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Modern receivers vs. separates

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Posted on November 4, 2009 at 11:29:33
Gevo
Audiophile

Posts: 51
Location: California &
Joined: June 30, 2009
 How good are highend receivers against separates (DAC + amp) in terms of sound quality? Does the gap between receivers and separates shrinks over the years as technology improves? Are highend receivers a good choice for someone who wants both, hifi stereo setup and home theater in one system?

For example, a $1500 Denon or Marantz receiver against ~$2000 DAC and amp. Will the difference be significant?

It seems in the past few years, the receivers started to catch up nicely by including awesome technologies like ICEpower, Audyssey, pure stereo path, video boards turned-off, etc.

I think you already know the answer to that one ;-), posted on November 7, 2009 at 10:25:30
4season
Audiophile

Posts: 1680
Location: Colorado, USA
Joined: April 2, 2002
 But..! I think if you treat it as a low-powered amplifier, the receiver may sound very good. I think the first handful of watts from my $400 Harman Kardon sound great, and if you disguised it in a deluxe housing, it would embarrass some overpriced and under-engineered high-end products. I suspect that would hold true for other receivers as well--IF you run them well below max rated output (basically let the amps loaf along) and avoid hard-to-drive speakers.

As a DAC, comparisons are a bit tricky because most high end DACs cannot process Dolby True HD soundtracks the way an HT receiver can. For playing regular CDs via SPDIF coax connection, my HK sounds alright, but the <$300 AMB Gamma 2 that I just built sounds much better.

This is a good question . ., posted on November 5, 2009 at 06:02:36
DBB
Audiophile

Posts: 460
Location: NYC, USA
Joined: November 11, 2004
 I hope you get responses. I would guess that these built-in DACS might give quality separates a run for their money. I have noticed that the sound of my Sony NV9100ES on cd's competes well with my separate $1200 DAC, which is very high quality. I don't know how good a receiver would sound though.

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