I currently have a philips amplifier and tuner of the 900 series which I love. But now I would like to have Dolby surround. Philips has recently come up with a new receiver model, the FR970. It has a Matchline label, so it should have some quality.

Since all my other hifi and video equipment is Philips I would like to stick to this brand. The only thing is, I have compared the specs of the new receiver with the specs of my old amp and the receiver comes out very bad : on every single item it's less good : S/N ration 15 db lower, harmonic distortion ten times higher, powerbandwith : starts 25 Hz higher, and so on. The only thing to it's advantache is the power output : 100W instead of 80W.

Does anybody have an opinion on Philips surround receivers ?
Should I buy a Marantz receiver instead (for a much higher price) ?

Phillips Receiver= Crap

There is alot of better brands out there for receviers. not just marantz or yamaha. If youre on abudget i would seriously recommend checking out the Kenwood line.

Ok... that's an opinion. But still I wonder how big the difference in sound quality is going to be with a high-end receiver. What's for sure is that, the higher you go in price, the smaller the gain in soundquality and for me, not being a home-theater nut (not yet at least) low to mid end will be just fine. This Philips receiver is reasonably priced (450 Euro, which is about the same in dollars) and if Daniel signals it's arrival in his CES report, it can't be all that bad, can it? Nevertheless Jake, thanks for your advice on checking out Kenwood, I will certainly do that.

Kurt,

I'm assuming you are not from the US.

I get the feeling that the products company's sell in europe vs the U.S. differ in quality & design even though the product has the same model number. I don't know much about what philips offers in europe, but I've heard it's a pretty big brand. In the U.S. I think it's considered a pretty minor brand. In much the same way that Hitachi is huge in Japan, but just another japanese brand here.

I rarely see the philips brand name on receivers here and when I do, it's usually on very low end gear. Most of the time its a home-theater-in-a-box system that seems to be meant as an add on accessory for their line of Philips/Magnavox television sets. If I were to judge philips on these products I probably would agree with Jake, although I've never actually listened to one. But they really don't look like they'd be worth my time.

I understand that philips owns marantz. It may be that the marantz equipment will integrate well with your philips gear. I've noticed that technics, panasonic and quazar equipment can use the same unified remote produced by the company.

US$450 would give you alot of options. I've read some really great reviews of the Sony STR-DB 830, Onkyo 575, Kenwood 309 & Pioneer 608. I think they're all in that price range. At least they are in the US.

Anyway, the reason I responded to your post was to let you know that I think most americans have a narrow view of philips receivers. They're not really well marketed here.

Kurt:

I have a Philips FR-940 as my secondary system for my whole house audio. It was my primary surround reciever before I "stepped up". I bought it in '94.

I have nothing but great things to say about Philips. My Philips Receiver, CD changer & Cassette deck have all served me well.

Although the FR-970 may be the new Philips flagship, I must agree with others that you'll get more for your $450.00 with a little research. How about the Sony STR-DE935? It can be purchased on-line for $419.00.

I still like Philips and hope you'll find a suitable solution.

Sincerely,

Scott Funk

Hmm, well the one I mentioned is the FR-975 and it has a list price of $399 US. Not exactly high-end, but it LOOKS OK. I honestly don't know about the sound quality as I haven't heard a Philips receiver in a LONG time and CES wasn't ideal for detailed observations.

Having used two Philips 900 series receivers for the past seven years (currently a 930MkII ProLogic), I find myself in the same quandry as Kurt. I have also had a Sony ES receiver; the tuner was so poor compared to the Philips that it had to go. I've looked at the FR960 and the specs aren't up to the old 900 series; much more "home theater" than audio oriented. The Marantz SR-4000 looks like the best bet for me @ US$400. See if you can find it in Europe, Kurt. The European specs on the FR975/960 are the same as here, by the way.

It's now 17 years after this post and my Philips 900 system is still thumping along. Not sure if that means anything in your book, but it does in mine. ;)

Sometimes you get lucky when buying junk, good for you!