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Budget AV Receiver with Magnepan

I'm looking to build a 5 channel home theater/music system using Magnepan MMG-W's and CC2 (or possibly MC1's for FR and FL) with a Monitor Audio sub. Now I'm looking at inexpensive used high end AV receivers to tie it all together:

Rotel - 1055 75x5

NAD - T744 (can be had refurbished with warranty) 5x50W, not sure if this is enough to drive the Magnepans?

NAD - T754, a bit more power, can be had with warranty

B&K AVR 202 - 105 x 5, I've heard one of these and liked it, it's a bit older than the rest

Cambridge Audio 540R - 80 x 6, nice looking unit but haven't heard much about them compared to NAD/Rotel/B&K

And advice/experience on any of these would be greatly appreciated. I'm happy with 5 channel DTS, don't need HDMI (although would be nice), want something that can drive the small Maggies without struggling (don't need ground shaking volume here), and I want something that sounds *good*. I'm coming from a small Denon 75w x 5 Dobly Digital surround receiver (driving Monitor Audio Silver 5i's). I know seperates are better, but I'm trying to keep the wife happy ($$$). Thanks!

Brad
bfrank1972

Showing 2 responses by sufentanil

sufentanil's avatar
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sufentanil
782 posts
 
I did some searching online, and found that the Denon AVR-1700 has preouts for the front speakers. You might consider putting your money instead into a budget multichannel amp such as an Adcom, Emotiva, or Outlaw. Then hook up the preouts of your current receiver to the outboard amp to let it power the main L/R and center speaker and let the receiver take care of the surrounds. If you desire an upgrade further on down the road, upgrade to a HT receiver that has full 5.1 or 7.1 preouts and run all speakers off the multichannel amp.

I used to have an NAD T760 driving some PSB speakers, and it sounded just OK. When I added an outboard amp (Sherbourn 5/1500A), though, the performance up easily a couple full notches.

Michael
sufentanil's avatar
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sufentanil
782 posts
 
Component video connections CAN transmit HD signals; they will easily to 1080i and 720p. I'm not sure if they're do 1080p, but on my Samsung 1080p LCD, I cannot tell the difference between the HDMI and component video inputs. Of course, if you want to decode the AUDIO HD signals from a Blu-Ray disc, then you will need to use HDMI connections.

Michael
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