[mskvarenina]

My Denon AVR-5803 has died in a lighting strike. As it's a bit out-dated now (no HDMI switching) I've been thinking about replacing it soon so if the repair bill is too high, it may be time to just get something else.


The big problem is I have B&W 802Ns and they need alot of power to play loud. Even at 170 WPC, the Denon sometimes clipped when I played them very loud so I'd be looking for something with more power. Unfortunately it looks like the current receiver offerings don't even offer 170WPC anymore.


I'm fine with going separates (like I used to do) but I need to keep a budget in mind of perhaps $3-4k max and I don't want to be in a position of having to turn on and offer a bunch of components. This is why I switched to a receiver in the first place as it was much more convenient.


I don't need to go new, something from Audiogon at a good price would work.

 

[mjpearce023]

Have you looked at the Denon 4311? It's a nice receiver but won't have quite the power of your old one. You could easily add an amp to it for the front 3 speakers. The 4311 and an Emotiva XPA3 would be around 2500. The Emotiva is just an example as there are tons of nice used amps you can get on Audiogon. You can use a 12v trigger than will turn the amp on when the receiver comes on so that won't be a problem. There are plenty of good receivers you can find used but I would give the 4311 a shot and see if you like it. Most people that I have seen upgrade have been very impressed with Audyssey MultEQ XT32.

 

[mskvarenina]



Quote:
Originally Posted by mjpearce023 /forum/post/20845742


Have you looked at the Denon 4311? It's a nice receiver but won't have quite the power of your old one.

Ok, got the 4311ci, powered it up tonight on my B&W 802 Nautilus speakers.


Does sound good, possibly a little cleaner that the AVR-5803 I had.


The B&W 802Ns love power, B&W says between 50-500 watts. The 4311 being only 150 watts isn't really waking them up. So now I need an 2-channel amp recommendation, something used perhaps from Audiogon no more than $1500 tops. Since I like to play the 802s loud, I'd probably be looking for an amp with at least 300wpc...


Recommendations anyone?

 

[Knucklehead90]

How about a new amp for almost half that? Either an XPA-3 or XPA-5 should get those speakers hopping. Those amps come with a 5 year warranty - used amps come with no warranty. I've owned a UPA-7 for over three years and had no trouble with it. Sounds great and has lots of power.

 

[mskvarenina]

Never heard of this company, the XPA-2 2 channel with 300 wpc seems interesting.


Would welcome opinions from fellow AVSFORUM members on this manufacturer.


In the old day I used to be an audiophile, ultra high-end gear for everything. Now I've settled down into accepting the convenience (and price) of an A/V receiver but still need some good electronics and power for the 802s...

 

[afrogt]

Emotiva amps are very popular with AVS members. Just do a simple search. There is a thread with 12,000+ responses in it.


http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...hlight=emotiva
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...hlight=emotiva

 

[Knucklehead90]

The only thing un-audiophile about the Emotiva amps are the prices. If you can get over that you'll enjoy tons of power at an affordable price.

 

[mjpearce023]



Quote:
Originally Posted by mskvarenina /forum/post/0


My Denon AVR-5803 has died in a lighting strike. As it's a bit out-dated now (no HDMI switching) I've been thinking about replacing it soon so if the repair bill is too high, it may be time to just get something else.


The big problem is I have B&W 802Ns and they need alot of power to play loud. Even at 170 WPC, the Denon sometimes clipped when I played them very loud so I'd be looking for something with more power. Unfortunately it looks like the current receiver offerings don't even offer 170WPC anymore.


I'm fine with going separates (like I used to do) but I need to keep a budget in mind of perhaps $3-4k max and I don't want to be in a position of having to turn on and offer a bunch of components. This is why I switched to a receiver in the first place as it was much more convenient.


I don't need to go new, something from Audiogon at a good price would work.

Cool. Glad you like the 4311. Have you run audyssey yet? I think that's where you will see an improvement over the old Denon.


I don't see many complaints about the emotivas so I would agree to try out the XPA2. Just don't go to their forum. There are quite a few members on that forum that try to convince everybody that 2 xpa1s will sound much better than the xpa2. They really just convince people to waste money.

 

[mskvarenina]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Knucklehead90 /forum/post/20924641


The only thing un-audiophile about the Emotiva amps are the prices.

That's exactly what I was thinking...the price just seems way too low for an audiophile amp....

 

[mskvarenina]



Quote:
Originally Posted by mjpearce023 /forum/post/0



Cool. Glad you like the 4311. Have you run audyssey yet? I think that's where you will see an improvement over the old Denon.

I haven't tried the Audyssey yet, been on the fence about using it with the 802s. These are such find speakers I don't think I want the receiver to apply tone changes to the sound of the speakers. Center channel and surround is fine but when I'm listening to music i want it to be pure and not artificially changed by the receiver...

 

[toofarzong]

I would go with a decent preamp, and a used Bryston 4B or 4BSST. The Bryston's can be had for around $2k-$3k. They are definetly worth the cash. They have a 20 year warranty and I've heard them paired with your speakers, and they sound amazing.

 

[mskvarenina]

I'd love to go with separates but I love/need the convenience of A/V switching which is why I'm probably going with a A/V receiver and a separate amp for the 802s

 

[jonnythan]

The 4311 is a hell of a lot of receiver. Seems like massive overkill unless you need some of its more intricate features. Seems to make a lot more sense to me to get a receiver closer to $1000 and add an XPA-2 for your hungry speakers.


Speaking of the XPA-2...

http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/a.../emotiva-xpa-2


"That being said, the XPA-2 exceeded its power specifications by considerable margins."

 

[ccotenj]



Quote:
Originally Posted by mskvarenina /forum/post/20925567


I haven't tried the Audyssey yet, been on the fence about using it with the 802s. These are such find speakers I don't think I want the receiver to apply tone changes to the sound of the speakers. Center channel and surround is fine but when I'm listening to music i want it to be pure and not artificially changed by the receiver...

just as a fyi, audyssey (and other room correction software) doesn't change the tone of your speakers... it attempts to ameliorate the effects of your room on what comes out of the speakers....


good choice on the 4311...

as a fwiw, my a100 drives my reasonably hard to drive speakers with no issues. so you might want to try just using the 4311 by itself without a separate amp first...


just because a speaker will "handle" 500 watts doesnt mean you need an amplifier that will deliver 500 watts...

 

[jonnythan]



Quote:
Originally Posted by mskvarenina /forum/post/20925567


I haven't tried the Audyssey yet, been on the fence about using it with the 802s. These are such find speakers I don't think I want the receiver to apply tone changes to the sound of the speakers. Center channel and surround is fine but when I'm listening to music i want it to be pure and not artificially changed by the receiver...

That's not what Audyssey does.


Your music will only be "pure" if you're listening in an anechoic chamber. The fact is that the room has a huge influence on the sound put out by your speakers. If you did a frequency sweep, you'd see the response in your room differs significantly from the response in whatever room in which B&W does its testing.


There's nothing "pure" about just setting up a receiver and speakers in a room and doing no equalization whatsoever. Audyssey automates a highly complex process, and does it very very well. You should really use it.

 

[enricoclaudio]

What about the Integra DTR-80.3? It has Audyssey XT32 + Pro ready. It will be available mid October. Also, paired with the Emotiva XPA-5 will be Awesome....

http://www.gspr.com/integra/integra-cedia2011.html

 

[mjpearce023]



Quote:
Originally Posted by mskvarenina /forum/post/20925567


I haven't tried the Audyssey yet, been on the fence about using it with the 802s. These are such find speakers I don't think I want the receiver to apply tone changes to the sound of the speakers. Center channel and surround is fine but when I'm listening to music i want it to be pure and not artificially changed by the receiver...

Ccotenj already explained it better than I can so Ill just say to try it out and see what you think. If you don't like it for music you can always turn it off but I like to leave it on myself. It's all about personal preference but I really think it would be a waste of a 4311 to not use XT32 with movies at least. If you don't use XT32 you might as well trade me for my 3311.

 

[mskvarenina]

That's interesting. Is it configurable based on the input source, in other words on for Blu-ray, off for CD?

 

[phantom52]



Quote:
Originally Posted by mskvarenina /forum/post/20927538


That's interesting. Is it configurable based on the input source, in other words on for Blu-ray, off for CD?

After you set up the Eq program with the 4311 you will want to use for all of your sources. If not a button press or two and you will good to go. Should deliver all the power you need for those speakers.

 

[ccotenj]



Quote:
Originally Posted by mskvarenina /forum/post/20927538


That's interesting. Is it configurable based on the input source, in other words on for Blu-ray, off for CD?

it's easily defeated, but your room doesnt know whether you are playing a blu-ray or a cd...