Looking for suggestions... (1 Viewer)

[Flak]

I have asked this question in other forums without a response so far. The more reading I do the more undecisive I become. I have a very hard max of $600 including shipping (with some sweet talking I may be able to do $600 max for receiver not including shipping, but that is looking slim). My current setup is:

Yamaha RX-V496
Polk R30 fronts
Polk CS1 center
Sony SS-MB105 surrounds
SVS PB10 (just got this last week, awesome upgrade)


I would have to say that my listening would be 50/50 or 60/40 movies/music. I would have no regrets getting another yamaha as this one has been working great, just recently the input selector on the receiver has been giving me problems but it all still works great from the remote. This was my first and has been my only home theater receiver. I have tried demoing various models but then my problem or worry is that I'm listening to the receivers on speakers that cost much more then I paid for mine.

I do have a long list of receivers that I am considering but the more reading I do the bigger the list gets. So I am looking to you to spend my money for me or point me in an appropriate direction.


Let me know if you need any more info from me.
Thanks

 

[mackie]

Buy the one that has enough power to comfortably drive your speakers, has the features that are most important to you, and the one you can get the best deal on. I've owned Yamaha and Denon and both are dependable and sound great. The Yamaha is 8 years old & the Denon is 2 years old. Both work great.

 

[John Titan]

onyko yamaha

These are 600 before shipping but great units.

 

[SethH]

I would pick up an HK 635 off of Ebay directly from HK. These are refurb units, but they're also great receivers and you're buying them directly from HK. There's one on there now for $475 with about 2 hours left, but there are more available too.

 

[Jameson Richard]

i would have to say that i love the h/k and the yamaha receivers... i would say that if you wanted to get a new receiver for that much money i would say to get the H/K 340...

if you changed up the rears so that they would make harmonicly with the fronts and the center you would also hear an increase of sound quality...

 

[Dick Knisely]

Personal preferences would be Denon 1906 or 2106. Alternatively, the equivalent Onkyo.

 

[gene c]

Hate to sound like a party pooper but does anyone else think a $600 receiver might be a bit too much for the speakers Flak has? If Flak had just posted his speakers without a budget, I would have suggested an Onkyo 503 or a $300 Denon/Yamaha. For $600, maybe a 635 for $648 or a 435 for $512 with .06 cents shipping from 6ave.com but I don't think his speakers can really show what a $600 receiver can do. What do you guys think? Am I way off base here? I'm just trying to save him a little money. And he made no mention of a speaker up-grade later on.

 

[John Titan]

I see whaty our saying. But why not get the best you can now with the money. It's twice as expensive having to upgrade the receiver later if you need too.

 

[gene c]

But if he has no plans to up-grade the speakers anytime soon, maybe the extra $200-$300 can be put to better use elsewhere. Just a thought.

 

[Flak]

The speakers I have now are an upgrade... at least to me they were. I ended up getting an HK DPR 2005 for around $530 after shipping. What suggestion would you guys have for speakers then?

 

[FeisalK]

wow.. great price for something the original MSRP was 1.7K

 

[mackie]

The speakers I have now are an upgrade... at least to me they were. I ended up getting an HK DPR 2005 for around $530 after shipping. What suggestion would you guys have for speakers then?


If you like your speakers, keep them!

 

[Jameson Richard]

let me know what you think of the receiver when you turn it up... i know with last years model of that it had some crazy digital burlps... it drove me crazy.... i talked with the harmon rep and he said that that was going to be fixed on the model that you got....

 

[Tom DeWitt]

Denon-3805, Pioneer-1015TX, Denon-2106 and Yamaha HT-5860

in that order You can find the 2106 for under $500 online B-stock as well as the 3805 for just under $700

 

[gene c]

Hey Flak, I was trying to save you money, not get you to spend more! Anyway, I have no experience with digital receivers so I wouldn't even know where to start. And as mackie said, if you're happy with them, keep 'em. But I still think that new H/K (and the SVS) are a notch or two above the rest of your setup.

 

[RickRO]

Gene, or others,

A little off topic but still along the same lines. I know that most of the speaker/AV combos are subjective but I have been wrestling with that same aspect that you mention Gene (Speakers/Receiver cost. I have narrowed my choice (cost no object for me anyway) down to the Yammy 2600 and the SVS 7.1 but I know that is a lot of receiver for the speaker combo or is it a pretty good fit?

I figured that I will be able to take advantage of the 2600 HDMI switching so that is a step in the right direction for me. However I could save 3-400 bucks and buy a lesser Yammy or Onkyo that would do very nicely too. Just looking for opinions.....I know I know I know....that can get you into trouble. I just don't want to be the HT equivalent to the teenager who has a 5oo dollar car with 2,500 dollar wheels.

 

[Flak]

My speakers were a huge upgrade because when I bought them I finally had a matching front stage, and I thought the price was pretty good... think I paid $200 for the two fronts and the center, new. I'm more then open to suggestions, though not sure of a budget for speakers at the moment...

 

[gene c]

The theory is you should spend more (30-50%?)on speakers than the receiver. The SVS 7.1/2600 doesn't seem too far off to me if you use some of those extra features you're paying for. The problem with Flak's setup is he got such a great deal on that H/K that price-wise it looks good. But his speakers can't possibly keep up ('cept for the SVS). I just think a HT should have some balance to it. Not based on price alone, but performance too. Back to SVS. I took a quick look at the 7.1 and the spl is a pretty low 85 for the surrounds and 87 for the center (my Polk RTi's are 89 & 90) so they are going to need a strong receiver. With that in mind, over-buying on the receiver might be a good idea. Perhaps someone who owns speakers with a low spl can chime in. Only if you forget that's all they are...opinions.

 

[gene c]

Flak, you did get a good deal on the fronts/center. The CS1 goes for $179 by itself. But I still think you over-bought (performance wise) on the receiver. But remember, thats just my opinion (see above).

 

[Flak]

I finally got the receiver (this is really the last thing I ever get shipped UPS if I have the option) last night. I hooked everything up and did some short subjective listening. Don't really want to give a full comment on it until this weekend when I spend more time with it. But one thing I notice is that it's supposed to have more power per channel then the receiver it's replacing but requires a higher setting on the volume to fill the same room with the volume I'm used to.