RECIEVER recommendations

Hi Myth:

I am a big fan of receivers. If you are buying new, there are really only three worth considering:

1. Music Hall Maven at $1500. This receiver was reviewed in a Sam Tellig Stereophile column in the last month or so.

2. NAD C720 BEE at $600 - $700. This receiver has the C320 BEE integrated amplifier at its core with an RDS NAD tuner.

3. Rotel 1052 at $800 - $900.

What you will need to pay attention to is how the tuner sounds. It is not that sensitivity and selectivity are not important, but every review of a tuner seems to center around how many stations the tuner can pull in ... which just misses the point. I say this because a good antenna (especially if you can go with an outdoor or attic mounted one) can make up for somewhat less sensitivity in a tuner.

About 3 to 4 years ago, I was looking for a quality receiver and there was not much choice outside of the Onkyo 8211 and Denon 395, which have OK amplifiers, but sub-par tuners for city use (I live in NYC). I went the vintage route and purchased and refurbished two Marantz receivers, a 2216B and a 2240 ... so each receiver wound up costing $400 to $500, which is high for electronics that are 25 to 30 years old. The payoff is they have excellent tuner sections, especially when compared to so many receivers today.

Stay away from HT receivers as their tuners are afterthoughts and fairly processed sounding.

Regards, Rich

McIntosh MHT100 used. I heard this thing playing a Metallica concert on B&W N802 and 805 and it was incredible. Definately way more than 80W were coming out of it. I was very impressed. And of course McIntosh is famous for its tuners. Arthur

Luxman R-117!

You will not beat this for the money or otherwise. 160 watts of clean smooth sound with agruably one of the best tuner sections made.

A good one goes for around $500 delivered on ebay.

I agree w/Rarl about tuners. I use an old Akai tuner that originally came with a stereo stack about 20+ years ago. I use one of those wire in clear plastice T's just thrown on top of the cabinet and the little 6 inch wide unit brings in everything with good signal strength. It sounds ok too, decent stereo separation and sporatic soundstage depth. It's been with me for a long time and I doubt I'll ever replace it, it frees up my choices for other electronics.

I own the Arcam AVR200, Rotel 1065 & Rotel RX-1052. The 1052 is amazing when paired with the t-style antenna that comes with the unit. I'm able to clearly pick up more stations then ever before. I own two different Terk antenna's and they don't seem to help much, just the out of the box cheap antenna seems to have the best reception. The problem is the rotel connection in the back is not a typical 75 ohm connector, it has a circle in the center that doesn't allow for perfect connection wiht aftermarket solutions. Overall, I'm very happy with the RX-1052, but it's to soon for a detailed review.