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Review 3 of 4
Price Paid:
$350.00
from b and h photo Summary:
I have been waiting for this product for more than one year. My base system is a Rotel CD971 feeding into a Simaudio I5080 integrated amp into Newform Research 630 ribbon speakers. John Meyer of Newform Research has long been a promoter of digital amps. The XR 70 is about the third generation of Panasonic's attempts to produce digital amps using Texas Instruments digital amp chips. Compared to the XR 45, this receiver offers an HDMI interface and a biamping feature, allowing you to drive the woofer and tweeter of your loudspeakers independently, without using a passive crossover. Biamping has long been considered a powerful and expensive method to pull performance out of your speakers.
My main interest was to obtain a receiver that would work well in a home theater environmet, while providing audiophile quality two channel sound. This is called convergence. You avoid the expense of audiophile equipment while satisfying both video and audio needs through mass market equipment.
Panasonic has hit the sweet spot through the XR 70 receiver and the DVD s97 DVD player. For the price of $650USD, you can have these two extraordinary pieces that will rival most everything in the electronics marketplace.
The DVD S97 player is also HDMI interface capable. It ranks as a strong competitor to the Denon 2910 DVD player, at less than half the price. It only provides DVD audio decoding, but this is apperently a weakness of the universal Denon player. If you want SACD decoding, buy the new Sony 975 HDMI DVD player, and you still save money against the Denon.
I tried patching the S97 into my Simaudio amp, and found the result to be flat and one dimensional. I tried patching my Rotel into the XR 70, and found the sound to be shrill and fautiging. My base Rotel and Simaudio setup gives me excellent soundstaging and detail, so I was not happy.
Then I connected the S97 to the XR 70 through the HDMI cable supplied by Pansonic. The sound came into focus, giving me almost the same soundstage that my base sysem provides, straight out of the box.
Many audio dealers comment that the Panasonic digital amps sound bright and harsh compared to the analog amps. My suggestion is to use the Panasonic receiver and DVD player in combination, and play with the receiver setup to optimize two channel sound. John Meyer of Newform Research has commented that the Panny digital amps sound pretty rough out of the box with factory multichannel settings.
Even though the receiver is rated at 100 RMS watts at six ohms, I found this more than sufficient to drive my speakers at high volume levels. I have not explored the biamping option yet.
This receiver was only released in early December of 2004. Just before Christmas, most dealers went out of stock on this item. In Canada, this is a difficult and expensive item to obtain, while the DVD player is easily available. This is why I ordered from the states, and even there supply is limited.
In summary, my exploration into the newest technology (primarily HDMI) tells me that there are few industry standards. One reatailer indicates that the Samsung 941 HDMI DVD universal player does not work with the Panny XR 70. I also read that the Denon 2910 will not feed DVDA info to the latest HDMI equipment. So - stay safe and stick to the Panny combination. These two units were made for each other, and they do things between the two of them that you and I can not understand. This is where technology has gone.
Highly recommended - to achieve high standards of audio and video at mass market prices. Strengths:
A small size receiver that produces high quality output at low electricity consumption levels.
Up to date implementation of HDMI interface, which is backward compatible to DVI interface and supports computer interface through RGB.
Avoids digital-analog conversion through support of digital signal through to speaker binding posts.
Many feaures built into receiver, making this an improved example of mass market XR 50 receiver. Weaknesses:
Light build.
Weak speaker connections for all speakers other than front AB speakers. Similar Products Used:
My first venture into digital amplifiers.
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