Need advice on entry-level receiver (1 Viewer)

[Matt Fisher]

For the past year or so I've been using a Kenwood VR-505 receiver which has done the trick, however I recently upgraded to a DVD player with DVD-Audio and unfortunately the receiver doesn't have the RCA 5.1 inputs. I'm not looking to spend too much money, but I don't want anything that's gonna take out the whole idea of upgrading to DVD-A. I'm a college student and thus budget is limited, I don't need anything over-powering, I won't be in a room bigger than 15' x 15' for at least a few more years, I checked out Sony's lower end models, but everyone seems to have bad things to say. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Kevin Alexander]

Kenwood makes a nice digital amped receiver (similar to the Panasonics) if you wanted to stay Kenwood. The model is the VRS-7100. Target carries it if you want to give it a try. It won't disappoint.

 

[Matt Fisher]

Looks pretty solid, and I've liked the quality of my Kenwood thus far, $350-400 is a bit out of my range at the moment though, does Kenwood have anything else with hi-res audio support but lower down the line?

 

[ChuckSolo]

If you are really on a budget, Sherwood has a 5.1 receiver with inputs for 5.1 analog audio. I have one in my bedroom and I got it for less than $130.00 at Fry's Electronics.

 

[Kevin Alexander]

I second the Sherwood. Very nice on the cheap. We have a new Fry's here in ATL too.

 

[Muhammed]

Check out the entry level Onkyos, they may also fit your budget. The digital Kenwoods are nice, especially with digital inputs, but I don't think they have 5.1 inputs for DVD-Audio either.

 

[eddieZEN]

Check out the Onkyo receivers at ecost.com the cheapest 6.1 one is a refurb TX-SR501 for $160.

 

[Matt Fisher]

any input on the Pioneer VSX-D514?

 

[ChristopherDAC]

That Sherwood RD-6108 really is a very decent item for the money. There's certainly nothing special about it, but it does a decent job; it also has an F connector for the FM tuner and an actual Power switch as well as a standby mode.

 

[Matt Fisher]

am I going to be losing some quality going from Kenwood to Sherwood? and does anyone have any experience with the Pioneer Pioneer VSX-D514?

 

[eddieZEN]

Matt,

a friend of mine has the Pioneer 514, he got it for around $150 from Best Buy and I think they're not bad for the money.

My only beef with Pioneer is that their instruction manuals are usually very badly written and the interface is not very user friendly or intuitive at all so give yourself a good couple of weeks to figure out everything.

 

[ChuckSolo]

Not really, the Sherwood is an excellent receiver for the money. Plus, the ability to use the 6 channel direct for SACD and DVD-A is a plus. Believe it or not, I have actually seen the RD6108 (now the RD6105) for under 100 bucks at Fry's Electronics! Not bad for a 500 watt receiver/amplifier. I have had mine now for over a year and it has not failed me yet. It has 2 coxial digital inputs and 1 optical digital input. I have a DVD player, a DVD recorder and my cable box hooked to these digital inputs and the sound is excellent.

 

[Matt Fisher]

Interesting, I'm gonna check the Pioneer and Sherwood out and whatever looks to be the best deal I'll go with thanks for the advice everyone