Isn’t the Luxman R117 one of the most legendary receivers in audiophile circles? I mean for receivers, I think this thing is the holy grail for an integrated device. Have I owned one? No. But you can easily find tons of positive reviews on this forum for the Lux. And it has a ton of inputs, one of which is a phono stage. They cost a few bucks new and most were owned by picky owners so they seem to be well cared for and can be had for a low price on the used market. I swear I heard someone call this thing the McIntosh of receivers :) I have owned two high end Yamaha receivers. I still use one in my kids home theater but I have to admit that the low end is just a little light and I have to compensate by gaining my powered sub a little more than necessary. My ancient/vintage Pioneer SX class receiver always had warmth on the low end that these newer units seem to lack. It seems to me she would be delighted with a lower cost receiver and higher priced speakers, if she can swing it.
stereo receiver recommendations
Hi folks,
A friend recently got me interested in this hobby, but I'm definitely still a newbie without much real world listening experience. A colleague at work knows I'm interested in audio and came to me for advice to replace a broken stereo receiver. Problematically, she was fairly coy about budget, so a few recommendations would be greatly appreciated... Lets go with <$500, $500-600, & <$1000 as the 3 price ranges.
She definitely wants to have a phono input for a connected turntable and to have a FM tuner built in so unfortunately we're stuck with stereo receivers rather than integrated amps, which drastically limits the options. She also definitely wants to buy new. She didn't know the model of speakers so I'm not talking about a serious audiophile but rather someone who just enjoys having music playing in her home and doesnt want to give up local radio or her vinyl collection. For that reason I'm thinking ease of use, functionality, and reliability are probably just as important as sound quality (I hope that doesnt make too many of you cringe), but I still want it to sound good. Searching through musicdirect & crutchfield, I've come up with the following:
<$500: Cambridge SR10 or Yamaha R-N303
$500-600: Cambridge SR20 or Yamaha R-N602
<$1000: Outlaw RR2160 or Yamaha R-N803
Would love input from people with experience with any of these products or recommendations about something else that might be better. Any problems any of you have found with any of the above models? Anybody experienced both in a particular price range and found one to sound particularly better?
Thanks!
A friend recently got me interested in this hobby, but I'm definitely still a newbie without much real world listening experience. A colleague at work knows I'm interested in audio and came to me for advice to replace a broken stereo receiver. Problematically, she was fairly coy about budget, so a few recommendations would be greatly appreciated... Lets go with <$500, $500-600, & <$1000 as the 3 price ranges.
She definitely wants to have a phono input for a connected turntable and to have a FM tuner built in so unfortunately we're stuck with stereo receivers rather than integrated amps, which drastically limits the options. She also definitely wants to buy new. She didn't know the model of speakers so I'm not talking about a serious audiophile but rather someone who just enjoys having music playing in her home and doesnt want to give up local radio or her vinyl collection. For that reason I'm thinking ease of use, functionality, and reliability are probably just as important as sound quality (I hope that doesnt make too many of you cringe), but I still want it to sound good. Searching through musicdirect & crutchfield, I've come up with the following:
<$500: Cambridge SR10 or Yamaha R-N303
$500-600: Cambridge SR20 or Yamaha R-N602
<$1000: Outlaw RR2160 or Yamaha R-N803
Would love input from people with experience with any of these products or recommendations about something else that might be better. Any problems any of you have found with any of the above models? Anybody experienced both in a particular price range and found one to sound particularly better?
Thanks!
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- 36 posts total
- 36 posts total