Yes. I have a Pioneer LX59 now and I am surprised how good this receiver is. I swear I am hearing parts of audio tracks I did not hear with the Yamaha. And the auto calibration kills Yamaha's YAPO in my opinion.

@digitalhome there is Pioneer LX88 refurb that i have my keen eye on if the Cambridge sells.

 

I just realised how good this amp is or is it the 651R? but i had GnR November Rain on and at the start it sounded like a bear growling or something, it scared the beejeebies out of me, never heard that before.

Lol, i have that here in FLAC so ill take a listen!

Opps, I need the bells and whistles.

 

While waiting for next AVR I thought I would give this $40! receiver a run that is in my garage system. Wow are we all just really fooling ourselves, sounds incredible. Looses credibility when turned up but at normal listening levels can't complain for $40. 

 

With or without Elektra?

1 minute ago, liman said:

With or without Elektra?

Without! not as smooth or refined but not far off.

So do you really need Elektra then?  have to ask...

 

What's the new AVR better than 651R? LX88?

5 minutes ago, liman said:

So do you really need Elektra then?  have to ask...

 

What's the new AVR better than 651R? LX88?

Yes I do as the main goal is to get it upgraded to 7 channels and get a pre/pro. (had first AVR back in 1996 so it is a long long road)

For now though as we are moving house(only want 1 system) probaly go back to a to a small Integra as the lower model have preouts to connect with amp and more family friendly with all the needed features.

Maybe get a pre amp with HT Bypass if one pops in classifieds for 2 channel, will get a Node 2.

 

Edited September 30, 20169 yr by powerav

You mean this?

 

Yes. using Kodi at then moment which is very good but a dedicated server where I don't have to have TV or PC on would be good.

Changes again! added Denon X3200w and Klein DAC. So I know I can watch movies, TV, concerts from KODI thru HDMI to AVR and then for Music I select USB DAC on KODI and that is on same input but analog pure direct connection so I still retain control over KODI.

 

Edited October 11, 20169 yr by powerav

Nice, something I've been thinking about.

So you have hdmi from htpc to avr and usb from htpc to dac?

And you just change it in kodi settings, not from openelec OS itself?

 

Would external DAC better than say integrated amp with HT bypass?

 

Is that an old Microsoft corded mouse???

Edited October 11, 20169 yr by liman

Yeah corded mouse, PC is right below there.

The next thing and hopefully last for me would be 2 channel pre amp with HT bypass. 

The Old Onkyo integrated above was better than AVR so yes I can confidently say that an integrated amp would be better than AVR than music, the DAC would all be dependent on what you use as source, if PC then you would need a DAC if the amp didn't have one built in.

my source is laptop and stereo music through avr (hdmi) just doesn't sound nowhere good compared from my nad integrated amp, but the nad doesn't have ht bypass and my avr doesn't have pre-outs.

 

So if say I got avr with preout connect to integrated amp with ht bypass, does it mean i'll still be using my laptop's dac?

 

How's X3200W? an improvement from x1200w and 651R?

For pure sound quality the 651r is no comparison here, absolutely incredible sound wise but unfortunalty as an "AVR" in today's world with no features at all, pretty unusable for a family environment. I just needed the 3200 over the 1200 for the pre outs, these are really just generic AVR's but have all the features that are required now, it's just great to fire up spotify on phone and send straight to amp and I was really impressed the the atmos, dolby surround and DTS-x formats. 

Had a good play today and can easily toggle between HDMI audio to AVR and Analog from DAC to AVR in pure direct to amp and pleased to say sound from DAC in 2 channel is far better....BUT my multi-channel SACD, DVD-A and better DVD and Bluray concerts....WOW awesome, justifying the decision to keep an AVR in the mix and not just 2 channel. Don't think it could get much better.

On 10/20/2015 at 9:20 PM, powerav said:

My main reason for doing this was for re-sale value. I would like to sell home in a couple of years, would sell with screen and projector still in place and put the proceeds to a dedicated stereo room. Really not into HT much anymore.

Well looking back at an old post and yes we did sell our house for a great price but the ironic thing was that they didn't want the HT room and asked I take everything out and return to a normal living room BUT they did ask that I leave the $200 out door speakers and $50 amp behind. People are strange, there was around $3000 worth of HT stuff I was willing to leave behind.

In my last home, we converted lounge room back to lounge prior to going on the market at the insistence of the Realestate agent. Worked though, $60k over reserve. Of course we still went way above that with new purchase...

On 11/12/2016 at 1:49 PM, blybo said:

In my last home, we converted lounge room back to lounge prior to going on the market at the insistence of the Realestate agent

I got a bit upset when the real estate agents said it's not really a selling point, although they were impressed personally and all wanted a demo . Makes sense though, as a family we spent no time in there at all. Hence why all new homes are called Media or multipurpose rooms.

Edited November 14, 20169 yr by powerav

Looks like I have joined the pre/pro club, unfortunately moving soon so have to wait a couple of weeks before I can set up but looks great so far. It looks brand new and with 12 months warranty.

congrats, presume means the elektra is staying ?

Yep sure is, no more stupidity from me.

time to update your signature then 

I just couldn't wait, had to set it up. Blow me down all you guys were right, a preamp does make a big difference