LATEST Piece of Gear in Your Stack - What is it?

[Four Rules]

Ultra HD BluRay player Samsung UBD-K8500

 

[himey]

Pioneer Elite BDP-80fd connected to my nearly decade old Eee PC netbook for ripping my SACD collection.

 

[JanBakker]

Cambridge Audio 751R AVR

Home Theater Review: Cambridge Audio 751R Receiver

Amazon.com: Cambridge Azur Surround Receiver Black

Great find Adam, looks like you bought a fantastic amp for that kind of money :ebay

 

[perzon57]

Parasound Halo P7 analog pre

 

[milt]

Parasound P7 analog pre

Not a piece of gear that gets a lot of attention but it really is one of the best deals in audio, imo.
Full-featured and as neutral as it gets.
Nice one.

 

[perzon57]

I've been looking for a used P7 for some time as the cost of a new one is over £2100 here in Norway.I found a very fine one for £665,which is a real bargainI had a Onkyo pre/pro with Audessey XT32 before.I use the P7 with 7.1 analog out from my Oppo BDP95 feeding my Parasound Halo amps.A DSPeaker Anti-Mode 8033 Cinema helps to clean up the signals to my 2 SVS subs.
This setup sounds much more dynamic and cleaner than with the Onkyo on MC music.(It also rocks on action movies)It also looks nice with all the Halo stuff:sun
My use of this setup is about 90% MC music and the rest is movies and concert BD's.

 

[fredblue]

Great find Adam, looks like you bought a fantastic amp for that kind of money :ebay

Well, my dear Jan, if it looks too good to be true, it often is..

The other night there was a small "pop" and then a faint smell of burning plastic.. uh oh..

The net result = no HDMI's in or out work at all now

(Doesn't make it right or change anything, it still sucks but it is a known problem with this AVR, that I was aware of before I bought it.. so, the "good news" is, it held up for about a week or so.. )

In the meantime I'm using a 4 in/1 out HDMI switchbox (steelydave very kindly gave me last year, thanks mate, you're a lifesaver and you didn't even know it! :upthumb ) which passes thru the HD (and 3D) video from each source to the projector.. and I already had the 5.1 audio going via 6 channel analogue from Universal disc player and Mac Mini via the MOTU Interface into a 4 in/1 out 6ch RCA/phono/component kinda matrix/switcher box contraption.. so that should hopefully get me through of a fashion until I can afford to come up with a Plan B (or is it Plan C.. or Plan 9 from Outer Space now, I forget! )

Ah the perils of all this shit kit.. its a mad thing all the discs on all the formats and the hardware just keeps failing on me, one by one they go kaput!
(I probably play around with it too much, as the actress said to the bishop.. )

 

[GOS]

Well, my dear Jan, if it looks too good to be true, it often is..

The other night there was a small "pop" and then a faint smell of burning plastic.. uh oh..

The net result = no HDMI's in or out work at all now

(Doesn't make it right or change anything, it still sucks but it is a known problem with this AVR, that I was aware of before I bought it.. so, the "good news" is, it held up for about a week or so.. )

In the meantime I'm using a 4 in/1 out HDMI switchbox (steelydave very kindly gave me last year, thanks mate, you're a lifesaver and you didn't even know it! :upthumb ) which passes thru the HD (and 3D) video from each source to the projector.. and I already had the 5.1 audio going via 6 channel analogue from Universal disc player and Mac Mini via the MOTU Interface into a 4 in/1 out 6ch RCA/phono/component kinda matrix/switcher box contraption.. so that should hopefully get me through of a fashion until I can afford to come up with a Plan B (or is it Plan C.. or Plan 9 from Outer Space now, I forget! )

Ah the perils of all this shit kit.. its a mad thing all the discs on all the formats and the hardware just keeps failing on me, one by one they go kaput!
(I probably play around with it too much, as the actress said to the bishop.. )

wow, no way! Ugh....sucks the big one.

 

[fredblue]

wow, no way! Ugh....sucks the big one.

bah.. could be worse.. we're all still alive and kicking, here's to tomorrow! :upthumb

"there'll be everything for us to do, one day to-mo-rrowwwwwwww" :music

 

[JanBakker]

Well, my dear Jan, if it looks too good to be true, it often is..

The other night there was a small "pop" and then a faint smell of burning plastic.. uh oh..

The net result = no HDMI's in or out work at all now

That sucks indeed , are they (Cambridge) aware of the hdmi problem? Asking because Onkyo was aware of problems with their hdmi boards and had some extended warranty program going on.

 

[fredblue]

That sucks indeed , are they (Cambridge) aware of the hdmi problem? Asking because Onkyo was aware of problems with their hdmi boards and had some extended warranty program going on.

Don't know for sure but I imagine CA know all about it (it was a refurb from them.. and its a 3/4 year old unit with HDMI issue feedback on AVF etc,) so caveat emptor and all that.. and I was prepared for problems, I almost would forego HDMI in future if it meant superior sound.. I can't be bothered doing anything about sending the receiver back or getting it fixed.. just another in a long line of hardware mistakes since I try to do all this on a budget; "you pay cheap, you pay twice" as they say (strange I never take my own advice! )

Last AVR I'm inclined to buy to be honest with you.. next time I'll do what I wanted to do for years and save up a decent wodge of money to go for a separate preamp/AV processor and separate power amp(s).. so if one bit goes wrong (the HDMI parts so far seem to be a real problem with these receivers) then I can chuck out the pre or power part that goes wrong.. or whatever.. I dunno, its working by way of a frankenstein setup.. that'll have to do for now

 

[JanBakker]

Don't know for sure but I imagine CA know all about it (it was a refurb from them.. and its a 3/4 year old unit with HDMI issue feedback on AVF etc,) so caveat emptor and all that.. and I was prepared for problems, I almost would forego HDMI in future if it meant superior sound.. I can't be bothered doing anything about sending the receiver back or getting it fixed.. just another in a long line of hardware mistakes since I try to do all this on a budget; "you pay cheap, you pay twice" as they say (strange I never take my own advice! )

Last AVR I'm inclined to buy to be honest with you.. next time I'll do what I wanted to do for years and save up a decent wodge of money to go for a separate preamp/AV processor and separate power amp(s).. so if one bit goes wrong (the HDMI parts so far seem to be a real problem with these receivers) then I can chuck out the pre or power part that goes wrong.. or whatever.. I dunno, its working by way of a frankenstein setup.. that'll have to do for now

Sounds like a plan :banana:, hope you're back in business soon!

 

[Robert van Diggele]

bah.. could be worse.. we're all still alive and kicking, here's to tomorrow! :upthumb

"there'll be everything for us to do, one day to-mo-rrowwwwwwww" :music

Good to see you keep it up. Pity about the receiver though.

 

[Vegas70]

After a longer search I got a near mint Sansui QRX 9001 receiver. It was expensive but in my opinion it makes no sence to buy one of those receivers in bad condition on ebay.com.

 

[TheDHndrsn]

What a fantastic receiver. Some day I too may find one. Too bad we can't match your bad boy up with my latest bad boy. Just picked up a Sony TC-854-4 quad reel deck. 10.5" reels, synchro track, about the best (arguably) in quad reel decks the '70s had to offer.
Dave

 

[jwb474]

A big thanks to karlkastner who posted a Ebay tip for a couple of Heathkit AD-1013s. I made an offer for the one that was re-capped. The offer was accepted which surprised me, I was figuring on paying more than I did. When it came in, it was about as mint as a used piece of old quad equipment can be. True it does not have the wood cabinet, but that can be easily reproduced or since it is one of Heathkit's standard cabinets, I may be able to find one. All I need do is a small Horizontal trace alignment.

 

[fredblue]

Cambridge Audio 751R AVR

Home Theater Review: Cambridge Audio 751R Receiver

Amazon.com: Cambridge Azur Surround Receiver Black

Anybody here thinking of getting one of these... please take my advice, for God's sake -- DON'T.

First the HDMI board failed after no time at all (we've all had that burning plastic smell..) and now just two months after getting it, I find the Centre channel is DEAD. Kaput, it is an ex Centre channel, it has ceased to be.. mightily unimpressed, I can see this heavy heap of crud going to the landfill soon. Absolutely the LAST A/V Receiver I buy.. this will be my 6th AVR now (a Sony, 2 x Yamaha's, 2 x Denon's and now this Cambridge Audio bollocks) and each one has been varying degrees of crap (the Denons are still going strong btw I just hate the way they sound with music).. I seldom really crank the sound and to have a blown channel on an amp is a first for me.. to me these receiver things are toys and play time is over.. next step will be a separate A/V processor (ideally with 6-ch analogue in but if not I can get a MultiCh analogue to HDMI adaptor and work around it for the Quad stuff) and separate power amps (monoblocks maybe, so if one channel goes wrong I can just swap it out) I can't be doing with this receiver rubbish anymore whereby one bit of the receiver goes wrong and I'm shafted.. dammit Janet...!!!! :violin

 

[GOS]

Anybody here thinking of getting one of these... please take my advice, for God's sake -- DON'T.

First the HDMI board failed after no time at all (we've all had that burning plastic smell..) and now just two months after getting it, I find the Centre channel is DEAD. Kaput, it is an ex Centre channel, it has ceased to be.. mightily unimpressed, I can see this heavy heap of crud going to the landfill soon. Absolutely the LAST A/V Receiver I buy.. this will be my 6th AVR now (a Sony, 2 x Yamaha's, 2 x Denon's and now this Cambridge Audio bollocks) and each one has been varying degrees of crap (the Denons are still going strong btw I just hate the way they sound with music).. I seldom really crank the sound and to have a blown channel on an amp is a first for me.. to me these receiver things are toys and play time is over.. next step will be a separate A/V processor (ideally with 6-ch analogue in but if not I can get a MultiCh analogue to HDMI adaptor and work around it for the Quad stuff) and separate power amps (monoblocks maybe, so if one channel goes wrong I can just swap it out) I can't be doing with this receiver rubbish anymore whereby one bit of the receiver goes wrong and I'm shafted.. dammit Janet...!!!! :violin

wow! Sorry Adam. I'm always amazed when I hear folks with stuff blowing up, or burning out or whatever. I am firmly KNOCKING ON WOOD HERE...but in all my life...and I'm 53...I've never had an AVR fail me in any way. Ever...nada...nothing. Usually I just replace them when I want new features or maybe out of boredom. Heck, my current AVR is a refurbish and it's rock solid. I realize, that now I've posted this that mine will likely grow wings and fly out the window while I'm asleep tonight....

:violin

 

[Neil Palfreyman]

Anybody here thinking of getting one of these... please take my advice, for God's sake -- DON'T.

First the HDMI board failed after no time at all (we've all had that burning plastic smell..) and now just two months after getting it, I find the Centre channel is DEAD. Kaput, it is an ex Centre channel, it has ceased to be.. mightily unimpressed, I can see this heavy heap of crud going to the landfill soon. Absolutely the LAST A/V Receiver I buy.. this will be my 6th AVR now (a Sony, 2 x Yamaha's, 2 x Denon's and now this Cambridge Audio bollocks) and each one has been varying degrees of crap (the Denons are still going strong btw I just hate the way they sound with music).. I seldom really crank the sound and to have a blown channel on an amp is a first for me.. to me these receiver things are toys and play time is over.. next step will be a separate A/V processor (ideally with 6-ch analogue in but if not I can get a MultiCh analogue to HDMI adaptor and work around it for the Quad stuff) and separate power amps (monoblocks maybe, so if one channel goes wrong I can just swap it out) I can't be doing with this receiver rubbish anymore whereby one bit of the receiver goes wrong and I'm shafted.. dammit Janet...!!!! :violin

I've been using a 551R for over 3 years, mainly because it'd the only AVR I could find with analogue inputs. I love it to bits, but mine has intermittent hdmi problems. Every now and again the hdmi just stops synchronising on all inputs. It's been back to the shop (Richer Sounds) and back to be serviced but it still happens. It's a gem of an amp but, sadly, a flawed gem.

Do me a favour, Adam, and keep me informed on your thinking wrt alternatives.

 

[Neil Palfreyman]

...btw, Adam, if you can't fix it can I have it for spares? Will pick up or pay postage.