Good Reciever Under 500?? (1 Viewer)

[Nick.S]

Building a new HT system. My main speakers are either going to be Klipsch RF-25 or some JBL E60. I really dont want to spend more then 500 on the reciever but I am pretty flexible. I need good component bandwidth for HDTV. I dont think I need pre amp outputs, but who knows. This will mostly be used for movies, but also for music: hip-hop rock and jazz.

Thanks
Nick.S

 

[Chun Lam]

Onecall.com currently has the Onkyo 601 for $399. That's a fairly well regarded receiver.

 

[Dah-Dee]

....and eCost has the refurb 601 for $314.95 with free shipping:

Refurb Onkyo 601 $314.95 at eCost

You could also consider:

Yamaha 5590 ($439.99 at Etronics)
Harman Kardon refurb 525 ($469.99 at Refurb Electronics)
Denon 2803 ($512.55 at Hypaudio)
Harman Kardon DPR1001 ($477.09 at OneCall)

 

[Nick.S]

Hmm the Onkyo seems a little weak for what I want. I could use some more inputs. And it only has one digital coaxial input. I could prob go as much as 600 but would like to keep it at 500. keep them coming

Thanks
Nick.S

 

[Dah-Dee]

See this thread, too:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...hreadid=189176

 

[Aaron Ssikind]

I'll throw in a plug for the Harmon Kardon receivers as well. I bought the 325 a little over a year ago and I love it: amazing sound (at least to my ears), plenty of power and it seems to have enough inputs to meet your needs: 3 coaxial digital and 3 optical digital inputs (plus 1 output of each type) plus 2 HD-capable component video inputs/1 output.

Harmon Kardon's online store has refurbished 325's for $428 (Costco.com has new ones for $450) and I you should be able to find some of HK's newer models, such as the 230 or 330 for under $500 (plus HK's online store has the 525 refurbished for $598).

 

[Nick.S]

So far looking around the Harmon Kardon 525 looks to be the best for me. I am having a hard time findig detailed specs on it though. (component video bandwidth) Also does it have video conversion from composite to svideo and back? Are there any recievers that will do video conversion from composit to svideo to component so i could just use the component outputs and not have to change input on tv?

Thanks
Nick.S

 

[kevin tate]

the H/K does not have video conversation.

 

[Aaron Ssikind]

The component video bandwidth for the 525 is listed as 10Hz-50MHz, which (if accurate) is sufficient for HD video.

The 525 does not do video conversion internally. I know that there are some receivers that do this (though composite to s-video or vice versa is more common than composite or s-video to component), but I don't know which ones these are and I think that to get a receiver that performs component conversion would probably cost more than you're budgeting.

Edit: Among the models in your price range, the Onkyo 601 and 701 and the Denon 1804 do composite to S-video conversion. To get composite or s-video to component conversion would require a step up to something like the Denon 3803. (you could also get a composite video to s-video adapter for your composite sources)

However, remote controls aren't that expensive and you could program one to change the video source on the TV when you changed the audio source (VCR, DVD, cable/satelllite, etc.) on the receiver; this would probably be more cost effective than buying a higher-end receiver to do video conversion (e.g. I have the AVR 325 and the One For All URC-8811 remote and I set up two buttons for each A/V source to select the source on the receiver and on the TV; the remote costs about $20).

To check out the owners manual, specifications, etc. go to HK's website (just stick a www in front of HarmonKardon and add in .com on the end), select 'product support' then 'product specifications', then choose 'heritage products' and select the AVR-525 from the list.