bevok
Active Member
Hi there
I've already got a home theatre system (Sony STR-DN1080, Pioneer speakers) which although at the budget end of the spectrum gives me plenty of musical enjoyment. I'd like to set up a 2.1 stereo system in another quite large room (200m3, 10m x 5m). My budget is around NZ$5,000 although could stretch a bit if necessary. I think I'm after something pretty neutral, deep and tangible bass but not boomy (i.e. it doesn't need to sound like a nightclub!) and clear highs. I want reasonable amount of detail but not OTT - I don't want lossy and compressed music (e.g. The Killers) to sound awful and sibilant although I'll be generally using lossless. My musical tastes are very broad, from contemporary pop to legacy singer songwriter, rock and even classical. Probably most things apart from metal and Hip Hop! I'm not that experienced a listener - I love and listen to a lot of music but I haven't heard a lot of high end systems etc. Also I generally don't listen at high levels - typically in the 60s db and sometimes stretching to the 70s according to my phone db meter.
I've probably suffered paralysis by analysis looking at all the options online and especially on this forum, but recently went to the nearest large city (Auckland NZ) and listened to the Fyne Audio 501 and 501SP, as well as the Monitor Audio 200 and 300. The Monitors sounded great, both had excellent soundstaging, seemed to reproduce the music accurately and well and although the bass wasn't earth shattering it was quite nimble and pleasant. For my space I think the 300 is the safe bet with the 6.5" main drivers. I also felt the midrange was just slightly clearer - Neil Young's voice on Heart of Gold for example, although this could have been psychological knowing it was three way. From what I've seen on Stereophile the 300's seem to measure pretty well. Part of me thinks perhaps I should go for the 500's due to the size of my room but they're NZD$500 more (I can get the 300s for $2,900).
Anyway I'd really like some advice on a good neutral and sufficiently powerful amplifier preferably from someone who own's the Silvers. What works well? When I demoed them they were connected to a Hegel 190 which sounded great but costs $7k. I can't help feeling surely some mass produced Japanese amplifier with reasonable measurements should be able to do a good job and achieve a better price-performance ratio? Two brands that are pretty easy to get are Denon and Yamaha. I like the measurements of the 3600 AVR on this site - the 3700 which I assume should be similar is available readily and I'd like the room correction, but the $2,900 price tag puts it a bit over the budget. I see there is a DRA-800H 2 channel receiver - does anyone know how this measures and sounds, and whether it is of similar quality? Would it be sufficiently powerful for my fairly large room (by NZ standards anyway!) at a claimed 100W into 8ohm? Some say that spec is overstated. The other options are either the Yamaha RN602 or RN803 (I'd prefer the former pricewise if sufficient) or perhaps the AS801. Good match? I'm not that worried about the streaming capabilities built in as gapless is important to me so I'll probably look to get a Sonos Port or Bluesound Node in the future.
The subwoofer will come later.
I appreciate any experience with similar speakers and/or room size to mine. Thank you!
I've already got a home theatre system (Sony STR-DN1080, Pioneer speakers) which although at the budget end of the spectrum gives me plenty of musical enjoyment. I'd like to set up a 2.1 stereo system in another quite large room (200m3, 10m x 5m). My budget is around NZ$5,000 although could stretch a bit if necessary. I think I'm after something pretty neutral, deep and tangible bass but not boomy (i.e. it doesn't need to sound like a nightclub!) and clear highs. I want reasonable amount of detail but not OTT - I don't want lossy and compressed music (e.g. The Killers) to sound awful and sibilant although I'll be generally using lossless. My musical tastes are very broad, from contemporary pop to legacy singer songwriter, rock and even classical. Probably most things apart from metal and Hip Hop! I'm not that experienced a listener - I love and listen to a lot of music but I haven't heard a lot of high end systems etc. Also I generally don't listen at high levels - typically in the 60s db and sometimes stretching to the 70s according to my phone db meter.
I've probably suffered paralysis by analysis looking at all the options online and especially on this forum, but recently went to the nearest large city (Auckland NZ) and listened to the Fyne Audio 501 and 501SP, as well as the Monitor Audio 200 and 300. The Monitors sounded great, both had excellent soundstaging, seemed to reproduce the music accurately and well and although the bass wasn't earth shattering it was quite nimble and pleasant. For my space I think the 300 is the safe bet with the 6.5" main drivers. I also felt the midrange was just slightly clearer - Neil Young's voice on Heart of Gold for example, although this could have been psychological knowing it was three way. From what I've seen on Stereophile the 300's seem to measure pretty well. Part of me thinks perhaps I should go for the 500's due to the size of my room but they're NZD$500 more (I can get the 300s for $2,900).
Anyway I'd really like some advice on a good neutral and sufficiently powerful amplifier preferably from someone who own's the Silvers. What works well? When I demoed them they were connected to a Hegel 190 which sounded great but costs $7k. I can't help feeling surely some mass produced Japanese amplifier with reasonable measurements should be able to do a good job and achieve a better price-performance ratio? Two brands that are pretty easy to get are Denon and Yamaha. I like the measurements of the 3600 AVR on this site - the 3700 which I assume should be similar is available readily and I'd like the room correction, but the $2,900 price tag puts it a bit over the budget. I see there is a DRA-800H 2 channel receiver - does anyone know how this measures and sounds, and whether it is of similar quality? Would it be sufficiently powerful for my fairly large room (by NZ standards anyway!) at a claimed 100W into 8ohm? Some say that spec is overstated. The other options are either the Yamaha RN602 or RN803 (I'd prefer the former pricewise if sufficient) or perhaps the AS801. Good match? I'm not that worried about the streaming capabilities built in as gapless is important to me so I'll probably look to get a Sonos Port or Bluesound Node in the future.
The subwoofer will come later.
I appreciate any experience with similar speakers and/or room size to mine. Thank you!
