Video Asylum

Posted by budget minded (A) on November 05, 2005 at 11:05:04

In Reply to: REVIEW: Panasonic SA-XR55 Receiver posted by thoriated_tiger on November 4, 2005 at 09:09:46:

i bought my SA-XR55 with the intention of using it for the 4 ohm fussy magnepan MMGs that i wanted and eventually to be used to biamplify the MMGs using analogue ins fed from a behringer DCX-2496 x-over/room correction unit.

the thing is, the panny elevated the sound out of my superzeros so much that i no longer lust after planars. it improved EVERYTHING top to bottom. had i known it was always amplification holding me back, and not my superzeros, i would have sprung $50 more for the SA-XR70 with it's high rez HDMI input for SACD, DVD-A and eventually HD-DVD and blue ray.

i bought mine for $240 delivered from a store that was in my state and paid the extra $10 or so in tax to get it from a 4 1/2 star vendor instead of cheaper at a 3 1/2 star store and not deal with any hassles.

the panasonic sounds awesome. i recommend it to anyone looking to buy a reciever, even a $1000 unit. it spanks the daylights out of my onkyo and i could hear the difference clearly and imediately as soon as i powered it up.

bass was tighter and deeper (the one thing my NAD 2 channel did right)

treble is much faster and more detailed, but not at all harsh. it's so grain free that i can put my ear right next to my tweeter and still not hear any HF sizzle. i bought the onkyo because my NAD treble sucked. it was downright sonylike... overly polite to the point of being muffled. the panasonic isn't as foreward as the onkyo, but it's alot more matter of fact detailed.

it can be a little ruthless on a poorly recorded disc though. i have an 80s compilation disc where vocal siblants sound a little spitty, but haven't heard it on any other discs. in fact, on well recorded discs, siblants sound better. the panny really reveals alot of the texture in HF white noise that you never knew was there before. one track i'm familiar with surprised me when i finally heard that the *tsss tsss tsss* sound was actually a gourd with beads on the outside. it could have been electronic for all i knew before.

i don't find it to be bright at all. in fact, i find it a little bit on the warm side, but much more focused in the treble. even overly bright recordings like "the buzzcocks" can sound much more relaxed and warm on the panny which surprised me as did how much better it tamed my mission M71s which were painfully bright on my onkyo. i'm listening at lower volumes though. the balance might shift if i cranked it.

it images like crazy. i've never gotten an image that can extend a foot outside of my speakers with either the NAD or the onkyo. not only does the image extend wider outside the speakers, it sorts the center image out very nice too where the onkyo tended to bunch in the center or highlight at the speakers. the panny is much more precise, and for the first time ever, i've heard the air between instruments in the image. on the right material, the panny is super palpable.

it's no slouch in dynamics either. drums *thwak* with speed and power. i've never heard my zeros portray scale as well as they do now. they sound alot better with the sub off now.

the thing that REALLY amazed me though was the midrange purity. vocals really come to life on panasonic class-d recievers. vocals sound nearly as good as maggies now. if the onkyo was "50% there", then the onkyo is easily "75% there now". the difference isn't subtle. i'd say it might even be up to 85% of maggie sound. my zeros aren't as fast, but they're nearly as pure in the midrange now without doing an A/B comparison. still, i'm comparing $200 speakers on a $240 reciever to $1200 planars on a $1500 amp. what they lack in speed, they make up for in image specificity.

my SA-XR55 has cleared a ton of top to bottom congestion in my system that i never even really knew was there. it's super detailed, yet at the same time relaxed and easy on the ears. i've never heard CDs sound so good before. maybe some of that is the pure digital path, but the panny does analogue quite nicely too. my VCR and FM radio has never sounded so natural in my room.

until everyone starts making class-d recievers, panasonic SA-XRs are a steal. JVC is doing it cheaper, but i don't trust their reliability and sony and harman kardon each have a class-d model that's more expensive.

panasonic class-d offers honest bang for your buck or my name isn't buudget minded.