[rfsnz]

Hi All,

First and possibly only post on this forum... not a topic I've had to deal with in years but here I am, living in New Zealand, and it's time to retire the inverters that are running my old kit.

In short, buying a whole new setup (receiver, speakers, etc). Use will be a mix of movie, gaming, and music in a 5m x 4m room (open concept on one side but otherwise the room should be good - carpet, speaker placement flexibility). I want decent 5.1 for gaming/movies, and I strive for a better audio quality for music (without utilising the sub). I also want wall mountable so aesthetics and size is a modest concern.

For a variety of reasons that I won't document unless needed, I've decided on Q Acoustics 2000i 5.1 system, but with the 2020i for fronts, and either the Yamaha RX-V500D or RX-A740.

I've seen and listened to the speakers, but they will be coming from a different place than the receiver so I need to take a chance on one or the other (it's NZ, options are limited, return policies almost non-existent...).

Why the V500D? It's on sale - will effectively be less than half the price of the A740.
Why the A740? My desire for better music audio quality, and the zone 2 option is attractive for later on.

My key question: will I hear a difference in the A740 or am I wasting my money?

Of course tell me if you have a very different opinion, that all of yamaha is junk, that the Q system is a bad match... whatever you want to suggest, I'm open.

Thanks in advance!

 

[zgeneral]

Well, before looking at that, I'd look at your speakers. The mains are bookshelf type speakers with 6 ohm nominal impedance, low sensitivity and frequency response of 64 - 22,000.

What does that mean? Without a sub, you'll be missing on the low end. Unless you're in an apartment, I'd suggest using a sub for 2 channel listening. Otherwise, the speakers aren't easily driven. That means you'll be better off with an external amplifier to drive these. My suggestion would be to find speakers that have an 8 ohm nominal impedance with a sensitivity of higher than 90db. That way, a regular AVR will have the power to drive them.

I don't get why a speaker company would make low end speakers like this. They'll most likely be paired with low end equipment and that's really not a good match.

 

[rfsnz]

Hmmm. To clarify, it is a small home, low ceilings, and I rarely have opportunity to push volumes. I will have the sub for 5.1 regardless so utilizing it for 2 channel music is certainly an option... in the back of my mind I see myself setting up a second zone in another smaller room and may choose to upgrade the fronts at that time... hence the desire to have something that is competent with or without sub support, but no bigger than bookshelf.

For what it's worth, the reviews of this system are nothing but glowing as a "high quality for value" system and at least one did reference impressive performance despite the what may be lackluster specs. I wonder how there can be such a disconnect between endorsements and technical capabilities.

 

[toddman36]

The Yamaha 740 is a great avr in my opinion! I had it for 2 weeks while waiting for my new Denon 4100w to arrive!