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VSX-D811S or SA-HE100K (plus 6.1 vs. 5.1 question) (1 Viewer)

JohnGoggan

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Joined
Aug 14, 2002
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I'm trying to decide on a lower-end receiver. I had actually set my budget at about $200, but can't find what I want in there -- especially after shipping is added on.

I currently have a Sony HT-DDW740 HTiB setup (5.1) that I got about a year ago (and have been fairly happy with). However, I've just bought a RPTV (the Hitachi 57UWX20B) and I'm upgrading some things to go along with it. One of those things is my DVD player -- I'm buying the Panasonic DVD-XP30. The Sony receiver that came with the HT-DDW740 setup has one optical and one coax input. I have a DishPVR with an optical output going into it -- as well as my old DVD player with a digital coax output. The XP30 is optical out -- plus I'd like to add an XBox to the mix. So, in the end, it looks like I'll have at least 3 devices with optical outputs (DishPVR, XBox, XP30). So, even though I'm not that unhappy with my Sony HTiB receiver quality-wise, I need to upgrade it just for connection reasons, at least.

That being said, I'm still fairly cheap. :) It looks like I can get the Panasonic SA-HE100K for about $250 shipped -- and it has 3 optical inputs. The Pioneer VSX-D811S is a bit more expensive (I've seen it at about $310 shipped on EBay as "new") -- and has 4 optical inputs (3 on the back and 1 on the front, I believe). But, is really blowing away my budget...

So -- any suggestions on where to go from here? Should I just break my budget by $50 and go with the SA-HE100K? Or should I splurge for the Pioneer? Or maybe something else?

Note that I don't have cash to upgrade speakers at this time. That means I'll be stuck with the Sony HTiB 5.1 setup.

Also, as a 6.1 newbie -- with the Pioneer -- is the 6th speaker required? Or can it be "told" that it is in a 5.1 setup until the time that I bought the rear center if I indeed went that route?

Thanks for your time and suggestions!

- John...
 

Chris Brown

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Aug 14, 2002
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Also, as a 6.1 newbie -- with the Pioneer -- is the 6th speaker required? Or can it be "told" that it is in a 5.1 setup until the time that I bought the rear center if I indeed went that route?
In the setup menu, you tell it how many speakers you have, and it will output sound to those speakers accordingly.
 

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