Reciever Questions (1 Viewer)

[JustinJB]

Okay, this is my second go through typing this up. The first time around it was broaching book length, so I decided to get to the meat of my query right away.

Instead of rambling on forever and talking in circles I'll make it real simple: I plan on getting the Samsung HL-S4666W 720P 46" DLP, the Micra 6 surround sound system, the entry-level Toshiba HD-DVD player, as well as HD cable via the Motorola 6200 box. I need a way to connect all this stuff together (ie: some reciever, amp, or whatever) so that A.) all componets are able to play (video) in their full glory without restrictions and B.) all components have access to the surround sound speakers.

I would be fine with component cables, but I've heard that there are restrictions being placed on HD-DVDs through the HDMI format or something like that (ie: hd-dvds will not play on anything but HDMI in the near future).

I suppose it goes back to my original question: my goal is to get the aforementioned TV, speakers, HD-DVD player, and cable box all linked together in such a way that all will work unhindered, or at least unhindered to the point where it won't be a major issue. HDMI, DVI, Component Cables, Digital Shoe-String, I really don't care at this point so long as it all works the way it was intended to....if you can't tell by now I've been racking my brain behind this monitor for some time, and finally broke down and turned to the forums.

For referance and approximate price range, I was looking at the Pioneer VSX-816-K/S.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[homthtr]

Pretty much what you are looking for is an Upconverting Reciever/Amp. You will be fine with component cables. Think of your amp as your "computer" and your TV as your computer Monitor. All components connect to the reciever.. weather they have video or not. That includes DVD, CD, Satellite, Cable box, Tape Players, all the sources that you have head directly to the UpConverting Amplifier. Then a Single Set of Component cables to the TV (Green, Red, Blue). It won't matter what is connected or how it's connected to the reciever... the Reciever will convert everything to component Video. So you Leave your TV on Whichever Component Video Input you Plug the Output( Monitor out) from the receiver. When you turn the amp to the desired source you will hear that source and the amp will send that video signal to the TV. That's it!... Doesn't matter how your source equipment is connected for the video, it can be composite (Yellow), component (Green,Blue,Red) or even S-video. The Reciever takes care of all the rest. Bring your audio to the receiver... how ever it needs to get there... Analog(Red and White), or Digital either coax or Optical. That will all depend on what your source equipment is. Use the Best available connection, Digital before analog.


That's it!...

Most recievers these days will upconvert. Check out Denon and Yamaha. We use these 80% of the time. You can get an entry level upconverting receiver for about $400-500... but I would suggest spending a little more... get into the $1000 Range.. You'll have plenty of inputs. and remember this will be the "Heart" of your sound system.. it doesn't pay to scrimp. You wouldn't buy a pentium 2 with windows 98 installed on it.. .so spend as much as you can afford.... you will be glad you did in the long run.

Take a look at Denon...
http://usa.denon.com/ProductDetails/AVReceivers.asp

 

[mfabien]

Seeing that you have or plan to have a Toshiba HD-A1, I would suggest a receiver with HDMI 1.1 inputs/output for the following reasons:

- The Upconverting feature of the HD DVD player requires the use of HDMI (standard DVD played with the Component connection will come out in 480p)

- If some HD DVD movies come out with the ICT flag, the resolution will be downrezed to 540p when using Component.

- If you wait and buy Toshiba's HD-A2, that G2 unit will not have 5.1 multichannel analog outputs and one will need to make use of HDMI for the new sound codecs.

- As for HD broadcasts, if ever producers start using the broadcast flag, the HDCP in your Motorola STB/DVR will downreze resolution to 480p for these shows/movies.

 

[homthtr]

Yes I agree.. and again look at denon starting with model 3806 and up. Then you start getting into even Analog to HDMI Conversion.

http://usa.denon.com/ProductDetails/623.asp

 

[JustinJB]

Okay, I do realize the merits of going with one of the higher end recievers. However, this home theater setup is not for me. Rather, I am providing recommendations and installing the system for my parents, as they just remodeled their basement and are looking to get a competent, but not "video/audiophile"-grade, system.

They are limiting the amount of money they want to spend. The budget for the reciever is rather limited, and there is no way I can justify spending $800 for a piece of technology they don't really see a need for. Basically, it originally started with just wanting an HDTV. Then I conviced them they will really appreciate a halfway decent set of speakers to compliment a decent HD TV, and a reciever to coordiante the two. After this, my father approached me about HD-DVD, so I'm incoorporating that into their system now.

Originally, I wanted to keep the total cost under 2.5K, which I've managed to do to this point. Now, with the reciever and a few other things, its slowly edging toward 3K. Now, don't get me wrong, my parents can foot the bill, but given their limited knowledge of technological affairs, they simply cannot see spending much more than that on a home theater system. Granted, I've reassured them that they will be blown away with what I can provide them, but even with this in mind they're still not willing to spend much more than 3K ("I could have gotten a Caddilac for that back in my day!").

Essentially, with the money I have to work with, I've steered them toward the Samsung 46" 720P DLP (forget the exact model number), the Athena Micra 6 5.1 system (inexpensive, but also delievers very acceptable sound quality), and the Toshiba HD-A1 HDDVD.

Now Im juggling recievers. After reading through comments and recommendations, it would appear an HDMI-compatible reciever is the way to go...if, for nothing else, due to the HD-DVD player.

Therefore, I've arrived at several options. There may be more choices out there, but these are the ones I've discovered in my spare time.

First, and perhaps the most likely candidate due to its excellent price, is the Pioneer VSX-1016TXV. It is HDMI compatible, but the low price seems too good to be true, perhaps? Again, I am not looking for future expandability or anything like that, I just need something that is of decent quality and will run the equipment I mentioned above. Ive been quoted prices hovering in the $350 area for this reciever, with retail being $500.

The denon reciever the poster above suggested is just a bit too far out of price range. The lowest price I've seen on one is about $750, which is at least $150 beyond what can realistically be spent.

The next two recievers that fell into the "do-able" range are two Yamahas, the HTR-5990 and the RX-V1600. Basically, I realize (or think I realize) that the RX-V1600 is the better of the two. In terms of new pricing, the best I could dig up on the RX-V1600 was $750, with the HTR-5990 being around $620 (both retail for over 1K). However, I managed to find a "refurbished" RX-V1600 at $430, which seems amazingly low to me. There were other refurbished ones listed of the same model for $600 and above, which would lead me to believe it was a misprint or there is some catch.

So this is my list of recievers, in the order of desirability:

1.) Refurbed Yamaha RX-V1600 @ $430, provided there is a return policy, warranty, and this is actually the RX-V1600 I have in mind (writing the company offering this unit to verify the above).

2.) New Pioneer VSX-1016TXV @ $350ish, provided it has the capabilities required to run all the aforementioned equipment without any jive. I know it has 2 HDMI ins and 1 HDMI out, but thats about the extent of my knowledge on this one.

3.) New Yamaha HTR-5990 @ $620ish...this is a last resort, assuming neither 1 or 2 fits the bill. Im really, really, really, not trying to have them spend over $500 for a reciever.

So, any opinions?

 

[mfabien]

Agree with the 1-2 and 3 selections as you have prioritized,

 

[Danklin26]

Justin why not buy that yamaha receiver on a site like e-bay. I got a $500 yamaha receiver for $350. Granted it does not have HDMI capabilities but i have no use for it at this time.

 

[JustinJB]

That yamaha reciever I was referring to was a 1300 dollar reciever posted at 430. The seller confirmed the fact that it was a misprint.

In the end, I ordered the Pioneer receiver highlighted above. It is the most inexpenisve Pioneer that implements HDMI, yet has a very nice feature set for the price. There were also a few JVC receivers in this price range (actually a little cheaper). I ended up going with the Pioneer for several reasons.