Who's running flagship AVRs? Do tell why.

I have the baby brother of this, the ax5. I got it end of line for £600 (were £1100 new)
I use it in direct mode for listening to music in 2 channel. Because I only have a 5.1 system, I have the main speakers bi-amped.
It weighs a ton and has more power than I will ever use.

 

In a perfect world I'd run two separate systems: one for stereo music listening and the other for home theatre. Alas I can't do that for space reasons so I've been using HT amps for the past decade.

I'm running a Yamaha DSP-Z7 (the euro equivalent of the RX-7, without the tuner) and I realise it probably doesn't compare that well to dedicated HiFi 2-channel stereo amplifiers but it seems pretty nice in Pure Direct mode.

 

Yes I think I need to have a go with this, gaining Spotify and Audyssey would be quite nice, I'd bought the 5005 when I just wanted something of a secondary system, but it's quickly turned into my prime listening room with a half decent TT etc, not sure if Audyssey will take anything away from the analogue sound but I think maybe it will give more than it takes....I'll need to find out if the phono pre on 6009 would be better than my CA 551, any thoughts on the phono pre's on this level of receiver?

 

The ultimate Flagship Tuners of the late 90s through 2010 may be a thing of the past, but if your seek great sounding lossless audio decoding, the processing and DACs of the transition era from 2009 and forward are no slouches. I've listened to my 2009 Elite and a friends Aventage from 2012 and they rock. If you have less efficient speakers you could always add a killer three channel amplifier to pwoer your main speakers and allow the internal amplifiers to power the less demanding rear and overhead surround channels.

 

I've run a phono on a 6009 and it's pretty decent. I don't think it's better than a $500 external but it's better than many integrated Phonos I've heard. I don't know but I would guess they are using the same one throughout their platform.

 

My phono pre amp (Cambridge Audio 551) is only a £50 jobbie, I'm unlikely to spend $500 equivalent on one, I'll give it a try via the 6009 and see how it goes.

 

Denon 4520 for surround only.

 

Curious as to when you define that era of true Flagship or super receivers? I'm guessing 2000-2009 perhaps.

 

I remember seeing expensive high end Onkyo and Denon receivers in the Crutchfield catalog in the late 90's. I'd say it roughly followed the era of the original incarnations of Dolby Digital and DTS. Maybe 1997-2006 or so.

I think Outlaw Audio might deserve credit for ushering in the era of affordable HT separates. Not in terms of Outlaw's impact on market share, more the proof of concept that customers might prefer it, and its better to sell a pair of $2K boxes then a single $3K box.

 

i have a yamaha rxv 2095 in the garage. i love it. I have it running a pair of polk rti 1000.
Sony 400 disc changer into an entech dac and a yamaha 300u tape deck. Also have a ps3 running optical in and Hmdi to tv.

It sounds great. Got the speakers for free because they needed crossovers and tweeters, paid 25 for the tape deck and 75 for the 2095 on eBay.

basically sounds as good if not better than my system in my house. Emotiva usp-1, Emotiva XPA 200, Emotiva ERC 3, VPI traveler and ascend acoustics sierra 2.

 

Like I said earlier in the thread I think Yamahas are one of if not the best.
Anyone have experience with the HK avr7000 or 8000?

 

I'm using flagship "step down" models. Sony DA4ES 5.1 in the office and Marantz SR-7002 in the home theater room. I have run flagships previously - Onkyo 901 THX with matching ED-901 Dolby Digital processor (the old 5.1 DB25 cable was neato - too bad it didn't catch on). They lose their value so fast they are an absolute steal on the used market.

 

It would be cool if the thread was narrowed to true totl from the pre hdmi era. Monsters that went for 3k plus in the day but peanuts now because people need hdmi for modern video.

 

I too have an RX-V2095 powering a pair of Ohm I behemoths. It's total old school overkill and I love it.

 

That was sort of my intention.Pre-hdmi.Perhaps I should have been more specific but its all good.Flagships...

 

Just stick a nice 2 channel integrated amp into the Main Pre Outs of your Yammy and you can HAVE that perfect world!!!!

Won't take up that much space.

 

You should be able to disable all the signal processing and run it in stereo mode (or 2.1) and it will probably sound like a million bucks.

 

Remember the Yamaha DSP-A1?

DSP-A1 - Integrated Amplifiers - Hi-Fi Components - Audio & Visual - Products - Yamaha United States

You could be right! I had an Outlaw 950 it replaced the Sherwood Newcastle AV-P9080 I was running with the matching AM-9080 amp. Monster separate power at 5.1! Separates for home theater are IMO kind of a silly concept. If you're running a capable proper sub and have your bass crossed over, you just don't need that much power to drive the main 5/7 speakers. You need big amps for big bass. Put the big amp in the sub and you'd be surprised how little amplification will be needed.

Those are the gems. The pre-hdmi monsters that are only useful to geeks like us now.

 

Hmmm, maybe my SR-8000 (1999-2000) was TOTL for half a year before the beefier 14/18/19-EX versions appeared later on for a couple years (shown below in tacky champagne ). Maybe. I seem to remember an SR-9000, but I couldn't find it googling just now. The EXs were indeed heavier and sturdier. And $3500. The skeptic in me naturally assumes they didn't sound significantly better than the $1400 8000.

The 8000 might be a touch more rugged than its current descendants; aluminum faceplate might be the difference. More importantly, it performs and endures. 24/96, HDAM (whatever that is), copper chassis, old Cirrus/Crystal DACs sound good, amps have driven inefficient 4-ohm speakers with ease, blah blah blah. I'd like an Audyssey AVR $omeday, but not until this'un dies.

Seems it might not.

In any event, it's used strictly as an analog multichannel integrated. I let the Oppo do all the thinking.

 

Check this out..........scroll around half way down the page

Lampucera_in_a_marantz

 

dsp a1 ...the last Yamaha integrated right? Not very common.

 

Had one of these way back in the day...........ONKYO TX-SV828 THX




Got it used for $1K a couple of years after its release.
It was second from the top model but gee the amps on board had some b***s!!!


Flagship at the time was the $4K TX-SV919 THX below





Check out the back view!!!............

Not even component video switching yet............let alone video processing!!!!
Or a single coax input............doh........what's digital???

ERM.........apologies to OP........I MAY have gone back a bit TOO far............LOL
And a bit too far OT as well...........It is "running" after all.........not....... "ran over 20 years ago"!!!

 

I'm shocked, shocked.

Yah, I always shrugged HDAM off, assuming I'd be underwhelmed if I dug deep for info.

Thanks for enhancing my general cynicism.

Somehow ol' 8000 sounds good in spite of it all.

 

I forgot to add I have the yamaha rxv 2095 but am constantly looking for the marinatz sr 14 on eBay. never see them.

I heard the sr 14 drive B&W nautilus 804's way back when and it was great. It was way to expensive.

The only thing is I always read about the marantz having problems and not holding up.

 

I had an HK AVR8000 which I sadly got rid of. Harmon Kardon used to make some really nice receivers, now it's just some entry level stuff.