sound of. Plus the rumours that an upgrade will be available for DPL-II (though I'm not a big fan of it yet) totally sealed the deal.
I just wanted to share my thoughts with all of you I plan on having a full report later tonight. |
| Continued | Chuckster
May 15, 2001 4:22 PM | | Interesting! So how come you didn't get another Carver? Did you jump to the conclusion that it was an unreliable piece of equipment? And how about the 555ES...didn't it sound good? I bet you're gonna like the 3801, and I'm looking foward to your first impressions. Anyway, which speakers are you running? If fact, what does you entire system consist of? |
| AH HA! | Chuckster
May 15, 2001 4:37 PM | | You're a Klipsch man with the 723! Ya, I saw you over at HTF ;) So hey, which TV do you own? |
| and I just read your email... | Chuckster
May 15, 2001 5:13 PM | | so I'll answer it here...
between the 787, 696, and 3801, it's hard to say. Some people need 6.1/7.1 like they need a kick in the face, but I'll be honest, I'm holding out until something with DTS-ES/DD-EX AND DPL II becomes available (reasonably priced of course); 5.1 is incredible as is IMO. Right now, I'd go with the 696 because 1) advancements have been made over model year-2000 units 2) preouts (all three have preouts for all channels driven) 3) DPL II!! 4) plenty of power (100x5w) 5) affordability
Also, w/ the 696, you will have $ left over to buy an external amp to drive all of your speakers. I'd pick up a couple Marantz monoblock amps for the mains. You might want to keep your eyes open for the new Outlaw pre/pros with are scheduled to have all the latest sound formats. Just remember, separates are usually better since there are extra power supplies (as opposed to one with a single A/V receiver) and separate amps are typically better than most mid-range receiver's amp selection. I also believe DPL is an important feature (I'll get into that later).
Chuck |
| Chuck My Reply | Adam
May 15, 2001 7:51 PM | | Well the Carver while it was a tank had a horrible remote and frankly lacked any bells and whistles. It did however supply 200w rms at .05 and had 100 in reserve PER CHANNEL!
My current set up is:
Front: Klipsch RF3
Center: Klipsch RC3
Rear: Klipsch KSF10.5
Sub: SVS 20-39PC
TV: Panasonic 32HX40
DVD: JVC 723GD
CD Player: Sony CX335
I think if I go 7.1 I'll just get a pair of RS3s for the rears and if I go 6.1 just another RC3.
Initial thoughts on the Denon 3801. The sound is cleaner than the Sony though not as loud. I'll take cleaner any day though. The 5 channel stereo is nice really nice. The display and the remote are wretched, the Sony was much better with this. Also not as many sound fields but then again I rarely used them anyway. I can't give a full report until I get the SVS here (should be friday) then I'll let you know. So far it's a winner. I would have gotten the Onkyo 787 if tweeter carried onkyo but the only carry denon, yamaha, and sony. |
| Thank you for telling us | Bryan
May 16, 2001 7:54 AM | | But the Denon is excellent. Sony was good. The Denon is better. Have you had a chance to calibrate everything yet? That could make a huge difference too. The Denon also may or may not be upgradeable to DPL II. The best way to find out is to contact Denon and see what they say. Enjoy it and I'm glad you like it! |
| nice one... | PJ
May 16, 2001 6:26 PM | | Thats a very good reciever youve picked up their.
I think the Sony ES series is as good as the denon, onkyo, marantz's, but apart from their ES, is pretty average...
We'll be waiting for the official adam review... :) |
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