John Mil

yet another"need some help buying receiver"

Hi Guys. I've been lurking around here for a while and trying to pick up some good pointers. I was wondering if someone could help me out with my set up. I just bought a 50 inch Sony SXRD projection TV. I don't watch a ton of movies so I am not interested in a home theater set-up. Just 2 channel stereo. I will be watching lots of sporting events on tv and watching music/concert dvd's and listening to lots of music. I just picked up RUSH's R30 and RUSH in Rio dvd's. I mainly like rock/ POP. Lots of Metallica, RUSH , Van Halen, etc. Also like some R&B like Al Green, Bill Withers, etc.

My room is 19 by 14 with a angled(vault) ceiling that starts at 9 ft. and end at around 16 feet high. It is an open family room with just a small half wall seperating the room from the kitchen.

I will need floor standing speakers, a receiver, and a new cd player. I have an old Optimus STAV-3370 (Professional Series) receiver which is 11 years old as it was my wife's when she was in college. I guess I need to upgrade it.
My general budget would be around $600 for speakers $350 to $400 for receiver and $200 to $300 for cd player/changer. I've looked into the JBL Northridge E-100 with the 10 inch woofers. I just don't know if I should try and buy 2 kick butt towers , or 2 floor standing speakers with a sub( I have no experience with subs at all). I have heard good things about Klipsch, Ascend and Axiom. Do these companies make good floorstanding speakers that would be good enough to stand alone without a sub? Also, since I am into music dvd's and cd's, would I need a receiver with digital inputs? I know most stereo receivers only have the regular red/white/yellow inputs. I appreciate any help you guys can give me!!

Hank_P

Re: yet another"need some help buying receiver"

Based on what I'm understanding, your first preference is CD, and movie/dvd second. Just a preference of mine with that beautiful new Sony XBR screen.. I would go for movies first nice tv!

I've actually been working with a friend of mine on about the same budget. The speakers are definitely a preference for your ears, as everyone 'hears' things a little differently and have different taste. Nothing wrong with that, but the advice would be to go listen to all the speakers you can. Even if you find some you like a little, bring the home and see how they sound in your room (you can always return them). That is one big, open room though, so it may take a nice, quality speaker and power to get the sound you are looking for (again this is based on the sound level you are accustomed to listening cds/dvds to). You may even want to go with 2 kick butt towers first, and maybe add a sub down the road (Please also consider the SVS PB-10..powerful little guy). JBL, Klipsch, Ascend are all pretty good speakers.

The receivers in that price range.. the Pioneer and Onkyo have some pretty solid recievers with plenty of hook-ups for what you are shooting for. The Sony's in the that price range are lacking in quality a bit. Since you will be enjoying many DVD music disc, go with a recieve with a home-theater type setup instead of just the 2-channel route. It will give you more flexibility down the road. (such as adding a center channel, and surrounds to get the best out of that nice movie experiece at home with that big TV)

John Mil

Re: yet another"need some help buying receiver"

Thanks so much Hank for your reply and your help! I have been doing some research and thought I would ask a few more questions. I wish I could do the full 5.1 set up but I don't think my family room is set up well for it. The couches are right up against the back wall and I would have to go with in-wall speakers for the rears and they would only be a foot or two away from the couches.

I went to the Hi-Fi House in my area and listened to some Paradigm speakers connected to a Yamaha RX V1600 receiver. The 5.1 system sounded great. Just the 2 towers and the sub sounded great as well. I listened to the Monitor 9's and a PW2200 12 inch subwoofer. They were asking $930 for the Monitor 9's and $930 for the sub. I will most likely buy the Monitor 9's. I'm not sure if I can afford almost a grand for a sub though. For the size of my room, I'm not sure if a 10 inch sub will be enough? They were asking about $900 for the Yamaha receiver. What would you guys recommend for a sub and a receiver to go with the Monitor 9's? Budget would be around $500 for the receiver and maybe $600 to $700 for the sub. Remember it will be just a 2.1 system with emphasis on music. I would like the receiver to be XM and Ipod(my wife's) capable. I will also have outside deck speakers hooked up to the receiver. By the way, I have a $450 credit at JR music and it looks like they have some good deals on the Onkyo703 and 803 recivers. The salesman at Hi-fi house said to stick with Yamaha since that is the brand of receiver that I initially heard the speakers with. Thanks in advance guys!

John Mil

Re: yet another"need some help buying receiver"

Ok, I looked at jrmusic.com and saw a few receivers in my budget. Wondering if anyone has some input on these? I guess since I am going with a 2.1 system than a basic 2 channel receiver will be fine. I am looking at the following:

HK 3480- $265
Onkyo TX 8522- $250 (XM and Ipod ready)
Denon- DRA 685- $399
Denon DRA 395- $289

All have free shipping. I am leaning towards a Denon and might pair it up with the Denon DCM 390 cd player/changer. Thanks in advance for any suggestions!