1,000 for a new receiver (1 Viewer)

[WayneEA]

My wife has finally okay'd for me to get a new receiver,
It must be 7.1, upgradeable, dolby digital, dts, and not a sony. Any Suggestions?

 

[Fernando Saa]

I just upgraded to the new Yamaha rx-v2400, and I had been blown away by it, the sound is amazing, even the dsp modes which don't have much acceptance in the HT community are great; the receiver is THX select, I dont have the same brand speakers all around, but you can get the tonality or timbre-matching to be close to your mains. It has a parametric equalizer that automaticly sets itself when it "listens" to your room's sonic response and speakers' size, distance from main listening position, etc, by means of the included microphone when you perform the Auto Setup. I had a 5 year old Pioneer 5.1 receiver and the sound was really good and I thought I would not hear much difference with the yamaha. It hit me in the head when I tried my first movie (Matrix Reloaded at reference) like saying: "What were you thinking?" believe me this is no whimp reciever. It has a computer port in the back for future upgrades, that's at leats what the salesman at Sound Advice told me. My unit came upgraded with Dolby Prologic IIx. worth a listen!

 

[Shane Martin]

This is a deal killer if you mean software upgradable. If you mean preamp outs then that is another story. I'm thinking that the only software upgradable reciever in your price range would be the Rotel line. Then again they don't have a receiver for 1k with 7 full channels of amps.

Otherwise You are looking at the following to which I'd consider:

Denon 3805(coming in a week or 2 or so)
Yamaha 2400
Marantz 7400

If you can live w/o Pro Logic IIx(I personally couldn't) then the HK 7200 is a pretty good deal.

 

[Todd^B]

The Denon 3805 will be $1049 and up.

I've seen the Harman Kardon 7200, Denon AVR-3803 and the Yamaha RX-V2400 for about $750 - $790.

If you want features and THX, go with the Yamaha. If you want power, go for the HK 7200.

I would suggest listening to all of them, then decide.

SoundTrack has the Yamaha and Denon. Circuit City has/had the Harmon (at least I know they used to, I didn't see it on their website). Or Vann's depending upon where you live.

 

[MuneebM]

I have the Yamaha RX-V2400 and I also absolutely love it! I just got back from watching Gladiator DTS-ES for the thousandth time and it sounds incredible! The Yamaha is the best part of my HT, it has detailed, crisp sound, and the Cinema DSP is wonderful and adds so much more to the surround field.

Before purchasing the Yamaha, I had auditioned the following receivers: H/K AVR230, H/K AVR330, H/K AVR525, and a Sony ES receiver. To me, and 2 of my friends that accompanied me during the auditions, the Yamaha was the clear winner, by far. The H/K receivers were also very good but the sound was too "warm" and sounded muddy to our ears. The Yamaha was the sure winner with much more detailed, crisp sound, and by far the best imaging, especially in the surround field.

 

[Shane Martin]

It should be easy enough to negotiate the price down to his range pretty easily. I've heard that Ultimate Electronics/Soundtrack was preordering them for $999 + Tax which gets him close.

 

[SteveAnd]

I vote for the Onkyo TXNR801, which can be had for less than $1k.

 

[Rich Wenzel]

this:

http://www.nadelectronics.com/av_rec...3_frameset.htm

may be the closest you get to everything you want, but its not 7 channel amps...only 6 channel...you could buy a cheap 2 channel amp off of audiogon to make it 7...

Rich

 

[MuneebM]

Yes, but then he can't enjoy true 7.1, like Dolby Pro Logic IIx as he can with the Yamaha RX-V2400 or Denon 3805.

 

[Blaine_M]

I've heard the Marantz 7400, sounds very nice. I'd go with the Marantz. Not sure about the others mentioned, but I do know the Marantz 7400 will 'upconvert' all the video input to it into a component output to the TV. I just purchased a 5400, a couple steps down from the 7400, but so far it is awesome and sounds AMAZING!

 

[Rich Wenzel]

not true, if he buys a separate amp, he can.

Rich

 

[Drew_W]

Pioneer Elite. A used 43TX runs about $400. That leaves an awful lot of money to get a SOLID 2 channel power amp for the fronts (if you listen to alot of music, thats what you could do, and probably should). But the Elite is no lightweight on its own either. Excellent processing capabilities, 7 channels @ 100W, THX certified (important if you need the equalization it gives, this of course depends on your speaker setup). And it looks good. High gloss black aluminum front.

I've even seen up to a new 55TXi for under $1000 on ebay (I think it was the 55). That has the iLink (firewire) connection to your DVD player so you don't have to use 6 analog cables for DVDA/SACD.

I have no idea what the new line runs for new in the US. Definately worth a look though.

 

[DanaA]

If you can find one of the Harman Kardon 7200's still hanging around, I'd certainly consider that as a possibility as a friend of mine picked one up around a week ago for around $780 from Frys.

They seem to be disappearing quickly though.

 

[Todd^B]

The Harman Kardon is hard to find to listen to.

I checked a few local shops and Circuit City. Circuit City say they sell it for $1799, but it is not in stock. Again reinforcing the idea of the CC saleperson didn't care or doesn't realize how much you can get one for. I told him I could find one for about $800. He said, "that doesn't seem right, that is a big price difference". We just left the store after helping ourselves to the receiver and speakers area.

For authorized Harman Kardon dealers online, check onecall.com or soundcity.com They were selling for $788

FYI: The Harman Kardon AVR 7300 was pictured in the Apr. '04 issue (pg. 77) with a breif article. It will have Dolby Pro logic IIx, digital bass management and supports DVD-Audio and SACD.

 

[Steve Crowley]

I would check out Fry's. They have the Onkyo TX-DS989ver2 which is THX Ultra 2 for $999. This is a 2 year old design but will do everything you want. Software upgradable,Zone 2,
pre-amp out,7 channels x130 etc. Go to their website and see where there is one located. They had one here in Houston
just the other week. Cheers.

 

[Jesse Sharrow]

Ill have to check on that one. I work at soundtrack.