# Pioneer SX-253R vs a new receiver



## rentonhighlands (Mar 24, 2010)

Hello:
I am wondering would I hear more clarity and a better sound with a new receiver? For example a Yamaha with the burr-brown DAC or a Onkyo TX-8160 or something with Wolfson DAC, or Pioneer? I noticed that most receivers are rated Total harmonic distortion: 0.9% at 20 Hz-20 kHz. Does this mean anything? 

How I play my music now is 3.5 out from IPAD MINI to RCA into SX-253R. 

What I want is to stream to the receiver via Bluetooth or WIFI. 
If I stream to the receiver vs direct plug into via RCA would this degrade the sound quality? 

My setup is strictly at this point only for listening to music.


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## AudiocRaver (Jun 6, 2012)

It depends on a lot of things. A new receiver, per se, does not mean better clarity, even if it is a "top brand," even if it has a hot Wolfson DAC, even if it has super-low THD numbers. For instance, one thing I have been looking at a lot recently is the DAC reconstruction filter type, which can contribute to pre- and post-ringing, which can affect image clarity at high frequencies, and is a dynamic quality, not picked up in THD numbers, and the filter type is rarely specified. It is a quality of the DAC implementation, not the DAC chip itself. That is one example.

Wish there was an easy answer for you, but I don't know what it would be.:dontknow:


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## Wayne A. Pflughaupt (Apr 13, 2006)

What speakers are you using?

Regards, 
Wayne


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