Where does brightness come from in a receiver?

[gocard]

People have talked about the brightness of Yamaha receivers and that paired with the RTi towers, might not be such a great fit. I'm wondering if that's the amp in the yamahas, or if it's the preprocessing.

The reason I ask is because I'm debating between getting a Marantz SR7002 (for 1k) or waiting for the new yamahas and pioneers (possibly denons) to come out (for around 500) and getting some outlaw 200W monoblocks for my towers (my setup is: RTi8, CSi3, RTi4, PSW10) and using the receiver for the center and rears. Getting the Marantz wouldn't prevent me from adding amplifiers later on, but I want to know if I'd be putting my money where I'll get the most bang for the buck.

[appadv]

It may be the processing, but I'd also think the amp has something to do with it too. Different output transistors in amps sound different, but the sound might just be caused by the way the preamp/processing section of the receiver handles highs.

I may be wrong though...

[danger boy]

I too would think it would be the pre amp section of a receiver. To me that's where everything happens. I would think a Marantz or Denon would handle the highs with more finesse.

[avguytx]

It's all video's fault. :D

[tcrossma]

I use my Yamaha RX-V2500 as a pre for HT and when I added the B&K amp it took away some of the brightness, but not all of it. Just going by my personal experience i'd say it's a combination of the two, with more of it being caused by the pre section.

[VXR8]

I previously had a Yammie RX-V2700 and now have the Marantz SR-8001. It is like chalk and cheese. Both mains (RTi10) were / are running through my Rotel RB-991 and the Marantz sounds THAT much better on 2 channel.

I have recently read a review on the Yammie RX-V3800, which apparently addresses all those issues with 2 channel anyway and sounds not so tinny anymore - maybe worth a listen? Anyway, I don't think you can go wrong with the SR-7002, which has all the latest decoders and HDMI 1.3 to boot.

Good luck anyway.

[mantis]

It's the preamp section. The amp doesn't change the sound as much.

Pioneer Elite already has wonderful receivers out right now that you can do everything that goes on today and into the near future. I suggest a nice Pioneer Elite vsx92txh and go. Marantz makes nice sounding receivers as well. I perfer Pioneer Elite.