Best HT Reciever for under $500.00 (1 Viewer)

[EdwinL]

So... what do you think the best reciever for under $500.00 is?

 

[John Garcia]

With what features? Music or movies or both? With what speakers? Room size?

This has been discussed to DEATH, browse a while through this forum for plenty of answers...

In that price range, I personally would listen to the Marantz SR5200 (5300 coming out this year?), Denon 1802 (1803 also on it's way?), Onkyo TX-SR600.

 

[Greg Haynes]

The Denon 2802 can be had around $500-550 at 6ave.com. I believe that this receiver would fit all your needs. I believe in your price range this would be a top receiver.

 

[Stephen Hopkins]

I have the Pioneer VSX-D811S and love it. It retails for $400 but can be had for less than $300 shipped through shopping.yahoo.com

If you want to spend all of that $500, you can find the Pioneer Elite VSX-41, which is a prettier version of the VSX-D811S (also adds RE-EQ, 10 more watts per channel, and a small lcd at the top of the remote), for around $450 shipped, also through shopping.yahoo.com

The prior suggestions were also good ones, although i have heard of reliability issues from lower end Onkyo receivers, and bugs in initial releases of Denon stuff. I've never owned either brand, so these are just things I've HEARD.

I have also heard great things about Outlaw 1050, but it's lack of DPLII and Neo:6 would make me shy away from it if you plan on watching alot of TV or other 2-channel sources.

 

[Greg Haynes]

Stephen,

What bugs have you heard about Denon receivers? This is the first time I have ever of heard of this. Are you referring about their DVD players with the chroma bug problem? I would agree that they need to get this issue resolved.

But trust me, Denon gets it right with their receivers. I feel the 2802 would be a step up from the Pioneer 'D811S.

 

[EdwinL]

Mostly MUSIC, but should be able to handle movies as well.

I thought it was a rule of thumb never to buy the initial/first releases of anything. You gotta wait about 4-6 months afterward and find out all the bugs it has through forums like these.


Again, Mostly Music. I'm thinking about getting some Paradigm Monitor 9s/11s. Do you think these are good choices for my needs? I am one to appreciate an "exclusive" sound, with emphasis on Highs, and a little on lows, not so much on mids. More of a Jazz listener.

thanks

 

[ThomasL]

Edwin, there have been A LOT of discussions on budget receivers over the past 4 months. Do a search in this forum for "budget receiver" and you should get many hits. The recommendations already made pretty much cover the area. Perhaps the new Panasonics that have been released should also be mentioned - I don't recall the model numbers. Also, for mostly music listening, many seem to like the Marantz models. I came close to getting a SR5200 myself but eventually ended up with the Pioneer 811S that has been mentioned. The Denons 2802 and 3802 are definitely a step up from the rest mentioned but if you're like me and prefer to buy major electronic purchases locally, they're also a good step up in price ($400-500 -> $800 and $1000).

cheers,


--tom

 

[Scott*CB]

If you listen to the 811S/Elite 41 be sure to turn the midnight/loudness mode on. It sounds like crap without it but is sweet with it. I tried the 41 side by side with the 2802 and had a hard time telling the difference (they both sounded excellent) but the aesthetics and ergonomics combined with the lower price drove me to the Pioneer (the Denon is plain looking with an awful remote). The 811 looks nice too but not quite as cool as the Elite.

 

[DonJ]

H/K 320 495.00 soundpros.com

 

[DanielM]

panasonic sa-he200

 

[KyleGS]

I agree with the H/Ks then I would go with the Denon units in that price range

 

[Stephen Hopkins]

Like i said, i've only HEARD about Denon reliabliity problems on the earliest releases of their lower end receivers, like if you bought the 1802 the day it came out. I've heard of shorts and overloads, but they may have been some isolated cases. Just passing on what i'd heard, not as fact.

 

[Rich Malloy]

For music mostly, as is your preference, I'd go with Outlaw, HK or Denon. The Outlaw tends to be crossed-off many people's list because of no DPL-II, but I think it reproduces music slightly better than either the HK or Denon. For your purposes, I'd avoid the inexpensive Pioneers and Onkyos. Tinny, processy, weak sound quality IMO. I'd also be sure the receiver has 5.1 analog inputs for SACD/DVD-A, and also 5.1 outputs in case you want to upgrade your power with the addition of a multichannel amp (or just two channels for stereo music listening).

 

[EdwinL]

So wait a minute, the Denons are better than the Marantz?

 

[EdwinL]

With that, I'm looking to spend roughly $800.00 for speakers. Like I mentioned in another thread, I've been given the oppourtunity to purchase Paradigm Monitor 9/11s for $650.00. Could these speakers be the best for MUSIC and future front channels for this price?

Any suggestions are welcome.

 

[Rich Malloy]

Depends on your personal tastes, but Paradigm makes excellent speakers... "refined, analytical, etched accuracy". They're a bit forward for my tastes, and too revealing of poorly recorded sources for me. But it you tend to prefer contemporary, very well-engineered recordings, then the Paradigms will likely get the most out of them at that price range. Paradigm owners really love their speakers.

But, as always, audition first with your favorite music!

 

[EdwinL]

So I'm looking to pair the Paradigm Monitor 9s and the Marantz SR5200 for roughly... $1200.00. Is that too much?

 

[John Garcia]

So wait a minute, the Denons are better than the Marantz?

EVERYTHING you read here is a matter of opinion. For mostly music, the only two I would listen to are Marantz and H/K. Denon's sound cannot match these two, in this price range, IMO.

As for the Pioneer, I would only consider the Elite model. "Only" 10wpc difference may be very misleading, just as the difference between Sony's ES line and DE line is quite significant, while advertised power is nearly the same for most of their models...

Ex: 3ES rated at 100wpc, while basically every receiver above the DE685 are rated at 100wpc (sound suspicious?), which do you think actually meets it's spec? Their caveat seems to be that the ES line is "full bandwidth rated" power...

H/K, Marantz, Denon and Onkyo all have had quality issues at one point or another in the last year, yet I don't feel any of them deserve a reputation of "poor" quality.

5200 is pushing the limit of being able to deliver enough current for the M9s, IMO. It will work, but turning them up could drive them to distortion. I have a 6200 with Monitor 5s and it sounds very good.

 

[John Pine]

For music definitely go with either a budget Denon, H/K or a Yamaha. You really couldn't go wrong with any of these. Try and audition the Yammi and Denon side-by-side if possible.

 

[Chris Brown]

John Garcia, I've found that the Pioneer sound better at lower volumes, or with music when having the "loudness" mode on. It really enhances the sound and having driven mine quite loud, I can tell you it doesn't seem to be cutting back on the power at all. quite the opposite.

About the D811S vs. Elite 41. I'm not sure if you are familiar with these individual receivers? In general it is safe to say that anything from Pioneer's elite line will totally blow away stuff from their standard line. Pioneer, however, has a habit of blending the top of their standard line with the bottom of their Elite line. This is where the D811S/Elite-41 come into play. They are not just similar, they are basically the same! They are made in the same factory and everything. The differences being that The elite-41 goes through an extra stage of quality control and has Re-Eq enabled. They rate it an extra 10wpc because of the quality control. It has the same exact amp that is in the D811S.

So for a few hundred more dollars, you get a "Quality controlled" D811S with a shiny face-plate and RE-EQ. Is it worth it? Maybe... but people should not be fooled into thinking that this is a totally different receiver than the D811S.