SR 14EX: King of the Hill
Dec 07 '00
I recently acquired this beast of a receiver and it sounds wonderful. I tried to cut corners a little bit by trying the Denon 4800. I picked up the Denon for about $1600 at my local audio shop and took it for a test drive with my Pioneer DV 05 DVD player and M & K 750 THX speaker system. It sounded really unreal, not unlike my Sony low-end receiver. Suffice it to say, I was disappointed. Then I plunked down about $3700 for the SR-14EX. I kept thinking, "Whoa! You really went over your budget! Gee! You could have bought separates!" Well I will never know since this receiver, literally, blew me away.
Unlike most people, I am not blown away by the noisy stuff like gun fire action scenes, explosions, or directional stuff related to Dolby Digital 5.1. While very beneficial to adding a sense of realism, it ultimately does not get my goat. Rather I was impressed by the way the SR-14 EX creates an enveloping sound.
Take for example a wonderful DVD called Papillon, you know the one, the prison movie with Dustin Hoffman and Steve McQueen. This DVD created a sense that you are there with the actor. The AV equipment disappears, the speakers blend in the the background of the picture, and all you can feel is that you are on Devil's Island. Part of this enveloping sensation has to do with how your equipment can recreate the delicate foley effects of the movie. Conveying real foley effects is very difficult for low end equipment because of the tendency of low end gear to generate floor noise. This is the "shhhhhhh" sound coming out your speaker between foot steps or dead silence in a movie. Floor noise destroys realism. I would dare say what you don't hear is almost as important as what you do hear.
Here are some of the questions I asked myself to evaluate the two systems. How real does the clanging of the jail cell sound? Can you hear the actor's foot touch the ground? Does it sound like dirt or cement? Is every nuance of the actor's voice conveyed by the center channel? Does the actor have a clear voice of confidence or a hoarse voice because of disease and desperation?
The SR-14EX combined with a very well recorded 5.1 soundtrack like Papillon really amazed me. I also tried it with the Denon 4800 but found that with the delicate foley effects, it was a bit muddy. The bass also sounded slightly boomier, less accurate, and tight.
I do have some issues about the SR-14EX. First of all there are only five amplifiers in the box. In order to take advantage of the Dolby Digital THX Surround EX feature, you will have to buy another two channel amp or a pair of Marantz MA-700s monoblocks matched with two extra speakers.
Second, I really liked the Marantz Source Direct feature, but unfortunately I can only utilize it when I am listening to my headphones. Source Direct bypasses all DSP circuitry and bass management and delivers the signal directly to the amplifiers. In essence the Source Direct Mode turns the SR-14EX into a very expensive volume knob. Unfortunately if a two channel audio CD is played with the M & K 750 THX speaker system the sound is very bad because the M & Ks rely on the sub to produce frequencies below 80Hz. Therefore in Source Direct mode, I hear only the two front speakers from 80Hz and above. I think the Marantz engineers assumed that the receiver should be used with two full range speakers and not THX certified Satellite/Sub system. This does not happen with multi-channel sound such as Dolby Digital Surround, DTS, or Dolby 5.1.
Given that your paying about $2000 extra for the SR-14EX, some people will argue it is too much for a receiver. But I think you feel like you paid too much when you regret what you bought. Even though I have some issues with the receiver, I don't regret paying $2000 more. I have found a sweet spot on that elusive home theater golf ball, contentment.
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Epinions.com ID:
h3rmes
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