Panasonic SA-XR50

groovetube66 · « **Reply #20 on:** 14 Apr 2004, 02:06 pm »

I received my SA-XR50 from J&R yesterday, double boxed and not too abused by UPS. This is a really nice unit and out of the box sounds better than my XR10 which I like a lot. The multisource remastering is a nice feature. Haven't gotten all that good performance out of the FM tuner but I am imagining I'll need to hook up a better antenna than the supplied wire. Any recommendations?

Overall a nice looking and sounding package with a better display. It has put my Fisher KX-100 stereo tube integrated amp on the bench. Thanks to everyone at this site and audioasylum that provided info on the amp. Probably the best hifi purchase I have made in a long long time, and surely the most bang for the buck.

Grayson73 · « **Reply #21 on:** 14 Apr 2004, 06:33 pm »

Does the SA-XR50 have an on screen display?

What does multisource remastering do? Which mode and input do you see this take effect?

groovetube66 · « **Reply #22 on:** 14 Apr 2004, 07:11 pm »

From the manual:

Multi-source re-master
This original feature boosts the frequencies of the higher harmonics that
are lost during recording due to compression.
When Re-master is on, the current level appears.
EFFECT 1: For fast tracks (pop and rock)
EFFECT 2: For tracks with a variety of tempos (jazz)
EFFECT 3: For slow tracks (classical)
EFFECT 4: For compressed audio signals
OFF: The re-master processing is off.

Seems to work on pretty much anything. On older redbook CDs it is very noticeable and appreciated. I have not tried EFFECT 4. Right now EFFECT 2 seems to sound best.

No onscreen, but the display on the unit is larger and easier to read + the additional mode knob on the unit makes changing settings and programming much easier. Thumbs up!

Grayson73 · « **Reply #23 on:** 14 Apr 2004, 08:05 pm »

Do these effects work on Dolby Digital and DTS movies?

Strange that it doesn't have OSD. On the Panasonic UK website, the description says that it does have OSD.

Richard U · « **Reply #24 on:** 15 Apr 2004, 07:31 pm »

According to the manual, the XR70 has on screen display.

Richard

Beatles · « **Reply #25 on:** 15 Apr 2004, 08:16 pm »

Actually out of all of them the XR10 is by FAR the best sounding. It's sweeter and more 3 dimensional. They quickly realized they were losing money on the 10 and released the newer versions with subpar parts and circuitry.

tvyankee · « **Reply #26 on:** 15 Apr 2004, 08:25 pm »

May only come out the composite output.

Check it out.

mcrespo71 · « **Reply #27 on:** 15 Apr 2004, 08:56 pm »

^^Now that's a good avatar!!!^^

Grayson73 · « **Reply #28 on:** 15 Apr 2004, 09:10 pm »

Quote from: Beatles

Actually out of all of them the XR10 is by FAR the best sounding. It's sweeter and more 3 dimensional. They quickly realized they were losing money on the 10 and released the newer versions with subpar parts and circuitry.

Beatles,

Where are you getting this information from?

Beatles · « **Reply #29 on:** 15 Apr 2004, 09:12 pm »

Quote from: Grayson73

Quote from: Beatles
Actually out of all of them the XR10 is by FAR the best sounding. It's sweeter and more 3 dimensional. They quickly realized they were losing money on the 10 and released the newer versions with subpar parts and circuitry.

Beatles,

Where are you getting this information from?

Direct from Panasonic, my best friend is one of the engineers on the amp projects and he ONLY uses the 10 including a prototype that never made it to production which is STUNNING. I have the 45, 10 and just got the 50. Had a 15 for a couple weeks but it was trash. The 10 is a superlative unit especially at the price they're trading at right now.

dwk · « **Reply #30 on:** 15 Apr 2004, 09:24 pm »

Quote from: Beatles

. I have the 45, 10 and just got the 50. Had a 15 for a couple weeks but it was trash. The 10 is a superlative unit especially at the price they're trading at right now.

I have a 10 and a 25, and I'm not sure I'd agree. It's been a while since I had the 10 in a 'real' system, but I found it pretty generic. It definately didn't have the midrange detail that I found in the 25.

Beatles · « **Reply #31 on:** 15 Apr 2004, 09:26 pm »

Quote from: dwk

Quote from: Beatles
. I have the 45, 10 and just got the 50. Had a 15 for a couple weeks but it was trash. The 10 is a superlative unit especially at the price they're trading at right now.

I have a 10 and a 25, and I'm not sure I'd agree. It's been a while since I had the 10 in a 'real' system, but I found it pretty generic. It definately didn't have the midrange detail that I found in the 25.

Never had a 25 but I can tell you for a fact the midrange is far more detailed on the 10 than the ones I HAVE had. The imaging and soundstaging is much more 3 dimensional and decay is more accurate as well.

Grayson73 · « **Reply #32 on:** 15 Apr 2004, 10:21 pm »

Quote from: Beatles

Direct from Panasonic, my best friend is one of the engineers on the amp projects and he ONLY uses the 10 including a prototype that never made it to production which is STUNNING. I have the 45, 10 and just got the 50. Had a 15 for a couple weeks but it was trash. The 10 is a superlative unit especially at the price they're trading at right now.

Too bad the SA-XR10 is only 5 channels. I need a 6 channel receiver

Can you ask your friend whether the SA-XR70 will be superior to the SA-XR50 and whether the SA-XR50 is equal to or superior to the SA-XR45?

Beatles · « **Reply #33 on:** 15 Apr 2004, 10:27 pm »

Quote from: Grayson73

Quote from: Beatles
Direct from Panasonic, my best friend is one of the engineers on the amp projects and he ONLY uses the 10 including a prototype that never made it to production which is STUNNING. I have the 45, 10 and just got the 50. Had a 15 for a couple weeks but it was trash. The 10 is a superlative unit especially at the price they're trading at right now.

Too bad the SA-XR10 is only 5 channels. I need a 6 channel receiver

Can you ask your friend whether the SA-XR70 will be superior to the SA-XR50 and whether the SA-XR50 is equal to or superior to the SA-XR45?

I know that he/me were not overly impressed with the 50. He said that the suits cut back on the circuitry that the engineers wanted for cost cutting.

Grayson73 · « **Reply #34 on:** 16 Apr 2004, 03:48 am »

Thanks,

Let me know which one he thinks is the best 6 channel receiver.

I used to have the SA-XR25 but returned it and bought the SA-XR50, which is set to arrive on 4/19.

I can get the SA-XR25 again or wait for the SA-XR70.

There's also an SA-XR30 coming out, but I'm not sure if that is 6 channel.

groovetube66 · « **Reply #35 on:** 16 Apr 2004, 05:46 pm »

The SA-XR50 to my ears sounds really good, and is 6 channel. I cannot say the XR10 I have sounds better. In fact, the XR10 did not seem to have the dynamics the XR50 has. This seemed evident right out of the box, and after break-in. This is not to say the XR10 doesn't sound good, because it does.

I think J&R has the best price -- $250 with free shipping on the XR50.

Grayson73 · « **Reply #36 on:** 16 Apr 2004, 05:58 pm »

How did you get $250? It is $299 for me.

groovetube66 · « **Reply #37 on:** 16 Apr 2004, 06:21 pm »

Hmmm... maybe because I preordered. You might try calling in the 800 order number -- maybe you can ask the customer service person for that price? It's worth a shot.

BenF · « **Reply #38 on:** 16 Apr 2004, 07:06 pm »

I looked at all the manuals on-line. I own the XR45.

XR10 shows a freq response of 10Hz-44kHz + or - 3db and THD 0.9%
XR45 shows a freq response of 10Hz-44kHz + or - 3db and THD 0.3%
XR50 shows a freq response of 10Hz-88kHz + or - 3db and THD 0.09%
Did the TI chips change? Why the differences? The big question I want to know is does each generation sound better? Do the analog ins sound better? Is the difference in the TI chip or in the implementation? Based on an unnamed "engineer at Panasonic", the quality is going down, not up. It is interesting to see how these digital amps evolve.

Digital inputs S/N is 90db for the XR10 and 85db for the XR45 and XR50.

XR10 has no digital output; XR45 and XR50 have one optical out.

Frankly, the XR50 has the same connection setup as the XR45 except it has 2 coax in and 2 optical in, where the XR45 has 1 coax in and 3 optical in.

The tuner and tone controls appear to be the same for all the units. I read somewhere, and I recall it as a reliable (not just a poster) source, that a 100Hz rolloff for the speakers to the sub is a good place to do it, since a 6db/octave slope means you'll be down about the right amount on a typical speaker that goes to 50Hz -3 anyway, so the crossover does not seem to be an issue to me. I haven't seen any feedback that there is trouble integrating a sub with these receivers.

This makes me think the XR50 is the replacement for the XR45, since its weight is also the same. Perhaps the XR30 replaces the XR25. The XR70 is just an XR50 with HDMI and DPLIIx, maybe?

Ben

groovetube66 · « **Reply #39 on:** 16 Apr 2004, 07:53 pm »

Wouldn't this engineer at Panasonic be in Japan somewhere? Anyway, from what I read somewhere (another forum?) Panasonic is trotting out the Equibit technology with a very aggressive pricing scheme. I doubt the quality is going down. A company the size of Panasonic can afford to jump start the widespread distribution of technology like this as it'll make it up in future sales and in volume. Besides, the TI chips used in these are inexpensive - $25 or so according to what I saw at diyaudio forums.

S.

Panasonic SA-XR50

BenF