I want to buy a new receiver to replace my old Sony STR-D1011, which I bought in 1994. I have a Sony Trinitron KV-27V10, also purchased ages ago. I don't have enough $$$ to upgrade to a HDTV right now, but would like to have a receiver that is easy to use for FM radio reception and will be compatible with HDTV when I can afford one. I also have a Sony VCR SLV-685HF and Sony DVD player W0043783C which I will need to keep for awhile. I would like a receiver that includes a tuner for HD radio, or can have an HD radio tuner plugged into it. Given the equipment I currently have, what receiver would be the best bet for me? I have looked at the Onkyo 7.1 channel TXSR674S, but I am not sure if it will go with the other stuff I have, or allow for addition of an HD Radio tuner to work off it. I am not very knowledgeable about current electronics and would appreciate any advice offered.
1. There are no receivers with HD radio built in that I know of yet, but any good HT receiver will have auxillary inputs which will allow you to add an external HD tuner down the road as they become available.
2. Any good HT receiver will have no problem accepting a stereo signal from your current tv (I assume you have stereo outs on your current tv). Additionally, when you do get an HDTV at some point in the future, a good HT receiver will be able to accept a digital output from the HDTV to give you 5.1 sound.
3. DO NOT believe that all HT receivers sound alike--nothing could be further from the truth. Not only does each brand have a different sound, there are great differences in the capacity to be dynamic. The sad secret about HT receivers is that most brands lie about their power. The way this works is that by law, they only have to report the power when driving two channels at a time, so a lot of receiver makers put puny, undersized power supplies in their receivers that may be rated at 100 wpc, for instance, but when driving 5 channels at the same time, they only can muster 50wpc on a good day (Onkyo, for instance). For less than $1K, there are only five brands that put out real power that meet or exceed their power ratings: Harman/Kardon, Marantz, NAD, Outlaw, and Pioneer Elite (but not Pioneer). These are the only five brands I will recommend for under $1K. If you want to spend more, there are more choices.
4. You have not said what speakers you have, so recommending a specific brand receiver cannot be done. If you have bright sounding speakers, you would want a much warmer sounding receiver such as H/K or Pioneer Elite. Marantz and NAD are about in the middle--capable of working with a wide range of speakers, and the Outlaw (sold directly by the manufacturer) has a cooler and cleaner sounding signal best fit for overly warm sounding speakers. Also, the amount of power needed will depend upon the size of your room and the efficiency of your speakers.
5. Do not be fooled by power ratings. Most of the mass market brands are made to an unrealistic standard of 100 wpc, but a 65wpc Outlaw or even a 50 wpc NAD or H/K will have more power than a mass market 100 wpc receiver. This gets back to the power supply problem alluded to above.
6. Ultimately, for anyone here to make a recommendation to you, we at least need to know what your budget is for a new receiver.