Your advice: Panasonic XR-55/70 or JVC RX-D301

tcsubwoofer · « **on:** 25 Jul 2005, 07:09 pm »

I'm a former audioholic who has not purchased a piece of stereo equipment in about 4 years. I'm moving and I will be selling my aging Sony TAE-9000ES preamp and B&K EX4420/ST1430 amps. My new house has built in ceiling speakers in the main living room and I want something simple and low key - that is until I build a HT in the basement.

I'm excited about the new digital amps and I've been anonymously perusing these forums for the last year or two. I'm impressed that the Panasonic XR amps are shown on the www.newformresearch.com website which is a reputable high-fi speaker manufacturer.

Sooo.. is it Panasonic or JVC? Seems like Panasonic talk ruled the forums last year, but now there is lots of JVC talk. I don't see Wayne at Boulder Cable modifying JVC recievers so perhaps this indicates the Panasonic may be the way to go.

I'm hoping somebody who has kept abreast of technology will help my selection. Bottom line is this receiver will be used for an in-ceiling home theater setup, but may be used for my Norh 4.0s down the road. Here are some of my desired features:

1. Crossover selectability down to 80 Hz
2. HDMI
3. Lots of inputs for future connections (playstation, DVD, etc.)

Seems like the Panasoinc XR55 and the JVC RXD301 give me crossovers to 80 Hz. How important is HDMI? WIll I notice a difference between HDMI and component video on a 62" screen?

Thanks in advance.

Brad · « **Reply #1 on:** 25 Jul 2005, 07:24 pm »

From what I can gather, the Panny will be better on digital sources and the JVC will be better on analog sources.

The JVC is also better at harder to drive loads (shouldn't be an issue with Norh 4.0 - a great home theater speaker, btw)

For HT, I would imagine that you are mostly going to have digital sources - DVD, Hidef TV, future HD-DVD. That would lead to the Panny. Make sure you have enough digital audio inputs for all of the sources.

Can't help you on the HDMI issue, but logically, keeping the signal digital all the way through should be an improvement.

Feisal K · « **Reply #2 on:** 25 Jul 2005, 07:55 pm »

IIRC neither of the two have HDMI connexions

I know, it's unthinkable they put out a new product without HDMI...

bikeman · « **Reply #3 on:** 26 Jul 2005, 01:02 am »

Quote from: Feisal K

IIRC neither of the two have HDMI connexions

I know, it's unthinkable they put out a new product without HDMI...

Each company puts out a product with HDMI. Why do you think all products have to have HDMI? Do you think consumers don't deserve the option of choosing which features they need and which they rather save money on?

David

jswallac · « **Reply #4 on:** 26 Jul 2005, 03:59 am »

If you only care about HDMI for the video, just connect straight to the TV (unless you have multiple HDMI sources). It really is not that much work to hit the TV/Video button on the TV's remote to switch inputs. One less piece of equipment in the chain will likely benefit the picture.

Feisal K · « **Reply #5 on:** 26 Jul 2005, 04:42 am »

Quote from: bikeman

Each company puts out a product with HDMI. Why do you think all products have to have HDMI? Do you think consumers don't deserve the option of choosing which features they need and which they rather save money on?

David

David,

Coming back to the original query

Quote from: tcsubwoofer

Seems like the Panasonic XR55 and the JVC RXD301 give me crossovers to 80 Hz. How important is HDMI? WIll I notice a difference between HDMI and component video on a 62" screen?

1. my answer was in reference to both products mentioned in tcsubwoofer's original query. So IIRC, both products do not have HDMI.

2. Everyone is free to choose what products they want. tcsubwoofer was just asking about HDMI if you don't think it's useful, you should tell him that.

tcsubwoofer · « **Reply #6 on:** 1 Aug 2005, 03:09 am »

I'm mostly interested in quantity of inputs and cross-over at 80Hz. I ordered the unit from Amazon a few days ago and should receive it next week. I remain cautiously optimistic about the unit and I'm hoping I'm as impressed as everybody else. I'll try to post my comments after I've had time to review it.

tcsubwoofer · « **Reply #7 on:** 8 Aug 2005, 04:49 am »

I was able to hook up the XR-55 this evening which replaces a Sony TAE-9000ES plus B&K EX4420/ST1430 combination. I must admit how nice it was to use fewer cables to hook my system together after many years of using separates.

We had been camping all weekend and this has been in a box in my house for several days and I was looking forward to setting it up. I was able to set up speaker distances, cross-over settings, etc. pretty quickly as my family was waiting to watch Disney's "Brother Bear". Oh, how my movie viewing habits have changed with family life. My wife asked how long it would take for us to start the movie and I said about 1/2 hour. Well, that was actually true which was nice because every time I disconnected/reconnected my last system took hours.

I had a big grin on my face as I played my Norh 4.0 system REALLY loud (I think these run at 86 db sensitivity) with seeming ease. Played a movie or two then popped in Patricia Barber's Cafe Blue. The sound seemed a little dry, or harsh, but I couldn't really tell for sure. Still sounded pretty good to the point that I would bet a lot of money that if I concealed this sytem behind a reputable hi-fi set-up that many would be fooled in it sound quality.

Of note, I had used some less expensive cables to get the lengths I needed to hook this up. Lets just say that for my viewing/listening habits this darn receiver had me extremely impressed with its performance. All for ~$225 at Amazon!!! After the movie I was already cleaning and taking pictures of my old system to sell. What an amazing time we live in that a $225 receiver prompted my selling of nearly $4k retail of separate amps/preamps.

Of course, my new house will not allow the use of Norh 4.0s until I remodel the basement. Instead, I will be using $200/pair Klipsh in-ceiling speakers and a hi-fi system in out of the question. The Panasonic XR-45 is perfect and therefore, I don't need the other equipment to trend toward further obsolescence.

So far, I am completely satisfied with the new generation of wonderfully low-priced, yet high performance receiver. I will post more if I have time.

Feisal K · « **Reply #8 on:** 8 Aug 2005, 08:06 am »

tcsubwoofer, glad its working out!

guess the HDMI is going direct to display (which after all is the best option)

Jon · « **Reply #9 on:** 11 Aug 2005, 05:16 pm »

I use HDMI direct to my TV. Works great.