RustyShackelford Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 It's starting to get decently warm (almost hot) while playing records, especially when at higher volumes. And it's starting to have a pretty strong "burning electronics" smell. It's never done that previously. It's nothing special, a Sony STR-DE945, I'm looking to upgrade to something better. If you guys could recommend something that would be a nice upgrade, let me know please. The rest of my set up is a debut carbon and a pair of Alesis MKII monitors. I use the receiver for me turntable as well as sometimes an input for my Bluetooth receiver so I can play music from my phone/iPad and very rarely an input to play movie audio from my computer. Neither of those things other than the turntable are a necessity. As long as I can hook up my turntable and speakers, I'm good. I was thinking of just going with the pro ject preamp. Any pros or cons to that? Show me what you've got vc! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxmartinxx Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 Budget? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RustyShackelford Posted June 26, 2014 Author Share Posted June 26, 2014 To be honest I don't know what a decent pre amp or receiver costs, but $0-150 would be great, I could make anything up to $300 or so work as long as the increase in sound quality is there. I'm kind of ignorant when it comes to preamps/receivers so excuse me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxmartinxx Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/marpm5004/marantz-pm5004-integrated-amplifier-with-45-watts-x-2-channels/1.html?gclid=CJ_3jo-qlr8CFRJk7AodVCsAqw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
circuit bored records Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 Is the mkII passive or active? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RustyShackelford Posted June 26, 2014 Author Share Posted June 26, 2014 I'll keep an eye on that one, that's a little higher than my highest wanted price point. But it's not completely out of the question. Anyone have this, thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RustyShackelford Posted June 26, 2014 Author Share Posted June 26, 2014 Is the mkII passive or active?Passive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
circuit bored records Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 I had a 5004 for a while, I think $350 shipped is kind of expensive for a refurb, I think I got mine from amazon warehouse deals for like $70 less than that. It's a solid amp, very commonly used and recommended on these forums (for good reason) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RustyShackelford Posted June 26, 2014 Author Share Posted June 26, 2014 Awesome, $70 cheaper or so would be great. I'll definitely look into it a little closer. Thank you! Like I said, I'm ignorant when it comes to the receiver end of things, how exactly does a receiver make such a huge difference in sound quality? What makes a receiver good/bad? I always assumed it was the TT and speakers that did almost all the work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
circuit bored records Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 Your TT and speakers may technically have a bigger influence on how he sound you are hearing is reproduced, but the receiver does have a substantial impact as well. The receiver (amplifier) is what is powering your speakers since they are passive. I probably wouldn't be the best at putting into layman's terms, but what makes a receiver bad are cheap amps, power supplies, capacitors, boards, etc. Anyway, you need an amplifier since you have passive speakers so I don't think going with the pro ject preamp alone is going to work for you. The marantz above would suit your needs just fine. Probably wouldn't be a bad idea to read the beginners guide to hifi on this page. Pretty helpful info that's easy to understand in there too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RustyShackelford Posted June 26, 2014 Author Share Posted June 26, 2014 I read it awhile back, I've got a good idea on how everything else should work and whatnot. Receivers are my weak spot. I'll definitely take another read though, thanks for the help man. I appreciate it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tardcore Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 I got my PM5004 for $185 from Amazon Warehouse deals. You can set up a price notification on camelcamelcamel.com but I think the sub-$200 days are gone. You can poke around the clearance sections on Audio Advisor, Music Direct, Needle Doctor etc. I looked and didn't see much in your price range. Best thing I found is this for $389 http://www.musicdirect.com/p-120522-marantz-pm6004-integrated-amp-demo.aspx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
allenh Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 To keep it simple basically your records contain an enormous amount of information and the better the equipment the more chance you have of getting at that information. Firstly make sure you are talking about the right thing as a receiver and pre amp and amplifier are all different things some of which do broadly the same job and some do different jobs, so have a read of the beginners guide as it's been explained in there several times. In the case of any form of amplifier as yanquiuixo has said pretty much all the parts within an amplifier have an influence e.g. The better the power supply the lower the noise floor (smaller noises and small details the amplifier can send out) and the more stable the amplifier is (the better at changing what it sends out). the same is true of all of the signal path electronics and all of these things cost in time and cost of materials. The biggest thing with any amplifier though is that it can colour the sound in a certain direction and different manufacturers have what is known as a house sound in that for example a Marantz amp will generally sound one way and a Yamaha amp will sound another, some are better at bass or treble or middle or are better at the small details or at placing the sounds where they should be or are better at changing from one sound to another etc. etc. but never all together, personal preference aside the engineers that design and build these things are trying to make something that has a completely neutral sound that sends out exactly what comes in just louder but the above changes things and is what is referred to as colouring the sound. Because of this effect some are better with certain types of music, so on a low budget the manufacturer will aim for average rather than good at a particular thing so that it does nothing badly The next thing is the law of diminishing returns, in that you can spend x and it sound ok and spend y and it sound quite a bit better but after that the amounts of money get ever larger and the gains get ever smaller until you get to point where they just sound different not better or worse. And the last is making sure that all your equipment is of a similar level and complements each other, it's not good having a $1000 cartridge on a $100 turntable into a $10,000 amplifier powering $500 speakers, that isn't the greatest example as there are turkeys at all price levels but as with all things in audio the rules are not rules but general guides All of the above is true of all audio electronics and hopefully you get something out of all the words but it doesn't mean a thing if you don't like what you hear. As always the best advice is go and listen to stuff because the more you listen to the more informed choice you can make, very difficult in the internet age I know but the only way you know for sure you have done the best with your money. eight1echo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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