2 channel stereo receiver options these days?

gentlejax

Super Member
I had Sansui seperates AU517/tu317 and it was great but then I had way too much gear everywhere. sold off bunch of speakers and sold the sansui stuff and bought a cheap sherwood Newcastle....of course I knew I wouldnt be happy with the sound but it was cheap.

so now I Have been looking at older gear again but not the 70's stuff. I dont really want to pay $350 for a 90's Sony 777ES but I dont want another receiver that kills my ears with the highs and I have to turn down the highs below 0. the sansui was so much more pleasant.

so whats new that has the power and is just 2 channel ? I have a seperate amp running sub duty. using polk monitor 70 series II speakers.
 
If FM reception is important to you, DO NOT buy a new receiver! Only McIntosh makes one with a decent tuner in it, and that's going to be very expensive. You are better off with an older model. If you like a digital receiver with a remote, try to find a Onkyo Integra TX-870. It's a really nice receiver with a decent tuner and great sound. Has a good phono stage, too.
If you don't need a remote, the NAD 7150 is a great receiver with an excellent tuner in it. You can pick them up for around $150.
 
Both Yamaha and Onkyo have been advertising stereo receivers for the last few years. I haven't heard any of them, but just judging by the prices those lines might be a little lower quality than their integrated amplifier lines. Either that or they are taking advantage of the popularity of integrateds over receivers among audiophiles.

If brightness really bugs you, you need to listen before buying rather than basing decisions upon the era made. I've had pieces that some of my vintage loving friends thought of as too bright (Sansui AU-919 ~'78, Technics SU-V9 ~'81, various early to mid '80s Yamaha separates C-60/70/80, M70/80) and I don't feel they were any brighter than my Elite or Integra pieces from the early '90s.

What model is your Sherwood? I always thought that Newcastle was Sherwood's higher line, equivalent to Elite for Pioneer or ES for Sony.
 
if you can find a nice pioneer vsx-d1s they sound pretty darn good in 2 channel. real tight bass, a lot of midrange, and a lot of treble. A LOT of power too for a receiver. it has pre outs for each amp section, stereo subwoofer outputs as well as a single rca center channel subwoofer. very strong and precise sound. the d1s really comes alive with some good modern speakers. double bass is so tight and crisp, you can hear the fluctuation of guitar strings its so clear. i believe its rated at 130x2 channel @ 8 ohms with .006 % THD.. i know it has a bit more than that before clipping though.

as far as a new stereo goes... theres so much out there its really hard to say. in this day and age its hard enough to find a receiver/speaker combination that can give you all the sound you're looking for without sacrificing somewhere. old stuff doesnt have the precision, new stuff doesnt have the presence... you almost need both
 
The last one NAD made was the C740. It was fairly recent and you might be able to find a NOS one from a dealer at a good price. I liked what I heard from it when visiting a local dealer.
 
Unless space is an absolute consideration, I'd go with an integrated and then add a separate tuner. Radio is dying (on life support in my area), and tuners--even some really good ones--are a dime a dozen.
 
Unless space is an absolute consideration, I'd go with an integrated and then add a separate tuner. Radio is dying (on life support in my area), and tuners--even some really good ones--are a dime a dozen.

he says hes got an amp dedicated to subs already so space may be a concern. **as well as the sale of his initial separate system being from lack of real estate lol

the d1s was one of the last pioneers to be made in japan. it still has the old school pioneer logo with the emblem next to the word. to think, a lot of people used to give the "made in japan" stuff the same reputation all the new "made in malaysia" or "made in china" stuff has today when in fact the difference in quality is so apparent just from picking it up let alone a glance. the old japanese hardware was built much better. for the most part, the old japanese stuff has much better/fuller sound too. ive noticed a lot of older stuff uses much more filter capacitance per watt rating than newer stuff. the older stuff with bigger hardware usually has more bass/ overall sound in general too... go figure...

if it has to come down to somethin new, i wouldnt buy anything but a yamaha or onkyo. from what i can tell, you cant go wrong with either of those, BUT i have also never heard any new onks or yams.. ive only heard of other people that like them compared to stuff ive heard. apparently the yamaha rx-v757 is a mean 2 channel specimen... also, ive watched an onkyo tx-nr626 rated at 95 wpc x2 with .08% THD put down an actual 150 x2 RMS @.08% with dynamic power of 170x2 at 8 ohms. it did over 200 at 4 ohms. if the tx-nr838 is as underrated as the 626, its probably got some serious power since its rated at 150 rms x2 with .08% THD @ 8 ohms

an integrated amp and separate tuner is still your best bet on a jammin 2 channel system when it comes to FM. honestly, you could run a separate tuner with a receiver of your choice, that may make finding something with sub outputs a bit easier.

what kind of music do you listen to? what reference does your sub amplifier go off of?
 
an integrated amp and separate tuner is still your best bet on a jammin 2 channel system when it comes to FM. honestly, you could run a separate tuner with a receiver of your choice, that may make finding something with sub outputs a bit easier.

I concur that the integrated and separate tuner are the best bet (space providing), and it opens up a lot more doors to pieces with subwoofer outs. And a lot of tuners are really low profile, so they really don't require that much space, and as I posted before, some really nice ones can be had for next to nothing these days.

I have heard both the new Yammies and Onkyos--both are very good for their price point, but I would have to give the Yammies a slight edge, but that is just me. The new integrated also incorporate digital inputs which eliminates the footprint (and need) for an external DAC.
 
Another recommendation for the Outlaw RR2150. Powerful, rated at 100 watts per channel, but independent test show it to have 110 watts. Multiple inputs including USB and and minijack on front panel, tone defeat, and, one of my favorite features, sub out with selectable crossover frequency. It also has a toroidal transformer. I know the styling is polarizing, but the receiver does its job well and sounds great, check out the reviews.
 
for the amount of money you'll have to spend on the outlaw you could have a way badder ass secondhand system with the right amount of research. the price of the outlaw alone paid for my mcs 3125+servicing (that has a BIG 4 gang tuner), pioneer vsx d1s with original remotes+ owners+service manual, a set of mcs 8295 speakers that are surprisingly good despite obvious cheap build quality, 14 gauge+12 gauge wires, multiple 3.5mm to stereo rca cables, and about 40% of the cost of the bic america venturi dv-84 speakers.... with the 3125 on the 8295 speakers and the d1s on the dv-84's, ive got a pretty despicable system going. the dv-84's dont have the guitar zing and wah the old school cheap 8295's do, but the old school 8295's dont have the tight bass snap/resonance the dv-84's do.. though the 10 inch woofers on the 8295s will boom some bass the d1s on the dv-84's is the perfect foundation to fill in whats missing.

the first thing i had teamed with the d1s+dv-84's was a kenwood ar-404 hooked up to 4 small 40 watt speakers and a kenwood 100 rms 8 inch subwoofer instead of the 3125 on the 8295 speakers and while its an impressive system for its size/"componentry", it still isnt what my 3125+8295 speakers is. i even had the 8 inch sub tuned pretty good for the music i listen to so it could hold bass riffs and still punch without clipping, and i was impressed with it. i just really like the simplicity/size/clean sound/power of the ar-404.. for not really being anything special, it actually is a very cool receiver. id like to see kenwood come out with another audio receiver...

ive listened to a lot of different receivers on a lot of different speakers. different receivers will sound better than others on certain speakers. some receivers simply wont sound as good as other receivers on any speaker. in my quest for sound, ive found i need multiple systems to really get me the sound im looking for. for intance, the d1s on the 8295 speakers doesnt have as much downright guitar presence as the 3125 does. the guitars from the 3125 are downright sexual and electrifying. guitar sounds are like explosions coming from the 3125. the d1s sounds more clinical, it really didnt sound right with the old 8295 speakers. the d1s seems to do better with the dv-84's than the 3125 does though. its a tough comparison between the 3125 and d1s on the dv-84's but at the end of the day i prefer the d1s to drive them because the d1s needed something to do anyway. i bought the dv-84's to simply replace the 8295 speakers driven by the 3125. the dv-84's ended up compromising too much midrange to run them alone and i was almost pissed off about getting excited over them, but now i have some incredibly powerful sound that flatout jams.

with the stereo sub outputs on the d1s i could run two active subs or 2-4-6+? subs off a power amp if i so desired. along with a center channel mono sub output if i really wanted to.

if kenwood combined two ar-404's, and dedicated each amp/outputs to their own channel with a transformer per channel, i think that would be a best seller for years to come.
 
not saying you have to get a 3125 and d1s, but more so saying it doesnt hurt to try a little of everything!
 
if youre going to spend outlaw 2150 money id look into the yamaha r-s700. when you compare the inside of the two, its very clear how much more priority is built into the yamaha than the outlaw. the outlaw does have a toroidal transformer but it looks cheap as does the rest of the inside of that hollow shell of a unit
 
Onkyo, Yamaha, Cambridge Audio all make fine "mid-fi" level receivers these days.

used bargains:

Integra DTM 5.9
Integra DTM 5.3
Marantz SR4023
Marantz SR4021
 
I checked out the specs on the pioneer VSX-D1S.
The FM specs are not bad, much better than you would get on a modern receiver and actually better than the Onkyo Integra TX-870 I mentioned.
The service manual is here: http://www.kallhovde.com/pioneer/vsx-d1s-sm.pdf

I have a VSX-D1S and FM reception is CD quality without an expensive antenna in which I do have but is not hooked up. The D1S has a graphic equalizer that adjusts the out put of the main amp, an awesome preamp, ultra low distortion and bench tested at 168 watts bench tested. The combination of power and clarity creates a sound that most monster receivers can not compete with. Has a Tape II Loop for an EQ and it is impossible to use all the inputs that also can be used in 2-channel stereo mode. With a couple pair of sensitive tower speakers of a S/N 95db it will be more sound quality as expected. This is the ultimate sleeper receiver that should have been the basis for the original Pioneer Elite Receiver.
 
I've owned several modern two channel receivers in the past 5-8 years from the HK 3480 & 3390 & an Onkyo 8050. I like the Onkyo best - probably because it has a DAC built in. It decodes FLAC from the front USB port - only 'problem' is it takes about a minute to read the available files from an 8GB USB 2.0 thumb drive. Other than that the sound is great from the Onkyo - at least as good as the two HK's I owned prior to the 8050. You can find the Onkyo 8050 on accessories4less - http://www.accessories4less.com/mak...-x-80-watts-networking-stereo-receiver/1.html - for under $200. IMO that is a real bargain. I tried it out on my song towers and was pleasantly surprised at the sound quality. The 80wpc did not struggle in the least. I don't use a sub with the song towers - no need as long as the amp driving them can keep up - and the Onkyo did a fine job. Its one of those real bargains - convincing people that it is the real deal when it comes to two channel is easy after they hear it.
 
Don't restrict yourself to just two channel.

Look at a Denon 3805. This way you have the OPTION (I love options.) of bi amping it or just listen to it via direct mode. It's not a bright as a Yamaha rx-777 and is built very solid. I just bought the 3803 and weighing in at 36# it's solid. You can listen to Denon all day without ear fatigue like I just did working in my garage today.
Also the 3805 has sacd and two 12 volt triggers.
Good luck.

Bi amping:
http://www.audioholics.com/av-receiver-reviews/denon-avr-3805/avr-3806-first-impressions
 
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