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Interesting thing to point out...shortly before I bought the Panasonic amp I was obsessing about buying lots of SACDs. Bought the Steely Dan Gaucho SACD and it sounded great through the Philips 963. Then I got the Panasonic amp, and now everything sounds so good, I lost interest in SACD...we're just playing the old cds and they sound like new versions. Anyway, no more SACD upgrade mania here!!Not that SACD is not good, the SACD version is distinctly better than the standard version...it's just that the Panasonic digital amp made MORE of a difference playing regular redbook cds that the SACD difference became relatively smaller.
Anyway, audio has never had better times, enjoy the opportunities available to us!
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Interesting. Would you tell us what are your previous amps you used?
Just wonder what are the amps you compare to.
My last three amps before the now modified Sim i-5 were a Legacy (Coda) 5x 250 hi current amp, an Electrocompaniet awb 120 and a B&K 5 X 200 AMP.The Pany 45 is a fantastic sounding for all things digital whether redbook or HT sonics, but it is a huge let down for its analog ins.
It has enough resolution for HT,that I sold my 8k Legacy amp and Parasound halo c2 pre/pro.
This combo did multi channel sa-cd very well, but I found that I prefer sa-cd in 2 channel.
Combine that whith the 45's precise sounding detail, and it was easy to sell and switch to the Pany for HT.
The Kenwood receiver uses the same T/I solution, but sounds fuller in the mids for music and slightly rolled off.
I would say the 7100 is a cross between the somewhat tubey sounding JVC RX-10,and the Pany 45.
The Pany has the transparency, The JVC has the tubey mids, and the Kenwood is right in the middle.
The Kenwood sounds better than either right out of the box, and the other two need lots of run time to sound there best.
The Kenwood has no multi ins, but does 2 channel analog sources very well for a cheapo digital receiver.
The JVC has multi ins, but I can only comment that it also does 2 channel very well.Having reasonably sensitive speakers help as mine are 6 ohm 88 db and fairly easy to drive.
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I would like to point out that the Panys, at least the 25 and 45, are absolutely terrible for sa-cd and all things analog.I own the Pany 45, Kenwood 7100 and JVC RX-10...the RX-10 is far superior and the Kenwood 7100 imo, is even better yet at analog.
I still prefer my now modified Sim Audio i-5 for sa-cd use, along whith my modified 963sa, and definitly prefer the sonics by a large margin over any of the digital receivers.
Greg T, I have both an XR-45 and XR-50 - was an early adopter with these units and have sold off most of the so-called high-end amps for anything but my subwoofer driver (I have Apogee Mini-Grands).Question: One might argue that the subwoofer crossover on the Pannys is a bit high at a minimum of 100HZ. What are the the crossover frequencies on the Kenwood and the JVC? I can't seem to find that info anywhere.
For anyone interested in the Panasonic units, it is important to note that if you are not using a subwoofer, you MUST select NO for the subwoofer and be sure to set the Front speakers for LARGE. This yields the BEST sound from these units. They will sound rather mediocre if not set up correctly.
Also, in case it's not been mentioned in previous threads, you can use four of the amps in stereo mode to bi-amp your speakers if they have the provisions to do so. You use the surround left and right channels along with the front left and right with the Receiver in SFC PARTY mode. In this mode you have the further option to adjust the volume of the surround channels relative to the front channels, and depending on which channels you've wired to you tweeters/midranges vs your woofers, you can taylor your sound a but. I find that biamping the Apogees with the Pannys improved their sound with these relatively inefficient speakers. I have heard the same results with B&W 802's. I do not know if either the Kenwood or the JVC provides the ability to do this. Greg, perhaps you can shed some light here as you own/have owned all three units.
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