Help me please (receiver advice)-

good starting list, but if you can find it check out the sherwood newcastle r-956 or r-863, they are 6.1 and 7.1 recievers respectively with 120x6 and 100x7 watts, neither have anything over 5.1 processing even though they have the amplifiers for the 6th and 7th channels, the r-956 goes for 1200msrp, and 1000 for the r-863, but check around the web and you can probably find them in your price range.

also look at the outlaw reciever, haven't heard one myself, but lots of people are very happy with them, and it only cost 600 i think, but only avail. from their website.

 

What bout if you take a look at pioneer 811S which has all the HT formats including DTS-ES discrete 6.1, it also allows to connect two back surround speakers, you can easily find it for $299 or less online, and spend rest of your money at some 3 channel amp for your fronts and center, I think this set up will sound better than many receivers in $600-$700 range.

 

Outlaw receivers have lowered their price to $499, which is a true bargain in the world of HT receivers. Part of this is because they are, in some ways, less feature packed - I don't think they have a phono out for instance - but mostly because they sell direct to the public and thus there is no middle man.

I own an Onkyo 696, which would be the one, I think, that falls into your price range. It has now evolved into the 700. You said you wanted lots of clean power and, in my opinion, the Onkyo fell short here. I like to play things occasionally at very loud levels and was not satisfied.

Although HK and Outlaw are rated lower as far as power output, I think I've heard that their power supply is actually more than that of the Onkyos mentioned. Furthermore, the sound level output is perhaps more greatly affected by the efficiency of your speakers.

 

Marantz SR6200 or 7200, Denon 2802, Harmon Kardon AVR520. I have not heard the Sherwoods, so I can't comment on them.
Note that it's 100w for th 811s rating is at .2% distortion 20-20K, while all the others are less than .1%. While this may not be an appropriate comparison, it does suggest to me that it is hedging it's bets to meet it's rated power. (I don't want to get into the S&V power rating or true output vs mfg ratings debates, but I don't think the 811 is in the same class as the others mentioned).
The Marantz, Denon and H/K will all provide more than enough power for those speakers.
Yes, the 35-31PCi has PLENTY of it's own power (and they're on sale )

 

does .1-.2% less thd really make that much of a difference when you get that low on the thd scale?

 

Human ear cannot hear THD less than 2%, so its no diference really.

 

with the outlaw at $500, i think your going to have a hard time finding a better deal, unless you can find the sherwood on ubid, where i've heard that people are getting them for as low as $475

 

[/quote]Human ear cannot hear THD less than 2%, so its no diference really. [/quote]

I'm not talking about it from a hearing standpoint. The point is they are using a higher THD to get their rated power, which indicates a less stout amp section to me.