Reciever Under $400.00 (1 Viewer)

[dennyKyser]

I am a newbie hoping for some good advice.

I am replacing my Pioneer 100w per channel reciever I purchased for $299.00 back in 1999 and want to upgrade but not quite ready for what most of you guys have.

I am thinking about the Sony STR-DE898 What do you guys think?

 

[Dick Knisely]

Personally, I don't like Sony audio gear at all. Video, yes. Audio, no. And I'm very sure there will others with the exact opposite opinion. With a budget of $400 what would I look at? I like Denon, Onkyo and Yamaha for audio gear. Each brand has at least one excellent AVR in that range. For example, there's the Denon AVR 1706 at $449 MSRP both both of the others have something comparable. Consider the number and type of connections offered by each and the quality/style of the remote. Download spec sheets and even the user manuals from the web sites so you can look them over at home then go look and play with them in the store.

Personally, a key step for me when I audition receivers means taking my own CD and headphones with me. Its the only way to hear something reasonably constant across the boxes but of course that tells little or nothing about performance in a multichannel mode. But its still better than no comparisons at all.

 

[Daniele]

I've purchased a Yamaha rx-v457, you can find it for something around 300$. It sounds powerful and clean and it has a lot of features, like dts es 6.1 discrete. Take a look at it too!

 

[Tom DeWitt]

I have a Sony STR-DE995 now, that I'm upgrading, In this past week I have tried both the Yamaha HTR-5860 & Pioneer VSX-815.

I can tell you that the Sony is a better peice that both of them, It flat out sounded beter than the Yamaha, I know the STR-DE995 is a step up from the 898 I thing it's only a few more didgital inputs and 110 Watts X 7 over the 100 X 7 for the xx898 and I don't know if the 898 has a learning remote.

I only tried the Yamaha to see what other companies have to offer in the under $500 range. I am personaly going to step up do a nicer Denon.

One thing the Sony 898 has over the Pioneer 815 is the multi CH input. The pioneer forces you to run the FR & FR into the DVD/DVR inputs and the other 4 (LFE, CNT, SL, SR) into 4 RCA jacks on the other end of ther reciver. While the sony has a dedicated 8.1 CH direct input that you can asign to any video source you want, or leave it as an audio only 5.1/6.1/7.1 source for SACD or somthing.

The Sony STR-DE898 is $300
100 watts X 7 @ 8ohms / 0.09% THD

The Pioneer VSX-815 is $269
100 watts x 7 @ 8ohms / 0.20% THD :frowning:

 

[Daniele]

Yamaha rx-v457
6 x 85W (RMS) 130W (DIN) @ 8ohm / 0.06% THD

 

[Jack Fanning]

Sound and Vision reviewed this $300 Onkyo in the January '06 edition.

http://www.soundandvisionmag.com/art...&page_number=1

 

[dennyKyser]

I just got a 52" Hitachi TV and this has the HDMI, Component, S video inputs on it so the inputs were not that big of a factor for me. I went with the Sony 898 after looking at all the specs on so many and the price of this one with a 3yr replacement warranty was under $300.00 The next closest one I could find besides the 995 was like $200.00 more.

I am not a pro at home theater but have to say this thing sounds awsome. I may upgrade again later if I feel the need. I am just not really getting into home theater sound.

 

[DorianBryant]

I would take the Onkyo over any $300 Yammy any day. As the test report showed, and my own auditioning revealed-the 503 puts out a true 70 watts with ALL channels driven.