Hi, im looking for a good receiver to match two Polk RTi6 bookshelf speakers and one PSW10 subwoofer. Price range is $600 and below. The world of speakers is much more broad and diffifult than the world of speakers, and I am totally lost as to which I should get. Thanks for you time.
If you want a stereo receiver with bass management control the Outlaw RR2150 is excellent and tough to beat. It can also stream MP3, Ipod, or computer music. If you want a surround AV receiver the Yamaha RX-V657 is excellent and can be found at $400. If you want an AV surround receiver with HDMI, the Panasonic SA-XR70S is available at $350.
To get significantly better performance and features than the Yamaha you would need to move up to the $700-$800 range for something like the Pioneer Elite VSX-72TXV. The PE VSX-72TXV has HDMI, XM hook-up, IPOD connection, good amp section, their excellent auto speaker calibration system (MCACC), and pretty much everything else except firewire(i-link--which can be had on their 74TXVi model).
Thanks a lot, that really helps. I plan to play all of my music from my ipod. What is the best way to connect an ipod to a receiver? Are there any receivers that have special ipod connections? Thanks.
The newly released 7.1 surround Yamaha RX-659 (MSRP $549) can be found for under $500 and if you add the Yamaha YDS-10 IPOD docking station (MSRP $99) you'll be set. With the YDS-10 connected to a Yamha compatible receiver you can listen to your iPod music and watch both IPOD images and movies on your monitor via the Yamaha Receiver. You can also operate your IPOD via the receivers remote control with the On-Screen display and charge your IPOD too.
There is a newly released 6.1 Yamaha RX-V559 that lists at $449. It is also able to use the YDS-10.
The 7.1 surround Pioneer Elite 72TXV is THX Select2, comes with an IPOD cable for doing the same as the YDS-10, has 2 HDMI inputs and 1 output, MCAAC advanced speaker calibration, bass management with phase control, and a solid amp section. One can find it online at around $800.