Video Asylum

Posted by michaelb on October 15, 2000 at 07:58:54:

In Reply to: Energy,NHT,Paradigm, or Other?? posted by Fred Rule on October 13, 2000 at 10:50:21:

Fred,
Having owned a Pioneer Elite VSX-07TX , I would say stay away from this series. At full retail, they are way over priced and the quality control is average at best. If you can get the Pioneer at a steep discount, it is a OK value.
I wished I had bought the Onkyo unit (don't remember the model number). They make among the least compromised AV receivers on the market.
In terms of speakers, I have auditioned the NHT series (One, Super One, Super Two), and found them to be very neutral and well built. However, since so much music and TV is EQ'd to such extremes, the result was a bright soundstage that wore on my ears and nerves. The Energy Encore system is supposed to awesome, but I have not heard it in person.
The other option for speakers is the new Athena line that Sam tellig liked in Stereophile. A local dealer has the s2/p2 combination, and it sounded very powerful and musical.
Good luck, Michael