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stereo receiver recommendations

Hi folks,

A friend recently got me interested in this hobby, but I'm definitely still a newbie without much real world listening experience. A colleague at work knows I'm interested in audio and came to me for advice to replace a broken stereo receiver. Problematically, she was fairly coy about budget, so a few recommendations would be greatly appreciated... Lets go with <$500, $500-600, & <$1000 as the 3 price ranges.

She definitely wants to have a phono input for a connected turntable and to have a FM tuner built in so unfortunately we're stuck with stereo receivers rather than integrated amps, which drastically limits the options. She also definitely wants to buy new. She didn't know the model of speakers so I'm not talking about a serious audiophile but rather someone who just enjoys having music playing in her home and doesnt want to give up local radio or her vinyl collection. For that reason I'm thinking ease of use, functionality, and reliability are probably just as important as sound quality (I hope that doesnt make too many of you cringe), but I still want it to sound good. Searching through musicdirect & crutchfield, I've come up with the following:

<$500: Cambridge SR10 or Yamaha R-N303
$500-600: Cambridge SR20 or Yamaha R-N602 
<$1000: Outlaw RR2160 or Yamaha R-N803

Would love input from people with experience with any of these products or recommendations about something else that might be better. Any problems any of you have found with any of the above models? Anybody experienced both in a particular price range and found one to sound particularly better? 

Thanks!
ethos123

Showing 2 responses by rar1

rar1's avatar
rar1
1,811 posts
 
Feedback from someone who has owned one of the options that the OP asked about:

I have owned the Outlaw RR2150 since 2005, the year it was introduced and it is still going strong.  I use it in a bedroom system with Wharfedale Denton speakers and a Rega CD player.

https://www.musicdirect.com/speakers/wharfedale-denton-80th-anniversary-bookshelf-speakers-pr

The updated RR2160 was introduced a few months back and with it some  improvements, but also a few of the parts suppliers have changed over the years and that had to be accommodated.

The receiver is built like a tank.  Its tuner is exemplary and will pull in a good number of the stations, assuming you use a decent antenna.  I live in NYC and use rabbit ears and it pulls in stations strongly.  

I have not tried the phono section, but it has been reviewed favorably, especially for use with moving magnet cartridges.

The receiver has a lot of power.  It plays loud and clean.  All types of music are well served with the Outlaw.  I always thought that from an amp perspective, it was comparable with NAD and Cambridge Audio.

This review in Stereophile will give you a better idea of the receiver's capabilities.

https://www.stereophile.com/integratedamps/306outlaw/index.html


 Rich 
rar1's avatar
rar1
1,811 posts
 
Hi Ethos -

Wish I could hear them in person to compare, but figured some of you probably had.


Not sure how you would do this. I doubt there are many (any) stores around that have more than one quality stereo receiver in stock, let alone a few to compare.  It is not the 1970s.

Which leads me to the following ...  I doubt very much that many women would go with a used receiver, especially one that is 40 years old (Sherwood 7100).  I remember when that receiver was being sold by Tech HiFi when I was high school. 

She is most likely looking for something new and that is going to last for a number of years.

If radio is important, the Outlaw is the way to go.  The company's founder (Peter Tribeman) is a radio fanatic and much research went into both the FM and AM tuner portions.  It also now sports HD radio.

https://www.soundandvision.com/content/outlaw-audio-updates-its-longstanding-receiver

Rich 

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