[Samuel Sonn]

I am looking to upgrade my stereo system for my home. I purchased a nice Aiwa system when I went to college (6 years ago) and I think it is time to upgrade to a separate component system. I know the receiver is the most important part of a home theater system and I need to make the right choice. I was looking at price(s) online and found that the Harman Kardon 525 and the Onkyo TX-SR800 where around the same price. I know that Harman is a good manufacture but I'm not sure about the Onkyo. If anyone could enlighten me on which would be the better deal between these two models I would be very grateful. Plus, if you have any other suggestions I welcome them. I want to spend less then $1000 on a receiver.

Thanks,

Sam

[Pablo Abularach]

Both HK 525 and Onkyo SR800 are great recievers for the money, IMO I think the HK still has the edge for music and power, but the Onkyo will work very good on HT.

I think you should also consider other alternatives, like Denon 3803, Marantz SR7300 and even HK 7200 which you can find it the net more or less for $1000.

Quote:

I know the receiver is the most important part of a home theater system and I need to make the right choice.

IMO the best thing of any setup are the speakers, speacially the sub and center speaker for movies, and mains for music. I think you should always invest more in speakers, they will last you longer, and with reciever changing the tecnology so often, I think speakers is always better.

[ChrisLazarko]

Well depending on the size of the room you might not even need to go as far as a Harman/Kardon AVR-525 unless you are finding a really good deal on it. I think the AVR-325 should be more than enough to suit needs unless you are powering a VERY large room.

The Onkyo isn't bad, but I think in terms of features/performance/looks you won't get any better than the Harman/Kardon. Also something I like about HK is that they offer something called Logic 7 (takes a 2 channel source and makes it into 5 or 7 channels) somewhat like Dolby ProLogic II... I think it is better than PLII.

As for speakers, just a recommendation would be Klipsch, they are very nice... but like most say, you either like Klipsch or you hate it... They have a very distinct sound.