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Review NaN of
Price Paid:
$180.00
from BestBuy Summary:
When I was at BestBuy about a year ago I ran across this receiver. Since my income isn't really that high I opted for this since it seemed like a good buy for the money. My last receiver was a Scott stereo receiver from 1972 so I would consider this a huge leap. When I first got it I figured that it would be a good leap since it was made 33 years later. Once I got it all hooked up I took a listen on my JBL 4311 control monitors from 1969. I took a listen on it in stereo and it sounded about the same as my old receiver until I cranked it up. then it wasn't hissing like old tube recievers from the 70's did, of course. The Scott was an 80-watt so this has a little bit more thump that that did. Since then I've gotten some Paradigm floorstanding surround speakers and JBL Northridge for the front. I now use the Jbls as center channels. When I turn the receiver up to +3 on 6 channel stereo with music that has a heavy beat like some remixes do you can feel the bass very much even without a subwoofer, but of course I have all floorstanding speakers running with this.
My favorite thing about the 5740 is that you can play around with all the modes. Movie, music, or game there's a mode for it. Very clear sound. I was dissapointed with the tuner quality of this model though. Most manufacturers these days tend to skimp out on the tuner part of the receive focusing on the other parts of the receiver like the amp and all those modes (cough cough). If you want good FM or AM reception you'll have to get a separate tuner. I hooked this one to an antenna in my attic and still can only pull in the strongest stations. My old Scott is now in my bedroom with some small bookshelf speakers and still pulls in all the main stations and more with the same antenna. Tube tuners rule, you know it!
People who should buy this receiver are people on a budget who want a clear sound and dont have have wimpy speakers. In fact, I would recommend you get two good mains than 7 cheap speakers including a subwoofer for the same price. Of course this receiver won't perform like those higher performance receivers from companies like Rotel or Marantz, but those are also like what, 10 times the cost? People who want loud should not buy this receiver unless you have speakers with sensitivity of at least 93. A guide to sensitivity would be that most HT speakers that you can get from places like BestBuy have a sensitivity of around 86 with you need over 4 times the power to get to the same volume with as 93.
Another thing is this receiver doesn't have the strongest power supply.
That means that if you play 6 channels it may be louder since you have more surface area, but your power supply can't provide as much power to each individual speakers. When you go into the direct stereo mode, the 5740 gives power to just the two front L and R speakers. This way you can turn it up louder and get more power out of your receiver on those two channels. Good if you want to see how loud you can get it before it starts clipping. I can run it at about +3 when everything is even in the speaker level menu. If you just want to watch movies this is a good receiver. If you're more a music fan you need larger speakers to make this receiver good for that. Otherwise get a better receiver.
The bottom line is if you want a lot of bang for your buck this receiver can supply it as long as your power doesn't dip much. If you have power dips I've found this receiver to be weaker in that area. When the power dips you lose max volume for a minute, but if you listen at lower levels (about -35 is an average level) then this receiver will be just fine. Strengths:
Lots of different modes, Clean sounding at lower levels, good soundstaging and imaging, accurate when you set all the time delays correctly Weaknesses:
can't handle loud voumes before overheating, tuner doesn't tune as well as receivers from the 70s, weak power supply. Similar Products Used:
Scott stereo receiver, Yamaha 5730, KLH (cheapie), I've listened to all the high-end models at high-end stores for extended time periods too.
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