Home Theater Forum - View Single Post - Looking for inexpensive receiver recommendations

KrisWood · 05-16-2008, 07:48 AM

Hi everyone. Five years ago I bought my first HT receiver, a Sony STR-DE485 for $149 which served me faithfully though severely underpowered until last year when it died (it now goes into "protect" mode after a few seconds of audio from any source with a loud POP over the speakers, and must be power cycled to resume listening, so I've stopped using it for the sake of my speakers). I'm now looking to get something a little nicer and have budgeted around $300 for this project.

The problem I'm running into is that there seems to be a large gap between two different kinds of HT products. There are the sort that one can find in any department store and consumer electronics mega-stores which are generally in my price range but are utter crap (like my Sony), and there are the type at audio specialist stores that are tailored to wealthier audiophiles with four digit or higher price tags that will likely be out of my range for the entirety of my life. Also I'm having trouble finding stores that cater to a price range between these two.

I mainly listen to MP3 audio and various lossless formats, and watch DVDs but do not own or plan to purchase any sort of Blue-Ray player until DVD goes the way of VHS, so I don't need the ultimate high-definition receiver. Something inexpensive but well put together which will drive my speakers is the goal.

Almost all my media is currently played on my computer with an Auzentech X-Meridian 7.1 sound card over Sennheiser 580 headphones, but this obviously doesn't work if I want to watch a movie with the family.

For speakers I've got the following (yes I know they're on the lower end but they're what I can afford):

2 @ Jensen CS 315 (15" 80watt 3-way)
2 @ Polk Audio R30
1 @ Polk Audio CSi40
1 @ Polk Audio PSW202

(I initially had links to the Polk Audio speakers specs pages but the forum won't let me put URLs in my first 10 posts. They can be found on www dot polkaudio dot com)

Ideally I'll find something that is well suited to these speakers because I won't be able to afford nicer for several years to come, by which time I'll be able to afford a nicer receiver too.

Can anyone recommend a good 5.1 receiver that will power these speakers for around the $300 range?

05-16-2008, 07:48 AM	#1 of 14
KrisWood *Kris Wood* Member Location: Portland, Oregon Join Date: May 2008 Local Time: 11:10 PM Local Date: 08-29-2008 Posts: 6	Looking for inexpensive receiver recommendations Hi everyone. Five years ago I bought my first HT receiver, a Sony STR-DE485 for $149 which served me faithfully though severely underpowered until last year when it died (it now goes into "protect" mode after a few seconds of audio from any source with a loud POP over the speakers, and must be power cycled to resume listening, so I've stopped using it for the sake of my speakers). I'm now looking to get something a little nicer and have budgeted around $300 for this project. The problem I'm running into is that there seems to be a large gap between two different kinds of HT products. There are the sort that one can find in any department store and consumer electronics mega-stores which are generally in my price range but are utter crap (like my Sony), and there are the type at audio specialist stores that are tailored to wealthier audiophiles with four digit or higher price tags that will likely be out of my range for the entirety of my life. Also I'm having trouble finding stores that cater to a price range between these two. I mainly listen to MP3 audio and various lossless formats, and watch DVDs but do not own or plan to purchase any sort of Blue-Ray player until DVD goes the way of VHS, so I don't need the ultimate high-definition receiver. Something inexpensive but well put together which will drive my speakers is the goal. Almost all my media is currently played on my computer with an Auzentech X-Meridian 7.1 sound card over Sennheiser 580 headphones, but this obviously doesn't work if I want to watch a movie with the family. For speakers I've got the following (yes I know they're on the lower end but they're what I can afford): 2 @ Jensen CS 315 (15" 80watt 3-way) 2 @ Polk Audio R30 1 @ Polk Audio CSi40 1 @ Polk Audio PSW202 (I initially had links to the Polk Audio speakers specs pages but the forum won't let me put URLs in my first 10 posts. They can be found on www dot polkaudio dot com) Ideally I'll find something that is well suited to these speakers because I won't be able to afford nicer for several years to come, by which time I'll be able to afford a nicer receiver too. Can anyone recommend a good 5.1 receiver that will power these speakers for around the $300 range?