Choosing the right Receiver / Tuner? (1 Viewer)

[Ahoyloy]

All -


Now that I have rcvd outstanding advice on the speaker side of things, I need a moment of time from you on the receiver.


Was all set to purchase the Denon AVR-791 until I spent some time with an AV tech yesterday. He kept stearing me toward the Pioneer Elite vice the AVR-791. Noted that the 791 was actually a nice model, but for the bucks, I should be considering a higher grade model in the Denon (i.e. 2111 or 3111) or Marantz or Pioneer Elite.


Here is the breakdown: We'll be doing 60% TV, 15% Movie, 15% Wii and 10% music on this system. We have a 6 and 3 year old so this area is a Family Room not a dedicated HT.

Any thoughts? All are welcome.


Mike

 

[gene c]

The only true "Elites" are the SC models, the VSX's are pretty much just rebadged receivers (with a few minor additions and a two year warranty) from the standard Pioneer line. They're still nice receivers but you can save a little money on the standard line. In any event, you should strive for the Pioneer 1120 or similar Elite vsx-32 as they have the Marvell video processor and stronger amp sections than the lessor models. Down-side to Pioneer is they only allow one crossover setting for all speaker groups so if you have large towers and small surrounds you might want to look elsewhere. But they also have up to 6 MCACC equilizer presets which can be handy.


The 791 (and the simular 1911) is a very good receiver and comes with the highley regarded Audyssey room correction features. Pioneers MCACC is also very good but Audyssey is thought to be a bit better. I doubt the 2111 or 3111 would offer too much more usable features or performance than the 791/1911 unless you need any of the added features they may have. $500 +/- receivers are packed full of what most people need these days. Put the extra money into better speakers/sub woofer.


Denons performance can't be questioned but to me they are harder to setup and use. Pioneers are a little more straight forward and intuitive. Maybe that's because I have more experience with them than Denon but I also find H/K and Onkyo easy to use and Marantz a bit more like Denon.


As another posted stated in your speakers thread you can't gp wrong with either/any of them. Just find the one that has the features you need at a good price. If you can narrow it down to two or three then down-load the manuals for them and give them a quick read.

 

[dmiller68]

I agree that the Pioneer Elite "SC" models are on a different level then the other Elite models. However they are on a different spending level as well. I have always liked Denon but once they stopped getting THX certification I moved away. I really like the sound profile the the THX sound modes offer. Although now that DTS seems to have gained a lot of traction maybe it is less of an issue.

 

[winniw]

Mike... I'm glad that you asked.

Any of these will be sufficient to power the Def Tech 800s that you are considering, so look closely at the feature set.

You might want to move up for features such as HD radio, dual-subwoofer outputs or networking capability, to name a few.


Right now, I think that the Denon 2311 is a best bang for the buck unit.


http://www.amazon.com/Denon-AVR-2311CI-Multi-Source-Multi-Zone-Supporting/dp/B003MQLSMI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1304233300&sr=8-2


You are getting 7..2 channels and HD radio. If you listen to FM and have not heard HD radio, I must tell you it is a great feature. Also, the higher up you go, the better HD conversion and upscaling you get. There are many reasons to upgrade.


Check it out to make sure that it has everything that you need though. I have not investigated the new Denon models to see how they compare. That may be worthwhile too.


Nick