Best Receiver to pair with Energy speakers (1 Viewer)

[Jeff16]

Hello,

I'm looking for some advice as to the best A/V receiver to pair with the Energy C-300 5.1 surround system I just bought. My FL and FR are up to 125 watts, center is up to 100 watts, and rear surrounds are up to 100 watts. The sub is 8" with 200 watts. My room is approx 15'x13'. I want the receiver to be able to decode Dolby TrueHD and DTS Master HD so I've been leaning towards an Onkyo. I'd like to keep the receiver under $500. My questions are:

1) Is the Onkyo receiver (606) a good fit for this system? Or, any suggested alternatives that are better?

2) I've read that the 606 can heat up pretty good. I will be storing on a shelf in a wood tv stand. Is this okay?

3) If anyone is familiar with these speakers, any suggestions on what wiring I should buy would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Jeff

 

[gene c]

For under $500 your choices seem to be the 606, the Yamaha 663 a couple of Sony's and used to be the Pioneer 1018 but I can't seem to find it listed anywhere?? Maybe they pulled it from the market for some reason.

Anyway, I have a pair of Energy C-50's and since most receivers now come with some form of room correction EQ the type of sound a receiver puts out isn't as much of an issue as it used to be. I'd say choose between the 606 and 663 based on features and price. The 606 is usually the one that's recommended the most around here.

 

[Ed Moxley]

What gene said...............

The receiver being on a shelf should be ok, as long as it can get some air moving around it. In Nov. I bought the Onkyo 805. I set it up on top of the entertainment center, instead of on the shelf that past receivers used, and it hasn't got hot yet.

For speakers, I'd worry more about ohms, instead of watts. Speakers are usually rated for watts, starting with a minimum, going to the maximum (ex: 20-200 watts). So, for the example, anything from 20 watts up to 200 watts would be fine. They are usually a little conservative too, to be safe.

4 ohm speakers, driven by an 8 ohm receiver, can be problematic and make the receiver run hot and shut down. My 805 has an option, in the initial setup, to set it up to use 4 ohm speakers (which mine are). I don't know if the 606 has the same option. I'm guessing that at it's price point, it doesn't. Are the Energy speakers 8 ohm?
Good luck!

 

[Jeff16]

Hi,

Thanks for the replys. The Energy brochure says the Impedance (not sure what that means) is 8 ohms nominal, and the minimal impedance is 4 ohms. So I'm guessing that this means the speakers are 8 ohms? If so, then it shouldn't be a problem with the Onkyo 606 correct?

Thank you!

Jeff

 

[Ed Moxley]

Correct..........
Good luck!

 

[Jeff16]

I see that the Pioneer 1018 is on sale at BB and can also be had on Amazon. As much as the 606 sounds like the best "bang for the buck" I'm concerned about the heat in the enclosed (but open faced) shelf and the lip synching issue I hear about with upconverting. Does anyone have an opinion on the Pioneer 1018? Is this a good or better receiver than the 606 and do you know if this would work well with my 5.1 set-up?

Thanks in advance for any replies!

 

[Larry Hoffman]

Hi Jeff,
Have you purchased anything yet? I own the 1018 and am very happy with it. I can't say if it's better than the 606, but it is certaily a very good alternative. It has good power and runs very cool and isn't plagued with any major problems. If it has enough HDMI ports (it has 3 instead of 4), I can heartily recommend it.
If you want more info about the 1018, go to AVS Forum and read the 1018 thread there.

 

[Jeff16]

Thanks Larry. I have read up on the Pioneer 1018 and am decided upon buying it. Just wish it would come down some in price. I saw it was in the $400's about a month ago. Does anyone know of any stores that have this in stock? BB is showing it out of stock.

 

[Nomad]

Check E Bay on the Yamaha 663.
Best Buy is listing it for $499.00.
I got mine factory sealed w/ warranty for $289.00
The box had a tear in it but the product was 100% free from defect.
Im also very happy with the purchase.
My B&W's went from good to wow I had no idea they could sound like this.