I'm a old school. So i only have an A/V, 5.1 dolby Receiver. I want to update my Receiver to be able keep up with my Bluray and HDTV. What are some brands to look for and to stay away from? Any good places to go for deals on one?
Crutchfield for the info. The innardwebz for purchasing. Honestly, unless you're a hardcore 'phile true 1080p and 6.1/7.1 are only available for a tiny selection of things. I'm still holding out to upgrade when my v1.0 Gateway plasma finally gives up the ghost...just won't die and it is going on 6 years of abuse. I've always preferred Yamaha for receivers. Like anything else electronic they continue to get cheaper/better than the $1k unit I purchased ~7 years ago (5.1). A 5.1 system with good speakers and sub will still do the trick for 99.9% of users. Put your $ into the video side.
Go visit Ultimate Electronics.... I just bought a home theater set-up that is pretty basic but the in store setup rocked... for a smaller setup
i just bought a onkyo SR606 receiver, and i love the thing. sounds so good, has full HDMI Switching (4ports + output), supports full HD audio (uncompressed 7.1 surround). and it has a mic for auto calibration. it does everything it self. they're about 350 new, i got mine for about 150 from ebay... it was a floor model. Sony receivers.... kinda... eh... Denon, onkyo, and some yamahas...
+1. I'm using an 800W Sony 5.1 receiver with two sets of older (aka decent quality) Sony speakers for the corners, the tiny center that came with it, and an 8" Sony unpowered sub. It's an entry-level system, but I can't see myself needing anything more than this unless I build an actual home theater setup. Oh, and never use those auto calibration mics. Do it yourself, it's more accurate.
You should have nabbed one last Friday, there were some nice sale prices at Best Buy. Theres nothing wrong with Sony receivers...
For speakers, consider building your own if you feel comfortable buying and pairing raw drivers. It's a little more mental work, but you have more control and influence towards the end result. Parts Express and Zaph Audio have some very good design plans to follow if you don't really know what you want.
I've had a JVC receiver for about 8 years now. Has optical inputs and discrete rear channeling. It's nice to have the left rear audio separate from the right rear. Not all the cheapies do that... even now.
look at yamaha or denon for recievers. I am very happy with my denon and it was only 300 or so. it does not have hdmi as it is 3 years old, but the component passes HD through it.
denons are wonderfull as well as onkyos', I run an older onkyo amp/pre amp and a newer harman kardon, i love both
Also, if you don't already have a PS3 get one for the duality as a Blu-Ray player...cheaper than most Blu-Ray only devices. Also, don't waste coin on "Monster" brand connectors. Find cheap off-brand bits from Radio Shack or commercial shops. Monster products are one of the highest margin items at an A/V shop right after extended warranties.
Ding! I'm with Shane, as well. I plan to pick up a SR706 this holiday season, if I can get home to do it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I used to be a die hard HK fan, but their quality has REALLY gone in the crapper. They still are the best sounding receiver in a reasonable price range, but something WILL break. I still have an old stereo receiver in the garage I bought in '91, but 3 receivers, a CD player, and a DVD player that all crapped out within 3 years of purchase. I managed to warranty exchange a broken DPR2005 for a 645 about 18mo ago and it still seems to function ok, though. Christian (stuck in Thailand)
that looks a lot like mine that we areputting in the new house.. well at least the back does.. TBH I havent even looked at the front.. just pulled it out of the box the other week to look at what I need to setup
I figure I should chime in on this one. First, you can't go wrong with Denon. When i was installing this crap I got to play with quite a few receivers. Denon and Onkyo were my favorites, but Denon beat the Onkyo in ease of setup and operation hands down. While the Onkyo's were a bit cheaper, the added hassle in setup and operation made that a wash IMO. If you can reasonably afford it, see if you can step up any of the Denon 230xci models. (x being the year. last years is the 2308, new one is the 2309, etc...). You gain a few very handy features. The best of which is the "auto setup calibration." If you don't want to spend a day or two with a tape measure and dB meter it is a godsend. IMO the self selected settings need to be tweaked a bit, they're very close to perfect and most people would never notice the difference. The 230xci models also offer DTS-HD MA decoding internally. That is the one codec that most Blu-Ray players fail at including. None of them decode Dolby TrueHD internally at this price point, but it's far more common to find BD players supporting that one. The power differences between units is negligible. From the 75 watt to the 100 watt you would gain (if you were TOTALLY maxing everything out) ~0.375dB). So that is a wash. The other big thing that the 23 series adds is a damn nice video scaler. So whatever video source you put in, it will upscale it to 720p or 1080p depending on your needs. It's a better scaling chip than in most of those "upscaling" dvd players. If you could find one, the 2308ci should be on clearance now since the 2309ci's are out. After comparing, I would personally prefer the 2308ci if they were priced the same. I don't like a few of the changes, but that's just me, and the price should be better since it's an old model. Denon's biggest advantage is also it's biggest shortfall. EVERYTHING can be customized. So while that's great and all... It makes for one helluva learning curve if you're getting into the deeper features of the unit. If you buy online, make sure that you're buying from an authorized retailer, otherwise you void your warranty. Or know you won't have a warranty and take the risk. Many people do that and things turn out perfectly. --------------------------------------------------- Now on to other parts. For a BD Player, just stick with a PS3. It is repeatedly named one of the best out there, and nothing near it's price point comes close. You do pretty much need the stupid BT Remote, but that aside, it's great. It has native support for DTS-HD MA, Dolby TrueHD, and uncompressed audio. Which it can shoot out bitstream or linearPCM depending on who you want to handle the decoding process (PS3 or reciever). It's also one of the few BD-Live compliant decks out there with full profile 2.0 support. Because of the crazy-nutz processor it has, disc load times are up to half of other more expensive player (which is good). It can also always be updated, and has the hardware for pretty much any profile update that could come out. Yes there are now $200 BD players, but they suck monkey nuts. They're slow, quality is sub-par, and they're older profile specs. Plus you can play games on the PS3. I got mine first just as a BD player with no real plans to game on it.... how that's changed:hsugh: -------------------------------------------- Next we can move on to the TV. You'll hear lots of opinions on these, just like "Which car brand is the best?" So this is just my opinion. If you want the best damn TV money can buy, the Pioneer KURO hands down. Best blacks and natural colors. The new Mitsubishi LazerVUE is a very close second, but it's a brand new technology, and the viewing angle isn't quite as good. LCD vs. Plasma.... If you are looking for the most realistic color representation, and the best black levels, Plasma is the way to go. They've come a long way from the first generation units, and they still outperform their LCD counterparts in most categories. The downside is the price. They become cheaper compared to LCD's once you get into the real big sizes, but until that LCD is much cheaper. On LCD's side, they're brighter, but that comes at the cost of natural colors. A lot of this can be tuned out, but all the colors will always look a tad "neon." The black levels also suffer, but if you are often in bright rooms, LCD's have the upper hand. The other major benefit to LCD is the price. Until you begin to get 50" plus, they are just so much cheaper it's not even funny, and many companies have stopped making smaller Plasmas anyway. RPTV is great on the wallet (The Mistu Lazervue aside). Their big downfalls are that they're dim, don't represent color as well, and viewing angle is poor compared to the other offerings. But at less than half the cost it's hard to pass up if you're looking for the real big sizes. You will be happy with any of them. For brands, when it comes to Plasma, Pioneer wins hands down. For LCD, I like Samsung. They look just as good as all but the best Sony sets, at half the cost. Sony makes good sets, but they cost 1.5-2x more than they should, you're just paying a lot for the name. For Rear-Projection, it's a tossup between Samsung and Mitsubishi. Mitsu has a slightly better picture IMO, but they install the IR sensor behind the screen, making it almost impossible to do an RF remote setup with IR Blasters. ------------------------------------------------------------ Now on to speakers. This is a somewhat controversial topic, but worth the time. You will find people that swear by every brand (just like cars) when in all reality, they all do the job. They do it a bit differently, but they all do it. Firstly, spend your money where it counts. On the front 3 speakers. I know people will swear up and down how much of a difference high quality rears make, but it's a load of crap. If the background rain sounds perfect, but the dialog and main sounds sound like junk, whats the point?? So start with the Left, Center and Right. If you live in attached housing, don't waste your money on the sub. Get a cheap one and have it turned up just a tad and call it a day. Neighbors hate them. If you live in a single family home, then it's worth looking into a bit more. My favorite subs I've found are the Sunfire line, but they're stupid expensive. Again, IMO this should come second to the front three. I personally hate Klipsch. I think they sound throaty and have all these funny resonations that drive me batty. Also they sacrifice detail for "warmth." Which isn't really an option to trade off for me. But that's just my (correct :roll opinion. Cost to quality, take a look into Paradigm Audio. They're not dollar store speakers, but the blow the pants off most anything in their price bracket. They go from reasonable to $2000/spkr if you want to get crazy. For the money, I like the Monitor 7 series. I think the only dealer in town is Stereoland. I know I'm biased, but after all the units I put in, for the money I never found anything that came close to Paradigm stuff. This speaker question is the one place where big box stores suck. BB, CC, UE, all of them have terrible speaker selections that are way overpriced. For my front 3 Paradigm M7V5's I paid about $800. For anything comparable at BB, CC, UE, I was looking at no less than $1300, probably more. I'll probably get crap for this opinion, but it's been created installing lots of systems, and hearing lots of speakers in real world situations. ---------------------------------------- Cables... NO MONSTER, NO EXPENSIVE CRAP!¡ No cable is going to make the signal that is put into it any better than it came in. As long as you aren't buying the $1.99 walmart special, any cables should do just fine. Buy at MonoPrice. Fast shipping, amazing prices, and great quality/customer service. The sad thing on this topic is that the salesmen/women actually seem to believe that the Monster **** is better. I'm not going to get into all the reasons it's not, but take my (and many others) word for it. It's worthless. For speaker wire, to be on the safe side stick to 16 gauge or lower (lower=bigger). But 16 will be plenty for your application. Larger wire only makes a damn bit of difference when you're exceeding the available headroom in the cable, which you won't be. No reason to go to some crazy 12 gauge stuff. It's just a waste of your money. I'd say stick with HDMI. The only real reason I say this is because of DRM. Stupid HDCP requires HDMI (or some DVI ports) and it's the only way to get the best out of a blu-ray player. So you will need it from the BD deck to the receiver and from the receiver to the TV. Anything else doesn't have any reason to be HDMI, but it's simple if the source has it, and the prices for HDMI cables on MonoPrice make it a no brainer. --------------------------------------------- Power Conditioning... Another worthless load of crap. Unless you happen to live inside a nuclear power plant, power conditioning is mostly worthless. While (just like cables) the sales points are real, what they neglect to mention is that any decent hardware has pretty decent power conditioning circuits built in, and that a lot of the "distortions" it filters out don't even affect audio or video signals. Yes they're there, but they're in the RF spectrum.... whoopdedo, filtering out something that you couldn't hear in the first place. Just stay away from them. Any well setup system should reject most all noise you can throw at it.
Now a decent surge suppressor is a must though. and keep the receipt/packaging or whatever the box says you need to keep incase it ever fails, that way they'll give you the money for the damaged equipment. They're very picky, so read the fine print. If you've got lots of $$ to burn, skip over the sacrificial surge suppressors (MOV based ones, most anything you see in the store) and jump to Capacitive suppressors (like SurgeX). They're much better, but cost a ton more. You can read about the differences on the web. But unless you've got the extra cash, just get a MOV based one. I think that about covers it. Sorry if this was more than you were asking for:laugh: If anything didn't make sense, let me know.
Wow. Thanks. I'll look into that Denon. I have been swayed at getting a Yamaha RXV661 I mostly want HDMI Video and Audio Input and Output. Not a pass through or video only...
Most any new receiver will do full HDMI video/audio. also, LOL @ quote EDIT: Oh, the warranty issue of buying through an authorized dealer isn't exclusive to Denon. Pretty much every manufacturer has that deal. Just an FYI
Oh, one other thing about cables. If it's a digital signal it works or it doesn't. That's it. If the cable isn't good enough to pass the signal, it doesn't work. None of the old gray areas from the analog days.
I <3 techy101 There are few things I've read here that are as well thought out or that I agree with more than what you wrote.
Awwww, thanks. Not like it's a big hobby of mine or anything...:roll: Seriously though, just like cars, it's all about balance. You can do anything if you've got enough money, but the true test is in doing almost the same on a budget.
Thanks for chiming in Matt. I've been using the best of my A/V knowledge at work talking to bilknuts about this stuff, but I know you are far better than I.
Good stuff Techy, thanks for the detailed, vociferous affirmation. FWIW, I have a Klipsch center and rears I'll give away for a thank you and a sixer of good brew.
I totally agree with you on Paradigms. I have them all the way around with Monitor 11s for fronts, CC-350 for center and ADP-350s for rears. I fill in the low with a Sunfire True Sub. My theory is that you should make an investment in your speakers and upgrade your TV and receivers as needed. In other words, don't go out and spend tons of cash on something that will be half the price in two years. Speakers don't drop in value like receivers. That being said, I'm ready to now make the jump to an A/V receiver that can up convert/switch to HDMI now that the prices have come down to earth. I currently have an older (5 years old) Marantz but have been eyeing some of the newer Sony and Pioneer Elite models. Stereoland has a bunch of Paradigms on special right now. I've bought most of my stuff from them on closeouts: http://www.stereoland.com/specials.php
I wanted to add that if you find a couple receiver options at a "boutique" A/V outfit like Ultimate be sure to post them on here. Essentially every mfr makes a "boutique" line carried by these stores. They vary ever so slightly in fascia and maybe a bell or whistle but the big boxes (BBY, Circuit Shiddy, etc.) will carry something 99.9% comparable with a slightly different model # that is every bit as good for $XXX less. In my case my Yamaha "boutique" model was ~$1,500 but it's "big box" twin was ~$500 less at MSRP.
