2. amps-preamps
  3. 1245087738

125 watt or 80 watt?

I am looking to purchase a carver amp. I want either the 505 or 705 that has 80 watt and 125 watt with thx rating. I currently have a marantz sr7400 that is up for sale here. Will i be able to tell a differnce with the 80 watt? i am in a bedroom that is medium sized, will the 125 be overkill? How good is the carver amps? I can get the 705 for 350$, would i be happier with 705 or 505? i know there are alot of questions but i need to know if this is worth it. Thank you for the time
athens14
athens14 OP
19 posts
 
Im sure you dont... but i was wondering why an amp preamp would not be better than the onkyo?
dlcockrum's avatar
dlcockrum
2,190 posts
 
I think at your pricepoint you may end up with a bunch of antiquated junk if you are not careful. The only way to get the latest features at that price is an AVR.

I had a Onkyo 805 for a while and it is a nice AVR with all of the most current features - bitstream D/A conversion of CD/SACD, Dolby TrueHD, DTS Master Audio, etc. and Audyssey room correction. It is also very powerful and has a very good power supply (it weighs over 50 lbs!). Just pair it up with a Oppo 980H universal player ($150 on Amazon.com) and you are good to go.

Since the 806 just came out, you should be able to find a 805 cheap ($400-$500) if you are patient. This unit does run hot so you will need fans - I used dual fans that I bought on ebay - they plug directly into the AC outlet on the back of the AVR. Very nice. You will be pleased.
athens14 OP
19 posts
 
i totally understand where you are coming from, but what is wrong with having a new pioneer with the carver supplying the power, it has all the same features with updated hd audio, and the carver would supply good power, am i missing something in this whole thing? Wouldnt an amp be better sounding than an avr receiver, and i can still get the hd audio with the pioneer? Would this happen to be your ad on ebay?
athens14 OP
19 posts
 
well i did some researching on the onkyo it sounds like everything i was wanting. But, i still would like to know if it would sound better than a seperate amp like the carver.
dlcockrum's avatar
dlcockrum
2,190 posts
 
Hey man, that hurts! I would never try to solicit a sale on a post without saying so - my ebay ID is 'crossramz28' - you can see that I am not the seller.

As for the Pioneer VSX 819: it retails for $299. That means the dealer pays $180 (60%). That probably means that the total cost to manufacture it is about $75 (COGS) if that. How good do you think a full-featured AVR can be for $75 COGS?? The best amp in the world cannot sound better than the preamp driving it. Think about it.

But this is the most important concern: I looked at the 819 on Pioneer's website. The spec page only says that it has "sub/surround back L/R" preamp outputs. If that is true, you cannot do what you are trying to do if there are no L/C/R/LR/RR preamp outs.

http://www.pioneerusa.com/PUSA/Products/HomeEntertainment/AV-Receivers/PioneerReceivers/ci.VSX-819H-K.Kuro?tab=B
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