Cnet’s Steve Guttenberg sheds light on this interesting development that over the years, actual sound quality became a secondary selling point since most people started buying their equipment either online or from big box retailers. People started caring more about the number of connections and wireless interfaces and wattage of systems. As a result, there was less money in R&D budgets to spend on advancements in sound.
OK, so what’s wrong with that? The receiver engineers have to devote the lion’s share of their design skills and budget to making the features work. Every year receiver manufacturers pay out more and more money (in the form of royalties and licensing fees) to Apple, Audyssey, Bluetooth, HD Radio, XM-Sirius, Dolby, DTS and other companies, and those dollars consume an ever bigger chunk of the design budget. The engineers have to make do with whatever is left to make the receiver sound good. Retail prices of receivers, the ones that sell in big numbers, never go up. The $US300 to $US500 models are where most of the sales action is, just like 10, 20 or 30 years ago, when their $US300 to $US500 models weren’t packed to the gills with the features I just listed. Something’s got to go, and sound quality usually takes the hit.
What’s more is that over the past few decades, the average power of receivers has gone down in high-end receivers. While the entry level and mid-range receivers have more watts than before (from 20W-30W then, to 90W-100W now), high-end receivers top out around 140W-150W. Gutenberg references a 270W Pioneer receiver from 1980, and a test of that receiver by Innovative Audio shows that it can go toe-to-toe with the newest gear. So if you’re solely interested in a receiver for music, going vintage might not be the worst idea. [Innovative Audio via CNET]
Image via Brent Butterworth
TSH
Thursday, July 28, 2011 at 11:44 AMJack of all trades is master of none!
Stewart Walker
Thursday, July 28, 2011 at 11:47 AMI’d agree with you, but if you’re an Audiophile, you wont be putting down $400-500 for a receiver, you’ll be putting down in excess of $2000. And these guys don’t buy into plugins as much as they will buy a unit dedicated to doing the job.
My father is in this class of people who will only buy something if it actually sounds better, and over the years of helping and listening with his gear, I can’t bring myself to buy any of the low-mid gear, it’s amazing how terrible the low end stuff can sound. A lot of it is loud but tinny, almost always too much bass from the sub and generally very harsh to listen too.
Patrick
Thursday, July 28, 2011 at 3:00 PMCouldnt agree more… AV receiver and music more often than not dont belong in the same sentence… particularly not with the word audiophile anywhere near it… audiophiles spend thousands on STEREO equipment for music purposes… home theatre amps dont cut the mustard… particularly at that price point… and that reflects in the point Geebee said with the dollar value, however you can buy really nice sounding stereo amps around the $700ish mark (AUD) these days.
Geebee
Thursday, July 28, 2011 at 12:44 PM“The $US300 to $US500 models are where most of the sales action is, just like 10, 20 or 30 years ago, when their $US300 to $US500″
$1500+ would be closer to the equivalent of $500 30 years ago.
olearymo
Thursday, July 28, 2011 at 12:45 PMWell said TSH.
That looks very similar to my Dad’s stereo, purchased in 1978. It’s a beautiful piece of kit. If I’m still alive, I’m looking forward to cranking it up in 2078 with some Gerry Rafferty.
AnthonyP
Thursday, July 28, 2011 at 12:51 PMNo matter which brand you buy in the sub $1000 mark, the units are all the same. You do need to spend $2000+ for some serious sound quality!
Daniel Busoli
Thursday, July 28, 2011 at 12:51 PMI was always told to judge a receive by it’s weight: heavier the better.
lulz
Thursday, July 28, 2011 at 4:10 PMLMAO they stick chunks of steel in receivers now for that EXACT reason.
Dean
Thursday, July 28, 2011 at 5:51 PMThe weight test used to be valid back in the day of iron core transformers – more weight meant a heavier duty power supply able to supply a stable output. Nowadays modern power supplies are much lighter.
Rooboy
Thursday, July 28, 2011 at 1:06 PMSpend $100.00 on eBay and buy an old Vacuum tube amp, it will sound miles better and gives a nice warm glow to light your musical evenings!
one word of caution, if you buy from China, best get it checked out by your local electrician for dodgy wiring.
David Edwards
Thursday, July 28, 2011 at 2:23 PMI have been through a swathe of receivers with a bunch of features over the years, but when I want to sit down and listen to something beautiful I go back to a Kenwood amp from 1977, the first amp I purchased from my paper round money and which I will never part with. Despite how awfully it has been teated over the years, including being dragged around the world, it still sounds lovely, and yes it is very heavy.
Danny Allen
Thursday, July 28, 2011 at 9:33 PMI still have an old Marantz lying around somewhere. Guilty it’s being wasted.
Lillee
Friday, July 29, 2011 at 9:58 AMI purchased a $2000 yahama receiver a couple of years ago and hooked it up to my good set of Kef speakers. I’d say on 2 channel stereo playback it is comparable to my dad’s 20yr old Luxman amplifier and even older Kef floor standers. In fact I’d say the Luxman has far more depth and a warmer sound. The Yammy is good but it’s a clinically clean sound, it’s missing the “warmth”.
Curiously the Luxman looks the business and weighs about as much as a fridge.
adrian
Monday, August 1, 2011 at 3:15 PMi bought my first amp when i was 15, nearly 20 yrs ago now. Rotel RA-935BX, complete with a set of Polk Audio RT3′s and a M&K 7BX sub.
i’ve had to replace the driver in the sub, but aside from a dry joint on the input selector, it all sounds as good as the day i brought it all home
And yes, that’s some tasty gear for a 15yr old.
i’ve spend 10′s of thousands of $$$ in the last 15 yrs on Car audio trying to get the cars i drive sounding as good as that setup…
Seriously thou, if you want something to sound awesome, a true audiophile’s going to do the research and actually build this gear and speakers from scratch