shooter6942

Looking to upgrade the current system and I think I've been sold on the NHT speaker system. Does ayone have any experience with either of these two receivers along with the NHT's??

Any info would be appreciated. Thanks.

Patman

The only thing I can volunteer is that NHTs are very power-hungry due to that 6 ohms load, so make sure you get a receiver that does well with 4 ohm loads, and you should be set. I think either receiver you listed will do well, all that matter is how each one satisfies your ears in the sound quality.

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PatCave ;HT Pix ;Pat's DVDs

matchpenalty

Which NHT speakers??

I have an SR-8000 driving an array of superones, supercenter, superzeros and a velodyne 12 in sub.. wonderful, absolutely wonderful is all I can say. There is at least one other forum member with the same setup who loves it too. Do a search on 'NHT' and one on 'Marantz'. You should be able to find the comments.

Took me 4 months to decide on a setup and I have not been disappointed. The best thing, is when I finally decided what I wanted, I took my wife to listen. She got tired of demo'ing stuff long before. Made her leave the shop before she told me what she thought. Her response: "Go back there and get it!"

GregSoundBoy

i've got a set of supertwos, superones, and supercenter powered by a sony db940. i love my setup and the nhts. i don't have any experience with the marantz receiver but most people here seem to love them. which nhts did you go for? my nhts are all 8 ohms.

shooter6942

Hey, thanks for the quick responses. I am looking at the following NHT setup:

2 Super Two's for the Front L & R
2 Super Ones's for the Rear L & R
1 Super Center
Unsure of Sub...maybe NHT but probably Velodyne...

I will be using this for 80% HT and 20% music.

Would it be better with (4) Super One's for HT or do the Super Two's add some nice punch??

Patman

Actually, if it's at all possible, I'd try using a Super One as a center channel to give you seamless voice matching across the front 3 speakers. But that's just me.

If you were to do more music, I'd go with the Super Two's, but with so much for HT, you're okay with the Super Ones for the front left/right speakers (but if you have the money, you might want to get the Super Two's anyway for the fronts.


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PatCave ;HT Pix ;Pat's DVDs

matchpenalty

I went with superones and zeros due to space limitations... The setup you are considering sounds great. If you have the space and cash, go with it. However, I highly recommend the Velodyne sub over the NHT. I have the CT-120 and love it...

I would NOT use a superone as a center in the setup you are considering. I think the supercenter does a better job.

You know my personal choice on the receiver since I have the SR-8000.

audrey

I haven't heard the 777, but I have listened extensively to the 50es w/ NHT super zeros. This combination was a bit to harsh for my ears. Given this experience I would recommend the Marantz.

Regarding subs, I have both a Velodyne 1200 and a HSU 1220. I'm using the velodyne in my 2 channel system, and the HSU for HT. Overall I perfer the HSU; it's more musical, plays lower and has a better quality cross over. But both are good choices.

GregSoundBoy

for many many hours i was pondering wether to get the supertwos or the superones for the mains. i finally decided on getting the supertwos because i felt that the extra punch was worth the money. you've gotta consider that you are probably gonna end up purchasing stands for the superones so that'll go into the cost as well.

matchpenalty

GregSoundBoy, for about 25 bucks, you can get the XU version of the superones which includes a wall mount bracket...

GregSoundBoy

xcheckers...
i was talkin about stands for the superones that would go in the front.

matchpenalty

My fronts (superones) are mounted on the wall....with the XU brackets..was cheaper than stands.

BEC

Both receiver amps are "ample" enough in power for supers. I've got a NHT 2.5i towers/1.5 rears/AC-1 set-up (quite similar to the supers). It was well powered by both the 8000 and 777 up to SPL's over 95dB in a 15x10 room.

Two main differences:

Acoustically, the Marantz is (IMO) a little warmer, i.e., less tendency to brightness/harshness from the upper midrange to treble. The Sony is super clear. I find NHT's to be on the bright side, so a 8000 w/NHT sounds little softer, sweeter - a Sony w/NHT will clearer, sharper. This matters mostly for music - a personal taste issue.

Feature wise: 777 has superior sonic tweaks. The bass management let's you set the ideal cross-over frequency for your sub (Marantz's is fixed at 100 Hz). Multi-band tone controls, aka EQ's, allow you to adjust the EQ's (bass, midrange, treble...) for individual speakers. Really a great tool for balancing speakers' frequency response. Marantz has a conventional master tone control.

I went w/the 8000 because:

-I thought it was little better built
-I like a little warmth as opposed to strictly neutral/bright

-I plan to buy/make a separate equalizer.

-100 Hz is pretty close to where I like my bass crossover.

If I had to do it again (especially a one-box solution), I might go w/Sony since it's more sonically adjustable to a wider variety of speaker sets. It probably could be self-EQ'd to sound like the Marantz. The converse is not true.

I have been using a Sony DB940 for a few weeks while my 8000 was under repair (user error). That receiver DOESN'T have a solid enough amp to drive NHT's or I should say the sound is quite-a-bit less pleasing than what I hear from the other receivers.

BTW, for a small set up, I like Patman's suggestion of a bookshelf center. You get more bass extension (60 Hz vs 75-80Hz) and near perfect voice matching. Sometimes I prefer using a 1.5 (or two) for a center instead of the AC-1. The con: it doesn't sound as good over a larger listening area.

It's funny, the off-axis frequency response is BETTER for a single bookshelf (WIDER dispersion, less SPL drop off off axis), but the AC-1 gives a flatter response near the axis. Sit ten feet away, and the response from the AC-1 is pretty flat over 3-4 ft laterally (focussed, polar response), but rolls off rapidly as you move off axis ( >10dB around +/-30 degrees). W/a bookshelf, the response rolls off almost as soon as you move off center, but at a much more gradual rate than the AC-1 off axis. For an audience of 1-2, the bookshelf sounds great -hard to tell from a phantom center (REAL hard to tell it's on). For a larger listening area (four+ person couch), a center speaker will probably be better for the audience as a whole.

GregSoundBoy

xcheckers...if you have the superone xu's in the front hanging from the wall...aren't the speakers behind the plane of the screen then? i thought you would want to have your speakers right on line with the screen. you probably have much more experience than i do...so is there a difference?

matchpenalty

I do have them on plane with the screen. If you angle the tv in a corner (though I have a weird shaped room that was built with a nook for the tv) you shouldn't have a problem. THe guy who built my house designed the room so the prewiring was in the perfect place for my fronts. It's an angular line between the fronts but the room is shaped that way.

eauctiontrust

Marantz all the way!
I have SR8000 and NHT and I demoed all the possible combinations available and Marantz outshined Nakamichi too which was my second choice.

Go for Marantz. U will love the remote too.

casey225

I can only vouch for the SR8000, I just bought one and it surpassed my expectations by a great deal. It even passed my "chick test" which means if a woman notices a difference, then it has to be real (please don't flame me for being sexist, I say this in good fun). However, even my wife who thinks this stuff is a grand waste of money admitted there was a huge difference with the Marantz. BTW, everyone on audioreview has given the SR8000 five stars--hard to beat that!

brilon

BECK nailed it right on the head.IMPO,the Marantz is an outstanding receiver,but the Sony 777ES has the BEST tweek for receivers available.The bass management in the Sony 777ES can make a world of difference in the NHT`s or any other speaker.

shooter6942

I just want to thank everyone for your input. It seems the responses are split as to which receiver to get. To tell you the truth, I don't think either of them would be a bad choice. I'll let you know what I decide. Quick additional question....if I do decide to go with the Sony, are Onecall.com and Oade.com the best sites??

Thanks again...

brilon

I got my Denon AVR-4800 for $1379.00 shipped from Uncle`s Stereo.Ask to speak to "Andrew".I e-mailed them the best price I could find and they beat it.They were not authorized for Denon,but Uncle`s has a 2 year warranty through them.Andrew put on my receipt that if anything went wrong within two years,they would exchange for another one.Good Luck

BEC

The dealer cost for a new 777 is around $820. Both Oade and Onecall can give you a good deal for around $950, around 15% mark-up. East-coast shipping probably better for Oade. Liquidprice.com works pretty well. Retailers compete for your buisness.

Used/demo units can go for $900, a 10% mark-up which is rock-bottom for a retailer.