[Mudjock]

I am shopping for an HT receiver for a friend.  He will only be running 2-channel for now, but possibly adding surround later.  The two speakers he will be driving are pretty revealing monitors (NEAR 10M) with a nominal 4 ohm impedance.

I think he would be well served by some of the new digital amp - based receivers out there, as he has limited space and an enclosed cabinet.  There seem to be several options out there, and I would like some opinions on which way to go.

Contenders I am aware of...

Panny SA-XR25, 50, (wait for 70)
JVC RX-ES1SL, wait for RX-F10 (Tripath-based)
Pioneer Elite EX500 Receiver+DVD (Haven't heard anything).
Sharp (Any competitive models in this price range?)

I could always fall back on a refurb Marantz for $300-$400, too.

Other suggestions welcome.

[JoshK]

Just to make things more confusing Sherwood has a digital amp out now that uses Equibit (one bit true digital I beleive) and Kenwood now has an interesting one as well.

I think you shouldn't overlook Harman Kardon's DPR1001 either.

[BenF]

The problem is we have seen almost no head-to-head evaluation of these new flavors of digital receivers/amps yet. I'd be excited to do a comparison of all these new receivers and what speakers, etc. are synergistic. I think the speakers do play a significant role in which one sounds right. Or, vice versa, your speakers will sound different depending on the digital receiver feeding them.

Perhaps we'll get a chance as they become more available to see how the sound character is between the different ones. I just wish I could do it! It would be fun!

Also, what connections does your friend need, what capabilites, are there differences in the DSP implementation for HT, etc. These usage issues are sometime more important for some people. You have to weigh their value to your friend.

Meanwhile, the buy-from-a-B&M-try-for-30-days-and-return-if-unsatisfied route seems the only way to try to sort this all out.

Hope you find one that makes your friend happy, for now

Ben

[azryan]

That Sherwood looks like it's exactly the same as the Pannie's.

80Hz x-over though. Similar horrible speaker outputs. Probably rebadged Pannie.
If not then they bought the same Tex. In. Equibit board that's in the Pannie, and copying the Pannie's form and layout put in their own pre/pro board hooked to the Tex. In. board like Pannie did.

Lists for $599!? though. I assume les in stores but the Pannie's are half that price online.

I believe a cheapo Rec. using Tripath's chips will just save space and power supply and not be a revolution of digital audiophile technology or anything.

Low powered Tripath chips have been in all sorts of unimpressive budget gear for years.

I owned 2 cheaper cost Tripath 200W x 2 amps and they were not at all world class and both died actually. They were meant to be more upper end amps too.

If you're going for a really cheap rec. I'd think going for the pure digital path would be the safest bet bypassing the most analog crap.... but... still expect that it won't be such an incredible giant-killer as the power supply will be crap as will wiring, connectors -all the analog parts inside it.

That Sherwod looks good for mods though.

If Sony gets their S-Master Pro act together I think those could be a good modding option too -though they seem to start at a much higher price point and I personally rejected the 2000ES after a full month of trying it.

Not sure about the Sharps. They use the highest smaple rates of any digital powerDAC chips I think which people have said can actually be a prob. with fighing the RF from them.
Others think the higher the sample rate the better. I dunno.

[Ears]

I will be receiving a Harmon Kardon dpr 2005 in the next day or two to evaluate.
These are direct digital to the output pwm and are a total re-design from the old H/K digital amps.
Here are some specs
120x7 @8
200 x7 @4 both whith all channels driven whith 0.05% thd 20-20
105 s/n
Selectable output filtering for different speaker impeadances 8/6/4ohm.
Decent binding posts for all channels
iec socket
Backlight  learning remote
dpl2x
dts6.1es
96/24
logic 7
zone 2 output
SA-CD/DVD-A bass manager
Quadruple x over
Input titling
A/V sync delay

For info on the digital amps check www.d2audio.com

I have found these for as little as 1299.00 delivered and I beleive list is 1599.00


Greg

[Mudjock]

Thanks for the input    

I have looked at the DPR-1001 and thought it might be something for me to play around with (onecall.com has it for under $500).  It looks a little power-hungry, but does have pre-outs.  

My friend is probably looking for something more simple and inexpensive.  I am leaning toward the JVC, which reportedly has a tripath-like topology, to match up with the NEARs - which can sound bright with amps with a tendency toward leanness.  I can get the RX-ES1SL for less than $200.  

I have read that the Panny XR25 can sound a little grainy compared to the now discontinued XR45.  I'm not sure where Sherwood falls within that spectrum.

[Horizons]

I will be receiving a Harmon Kardon dpr 2005 in the next day or two to evaluate.
These are direct digital to the output pwm and are a total re-design from the old H/K digital amps.
Here are some specs
120x7 @8
200 x7 @4 both whith all channels driven whith 0.05% thd 20-20
105 s/n
Selectable output filtering for different speaker impeadances 8/6/4ohm.
Decent binding posts for all channels
iec socket
Backlight  learning remote
dpl2x
dts6.1es
96/24
logic 7
zone 2 output
SA-CD/DVD-A bass manager
 ...

Please post your opinions on this HK. I was very impressed with my old 2 channel HK. Robust power supplies, lots of current into low impedance loads, etc.

[ABEX]

I use modified NEARs and they work fine using the Pannie Digi Amps. Remeber to use an after market well insulated PC with them.

Just my thoughts!

[TheChairGuy]

Panny SA-XR25, 50, (wait for 70)
JVC RX-ES1SL, wait for RX-F10 (Tripath-based)
Pioneer Elite EX500 Receiver+DVD (Haven't heard anything).
Sharp (Any competitive models in this price range?)

=========================================

Mudjock, I saw the JVC RX-ES1SL in Costco tonite ($199) and it's pretty impressive package visually and has good heft at 18.8 lbs.

The Panny's are 1/2 that weight.  While it doesn't always translate to better sound, I'd think there might be beefier power supply (transformer) inside the JVC vs. the Panny's as part of the difference.

It has spring clip speaker terminals and attached cheapie power cord, however.  All the same, at $199, it could be interesting.

[Ears]

I received my 2005 yesterday and already have two complaints.

The first is the binding posts are just as cheap as the Pany posts and do not accept spades.
The second is that so far, the 2005 will not except an upsampled digital signal from my highly modified Philips 963sa.
The Pany excepts even the 192hz signal and displays it as such.

The specs that I quoted for the 2005 are also a bit optimistic as I got them from the www.d2audio.com site

I will let the 2005 run in over the weekend and compare the non upsampled signal as well as dd/dts and sa-cd through analog.

Greg

[Ears]

The audition is over and the Pany 45 wins hands down over the dpr 2005.

I fully expected the 2005 to win but what I heard was an analog sounding receiver which sounded harsh at anything other than moderate listening levels.

The 45 in comparison, sounds smooth and detailed even at ear splitting levels.
The 2005 does hi rez sonics better but still not as good as my old B&K 202 receiver or my Parasound c2  pre/pro which both had non digitized analog outputs.
My Sim i-5 also does 2 channel hi rez better than both digital receivers.

I liked the 2005 better at dd/dts than redbook, but the Pany was also cleaner and more detailed sounding whith H/T sonics.

The 2005 goes back tommorow and I will be trying a Kenwood digital receiver next.

I bought the 2005 from J&R for 1299.00 delivered and it clearly was inferior to the Pany 45.
I am tempted to have them send me a different 2005 but will probably wait for some positive reveiws from owners before trying another.

Greg