AV Receiver Reviews

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AV Receiver Reviews
Rotel RSX-1057 AV Receiver
Fred Manteghian  |  Oct 24, 2006  | 

To me, Rotel has always been the Everyman's answer to high-end audio. The company has always followed a "straight wire with gain" philosophy, which has earned it respect throughout the audiophile community. Like NAD, it's believed in holding to conservative power ratings, particularly compared to mass-market American and Japanese offerings. My daughter uses "40-Watt" Rotel integrated amplifier that's a decade old to drive her Magnepan MMG speakers, which are a pretty tough load, and it is more than comfortable with the task.

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AV Receiver ReviewsOn-Wall Speaker Reviews
PSB VisionSound 300 Speaker System and Marantz SR8500 A/V Receiver
Steve Guttenberg  |  Sep 14, 2006  | 
The sweet sounds of success.

Neil Young was on NPR chatting about his new movie, Heart of Gold, when he uttered a line that stuck with me: "The art of singing is making a sound that comes from your heart." Thanks Neil, I'm co-opting the idea to describe what distinguishes great home theater systems—their sound touches your heart. Yeah, that's it. While components are getting better all the time, many lack that special something. There's nothing obviously out of whack, it's just that their sound doesn't connect on an emotional level. Sometimes the individual components are all top notch, but, if they're not well matched to each other, the sound suffers. When everything clicks, you know it. That was certainly the case when I hooked up Marantz's SR8500 A/V receiver with a set of PSB's VisionSound VS300 speakers and SubSeries 5i subwoofer. They're all charmers.

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AV Receiver Reviews
Pioneer Elite VSX-84TXSi Receiver: On the Bench
Shane Buettner  |  Sep 13, 2006  | 
  • $1,500
  • 140-Watts x 7 into 8 ohms
  • Processing Modes: DD, DD-EX, ProLogicIIx, Dolby Virtual Speaker, Dolby Headphone, DTS, DTS-ES/Discrete/Matrix/Neo: 6, DTS 24/96, Windows Media Audio
Features We Like: THX Select2-Certified, HDMI 1.1 and i.LINK switching, MCACC auto calibration and room EQ, component video switching, transcoding of analog video to HDMI with upconversion to 720p or 1080i by Faroudja, two coaxial and five toslink optical digital audio inputs, one 7.1-channel analog audio input, 7.1-channel preamp outs, USB, XM and iPod compatible, AV sync delay, multi-source/multi-zone
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AV Receiver Reviews
Sony STR-7100ES Receiver: Coming Attraction
Shane Buettner  |  Sep 13, 2006  | 
  • $2,000
  • 170-Watts x 7 into 8 ohms
  • Processing Modes: DD, DD-EX, ProLogicIIx, Dolby Virtual Speaker, Dolby Headphone, DTS, DTS-ES/Discrete/Matrix/Neo: 6, DTS 24/96
Features We Like: HDMI, component and i.LINK switching, transcoding of analog video to HDMI, Direct Drive Digital Amps, three coaxial and five toslink digital audio inputs, multichannel analog inputs, preamp outputs, amplifier channels can be relocated to power separate zones, multi-source/multi-zone
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AV Receiver Reviews
Rotel RSX-1057 Receiver: Coming Attraction
Shane Buettner  |  Sep 13, 2006  | 
  • $1,499
  • 75-Watts x 5 into 8 ohms
  • DD, DD-EX, ProLogicIIx, Dolby Virtual Speaker, Dolby Headphone, DTS, DTS-ES/Discrete/Matrix/Neo: 6, MP3, MPEG multichannel, HDCD
Features We Like: HDMI 11 switching, transcoding of composite and S-Video to component video, three coaxial and two toslink digital audio inputs, one 7.1-channel analog audio input, preamp outs, expandable to 7.1-channels, massive overbuilt power supply, multi-source/multi-zone
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AV Receiver Reviews
Denon AVR-2807 Receiver: Coming Attraction
Shane Buettner  |  Sep 13, 2006  | 
  • $1,099
  • 110-Watts x 7 into 8 ohms
  • Processing Modes: DD, DD-EX, ProLogicIIx, Dolby Virtual Speaker, Dolby Headphone, DTS, DTS-ES/Discrete/Matrix/Neo: 6, DTS 24/96
Features We Like: HDMI 1.1 and component video switching, auto calibration with Audyssey MultEQ room EQ, transcoding of analog video to HDMI, two coaxial and five toslink digital audio inputs, one 7.1-channel analog audio input, 7.1-channel preamp outs, XM Satellite Radio Ready, AV sync delay, multi-source/multi-zone
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AV Receiver Reviews
Pioneer Elite VSX-84TSXi AV Receiver: First Look
 |  Sep 07, 2006  | 

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AV Receiver Reviews
Adcom GFR-700HD AV Receiver: First Look
 |  Sep 07, 2006  | 

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AV Receiver Reviews
Pioneer VSX-816 A/V Receiver
Mark Fleischmann  |  Aug 17, 2006  | 
Set me up, and let me fly.

Back when Jimmy Carter was president (or was it Ford?), my first audio system featured a Pioneer SX-434 receiver. Even then, manufacturers had figured out that SX sells. My old receiver was rated at 15 watts per channel and weighed 18 pounds. Today, I'm reviewing a Pioneer VSX-816 A/V receiver (SX still sells) with 110 watts times seven. At 20.3 pounds, it's put on some weight, but what a difference a couple of pounds can make.

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AV Receiver ReviewsBookshelf Speaker Reviews
Paradigm Cinema 330 Speaker System and Harman/Kardon AVR 340 A/V Receiver
Mark Fleischmann  |  Aug 17, 2006  | 
Two products, one look.

It wasn't until I uncrated both the Paradigm Cinema 330 speakers and the Harman/Kardon AVR 340 receiver that I realized I'd found something rare in the home theater realm—a visual match between speakers and receiver. Did some invisible hand simultaneously guide Paradigm's whizzes in Toronto and Harman/Kardon's design squad in Northridge, California? These two large companies have no connection that I know of. Yet, this month's Spotlight System is a genuine fusion of Canadian and Californian design sensibilities.

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AV Receiver Reviews
Shootout: Three Mid-Price A/V Receivers
Daniel Kumin  |  Jun 03, 2006  | 

For most people, flagship A/V receivers costing $4,000 to $6,000 are just too much: too much size, weight, complexity, and, for sure, money. But the cheapest models are too limited in connections and, more often than not, too flimsy. The result?

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AV Receiver Reviews
The Marantz SR9600 THX Ultra 2 AV Surround Receiver
Michael Fremer  |  May 26, 2006  | 

DVD players have become so "commoditized" that it's typical today for players to sell for less than $100. And you know what? Some of these inexpensive players feature progressive scan output and perform quite well overall. I saw one such player advertised in my local paper today selling for $18! It wasn't too long ago that de-interlacing meant adding a $10,000 Faroudja scaler to an already expensive DVD player.

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AV Receiver Reviews
Yamaha RXV-4600 AV Receiver: First Look
Ultimate AV Staff  |  May 24, 2006  | 

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AV Receiver Reviews
Outlaw Audio Model 1070 AV Receiver: First Look
Ultimate AV Staff  |  May 24, 2006  | 

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AV Receiver Reviews
Onkyo TX-SR803 AV Receiver: First Look
Ultimate AV Staff  |  May 24, 2006  | 

Price: $1,000
Channels/Power: 7x105W
Decoding: DD, DD EX, ProLogic IIx, DTS, DTS-ES Discrete/Matrix/Neo:6/DTS 24/96
Ins and Outs: Two coax and five toslink digital audio, one 7.1-channel analog, two HDMI (spec 1.1), three component video, RS-232, three 12V triggers
Highlights: THX Select2, XM Satellite Radio ready, iPod dock ready, EZSet automated setup and EQ, transcoding of composite and S-Video to component video, multi-source/multi-zone, learning backlit remote

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