Any good "budget" receivers???
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Gold Member Username: SomedonniedudeIllinois Braaap MX Post Number: 2860 Registered: May-07 | Hello people of the ecoustics home audio! Most of you probably don't know me, as I typically stay in the car audio side of the forum. I don't know much about home audio, and know very very little about home audio equipment. I am looking to do a little upgrade on a tight budget. Are there any descent receivers out there for around $350-500 range that are carried at best buy? I know they carry Yamaha, klipsch, Panasonic, sony, insignia and maybe some others I cant think of off the top of my head? I am actually looking to spend about ~$250 but I work at best buy and get a discount which is why I am looking in the $350-500 range. I currently don't have any drivers that I am set on using at the moment, im a DIY type of guy so I would probably be constantly switching it up and trying new things including positioning, drivers, and building enclosures. The only bit of equipment I have used is a dayton 25w plate amp and a few various car audio woofers (favorites have been my TC sound drivers). Any hints or heads up of what I should be looking for? Do many people use external crossovers or do most receivers have some built in? I am sorta lost of where to begin looking and what I should be looking for. Hopefully you guys can give me a good head start  |
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Platinum Member Username: Jan_b_vigneDallas, TX Post Number: 14212 Registered: May-04 | Most home audio speakers use passive crossovers built into the enclosure. If you're on a tight budget, I would go to one of the salespeople in the audio area or in customer service and ask which receiver they consider to be the most reliable, which one do they see coming back the least. I promise you anything sounds better in your home than it does in the service department. |
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Gold Member Username: ChitownPost Number: 1435 Registered: Apr-05 | Onkyo has had some decent deals in that price range. Also if you go by some of the places that carry high end and buy back used equipment from people (like Saturday Audio Exchange in Chicago. I see you are from IL) you may pick up a real bargain on some of the HDMI less receivers that people are turning in to upgrade for their HT systems. |
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Gold Member Username: SomedonniedudeIllinois Braaap MX Post Number: 2862 Registered: May-07 | I will try both of those things. Any good (and by good I mean for the money) brands you could recommend? or any brands that I should completely avoid? Are sony and insignia recievers any good, because in the car audio world they are both terrible brands imo. But then again both brands do make excellent flat panel tv's. Is Klipsch all they are talked up to be? Do most receivers have an amplified output for a subwoofer? or is an external sub amp required? For example when I look at a 5.1 unit, it says 3 outputs for front stage and 2 outputs for rear. Is that 3rd channel in the front output for a woofer, or like a center channel? What is a center channel lol? Sorry I have so many questions, I just really don't know anything about home audio. |
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Gold Member Username: ChitownPost Number: 1436 Registered: Apr-05 | Don't be sorry. With over 2800 posts you have obviously helped others in the forum and deserve to get good help (not that I can offer any  ) Sony decided some years ago to become a multi-media company rather than an electronics manufacturer. The I buy from Sony these days are their studio movies. So IMO you can stay away from them. If you go to Saturday audio exchange most of what they carry used (or new) are great brands and the guys working there are really helpful. They do have trade-in Yamaha and panasonic receivers every so often and you can do well with them. Klipsch only has speakers AFAIK and they can be good depending on the model. There was a time when I would've sworned by them, but not anymore. Not all receivers will have an out for an active subwoofer, but at your prices you should be able to get one that does. If the receiver is a 5.1 that means it has outputs for 5 speakers (front left, Center and right and two back) plus the .1 which is an out for the subwoofer. You may see 7.1 or 7.2 as well which have extra side speaker outs as well as two subwoofer (7.2). The center channel is actually very useful in a good HT setup in that it can direct all the main dialogue through the center (which is usually situated beneath the TV or projection screen) and then use the other to pump out all the other surround stuff. Of course now you are getting into what type of sound processor the receiver has and whether it can decode uncompressed sound from a source like Blu Ray player (DTS, DTS-True HD, DTS-MA for master audio) and how the movie you are watching is encoded. But I tell you once you hear a movie through a good setup you can never go back. |
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Gold Member Username: SomedonniedudeIllinois Braaap MX Post Number: 2863 Registered: May-07 | Thanks much for the help. That clarified the channel output question I looked up Saturday Audio exchange and there aren't any close to me (I'm from the peoria area). They had a few used items like an NAD L70 but was only 45w x 5. and a JVC that was pretty old (I'm not against old product as I love old car audio amplifiers and such, but the ease of use/compliance with modern products just seems not there?). My current tv has inputs for all my extra's such as my dvd player, xbox and wii etc. It has a left and right audio rca preout which feeds whatever channel/source I am currently watching. Should I use that to send a signal to the receiver, or would I be better off assigning each unit to the receiver and then from there send the picture to the tv? or would this be just personal taste as far as convenience? |
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Gold Member Username: ChitownPost Number: 1439 Registered: Apr-05 | The 2nd option. You want to put the AVR in between all the devices and the TV so it can pass the video to the TV and then process the audio. It makes it easy to assign everything to its remote as well so you can just switch between the devices. You may want to look at this Onkyo Sr607 http://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-TX-SR607-7-2-Channel-Surround-Receiver/ Right now it's on sale for $403 out the door. It has all the input and outputs you need. It processes DTS-True HD and DTS-MA. The sound is decent for the price. If you were going strictly for better sound I would point you elsewhere, but it really sounds like you want an HT receiver. |
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Gold Member Username: ChitownPost Number: 1440 Registered: Apr-05 | This one is a little cheaper because it is 7.1 instead of 7.2. I don't see any other difference http://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-TX-SR606-Channel-Theater-Receiver/ |
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Gold Member Username: SomedonniedudeIllinois Braaap MX Post Number: 2864 Registered: May-07 | Well I do want good sound quality, I just don't have a bunch of money to spend. I want to build myself a semi sound quality setup (on a budget of course). I have a small room so i don't need a bunch of power, I just like to have head room for those days I want to jam out on music  . I probably should have stated this earlier. Would a 5.1 be better since I want some power vs channel output? Would a 7.1 be needed in a small room? |
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Gold Member Username: ChitownPost Number: 1441 Registered: Apr-05 | For that you'd have to look at the power output for all channels driven. It really doesn't matter if you get a 5.1 or a 7.1 where you only use a 5.1 speaker set. Since your room is small I'd say either of these units should do fine. As for real SQ, well it won't sound like a Krell, or Naim, but then again you're not paying that much. I recommended a friend to look at this unit. Their uses were very much like yours. A medium size living room with needs for multiple inputs from DVD to Xbox and iPod. He ended up getting this and a set of Hsu speakers and subwoofer. They are extremely satisfied with what they spent and what they are getting in terms of multi-media use out of their setup. |
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Platinum Member Username: NuckPost Number: 14031 Registered: Dec-04 | I would continue to run video sources directly to the tv and use audio out. This will likely result in a pcm stream only, leaving the receiver to convert or manipulate this signal. video switching in a receiver is a dirty affair, I find, and all tht jazz in a receiver is more stuff to go wrong and add cost. Keep it simple! Said receiver is built to fail in any case, so in 2 years you can shop for a more feature laden model, as another 2 yr rental. |
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Gold Member Username: ChitownPost Number: 1442 Registered: Apr-05 | How do you separate the audio from the video in an HDMI setup? |
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Platinum Member Username: NuckPost Number: 14038 Registered: Dec-04 | SDS said his sources are currently running to the screen, with audio out from there. That is what I followed. |
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Gold Member Username: ChitownPost Number: 1443 Registered: Apr-05 | Well he's obviously upgrading to an HT environment so that is not going to work. I know what you mean. I don't really care to have the video go through my AVR and I'm not doing it currently, but short of running HDMI directly to the TV and then using 7.1 channel output to your receiver there isn't much other choices for getting uncompressed sound. This however you can only do with one output device. |
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Gold Member Username: SomedonniedudeIllinois Braaap MX Post Number: 2868 Registered: May-07 | Here are some receivers I priced through work. What would you all recommend for the money? Yamaha rx-v365 $169 Yamaha rx-v465 $226 Yamaha rx-v565 $280 Denon avr590 $257 Denon avr1610 $231 Denon rda-397 $224 pioneer vsx-519v-k $151 pioneer vsx-819h-k $214 Onkyo tx-sr307 $194 Onkyo tx-sr507 $257 |
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Silver Member Username: MccambleyBREEZY POINT, NY USA Post Number: 725 Registered: Jun-05 | For my 0.02 I lke the Denon avr1610 $231. If you have a Magnolia store at your Best Buy check out Definite Technology speakers. |
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Gold Member Username: SomedonniedudeIllinois Braaap MX Post Number: 2869 Registered: May-07 | Whats the diff between the Denon avr1610 and avr590? |
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Gold Member Username: SomedonniedudeIllinois Braaap MX Post Number: 2870 Registered: May-07 | Well I found a refurbished Marantz Sr5002 for $300 that I might pull the trigger on. |
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Gold Member Username: SomedonniedudeIllinois Braaap MX Post Number: 2871 Registered: May-07 | I pulled the trigger on the Marantz Sr5002. Thanks guys for all your input! Hopefully you all hear back from me once I attempt some towers!  |
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