Receiver Advice (1 Viewer)

[Chris KAudio]

Hello, I could use some advice on what reciever to use.

I will be getting the Athena F2's as my fronts, the Athena center channel and 2 old bose speakers as my surrounds. My components will be a satellite receiver, dvd, vhs, xbox, cd player.

I have been told that the HK 230 is a good one for me, what do you think? I have only been able to find that for about $375.

All your help is appreciated.

 

[Angelo.M]

Chris:

If the h/k 230 has all the connectivity you need then it should be more than adequate to power your speakers. I think what you need to do is define a list of features you need (e.g., the # of analog and digital inputs, etc.) and then determine your budget. Otherwise, it will be difficult for folks to make suggestions.

 

[Chris KAudio]

XBox - Component
DVD - Component or S-Video
VHS - Analog
CD Play - Analog (I think)
Satellite (Not sure, havent gotten yet)

so if I understand stand receivers right, all of these will be plugged into the back of the receiver and then the receiver will have a component/s-video/analog cable going to the backof the tv?

 

[Angelo.M]

As far as your video sources, you are correct. If the receiver has the appropriate number and type of video inputs, then you ought to be able to plug your game console, DVD player, VCR and satellite video outputs into your receiver and then send a single video output from the receiver to your TV. The receiver will handle the video switching.

Your CD player doesn't factor into this because it's an audio source. Depending on the type of CD player you have, you will either connect its analog output or its digital output to the appropriate input on your receiver. If you use the analog output, then the CD player will handle the digital-to-analog conversion; if you use the digital output, then the receiver does the conversion.

The back panel of the h/k 230 appears to have 4 composite video inputs, 4 S-video inputs, and 2 component video inputs. The front panel has another composite and another S-video input. You should be covered. There are also pre-outs for all amplified channels (a nice feature).

 

[Chris KAudio]

Can you explain "pre-outs for all amplified channels "
Also, is it worth it to get digital audio cables instead of just plain old analog?

 

[SethH]

Pre-outs are for separate amplifiers if you ever decide to upgrade. You likely will not use them, but you may so it's nice to have if you do. Go ahead and get digital audio cables. You have to have them for any surround sources (DVD and XBox). For CD you will be fine with analog if you want to save money.

 

[Chris KAudio]

ok sounds good. I appreciate your advice.

 

[Blaine_M]

One thing you should be aware of is that generally on the cheaper models the component video inputs are not assignable. In other words lets say you have 2 inputs for component. One is labeled DSS, the other DVD. Well, in my scenario I'd like to hook up the Xbox to the component vid labeled DSS and the DVD to the one for DVD. Problem is if I do that then what do I do with the dish? I can hook up the dish to another input, but then when I hit DSS on the remote, it switches to DSS, but now my DSS is not on the DSS input, if that makes any sense. I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you are planning on using the component video inputs for devices other than the way they are labeled, you will want a stereo where you can assign the component inputs to a device, if that is even an option. I know for Marantz you have to go to the SR-7400, which is around $1000. So the best thing to do might be to buy a component audio video switch if you would like to use the component inputs for something other than the label. My solution was to hook the xbox up via s-video on my TV input since I don't have the TV out's running to the stereo anyway, I use the VCR when I want audio out of a TV broadcast.