Home Theater Receiver Recommendation Please (1 Viewer)

[Rich*s]

I am building up to a home theater in my family room (about 20 x 25). I presently have a Sony 60" LCD WEGA ( a few years old, but works great) working through a free (!) cheap Yamaha 5.1 system that I plan to dump. I just got a PS3 for Blu-Ray (really awsome picture). Now I need to work on sound.

I say "building up to" because my budget does not currently have room for new speakers. I'll probably use a mix of stuff I already have until I can upgrade. Meanwhile, I hope to enjoy the benefits of HDMI switching, iPod connectivity (if I go Pioneer) and a few other features. (Yes, I am aware that speakers are everything. I'm just doing this a piece at at time.)

I'm considering the following:

Onkyo RX-SR706 ($600 at Amazon today)
Either the Pioneer Elite VSX-21TXH or 23TXH ($500/$550 respectively)
Pioneer VSX-1019AH-K ($500 at Amazon)

Background: I have a old (2yrs!) Denon 1707, a Pioneer 50 in plasma and a Paradigm Cinema 110 7.1 system in our 15x20 bedroom and love it. Denon seems to pale a little next to my choices above, however.

1. What would you choose and why?

2. Can't say I see much reason to pick the Elite 23 over the Elite 21. Is there (other than maybe an extra input or two)?

3. The non-Elite seems to get better ratings than the (supposedly superior) Elite models--Why?

Rich

 

[Robert_J]

Have you checked the Receivers and Amp section of the forum? There's more receiver talk there.

 

[Rich*s]

Oops. Sorry. I'll take the question over there. Thanks for the heads up.