Yamaha vs pioneer amp

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#2387264 8-Jan-2020 11:32

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They are still packed away in their boxes awaiting the new house build (early April), along with my new 65inch 4k tv for the living room, Integra 5.3 amp and (on its way today hopefully) Sony 270es 4k projector. I'm not known for my patience at unwrapping new toys, so its killing me not having anything set up and listening to TV/Movies via a Panasonic mini system over bluetooth. Also waiting on Integra / Onkyo to release their 2019 2ch receiver (TX8390 or DTM-7) to drive the R7s. I did listen to them being driven by a Hegel 190 and they sounded divine, but the Hegel is simply too far out of budget.

Interesting about the Q150s, I was eyeing up the 350s as surrounds but nervous about their size in my room (4.4m long x 4m wide) and tossing up between the the 350s or 150s, the 15s might just get the edge

Dunnersfella

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#2387485 8-Jan-2020 16:31

Who sells Hegel in NZ? I saw it in the latest CDL info, but I haven't seen any HiFi stores rolling with it yet?

Loismustdye

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#2387551 8-Jan-2020 17:23

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Listened to a Klipsch rp6000f and a focal chorus 726 next to the kef 550, the difference of the kef to the others was like night and day (smaller speaker size and all that). The Klipsch and the focal were brilliant to listen to, nice full rounded sound to my ears, with the focal speakers looking stunning in a white lacquer finish.
With either of those I could wait longer for a sub as they had plenty of oomph, and were running on a lower 45 watt amp which had no trouble running them.
Pretty much mad my mind up on either of these, now to convince my wife that we NEED to spend circa $2k on front speakers for the lounge. :)
Edit: @shinychrome my iPad obviously thinks I drink too much when it autocorrects, but yes I missed on the last palmy meetup due to work so another one is likely due

sen8or

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#2387585 8-Jan-2020 18:41

Dunnersfella:

Who sells Hegel in NZ? I saw it in the latest CDL info, but I haven't seen any HiFi stores rolling with it yet?

was at Magnum Sound in Christchurch, but pretty sure I have seen them online at AVWorld too.

If they sell Kef upper series (R or above) then they'll likely have access to Hegel too.

Loismustdye

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#2389260 9-Jan-2020 19:36

And weirdly HN has had a bunch of speakers pop up on their website including the rp6000f for under $1800. Will see if that model can be ordered locally as that is cheaper than what soundhub could offer me.

ShinyChrome

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#2389262 9-Jan-2020 19:42

Loismustdye: And weirdly HN has had a bunch of speakers pop up on their website including the rp6000f for under $1800. Will see if that model can be ordered locally as that is cheaper than what soundhub could offer me.

Unfortunately you just missed it on special for $1397.

Sound hub definitely can't do it for that price, but if you have the time, take a run past Brendan to see if they can match or better the deal.

Interesting take on the klipsch and focals. I found the focal a touch too cold and clinical, but I can see how that might appeal to some. The klipsch were not exactly neutral, but sounded closer to it than them.

Loismustdye

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#2389281 9-Jan-2020 19:56

ShinyChrome:
Loismustdye: And weirdly HN has had a bunch of speakers pop up on their website including the rp6000f for under $1800. Will see if that model can be ordered locally as that is cheaper than what soundhub could offer me.

Unfortunately you just missed it on special for $1397.

Sound hub definitely can't do it for that price, but if you have the time, take a run past Brendan to see if they can match or better the deal.

Interesting take on the klipsch and focals. I found the focal a touch too cold and clinical, but I can see how that might appeal to some. The klipsch were not exactly neutral, but sounded closer to it than them.

Damn that’s sharp, maybe I should wait and hope someone else does it at that price again :-)
Wonder who had it for that price?
To be fair the soundhub price wasn’t far off Harvey Norman’s, and I am quite tempted by the focal they had as well, absolutely stunning looking speaker, slightly cheaper than the Klipsch but it doesn’t really have a lot of reviews online about it to compare it with.

jonathan18

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#2389376 9-Jan-2020 22:49

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My best guess is that it was HN. They are constantly adding and removing the same products from their website, and by the look of it PriceSpy treats each as a new add each time so doesn’t retain price history. Note the date added is 7 Jan, and there are no previous prices. HN never go long without a sale!

ShinyChrome

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#2389423 10-Jan-2020 08:05

Yup, it's Harvey Norman. I find most AV specific retailers don't seem to do sales on speakers, but will usually do you a price under RRP if you ask. So most of the dips in price you can see on the price history will be HN; you might find they have another dip on an anniversary weekend (is sales then a thing?) / Waitangi Day special.

I actually pulled the trigger on them when the fell off a cliff in early 2019 at $1487, but then cancelled my order when I got a super deal on some ex-demo KEFs. Which wasn't a bad thing, since within 3 days they dropped another $100. Kinda wished I had stuck with them since the KEFs only lasted 6 months, but oh well.

But yeah, where I can and the price difference isn't massively disparate, I have been trying to support local retailers like Brendan, since they give us a purpose built audio showroom to have proper A/B demos with kit that doesn't necessarily make the big box retail channel.

Loismustdye

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#2396745 16-Jan-2020 09:56

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So, pulled th pin and got the Polk audio s55 floorstanders and the s30 centre as a starting point, I liked the sound of these but also the wife balked at the increasing amounts of $$ the various speakers I was looking at. As much as I liked the Klipsch rp6000f speakers,, it was going to cost a lot more to match up the centre and then at a later date the surrounds, as well as spending another $1300 ish on a sub. The Focal 726 was nice as well, but the wife wasn’t a fan of the colour scheme, and she preferred the slightly cheaper polks.

Another reason was the fact that I was heading down the path of overthinking things (as I tend to do when buying something) and was spending a fair bit of time online reading forum postings and reviews on the various brands and pros/cons etc, so a decision had to be made, for my insanity and the family’s lol.

But again, thanks for the advice, just have to wait for them to arrive, do some settling in and softening of the cones for a few weeks, and then I can start looking at subs and then surrounds hahaha.

ShinyChrome

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#2399026 16-Jan-2020 13:46

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Loismustdye: So, pulled th pin and got the Polk audio s55 floorstanders and the s30 centre as a starting point, I liked the sound of these but also the wife balked at the increasing amounts of $$ the various speakers I was looking at. As much as I liked the Klipsch rp6000f speakers,, it was going to cost a lot more to match up the centre and then at a later date the surrounds, as well as spending another $1300 ish on a sub. The Focal 726 was nice as well, but the wife wasn’t a fan of the colour scheme, and she preferred the slightly cheaper polks.

Another reason was the fact that I was heading down the path of overthinking things (as I tend to do when buying something) and was spending a fair bit of time online reading forum postings and reviews on the various brands and pros/cons etc, so a decision had to be made, for my insanity and the family’s lol.

But again, thanks for the advice, just have to wait for them to arrive, do some settling in and softening of the cones for a few weeks, and then I can start looking at subs and then surrounds hahaha.

Noice! Great choice, I'm sure you will enjoy them. I must admit I like the modern SAF-lounge-friendly design of the Signatures. Extremely unlike mine, which look a bit like the designer was influenced by this...

That was what stopped me from going ahead with the Klipsch speakers. $1000+ each for a matching center, bookshelves or surrounds... I like them for HT, but they are overpriced, man. Seems to be the prevailing opinion even in the mecca of affordable HT, 'Murica.

You and me both. To be honest I have found since buying mine, I am even more interested in researching and listening to different speakers, now that I have something to compare it to. But I can enjoy the experience while knowing I can enjoy what I have. But it is a vicious cycle though...

I would also recommend picking up the UHD Blu-ray copy of Blade Runner:2049 if you can. That soundtrack is a master class in audio mastering, and my go to for testing/showing off.

maoriboy

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#2399051 16-Jan-2020 14:17

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@loismustdye I reckon I will have to come round and check out your new setup one weekend over a few brews.

@shinychrome I would agree that a Manawatu GeekZoners catchup is overdue. Maybe you should get something organised? 🙃

Loismustdye

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#2401037 18-Jan-2020 07:42

Picked the polks up yesterday and plugged them in, didn’t realise just how big the s30 was till I pit it on th cabinet, bigger than the amp which is no wee thing itself. I haven’t bi-wired the s55s yet as I wanted time to hear them as standard before doing so.
Just need to let them break in for a few days now with the playing the radio during the day and using them as the audio for the tv when it is on.
Any suggestions on what sub to head for first? I read that ported is best for HT, and keep seeing comments about svs subs being quite good.

jonathan18

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#2401040 18-Jan-2020 07:59

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Re SVS subs - there's a thread here that would probably be worth you reading: geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumId=34&topicId=261701

I love my PB2000, but that's an old model now. As that thread discusses there's a model that ShinyChrome has purchased that will give most of the bang for less of the buck that's currently at a decent price, if you're ready to go now! (They are large boxes, mind you.)

ShinyChrome

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#2401216 18-Jan-2020 12:23

Yep, I have found that most speakers are bigger than they look when you get them home haha. And smaller than the boxes look...

Honestly, I wouldn't worry about bi-amping/bi-wiring. I have done it with both my KEFs and Emotivas now; they sound almost exactly the same. I thought if anything that they gave a teeeeeny bit higher output for a specified volume on the AVR, but the AVR displayed volume and actual output are a relative function anyway. Feel free to try it if you have the extra cables, but I would save the money for something else. Like a nice hat, or something.

Echoing what @jonathan18 said, there is really only one choice in NZ for a good HT sub until you start to get towards the high end ($$$$): SVS. Unfortunately, as you can see in the linked discussion, they have just made one of their more easily recommended subs EOL and replaced it with a much more expensive version.

Definitely go ported for home theater, as you will want the deeper bass extension to enjoy movie LFE soundtracks that mostly go down into the 20hz region and some that go even lower into infrasonic frequencies. A rule of thumb I have heard is that you have to go 3-4x bigger to get a sealed sub that can dig as deep as an equivalent ported sub. Sealed tend to be recommended as more of a "musical" sub due to their response characteristics that favor the 30hz-100hz range common in music, but some people prefer that for HT even. There is a lot more nuances of the frequency response that come into it than just "digs deep", but I think a decent ported sub is a great place to start.

The downside of a ported sub is they tend to be BIG-ASS boxes. There is also things like matching it to your room size, but really we have so little selection and they are so fricken expensive that unless you want to start throwing around thousands for your PB-3000s or 4000s, just get the biggest one you can get for your budget. Good advice: "you can easily turn a big sub down, but you can't easily turn a small sub up".

If your budget is $1300-2000, I would see if you can lay hands on a SVS PB12-NSD. If you do go that way, I would think about buying sooner rather than later, since there is always the chance that they stop making them this year (they are a special run for Black Friday). Soundhub should hopefully still be able to get them for $1300, but don't have them in-store for demo. Happy to demo mine for ya, or really any PB-2000 should give you an idea of what you are in for.

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