stereo reciever for sonus faber grand piano Home

I wasn't suggesting that you use a onkyo receiver. I was just trying to say that onkyo seems to work well with them. What I was suggesting is that you look into b&k seperates(preamp and amp) because I've never heard the pianos sound as good with anything else. If your looking at preowned this should be in your budget.

Doggg, there is a B & K reference 20 surround proccessor and a 200 w pc b&k power amplifier on audiogon now. is this a good combination?.
Thanks

It doesnt have a 12V trigger,but if you are in the Mpls/St Paul area,I have an older Sansui that is pretty good and you are welcome to audition it,good luck,Bob

At $1300 budget, you're within sniffin' distance of a couple of great switching integrateds--the PS Audio C-100 Trio at $1595 and the NuForce at $1695. If you want to stay well within budget, I can definitely vouch for the way the Onkyo A-9555 integrated amp brings vented floorstanding speakers (like the Grand Piano) alive. The Onkyo is fast, quiet, detailed, with lots of speed and "jump," but also smooth and musical once you break it in properly, match it with a good power cord, and leave it on or in standby all the time. It is leagues ahead of the Outlaw RR2150, which I owned and sent back. I marvel every day at how good the Onkyo is. With the Onkyo A-9555 and current crop of integrateds from NAD and Cambridge, I don't even consider the Outlaw good for the money. It is slow with a rolled off treble, something you don't want with the Grand Piano.

I have a similar setup in my bedroom - SF Home Concerto in the bedroom and inwalls in the bathroom. I went a somewhat unusual route that you might want to consider, although it is takes a little effort to set up. I use a low end integrated as the conrol center and to drive the bathroom and a separate higher end tube integrated to drive the main speakers. I use a Yamaha for the control integrated/receiver but there are lot of options for < $200 used (although you may have to look to find out with a sleep function). I then use a hybrid tube integrated (Pathos Classic One mkiii) for the Concerto. The Pathos is driven by the Tape Output jacks on the Yamaha. The tubes are only in the pre-amp section, so will last at long time. The Pathos Classic One mk iii may be too expensive, but the mk ii can be found used in your price range.

I use a simple Radio Shack universal remote to control the Yamaha and the Pathos.

The Pathos does not have a 12 volt trigger, but I use a Russound ACT-1 to provide power to it. It is a 120 volt outlet that is turned on and off by a 12 volt trigger. I use the line out of the Yamaha with a 120 v wall wart that provides the appropriate 12 volt trigger output. Then, I just turn the receiver on and off to turn both units on and off. Sounds like you could use your power conditioner to turn the ACT-1 on and off.

One issue, is this limits you to analog signals, so the Blu Ray player would need to decode the sound track and provide it to stereo analog outputs. Players that do this are now available.

The general idea is to use a low end solid state integrated/receiver as the control center and to drive the bathroom. Then you can drive the GP with a better quality integrated that may not have all control features and second speaker options that you need. May not be a good option for you, but though you should consider it.