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Posts: 5327
Location: Cicero, NY | any suggestions on stereo receivers? My 30 year old Harmon Kardon is dying a slow, painful death and I could use suggestions 'cause everything I look at looks like a cheap imitation of what I have. Any thoughts? |
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February 2004
Posts: 1634
Location: Warren,Pa. | Bose. |
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Posts: 4394
Location: East Tennessee | Al bought a camera?
Great pictures of the new garage. :D |
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Posts: 1116
Location: Keller, TX | Stick with HK. I have a AVR301 that is a few years old, but still better than any of the other stuff out. |
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September 2003
Posts: 9301
Location: south east Michigan | Maybe it's just a momentary sour attitude but I think it is very hard to find a "good" anything anymore. "Replaceable" yes... .."good"...no. |
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Posts: 338
Location: Omaha | It is interesting...some of the best guitars ever made are being made today; and this is from the "cheapies" made in China and Indonesia - which are much better than my first Teisco del Rey - to the high end custom shops.
Why isn't the same thing true for stereo equipment...or is it, and I'm just out of touch? (I'll have to admit, I haven't replaced a piece of stereo equipment in years...) |
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Posts: 1132
Location: Parrish, FL | Tough call. I used to be a total stero geek, but marriage, then kids, then no $$ brought that to a halt. I still peek occasionally. Denon still has the old 'quality' feel to it. The HK is still a good choice as well. I think what has happened over the last 10-15 years is the manufacturers have figured out the solid state stuff pretty well and the cost of it has been driven down as well.
Also, they are not building the cabinets as heavy as they did in the past. I had Denon CD player from the mid 80's that weighed an easy 15 lbs. Lots of shielding I guess. It bit the dust a couple of years back and the unit I replaced it with is less than 5 lbs. Works just as good, probably better, was 1/2 the cost of the 80's unit, just doesn't feel like a quality component.
My suggestion is to visit shop dedicated to high end gear. Listen to it, decide what you like best, judge the value. The most important knowledge I came away with 20+ years ago was buy the best speakers you can afford as they will have the greatest impact on the sound you hear. I ended up with a set of Snell Type E speakers. They now need work as the foam support ring around the cones as deteriated, but up to that point they were the best, most neutral speakers I could find at under $1000 (actually $700) in 1981.
(has anyone replaced the foam support ring on a set of their speakers? I'd like to hear how it went, where you bought the kits at, what it cost. etc) |
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Posts: 231
Location: N.J. | Lexicon Makes some very nice sounding stuff for home audio. |
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May 2005
Posts: 120
Location: Gardnerville, NV | The company I manage the security division for also does high end custom home theater. The current favorites for receivers are made by Denon and Yamaha. In seperates (surround processors , etc..) Lexicon is great. The prevailing attitude about Bose is wonderful marketing, but when it comes to sound, all highs no lows it must be Bose. |
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Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | They just opened a brand new Bang & Olufsen store here in my town . . . I have YET to muster up the courage to walk in . . . |
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Posts: 5327
Location: Cicero, NY | I'd be driving the long away around that street too, Cliff. I've got a pretty ok ear and really do enjoy a good sound regardless of the source (live, radio, cd, tv, whatever) but I am far from being the true audiophile that will spend a couple $3-4 g's on a system. I think we all know what kind of sound can be achieved if you're working on that kind of budget but I'd like to keep some cash in my pocket for the next guitar. I'm looking at (7.1/700 watt) Onkyo/Sony/HK/Denon receivers and (5) Sony/JBL/Polk speakers on probably a $600 - $700 budget. If anyone has any thoughts on that range, I'm listenin'... |
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Posts: 1132
Location: Parrish, FL | Checkout www.Crutchfield.com for selection and pricing on those products. |
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August 2002
Posts: 8307
Location: Tennessee | You first got to ask yourself how much you want to spend. $500 or $5K? Are you going to keep all of your existing components, and what are their "relative" quality levels? How about your speakers? Replacing like for like, I'm still a fan of Harmon Kardon when it comes to pure stereo amplification in the lower price range -- I have two in use. Denon is right there in terms of quality and price and better at 5.1 I think, although I have Marantz 5.1 amplification that is very nice and was only marginally more expensive.
If you want to spend $5K ... B&O is very sleek, Macintosh is timeless, and there are a lot of boutique manufacturers that will drain your lottery winnings faster than the Ferrari dealer. Please post regularly so I can live vicariously through you. ;) |
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Posts: 812
Location: Hicksville, NY | I used to purchase my home audio stuff piece per piece, in the past. After all these years, it's surprising that some of them are still in very good working condition ... and still going ...
My sister-in-law owns an Onkyo receiver, and both my dad and brother own Denons. I think you can't go wrong with any of the above-mentioned brands. So far, I like what I hear.
On a personal level, I have a nostalgia for old-school receivers ... at a time in the late 70s and early 80s when brands, such as Sansui, Akai, and Marantz were all the rage. It was during this time that I purchased my Kenwood receiver. It just brings out the best sound from every speaker that gets plugged into it - regardless of brand. Over the years, the other components came and went, but this one stood out. It's now confined in the basement and not cranked up as often as she used to. While she has seen better days, she's still in great working condition.
I currently own the Bose Lifestyle 38 system that replaced the old home audio in the living room. While I'm very pleased with the purchase, I will admit that the brand is just a bit too overrated, and soundwise, it's really not what I can call the best. I still prefer the sound that comes out of my good ole Kenwood, with the B&W (Bowers & Wilkins) 704 and Klipsch forte speakers, with the Velodyne subwoofer. One thing I can tell about the Bose system is that I have a high quality system that delivers very good sound in such a small package. I couldn't believe how much space I now have in the living room after removing all those floorstanding speakers, and glass cabinet that once housed the receiver with the CD player, tape deck, and other stuff! |
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Posts: 49
Location: Madison, WI | What's wrong with your Harmon Kardon that cant be repaired? The thought occurs that finding a new one that fills the shoes of the old one would cost far more than having it repaired. |
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December 2001
Posts: 10581
Location: NJ | In my stereo cab I have a HK citation II tube amp. It is at least 40 years old sound great....
yup vintage hi fi is the way to go |
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Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | I'd just find a good, local tech to give the HK a "once over" . . . |
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October 2005
Posts: 5327
Location: Cicero, NY | That's what pushed me over - the last local tech told me he can't do it anymore because the parts just aren't there. If he had 'em or could get 'em, he'd take care of it but he doesn't and can't. I need McGuyver to come in and rebuild it out of facial hair and toothpicks. |
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Location: NJ | do some searches on vintage hi fi with your HK model number see what you can come up with. there are plenty of people out there that dabble with vintage gear, you just have to seek them out. |
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March 2005
Posts: 12750
Location: Boise, Idaho | Welcome back, Al. How about some pics of the Ohio show that you took with that new camera? |
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November 2005
Posts: 49
Location: Madison, WI | Granted I am no electronics expert by far . . . but in the handful of silverface hi-fi equipment I've had, I've never come across anything not working that couldnt be repaired with new transistors and contact cleaner. I havent had the pleasure of any tube hi-fi amps.
What exactly is wrong with it? |
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February 2004
Posts: 171
Location: Tulsa, Oklahoma | I just bought an old seventies vintage pioneer reciever for my music room... Sounds FANTASTIC!... If you can give up having a remote I'd recommend going for something like I got.. You get "REAL" watts per channel... I run a pair of mid seventies JBL speakers and the sound is what most people crave.. |
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October 2005
Posts: 5327
Location: Cicero, NY | You're asking the wrong guy, spiffy. I'm somewhat versed in electricity (dad and granpa were both electricians) but, unfortunately, not electronics so transistors, capacitors, and the yellow, red and brown thingymabobs make as much sense as wives to me. Been married 22 years too!
Seems like the consensus is that I should be able to find a local guy so I'm going to dig a little deeper. Thanks, all, for the opinions. |
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Now that Al's camera is bought...
