Reciever questions (1 Viewer)

[justin_troness]

I would like to know what is the best reciever out of these three,not necessarily for music more for home theater.

Pioneer vsx-710s,sony str-de575, or kenwood vr-505. I think

the pioneer one would be the best but i want your opinion.

I'm looking for a reciever with alot of dynamics for the buck. One that won't sound too compressed when playing dvd's. Thanks for all your help!

 

[Albert M]

Are they all in the same price range? What is your budget?

 

[justin_troness]

They are all around 300 dollars. That is my budget.Ive considered denon but where i live the cheapest one i can get is 500 dollars and that's the 1802.Otherwise i would have to drive pretty far to find something decent. Otherwise im trying to stick to a 300 dollar budget.

 

[Albert M]

Do you have a Circuit City ? If so you can get the Kenwood VR507 for $250 this week at CC. Some people here have seen the VR509 for only $300 at CC. Both have DD, DTS, DPL2 and SRS Circle Surround.

 

[Randy Prue]

I have owned and enjoyed the Pioneer 510 and the Kenwood 509.

The 510 was not powerful enough, but sounded good (in that price range). The Kenwood was more powerful, and also sounded good.

I compared everything in your price range, and the two you named are among the best I "heard". The sony sounded like a clock radio. All tested using a pair of JBL rear wall-mounts and whatever CD they had on at the time.

The IR/RF remote from Kenwood is nice, but tricky to learn and operate. Both had menus, features, and connections about similar to each other. They both connect to the basic stuff and have the popular processors in them.

There's my opinion.

 

[justin_troness]

well thanks for your help. If you really think the 507 will do the trick then i will drive 60 miles to the nearest circuit city. I have 550 dollars to spend, and i want to spend 150 of it on a new dvd player,like the toshiba 1700 for example. But if you think i can get the kenwood for a reasonable price then i will get it.Thanks again.

 

[Dan Joy]

I just purchased the toshiba sd2710 (mp3) for 159.00 from abtelectronic.com. Free shipping and no tax!

 

[Jason Wolters]

I have the Kenwood VR507, as well as the Toshiba 1700. I am VERY happy with both of them.

 

[Albert M]

Justin,
You may want to call Circuit City and make sure they have the VR507 in stock. They should be able to tell you when the sale ends(I think tomorrow is the last day). At least if you purchase it at CC you get the Kenwood warranty. Many internet sites are not on Kenwoods list, which means no warranty(this should help justify the drive) .

 

[justin_troness]

Also i'm wondering how much better is the 509 than the 507 other than the remote and some more inputs.Is the amplifier better?Because I might be willing to spend another 100 dollars to get the 509 if it is THAT much better then the 507. Plus I don't have a need for S-video switching cuz I only have one device that has S-video which would be the dvd player. I can always buy an One for all if i need a better remote. Also does prologic 2 work on digital inputs as far as 2 channel sound for dvd's because i ditched my vcr so thats kinda out of the question. Again thanks for your help!

 

[Albert M]

I don't think the amp is better. Yes to the DPL2 question. Don't forget to test SRS Circle Surround.

 

[justin_troness]

what about the sherwood rd-7103 that sherwood sells? Is that good for hometheater as well?

 

[justin_troness]

One last question, I've decided between the yamaha htr-5440 and the kenwood vr-507. What i want to know is which of the two is going to give me the best DD and DTS performance,that right now is all im looking for. They both cost exactly the same price and i've heard great things about both, but i've also seen hometheater magazine knock some lower end yamaha products and praise some lower end kenwood models. I really don't care about prologic 2 too much,because out of the 72 dvd's i have i only have 8 that would require it,plus my tv doesnt have an audio out and i sold my vcr and I dont have sattelite tv so I can't think of anything else I would need it for. So if you guys could tell me what one out of those two would be best it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[justin_troness]

can anyone help me with this question?

 

[justin_troness]

anyone?

 

[Vin]

Justin, I bought the VR-507 a few months ago to replace my Kenwood VR-309 that I had been using for about two years in my HT....I wanted DPL II but as it turns out I like 5.1 Circle Surround a lot more for 2 channel sources like satellite programming.

I recently decided to upgrade the DPL receiver in my living room.....without hesitation I bought another VR-507. For $300 or less, I don't think you could do better.

Vin

 

[ScottAndrew]

I have the older VR-407. DD and DTS are terrific.

 

[Ted Lee]

justin -

i don't mean to throw rocks in the blender, but have you considered onkyo?

to be honest, i'm not even sure if there are any models in your price range, but if so, i'd give them some thought.

yamaha and kenwood are also both fine receivers and i'd be happy with either. i'd probably give a slight edge to the yamaha, but it'd be by a very slim margin.

one thing i don't like about yamaha's is their tendency to have too many dsp modes. i've never encountered any i like.

about dpl2...that's really not for your dvd's. i'd consider it more of a 2-channel "enhancement"...most of what i've read/heard say that it has it's most "bang for the buck" when converting 2-channel stuff. all the dd/dts stuff is still decoded appropriately.

anyway, just my .02...

 

[justin_troness]

Actually i have thought about onkyo,and i would love to get a 494,but i've heard that for music they are really good and for hometheater they dont really have the dynamics. That is why i dont look at them, and these are reviews i've read about it off of ecoustics.com and also for one particular hometheater mag review where the sony 845 came on top as compared to the onkyo. They said it had the best quality out of the 4 recievers in terms of music but came in second to last in terms of hometheater. So if you can promise me that i won't be disappointed with it's performance in home theater, then i will drive 60 miles to the nearest circuit city and get it. Actually i bought a sherwood rvd-6090r about a year ago and decided to give it to my brother because it didn't have the punch that my sony does. In movies i had to crank the sub up to +10 to get 1/3 of the output from my other reciever.Well thanks for all your help everybody, i hope to make a decision soon.

 

[Sean Conklin]

Justin, I would definitely get the Kenwood 507 or 509 over the Onkyo 494. I also use a Kenwood 407 in my theater room and a 405 in my living room. I have had both for almost 2 years and am very happy with them.