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Looking for a used AUDIOPHILE AV Receiver

I am in the market to purchase a used audiophile AV Receiver. Price range maximum $800 for a used unit, the less the better.

The most important factor is the audiophile sound quality, sheer musicality that the unit provides, not the features. It should also have HDMI 1.4 at least and also Speaker A/B switch would be a good option as I have 2 different pair of speakers in the front, one for HT (Definitive Technologie BP 7006) and the other for music Magnepan MMG.    

I know some brands like: NAD, ARCAM, ANTHEM, MARANTZ making good audiophile AV Receivers.

What would be the best option for a used unit?

Thanks for any advice.

 


thxbest
gregkohanmim
153 posts
 
Hi thxbest - I caught your other thread on your NAD.  Of those listed you may as well add Onkyo and Integra to the mix as they're probably comparable to those you listed - Another option would be Emotiva but you would need to get a separate pre/pro and multi channel amp, but that would be a big step up in price and performance to a receiver.

But in all honesty (and I think many might agree) there's simply no such thing as an "audiophile" AV receiver in the classic sense.  

Assuming there were such a thing, and they were available with HDMI 1.4 at $800 used - Man - that would be a game changer!

Greg
thxbest OP
6 posts
 
Hi Greg,

Thanks for your post.
Most of the units have the ZONE2 but not separate A/B Speaker Switch. Which unit does have A/B speaker switch? 
stereo5's avatar
stereo5
2,766 posts
 
Magnum Dynalab made a couple of high end receivers at one time.  Not sure if they still do.
gregkohanmim
153 posts
 
THX best - I think that most AVR's use the zone 2 functionality simply because all AV receivers are a minimum of 5 channels and usually 7.1 or 7.2 in which case if you have that many speakers connected having another set for speakers A/B wouldn't make sense really, and would in fact require an additional pair of power amplifiers for the two additional channels.

Since we're going down this road - have you considered getting a standalone preamp/ processor and a separate multi channel amp?  Would pretty much give you the best of both worlds, and there are some killer deals on prior generation preamps/ processors that would give you all the inputs and routing options that you could dream of.  In your price range a used Onkyo Pro PRSC-5509 would be a reasonable choice as would others.

The bad news here obviously is that you would then need a multi channel up to run it through to your speakers.  

The good news is that processors and their AVR siblings depreciate immensely every time a new format video or decoding format comes out so at least you you would have the freedom to upgrade the processor when the time comes and still have an amp that would never really become obsolete.

Wish there were a simple silver bullet here.

Greg
auxinput
1,538 posts
 

I agree with the idea that there's simply no such thing as an "audiophile" AV receiver in the classic sense.  It's difficult to get true "audiophile" in a receiver, when compared to separates.

The only way you'll be able to get separate processor and multi-channel amp (if require HDMI 1.4) is to look for an Emotiva UMC-200.  You can sometimes get that for about $400.  But then once you add in the multi-channel amp and interconnects, you are already looking at over $1k anyways.

I have not heard any of the receivers, but from everything I have read and seen, I would first look to choose a Marantz receiver because of it's use of discrete HDAM analog circuits.  Look for a receiver in the last 3 generations of products.  If you go too old, you'll get the older generation HDAM circuits which are warmer and slower.  Then look towards the most wattage receiver you can afford (the power supply makes all the difference here in sound quality).

Arcam has had a lot of reliability problems (google this).  I think I remember also reading that Arcam had a high failure rate.  I suspect it's because the Arcam engineers chose poor components (capacitors/diodes/etc.) or their physical layout of components put elements sensitive to heat failure very close to high-heat sections.  I'm not entirely sure here, but please research Arcam on this if you are serious.

I have heard NAD is very nice, but I have also heard that it's very warm sounding.  It's great if you're after that sound signature.  I'm not sure of the sonic signature of new NAD products.

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