Budget AV Receiver with Magnepan

Holy you-know-what. If you found a Rotel RSX-1065 for less than $300, you got the bargain of the century. You do realize that a new one was over $2,000, right? Anyway, I'd say your done shopping. The 1065 is actually overkill for your setup. Enjoy it.

I haven't found Maggies to be as difficult to drive as they are reputed to be, at least the smaller models anyway. My guess would be that any of the receivers you mentioned, except for the NAD T744, would be adequate.

As far as sound goes, MAYBE the Cambridge and Rotel could produce a somewhat bright presentation. The NAD would probably be the most laid back. I don't have any experience with B&K stuff.

Finally, why not keep the Denon you have now and see how that works before investing in a new receiver? Denon's stuff is generally very good, even the entry level models, especially when it comes to powering what amounts to satellites. And the slightly warm sound of the Denon might make for a nice balance with the Maggies.

Finally, if you feel you do turn out to need a new receiver, don't count out Onkyo and Yamaha. Some of their latest models in the $500-$700 range (brand new) are surprisingly good, even with 2-channel music.

All the more reason to try the Denon first. Who cares if it blows up? Better to use it as a guinea pig. See how hard you need to run it, whether it heats up, blows up, whatever, and then use the results to help choose how much power (and transformer power) you need if you decide to upgrade.

I found some technical analysis of the AVR-1700, which was a mid-end model actually from what I found online:

"In the lab, the AVR1700 delivered technical measurements typical of a low-to-mid-priced receiver.

The maximum power output at the onset of clipping was measured at 86.19W RMS into 81/2 with a THD of 3.07 per cent. Denon quotes an output of 70W with no more than 0.5 per cent THD.

Yet 0.5 per cent THD might be considered a tad high in today's age of ultra-low distortion amplification. Employing HCC's unique Fidelity Firewall (a measurement showing maximum output and low distortion) we can reveal the AVR-1700 delivers just 60.8W at 0.118 per cent THD.

We were more worried by the overall frequency response. In stereo mode a 30-point sweep from 25Hz to 20kHz at the Firewall Output revealed a 0.5dB peak around 150Hz and a droop of 0.3dB from 200Hz to 500Hz, bottoming out at 800Hz.

Employing a multitone (22 frequencies applied simultaneously) at the industry 1W/8ohm level, confirmed this mid-band muzziness with a measured variation of 0.8dB peak-to-peak which (if you have keen hearing) may just about be audible, especially on music recordings."

And here's an excerpt from the HCC review:

"I was actually rather impressed with how this Denon performed both with music and movie material. Musically, the AVR-1700 has an open, inviting character particularly suited to solo vocalists. I listened to, amongst others, Paula Cole's This Fire (Warner) and Rebecca Pigeon's The Raven (Chesky) and apart from a slight restriction in terms of image depth and width was surprised with the results.

The Denon isn't shamed by a high-quality pair of loudspeakers and is equally at home with a modest home theatre package, but a little extra spent on speakers isn't going to be wasted. I couldn't find much to complain about when it came to bass-heavy material either; unlike some previous Denons, the AVR-1700 can pump out a forceful bass line such as that during Yello's The Rhythm Divine.

The six DSP modes are moderate, the best being 5CH stereo, and should be used judiciously. Turning the rear and effect levels down from the defaults helps a great deal. Experiment for the best results."

My Blu-Ray player only outputs 1080p through the HDMI, and I think that's the case with all players. So if you want HD, you have to use an HDMI connection. Otherwise, you'll have to live with 480p.

Wow, don't go scaring the guy, Iplaynaked.

On Magnepan's own website they quote a reviewer stating:

"Using my Sony receiver, I was able to drive the speakers to satisfyingly loud levels, but I had to crank the volume control higher than usual. My receiver displayed no signs of distress during the auditioning; I’m confident that if your receiver puts out enough current, you shouldn’t have any problems."

I just got the new Absolute Sound and one of their recommended systems has a budget 100wpc integrated amp driving big Maggies. I think he'll be okay for now.

Remember...the guy was originally looking at sub-$500 receiver models of the sort you'd find at Best Buy. Now, he's driving $949 worth of speakers with a $2,000 receiver. We can sell him some Musical Fidelity Superchargers later. Let's let him enjoy what he has for now.

In Bfrank's own words:

"want something that can drive the small Maggies without struggling (don't need ground shaking volume here), and I want something that sounds *good*.

He's done shopping.

I didn't say "no signs of distress." A reviewer did. And Magnepan chose to display that quote prominently on their website. Because they know that asking someone to drive $949 worth of speakers with $9,000 worth of amplification is insane.

And as for your "Honda vs. Porsche" analogy...you've got it backwards. The particular Maggies he's buying are Hondas, not Porsches.