Advice on a new 5.1 receiver (1 Viewer)

[Ron1973]

I know that 7.1 and 9.1 are becoming more commonplace, but for now, I want to invest in another 5.1 as I do not have the extra speakers, the budget to invest in said extras, or the room space for them! I'm currently using a Sony STR-DH500, but it has started the dreaded "protect mode" problem. I don't need speakers, so a HTIB doesn't appeal to me.


I want to stay in a $200-$300 range; I'm feeding and clothing three teenagers while attending college full time, so going for broke just isn't an option.


I have saw several online that looked really nice and were in the price range I'm looking for, but they did not have enough audio inputs and I do not want to use an audio switcher. I listen to a lot of music as well and I love hearing it in faux Pro-Logic. I'm running my computer (it's serving as a music server basically), a cassette deck, an 8-track player and turntable (preamped of course) through my current receiver as well as optical in from my TV to my receiver. I had one member argue with me that I wasn't getting true Pro-Logic by running everything to the TV and then back through the optical input, but I'm not overly concerned with that. I'm getting five distinct channels plus the subwoofer using that setup, so it works for me.


A standard RCA audio output is a necessity as well since I'm running back to my computer from the receiver to digitize my LP's, cassettes and 8-tracks.


What recommendations do y'all have? Has Sony moved past their "protection mode" issues? I have saw it discussed elsewhere (especially on Audio Karma), so it is apparently a known issue. I love Onkyo, but everything I saw on Amazon said "discontinued" or "refurbished." Any help will be greatly appreciated; I'm looking to do something in the next couple of weeks once I get my Pell Grant refund!


Edited to add: By "everything running to the TV," I mean my Directv receiver, a DVD/VCR combo, another computer with an HDMI out that is used for Netflix and YouTube, Super Nintendo and an Atari 2600. All of the audio equipment and the other computer run straight to audio inputs on the receiver.

 

[Everett S.]

Refurbished is a good way to go, it will already be tested. Also think about a warranty.

 

[Salacious Ackbar]

A refurbished Denon sounds like the way to go or a new one. Amazon has a Denon S700 for $299 or refurbished for $249. It's 7.2 which will give you option to update later if you want.


http://www.amazon.com/Denon-AVR-S700W-7-2-Channel-Receiver-Bluetooth/dp/B00JRTMOGS

 

[gene c]

Also check out ac4l.com. They also sell refurbs but they come with a factory warranty. Many come with free shipping but they might deduct the shipping cost both ways from any amount refunded if you need to return it


http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/category/avreceiver/home-audio/receivers-amps/home-theater-receivers/1.html?skip_redirect_suffix=&view_id=5df15b2326905e398e64c81e4b344386779e37f8&mode=&search_query=&category=&thumb_sort=store_price.asc


. Another option is BestBuy/Magnolia. They can have some excellent buys on open box and customer returns. Ask a dept manager what they might have available.


Used is your best value in that price range but it's also a gamble many aren't willing to take.

 

[Ron1973]

A refurbished Denon sounds like the way to go or a new one. Amazon has a Denon S700 for $299 or refurbished for $249. It's 7.2 which will give you option to update later if you want.


http://www.amazon.com/Denon-AVR-S700W-7-2-Channel-Receiver-Bluetooth/dp/B00JRTMOGS

7.2 is not an option. I don't have the extra speakers (two more plus another sub) nor the room for extra speakers. Unless a 7.2 will let me use it in 5.1 mode without loss of sound, it's not something I'm considering at this point. Thanks for the suggestion anyway.

 

[Ron1973]

Also check out ac4l.com. They also sell refurbs but they come with a factory warranty. Many come with free shipping but they might deduct the shipping cost both ways from any amount refunded if you need to return it


http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/category/avreceiver/home-audio/receivers-amps/home-theater-receivers/1.html?skip_redirect_suffix=&view_id=5df15b2326905e398e64c81e4b344386779e37f8&mode=&search_query=&category=&thumb_sort=store_price.asc


. Another option is BestBuy/Magnolia. They can have some excellent buys on open box and customer returns. Ask a dept manager what they might have available.


Used is your best value in that price range but it's also a gamble many aren't willing to take.

I found an Onkyo that will fit the bill and in the price range I want. I have it bookmarked so I can purchase it next weekend hopefully!

 

[schan1269]

All AVR(including Onkyo's 11 channel 3030) could be used 2.0. They come out of the box 2.0.

Why are you not using the HDMI for audio and video?(cause running your sources through your TV nets 2.0, except in some Sony. But...you'll NEVER get lossless that way)

And, if you got an AVR with HDMI upconversion(analog video inputs given to the HDMI for output to the TV) your system would be immeasurably easier to use.

And yes, there are numerous 7.1(2)* AVR on A4L with HDMI upconversion...under $300.

*very few 5.1(2) AVR have HDMI upconversion. So you aren't buying 7.1 and "wasting it"...you are getting a useful feature...with something else along for the ride.

 

[Ron1973]

All AVR(including Onkyo's 11 channel 3030) could be used 2.0. They come out of the box 2.0.

Why are you not using the HDMI for audio and video?(cause running your sources through your TV nets 2.0, except in some Sony. But...you'll NEVER get lossless that way)

And, if you got an AVR with HDMI upconversion(analog video inputs given to the HDMI for output to the TV) your system would be immeasurably easier to use.

And yes, there are numerous 7.1(2)* AVR on A4L with HDMI upconversion...under $300.

*very few 5.1(2) AVR have HDMI upconversion. So you aren't buying 7.1 and "wasting it"...you are getting a useful feature...with something else along for the ride.

Sigh....I think you were the one who got snippy with me a couple of years ago when I chose to use an optical cable from the TV. Look, I'm content with the setup I have now; the only reason I am getting another 5.1 is mine is going crazy. It is much more convenient to run all of the video to the TV, bypassing the receiver and use the optical to the receiver for the audio. I don't care if it isn't true 5.1 (you're the only one I've ever saw make the claim it isn't) that way or not; I'm getting 5 distinct channels that are not some sort of fake stereo (it has a multi option that gives fake stereo for mono sources; I don't use that).


I just got done saying I did not want to invest in extra speakers which I would have to do with a 7.2 system. I am trying to put myself through college while raising 3 teenagers; I'm going to splurge on a new receiver but that is all. I don't want 2.0 and I said nothing about 2.0. I'm running two Sony Pro Studio speakers for the front, two Marantz speakers for the back, a small Sony Pro Studio for the center and a Yamaha powered sub. I want 5.1, not 2.0, not 7.2. If I ever expand the living room (where I have everything located) I might consider a 7.2 or 9.2, but until then, 5.1 is what I'm wanting to do.

 

[schan1269]

I said 2.0 because you have to perform SPEAKER SETUP.

Every AVR that is 5/7/9/11.1(2) can be set up...

2.0
2.1
3.0*
3.1*
4.0
4.1
5.0
5.1

Not sure what "years ago" this is, but if back when you bought that Sony(if you bought it current to being new)...it wasn't me. I wasn't
Posting 5 years ago.

Point being, HDMI upconversion makes this 1/3 the cabling situation you have now. And it means you only have to switch inputs on the AVR. Not the AVR and TV.

But...you don't want "two idle channels not being used in setup". Your choice.

You could even get Bluetooth and networking(further removing cables) if you could fathom "two idle channels not being used in setup".

*some AVR don't allow center channel before surround.

 

[schan1269]

If I were you, considering how much simpler it would make everything...

I'd hop on the Denon 1913 at $230...including shipping.

Slight change to the recommendation...forgot you needed analog out.

Onkyo HTRC360 ($240) has Zone 2 out, which means, you can play/record your analog audio at the same time you are using the AVR for another purpose. But, you lose a bit of networking.

However, at $260(including shipping, which probably makes it less than the 360...cause with Onkyo...you pay shipping) you have the Denon 2113. Everything analog wise you need...with the networking of the 1913...

 

[schan1269]

Last, at $300(shipping included) you have the Yamaha RXA730. Has two variations of analog output...

Monitor(the way you do it now)
Zone 2(so you can do two things at the same time)

 

[Al.Anderson]

Receivers that are 7.1, 9.1, or whatever call all be set to run in 5.1. (In fact, you don't really have to "set" them anymore; they do it themselves during auto-calibration.)


Also, you really, really should run everything through the receiver first, then to the TV. You'll get better sound - trust us. I know you're satisfied, but give it an extra 20 minutes and everything will be set up and sound better.


Sam's not so much "snippy", as "tersely blunt".

 

[schan1269]

Sam's not so much "snippy", as "tersely blunt".

Good way to put it.

15 years of wholesale sales of consumer electronics(and having to correct Worst Buy stupidity...) along with 10 years of distribution(pharmaceuticals for 6 years, now filtration) mean...

I only want to say things...

Once. (you don't last very long in distribution having to be told something a 2nd time)

Where I work now...we all had a Friday pre-shift* "pep talk". Upper management(in another state...the "parents") are not happy with 1 of the 4 departments performance.

Employees were told, "we will start 'performance improvement plans'( in other words...preludes to..."you are fired").

Temps were told, "we'll just not ask you back, and we'll start a revolving door"(exactly how it was said).

I don't work in that department...

*3 shifts. Upper management was present to give that department the same "pep talk"...on all 3 shifts...

 

[gene c]

^^^


All the sudden I'm glad I deliver coffee products to business' breakrooms. Don't make a whole lot of money but our upper mgnt hasn't been to our office in several years...and even then it wasn't to talk to us. And they're only 20 minutes away.


BTW, sometimes Sam says the things I wish I could say. Sometimes . But not this time.

 

[schan1269]

^^^

All the sudden I'm glad I deliver coffee products to business' breakrooms. Don't make a whole lot of money but our upper mgnt hasn't been to our office in several years...and even then it wasn't to talk to us. And they're only 20 minutes away.

BTW, sometimes Sam says the things I wish I could say. Sometimes . But not this time.

You don't distribute Douwe Egberts do you?

Not that you'd deliver to us. Our coffee service blows. Uses the carton liquid mix. Always running out. Our machines do coffee, "shot", latte and cappuccino.

Our Gatorade service isn't any better. That is on fountain. We have "just keep it filled and bill us" plans...

Our skid supplier. We have a daily order of a 53' trailer of 40x48 skids. Those are my responsibility. Our plant manager shuts her door if that trailer isn't dock locked before I punch in at 2:00. It is supposed to arrive 12:00...every day. (she actually checks herself before I get there...cause she knows the oncoming assult at 2:00...)

 

[gene c]

"You don't distribute Douwe Egberts do you?"


I have one customer who used DE French Roast in 3oz packets. But DE, at least this part of it, was sold to Sara Lee and it's now called Java Coast. Most of our customers use Starbucks and Peets but Philz is gaining ground. The Kurig K-Cups are also real popular. A few use our house brand (yuk).

 

[Salacious Ackbar]

7.2 is not an option. I don't have the extra speakers (two more plus another sub) nor the room for extra speakers. Unless a 7.2 will let me use it in 5.1 mode without loss of sound, it's not something I'm considering at this point. Thanks for the suggestion anyway.

Just because a receiver is capable of 7.2, doesn't mean you have to use that many channels. It just gives you the option to grow in the future.

 

[Ron1973]

Good way to put it.

15 years of wholesale sales of consumer electronics(and having to correct Worst Buy stupidity...) along with 10 years of distribution(pharmaceuticals for 6 years, now filtration) mean...

I only want to say things...

Once. (you don't last very long in distribution having to be told something a 2nd time)

Where I work now...we all had a Friday pre-shift* "pep talk". Upper management(in another state...the "parents") are not happy with 1 of the 4 departments performance.

Employees were told, "we will start 'performance improvement plans'( in other words...preludes to..."you are fired").

Temps were told, "we'll just not ask you back, and we'll start a revolving door"(exactly how it was said).

I don't work in that department...

*3 shifts. Upper management was present to give that department the same "pep talk"...on all 3 shifts...

I can understand that. I was the nerdy teenager who went in to Radio Shack and befuddled the help because I knew what I wanted and did not need their help.

So if I invest in something besides 5.1, it will allow me to choose 5.1 without the loss of sound? As long as that is the case, that changes the equation.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

So if I invest in something besides 5.1, it will allow me to choose 5.1 without the loss of sound? As long as that is the case, that changes the equation.

That's correct, yes. My receiver, for instance, can support up to 7.2, but I run it as 5.1. When I went through the setup menu the first time, it recognized that it only had 5 speakers and one subwoofer, and made whatever adjustments were necessary automatically.

 

[schan1269]

Actually...more often than not...the "next higher up" AVR will also pull more juice off the wall.

More juice off the wall...more headroom, especially if two channels are idle.

Also, none of the AVR are really "whatever it says" x 5/7/9 anyway.

Once all(in your case 5) channels are fired up, most