Diff between Integrated stereo amplifier / Stereo Receiver

[elangoas]

Hello ppl,

I have been reading threads on thhis forum for Quite sometime and really amazed @ the kind of knowledge being shared.

I have intentions of buying Audio Engine P5 (Primarily bcoz of online reviews though i haven't auditioned them) & then pairing it up with a good Stereo setup (2.1) system.

I have been browsing about stereo receivers first and then the shifted to integrated stereo amplifiers.

I have browsed thru the technical details of Stereo receivers - ONKYO TX-8555 (100W/C), Yamaha RX-497(75W/c), Deonon DRA 297 (50W/C) all of them 2.1. Which of these is good. Except Yamaha, all these have Pre out. So if i buy Audio engine P5, i can pair them up with any of these receivers and add an subwoofer.

Also i have looked @ NAD C 326 BEE (50W/c) (2.1). I did audition NAD C326 BEE with NAD CD player C545BEE with PSB BookShelf speakers. They were amazingly good. I believe it is because of the CD player. The amp has nothing much to do except the bass,treble & Balance controls. (correct me if i am wrong).But without a good CD player, i think NAD will loose its glory.

Then i looked @ CD Players. Marantz CD 6003, NAD 325 BEE. I am more inclined to Audioengine P5 speakers because of their online reviews.

1) Are Intgrated amplifiers powerful than stereo receivers even though they are rated same power.
2) What are the differences between an Integrated Amplifier & Stereo receiver...( I guezz Pre/Power amplifer into one is Integrated Amp). Plz give me ans other than this..
3) Now an other Question - Will pairing up a Marantz CD Player with AudioEngine P5 be good option.

Please overlook my ignorance & give your thoughts..

 

[venkatcr]

But without a good CD player, i think NAD will loose its glory.

This is true not only for NAD but for all brands. A good source is important.

Then i looked @ CD Players. Marantz CD 6003, NAD 325 BEE. I am more inclined to Audioengine P5 speakers because of their online reviews.

Never buy speakers without listening to them.

1) Are Intgrated amplifiers powerful than stereo receivers even though they are rated same power.

No. Being a integrated or a receiver has nothing to do with the power. Power is measured as a capacity of the amplifier inside.

2) What are the differences between an Integrated Amplifier & Stereo receiver...( I guezz Pre/Power amplifer into one is Integrated Amp). Plz give me ans other than this..

Yes, an integrated has a pre/power built into the same box. A integrated and a stereo receiver are essentially the same excepting that the receiver has a radio receiver built in.

Cheers

 

[marsilians]

1) Are Intgrated amplifiers powerful than stereo receivers even though they are rated same power.

For about the same price range, stereo or A/V receivers tend to focus on providing feature set for value vs. an integrated amp that focus on relative quality output of pre- and power amp sections, i.e, current receivers quality is nothing to sneeze at.

So it really boils down to what you are after.

Power ratings are subjective as they are measured slightly differently for both. So it will not amount to a guava/guava comparison.

2) What are the differences between an Integrated Amplifier & Stereo receiver...( I guezz Pre/Power amplifer into one is Integrated Amp). Plz give me ans other than this..

See above and also search on the forum. This has been addressed not less than half a dozen times in great detail.

3) Now an other Question - Will pairing up a Marantz CD Player with AudioEngine P5 be good option.

Please overlook my ignorance & give your thoughts..

Like Venkat said, go and listen to this with your favourite and not so favourite tunes and see how they sound. If you like them and they are in your budget, then go for it along with an amp or receiver.

 

[asliarun]

Hello ppl,

I have been reading threads on thhis forum for Quite sometime and really amazed @ the kind of knowledge being shared.

I have intentions of buying Audio Engine P5 (Primarily bcoz of online reviews though i haven't auditioned them) & then pairing it up with a good Stereo setup (2.1) system.

I have been browsing about stereo receivers first and then the shifted to integrated stereo amplifiers.

I have browsed thru the technical details of Stereo receivers - ONKYO TX-8555 (100W/C), Yamaha RX-497(75W/c), Deonon DRA 297 (50W/C) all of them 2.1. Which of these is good. Except Yamaha, all these have Pre out. So if i buy Audio engine P5, i can pair them up with any of these receivers and add an subwoofer.

Also i have looked @ NAD C 326 BEE (50W/c) (2.1). I did audition NAD C326 BEE with NAD CD player C545BEE with PSB BookShelf speakers. They were amazingly good. I believe it is because of the CD player. The amp has nothing much to do except the bass,treble & Balance controls. (correct me if i am wrong).But without a good CD player, i think NAD will loose its glory.

Then i looked @ CD Players. Marantz CD 6003, NAD 325 BEE. I am more inclined to Audioengine P5 speakers because of their online reviews.

1) Are Intgrated amplifiers powerful than stereo receivers even though they are rated same power.
2) What are the differences between an Integrated Amplifier & Stereo receiver...( I guezz Pre/Power amplifer into one is Integrated Amp). Plz give me ans other than this..
3) Now an other Question - Will pairing up a Marantz CD Player with AudioEngine P5 be good option.

Please overlook my ignorance & give your thoughts..

Hi elangoas,

Can you please clarify what you mean by Audioengine P5?

Audioengine makes powered "active" speakers, namely A5 and A2. They have also recently launched a passive or non-powered speaker called P4 (or AP4).

If you are referring to the more famous A5, please note that the amplifier is built into one of the speakers. You will not need any external amplification via a stereo amplifier or receiver. You will only need a source, i.e. a CD player or a solid state digital source like an iPod or Squeezebox. One advantage of a Squeezebox is that it has a decent DAC, so you can actually have a minimalistic setup for starters, only consisting of the A5 and a Squeezebox (and of course, wiring)!

I've been considering this option myself as well, especially so as I have an iTouch lying around that is unused, and A5 has good integration support for digital devices (like USB charging).

I'm not sure if the Audioengine A5 is considered to be in the same class as say a NAD CD player (and so will be a good pairing), so I will defer this to the more knowledgeable forum members.

 

[elangoas]

Thanks much for your views Venkat ,marsilians & asliarun...

I actually referred A5 as P5. Sorry abt that.

The reason why i am considering the Audio engine A5 is because it has amplifier built in to it (Which cuts the cost of an amplifier initially) and moreover i am on a budget. I want to build a Best in class stereo system over a period of time.

So firstly planning to buy the powered speakers (20K for A5), then the amplifier/Stereo receiver (Max 25K) & then add an sub-woofer (20K) to it.

This is how i wanted to build my system. If the members have a different idea of doing it, please recommend.

 

[asliarun]

Thanks much for your views Venkat ,marsilians & asliarun...

I actually referred A5 as P5. Sorry abt that.

The reason why i am considering the Audio engine A5 is because it has amplifier built in to it (Which cuts the cost of an amplifier initially) and moreover i am on a budget. I want to build a Best in class stereo system over a period of time.

So firstly planning to buy the powered speakers (20K for A5), then the amplifier/Stereo receiver (Max 25K) & then add an sub-woofer (20K) to it.

This is how i wanted to build my system. If the members have a different idea of doing it, please recommend.

Hi Elangoas,

After you buy your amplifier, you will again need to replace the A5 with a passive speaker.

Instead, a better upgrade path for you might be to buy the best speaker you can afford in your current budget, drive it with a Tripath based amp (that will cost you about 5k), and source it with a somewhat decent DVD player.

Later on, you can simply replace your amp with a much better amp. You can also replace your source with a dedicated CD player or an Oppo, and/or another digital source. In any case, your source will probably get obsolete the fastest, and your speaker will probably last the longest, so it makes sense to start with a good speaker, and then move on to your amp, and then your source.

P.S. I personally believe that with the advent of solid state memory devices and lossless music formats like FLAC, CDs and CD players will become obsolete in a few years. I currently carry a 16GB pen drive that is equivalent to 20CDs, has no moving parts, and cannot get scratched!

Please note that my suggestion is only a suggestion, not a recommendation. I myself am very much on the learning path.

 

[iaudio]

Thanks much for your views Venkat ,marsilians & asliarun...

I actually referred A5 as P5. Sorry abt that.

The reason why i am considering the Audio engine A5 is because it has amplifier built in to it (Which cuts the cost of an amplifier initially) and moreover i am on a budget. I want to build a Best in class stereo system over a period of time.

So firstly planning to buy the powered speakers (20K for A5), then the amplifier/Stereo receiver (Max 25K) & then add an sub-woofer (20K) to it.

This is how i wanted to build my system. If the members have a different idea of doing it, please recommend.

Going by that statement, you should be going for separates that you can upgrade. An active speaker, once you outgrow it, means you have to get a new amp and speaker.
Used amp/ new Norge - 8k
Paradigm Atoms/wharfedale 9.1/Ca S30 or other bookshelves- 12k
Used Marantz cdp-7k, New Ca dv89-9k, Pio dv220-4k
total INR 27k

Later you can upgrade amp, speaker, source as you seem fit!
Titus