I really need your help please.

Automan · 03-07-2008, 02:34 PM

Hello everyone ! im new to this forum, and i have a question i just cant deside by my self

I have had this setup for about 15years, but even if the sound is still great, im pretty fed up with external decoder and not having all the new things in it.

I have this setup:
Harman Kardon Avr80 rds
Harman Kardon PA2400 signature series (to front side speakers)
Sony Dolby Digital decoder (color gold)

Running HK Sixty (front), Infinity kappa (center), Big Cabaze (rear) Self powered Sub Valodyne.

Have been looking at the following to replace my HK 80, HK 2400 and decoder:

Sony STRDA 5300ES (Would maybe prefer the 7100)
Harman Kardon any ? (But they can only pass trough 1080i)

I havent looked at many others yet, but the main thing is... Need to be just as powerfull as my current setup, and not to forget the sound quality, the extra fetures is just in second hand, the most important is the sound quality and power to make the speakers perform with a really hard and powerfull sound.

Thanks for any help !

keithVANhorn · 03-07-2008, 08:45 PM

I would stay away from Sony anything.... Other rcvr's to look at Yamah RX-V3800 or 1800 depending on price, any Pioneer Elite in your price range. Or go all out and get a Sunfire Amp and Processor. We had this setup in our theater in our old shop. Sunfire Theater Grand IV processor with the 200x7 amp. All I can say is WOW!!!!

If you need HDMI switching and a rcvr doesn't have what you want, get a HDMI 3in1out switch from Geffen.

Automan · 03-07-2008, 09:24 PM

Thanks for the help.

All i can say is that i have never before thought of Sony as a serious hometheatre provider for me at least.... but i thought that they may have got better now.

I was thinking of the Yamaha 1800, but same with the Yamaha as the Sony... i really havent thought of them as real good A/V rec for my homecinema.

Have always loved the power of Harman Kardon, but they seam to have fallen back some since i bought mine long ago, so im very confused on what to get, i want serious power, and i think something similar to Yamaha 1800 or 3800 would work, but what should i get, what will give me the very best audio quality and the best true power (any brand) ???

Is the Pioneer lx-60 or 70 any good ? This brand have not before been a choice, tried one big once and returned it directly, i think i just wanted to try it out before i got my HK for some strange reason.

How is for example Onkyo TX-SR875 ?? i heard they are good.

I know the Sunfire is very good, but they are just a littlebit to costly i think... will chek it out anyways.

Any more help out there ?

keithVANhorn · 03-08-2008, 03:21 PM

Yamaha audio quality is very good. We are a dealer and use them as much as possible. Have used Onkyo products, but prefer the sound of the Yamaha's. Onkyo is still good though.

I'm the same way with Sony audio products.... not a fan.

Tom Donaghue · 03-10-2008, 10:07 AM

Nowadays, there are several receivers you can purchase within a specific price range that should perform similarly and have a very similar feature set. Some time ago, Yamaha got a rap of having a very bright signature lacking punch and weight, which may have been the case years ago, but as of the past 5+ years (at least in my own experience), they have produced some quality receivers for the money.

Having personally owned a Yamaha RX-V2500 for a couple years, I can tell you it was one of the best receivers for the money considering it's feature set, power and total performance. I also owned an RX-V569 for a bedroom receiver that I recently sold due to it being completely underused and way too much for that application.

The Onkyo TX-SR875 is very capable, both on the audio and the video side of things. While it is a bit more pricey than a similarly featured 805 (the video components being less capable than the 875), if both audio and video are high priority, this may be a serious consideration. If mostly audio, than you may want to consider the Onkyo TX-SR705 or 805, Yamaha RX-V663, 863 or 1800 or possibly the Denon AVR-2808ci. All of these should price under $1000, have a very similar feature set and provide the latest and greatest for HD audio formats... -TD

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Automan · 04-18-2008, 12:32 PM

Well, almost two weeks ago i bought my new receiver, even if i had a hard time choosing between the big Yamaha and Onkyo, i finally got the Onkyo 905 and was nothing but amazed of the sound, it was more power, and the details in the sound was incredable, the separation etc etc, everything just felt so perfect, im really glad now that i replaced my oldie, even though it has served me well, this new beast was like night and day difference to my ears.... woow what a great update for my homecinema.

Now if only the blu-ray ps3 player only could output bitstream trough hdmi so i could see in the receivers display that im running dts-hd dd-true hd etc, but there is nothing wrong with letting the player decode it, just that it would looked better seeing it in the display

will for the first time try bd with dts-hd and that true-hd this sat, but it seams to sound abit better then standard dts etc, will be nice to see a whole movie with that much richer sound.

Using bi-wire for my front sixties, and by that now 5.1 system, cause as im using bi-wire (two amp's for each speaker using bi-wire) i lost 2ch.... even if i have a separate amp i could hookup on the surroundback-preout's i heard that i cant hook it up cause it wont work

nevermind, i think 5.1 is just fine if you have good enought speakers, that 7.1 is just something we really dont need, what i understand it's no point using it, but i could be wrong.... i will probably try it someday anyways.

Any hint's etc for getting the most out of this system ?

JohnRice · 04-18-2008, 05:33 PM

I hope you mean bi-amp, not bi-wire, that your speakers are capable of being bi-amped and you are hooking them up correctly. You CAN NOT just hook two amps into one speaker unless they are capable and set up correctly. Plus, that is not what bi-wire means.

Be absolutely certain you know what you are doing or you will destroy your receiver.

Automan · 04-19-2008, 12:39 AM

Thanks for the warning JohnRice, but no worries, i know what im doing. Some call it bi-wire but it's really called bi-amping, sorry for that. And yes, my big H/K fronts can really do bi-amping.

Using two amps to one speaker is called bridging, and that is not what i wanted, i want two separate amps.. one for high and one for low to put it in simple terms.

I used bi-amping/bi-wire (is it the cables that's called bi-wire perhaps?) cables before, but then i only used the one amp and went from 1-2 on each +/- (Yamaha uses that on their receivers when "bi-amping", even if they uses two outputs for each speakers, the power comes from 1 amp for each speaker = not real bi-amping), dont know what i would call that, but now im using real bi-amping and i think if you have the right speakers it will perform much better using that in my opinion.

Any hints/help for my setup ?

JohnRice · 04-19-2008, 11:45 AM

OH! My head is spinning.

David Willow · 04-19-2008, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Automan

Any hints/help for my setup ?

Yes. Learn all about Audssey and try it out on your new 905. Be sure to read the Audssey thread here on HTF. It is not as straight forward as is seems (lots of gotcha's). But the effort is worth it.