Another Dirty Little Secret
Written: Jul 10 '00
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Great sound..low price
Cons: It wont do my laundry
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| Stone77777's Full Review: Technics SA-EX110 Receiver |
I take my job as an epinionator very seriously which is why I feel compelled from time to time to tell dirty little secrets about whatever I might be reviewing at the time.
Here comes one about amplifier power.....you really dont need 100 watts of window rattling power. In fact, the dirty little secret is all you need to fill a room with ear splitting sound is between 15 and 20 watts; depending on how efficient your speakers are (a dirty little secret about speakers appears later on in this review). It's true....head on down to your local Radio Shack, buy one of their little power meter thingys for twenty five bucks; hook it into your system and watch that needle get all the way to 15 watts at about the same time your ears begin to bleed.
Soooo...mister electronics smarty pants....why did you go out and buy the Technics SA-EX110 100 watt receiver then?, you, the intrepid reader might ask. Well son...the answer is as simple as the wart on the end of the nose on the end of your face...."headroom".
Yeah..I said headroom. Headroom as in forcing your receiver to grunt and strain like a Volkswagen chugging up the slopes of Mt. Everest as opposed to the nearly effortless ride a souped up 327 horse 1965 GTO would provide on the same ride.
If a receiver is capable of providing power well beyond the needs of the listener then it is much more able to handle those power spikes caused by a sudden explosion of bass, drums and manic guitar such as occurs when making the transition from the relatively calm to the relatively kick butt in a song like Stairway To Heaven.
With all this in mind, let me just say I dont think there is a better deal out there for power and value than the Technix SA-EX110 receiver...especially since I managed to find my fresh, new, in an unopened box Technics for the mind blowing price of $99 at my local purveyor of all things electric. I still cant believe my good fortune but there it sits; the crown of my everyman stereo system; dressed in stylish black and cranking the tunes.
The SA-EX110 is as basic as they come. No stereo surround sound options on this baby...no unlimited number of pre-outs and inputs...just a plain, simple facade with the normal capabilities to flip between VCR, Tape, CD, Tuner and Phono inputs as well as your average A/B speaker switching.
The exterior is sleek black; the buttons are all large and easily reached. The remote control is small and functions as needed..again no frills but very very adequate. The sound reproduction is as clean as I need it to be which brings us to dirty little secret number two....
"Your system sounds only as good as your speakers"
Yeah..that is true folks. You can buy a $2500 power amp and $800 pre-amp and if you run it through a pair of Radio Shack Optimus speakers, you are gonna think you tossed your loot down a black hole....it is as simple as that.
I have seen friends of mine buy a decent receiver and match it up with Jensen's and then complain the receiver sounds horrible...sheesh...it's the speakers, stupid. Therefore, no matter what kind of receiver you get, make sure the speakers are equal or even better than the darn thing....your ears will thank you for your prudence. I have a pair of Yamaha NS-836A speakers (translation....low cost three way bookshelf speakers that, in my opinion, have a place in almost anyone's stereo system) and they sound great with the SA-EX110.
Needless to say I am pleased as punch with my purchase...and I would be even if I had paid closer to $150 suggested retail price. This is an economical unit which only lacks the surround sound options of the bigger boys...otherwise you can do just about the same stuff with this one..and still have money left over to buy a few more cd's.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Stone77777
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Location: Lynnwood, Wa.
Reviews written: 66
Trusted by: 46 members
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