A/V Receivers

[PosterChild]

So, I've been upgrading my stuff lately...new desktops, netbook, laptop, and widescreen monitors. Now time for an audio upgrade, then a new HDTV(i might be the last guy on earth still watching a tube tv) anyway, to wit, I'm currently using my trusty Onkyo HTR-500 and Yamaha HTR-5730. Now these puppies are also really dated. Probably had them both for 5 or 6 yrs now, so no HDMI or upscaling or spiffy codecs etc... looking at the Yamaha 665 and 565; the Onkyo 606 (last yrs model), 607 or the 507; the Pioneer 1019AH, Elite VSX-01TXH; and the Sony STR-DG920. I don't care for Denon or HK- won't buy either.

Firstly, sound quality is most important to me, but I will be utilizing them obviously in HT setups, so features cannot be forsaken. My Onkyo tends to heat up the house but is very dependable; i'd like something a little more efficient so if anyone knows if they've resolved this I'd like to know. I do believe in going long on speakers vs receivers and prefer to stay sub $600.00 on this deal. I can do the research as well as anyone but I'm interested in personal exp here. I almost bought the Yamaha 665 but read there may be a denigration in sound quality over the 663 fr last yr. The suggestion being is they sacrificed audio quality in favor of adding bells and whistles in order to maintain their mid level price point.. Anybody verify this? Tanks.

 

[theebs]

I could write a long rant on receivers but I will spare you the drivel.

I would stay clear of sony es and yamaha. That is just my opinion.

I havent listened to recent receivers but if your main goal is home theater buy the most affordable one, home theater is pretty much going to sound good on speakers in this type of price range and receivers in this price range.

now if you are buying a receiver with the main function as two channel music listening, that is different. They all will basically be flawed as two channel music sources so finding the best one will be a judgement call.

Pioneer elite makes good home theater receivers for what it is worth. ANd as a prefrence for me if I were to buy a receiver I would buy onkyo integra or pioneer elite right now. There was a time when denon and marantz made excellent sounding two channel recievers, yamaha also but those days are long gone.

I had a couple of marantz and yamaha recievers that performed well in the past, but they are not the same company that used to make them anymore.

what are you using for speakers?

I am in the middle of deciding whether or not I want to spend some money for some home theater stuff. I love the def tech mythos and the paradigm millenia 20. The receiver is my holdup ironically, I hate them and they all sound the same to me...Bad!

 

[theogt]

You put up the theebs bat signal with this thread.

 

[PosterChild]

I could write a long rant on receivers but I will spare you the drivel.

I would stay clear of sony es and yamaha. That is just my opinion.

I havent listened to recent receivers but if your main goal is home theater buy the most affordable one, home theater is pretty much going to sound good on speakers in this type of price range and receivers in this price range.

now if you are buying a receiver with the main function as two channel music listening, that is different. They all will basically be flawed as two channel music sources so finding the best one will be a judgement call.

Pioneer elite makes good home theater receivers for what it is worth. ANd as a prefrence for me if I were to buy a receiver I would buy onkyo integra or pioneer elite right now. There was a time when denon and marantz made excellent sounding two channel recievers, yamaha also but those days are long gone.

I had a couple of marantz and yamaha recievers that performed well in the past, but they are not the same company that used to make them anymore.

what are you using for speakers?

I am in the middle of deciding whether or not I want to spend some money for some home theater stuff. I love the def tech mythos and the paradigm millenia 20. The receiver is my holdup ironically, I hate them and they all sound the same to me...Bad!

I'm afraid that's true. To be honest if it was just me, I'd get the best 2 channel receiver as music is my passion but I really need an all around system. I do watch a lot of movies anyway, but I realize I'll comprismise on audio quality here.

My current speakers are (1) the 5.1 package that came with the Onkyo i listed above, but I will be upgrading next to either, Energy, Paradimgn, or Aperion ...maybe Polks. Kinda waiting till I get the receiver. Hope I don't have that backwards! (2) Also have some BIC America's in another room. Those won't be upgraded right now. Kind of satisfied with that as a second line setup there.

 

[theebs]

I'm afraid that's true. To be honest if it was just me, I'd get the best 2 channel receiver as music is my passion but I really need an all around system. I do watch a lot of movies anyway, but I realize I'll comprismise on audio quality here.

My current speakers are (1) the 5.1 package that came with the Onkyo i listed above, but I will be upgrading next to either, Energy, Paradimgn, or Aperion ...maybe Polks. Kinda waiting till I get the receiver. Hope I don't have that backwards! (2) Also have some BIC America's in another room. Those won't be upgraded right now. Kind of satisfied with that as a second line setup there.

If I were you I would get the most affordable receiver of the bunch then, the sound is going to be very similar. Home theater will sound good either way.

 

[theebs]

You put up the theebs bat signal with this thread.

lol.

sorry I used to be an audio/video snob. For the past 6 years I just use the mp3 player.

at some point in my future hopefully mcintosh and B&W will be found in my home again, but I am not holding my breath.

 

[PosterChild]

If I were you I would get the most affordable receiver of the bunch then, the sound is going to be very similar. Home theater will sound good either way.

I really want to feel confident in the Yamaha 665 or 565 but I have reservations about what they're doing these days. I might just go with the Onkyo 607 now.

 

[PosterChild]

Here's the Pioneer Elite but it only has 3 HDMI inputs. Not exactly future proof.

http://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-Elite-VSX-01TXH-receiver-channel/dp/tech-data/B001DF7H6Q/ref=de_a_smtd

 

[WarC]

I own a Yamaha HT-3950 receiver and its heads above most of the other midrange receivers I compared it with before I bought it. Of course that was maybe $150 for a 550w receiver.

Yeah, ok. I don't belong in this thread. I'll just....See myself out...*wanders off back to where the poor stay*

 

[Kevinicus]

I have the Yamaha RX-v661. I got it a couple years ago to replace a Pioneer my dog killed. The Yamaha has produced a much better sound quality than the Pioneer did. The sound quality is crisper and richer. I don't know about the newer models that have come out since then, but I'm very pleased with my Yamaha.

 

[silverbear]

So, I've been upgrading my stuff lately...new desktops, netbook, laptop, and widescreen monitors. Now time for an audio upgrade, then a new HDTV(i might be the last guy on earth still watching a tube tv) anyway, to wit, I'm currently using my trusty Onkyo HTR-500 and Yamaha HTR-5730. Now these puppies are also really dated. Probably had them both for 5 or 6 yrs now, so no HDMI or upscaling or spiffy codecs etc... looking at the Yamaha 665 and 565; the Onkyo 606 (last yrs model), 607 or the 507; the Pioneer 1019AH, Elite VSX-01TXH; and the Sony STR-DG920. I don't care for Denon or HK- won't buy either.

Firstly, sound quality is most important to me, but I will be utilizing them obviously in HT setups, so features cannot be forsaken. My Onkyo tends to heat up the house but is very dependable; i'd like something a little more efficient so if anyone knows if they've resolved this I'd like to know. I do believe in going long on speakers vs receivers and prefer to stay sub $600.00 on this deal. I can do the research as well as anyone but I'm interested in personal exp here. I almost bought the Yamaha 665 but read there may be a denigration in sound quality over the 663 fr last yr. The suggestion being is they sacrificed audio quality in favor of adding bells and whistles in order to maintain their mid level price point.. Anybody verify this? Tanks.

My system is all Pioneer Elite, with JBL Studio Series speakers... I love the Pioneer Elite line, never have regretted going that way...

 

[Yeagermeister]

You put up the theebs bat signal with this thread.

All those years working at Buy More have finally paid off :laugh2:

 

[tomson75]

I used to love blowing money on AV gear. I used to swear by the sound quality of Yamaha receivers, but I always found their features and compatibility to be lacking when compared to similarly priced Onkyo's, Pioneers, etc. I hear the 2009 line up has reversed this trend, and that they are more versatile than ever, FWIW.

As far as speakers, I tend to agree with Theebs...most mid-range priced speakers (and receivers) are going to produce good results if they're used primarily for home theater. A good high-end home theater speaker that is very efficient would be Klipsch...but they aren't something I would buy if I intended to use them for a lot of music playback. I used to love my Paradigm studio speakers for both theater and music. I also liked B&W and Boston stuff. I hear Ascend Acoustics makes a good product for the price range these days too....they aren't pretty though.

Nowadays, I've backed off spending my money on home theater gear (I gave my old stuff to my parents in return for about 9 grand I owed them). I'm rocking a $375 Onkyo system with wireless rears and I'm pretty well satisfied....but I wish I had waited for this one. I might upgrade.

 

[CowboyWay]

Nowadays, I've backed off spending my money on home theater gear (I gave my old stuff to my parents in return for about 9 grand I owed them). I'm rocking a $375 Onkyo system with wireless rears and I'm pretty well satisfied....but I wish I had waited for this one. I might upgrade.

A few years back, my wife and I built a house, and I had to have a theatre room upstairs. So we built one in the house. I researched and chose each piece carefully. Paradigm reference stuidio 100 speakers, A monster Denon reciever (don't remember what it is, and too lazy to go upstairs and look). Projector, screen, dvd player...etc etc.

Point being I spent a heckuva lot of money for that theatre room. About 3 years ago, I bought a 50 inch plasma for downstairs.

I haven't been back to the theatre room since.

I wish I would not have gone quite as overboard as I did. The mere fact that I don't even use the room very often, really just means that the technology is getting older every day I don't go up there (outside of the speakers).

 

[burmafrd]

Been into this for a long time. Just upgraded to HDTV projector (Mitsubishi HC5500) and a 120" screen. Got a Yamaha 663 to replace my 3090 and am very pleased with it. Good mid price speakers will get the job done well. Boze, Klipsch, Polk, etc will do just fine. One thing about Yamaha's that I like is that they make full provision for 2 powered subwoofers which are important for balance. They also have a pair of presence speakers that help out as well.
I have Polk front speakers and center speaker; and Klipsch front presence, surround and rear surround. My old MK 100 subwoofers still do fine.

 

[PosterChild]

A few years back, my wife and I built a house, and I had to have a theatre room upstairs. So we built one in the house. I researched and chose each piece carefully. Paradigm reference stuidio 100 speakers, A monster Denon reciever (don't remember what it is, and too lazy to go upstairs and look). Projector, screen, dvd player...etc etc.

Point being I spent a heckuva lot of money for that theatre room. About 3 years ago, I bought a 50 inch plasma for downstairs.

I haven't been back to the theatre room since.

I wish I would not have gone quite as overboard as I did. The mere fact that I don't even use the room very often, really just means that the technology is getting older every day I don't go up there (outside of the speakers).

I'm looking at getting a Panasonic Plasma(w the netcast capabilities), rather than a LCD myself. Again, this hinges on whether the Plasma technology power draining issue has been remedied, as with the Onkyo A/Vs...

 

[PosterChild]

Been into this for a long time. Just upgraded to HDTV projector (Mitsubishi HC5500) and a 120" screen. Got a Yamaha 663 to replace my 3090 and am very pleased with it. Good mid price speakers will get the job done well. Boze, Klipsch, Polk, etc will do just fine. One thing about Yamaha's that I like is that they make full provision for 2 powered subwoofers which are important for balance. They also have a pair of presence speakers that help out as well.
I have Polk front speakers and center speaker; and Klipsch front presence, surround and rear surround. My old MK 100 subwoofers still do fine.

Sounds good. I'm hearing the earlier 663 may be a better receiver than the 665. Go figure.

 

[PosterChild]

I used to love blowing money on AV gear. I used to swear by the sound quality of Yamaha receivers, but I always found their features and compatibility to be lacking when compared to similarly priced Onkyo's, Pioneers, etc. I hear the 2009 line up has reversed this trend, and that they are more versatile than ever, FWIW.

As far as speakers, I tend to agree with Theebs...most mid-range priced speakers (and receivers) are going to produce good results if they're used primarily for home theater. A good high-end home theater speaker that is very efficient would be Klipsch...but they aren't something I would buy if I intended to use them for a lot of music playback. I used to love my Paradigm studio speakers for both theater and music. I also liked B&W and Boston stuff. I hear Ascend Acoustics makes a good product for the price range these days too....they aren't pretty though.

Nowadays, I've backed off spending my money on home theater gear (I gave my old stuff to my parents in return for about 9 grand I owed them). I'm rocking a $375 Onkyo system with wireless rears and I'm pretty well satisfied....but I wish I had waited for this one. I might upgrade.

Yep, that Onkyo system would prob be pretty snazzy. Some will turn up their nose at HTIBs but my old Onkyo system has served me very well. I'm just ready to move a little beyond it. Talk about value-- take a gander at these 5.1 speakers, the Energy Take Classic and read the reviews, too.

http://www.amazon.com/Energy-Classic-Entertainment-System-Black/dp/B001202C44


Couple them there speakers with this lower end Yamaha 465 series receiver and you have a great little value system.

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-sx52rrJarNx/p_022RXV465/Yamaha-RX-V465.html?tab=review

 

[theebs]

I used to love blowing money on AV gear. I used to swear by the sound quality of Yamaha receivers, but I always found their features and compatibility to be lacking when compared to similarly priced Onkyo's, Pioneers, etc. I hear the 2009 line up has reversed this trend, and that they are more versatile than ever, FWIW.

As far as speakers, I tend to agree with Theebs...most mid-range priced speakers (and receivers) are going to produce good results if they're used primarily for home theater. A good high-end home theater speaker that is very efficient would be Klipsch...but they aren't something I would buy if I intended to use them for a lot of music playback. I used to love my Paradigm studio speakers for both theater and music. I also liked B&W and Boston stuff. I hear Ascend Acoustics makes a good product for the price range these days too....they aren't pretty though.

Nowadays, I've backed off spending my money on home theater gear (I gave my old stuff to my parents in return for about 9 grand I owed them). I'm rocking a $375 Onkyo system with wireless rears and I'm pretty well satisfied....but I wish I had waited for this one. I might upgrade.

Sounds familiar. Before I moved To Dfw in 02 I sold all my stereo stuff, I didnt want to, but we were going to be living in an apartment when we first moved here and the extra cash was nice.

At the time I had a pair of B&W 803 Nautilus with a mac preamp and amp. And a bunch of other toys like a project turntable, entech dac, all tributary cables.....


I wish I had them now but could never justify those prices again. I am thinking about getting some home theater stuff, I know when I go into marvins in fort worth in a couple of weeks I will look at and listen to a bunch of things and then go over and get sucked into the nautilus, making everything else sound average....

I really do like the def tech mythos line, they kick butt for home theater and there Supercube line of subs are nice.

My friend and I over like a 5 year period I think owned every possible piece of stereo equipment from every brand! We would constantly buy stuff on ebay and then sell it shortly after!

For me the mac and the nautilus were the gold standard but There were some other companies that made great stuff for half the price like Bryston, adcom, Paradigm, NAD, anthem and meridian.

just talking about it makes me want to start planning to buy something! My wife will kill me if she even sees me looking at B&W's website or the mac website!!!!! Those blue meters on the mac put me in a trance.

 

[Dallas]

I have the Onkyo SR607 w/ Kilpsch RF-83 home theater speakers.



AMAZING!!!


I wanted a Pioneer Elite series reciever but the price was just rediculous. I didn't want to spend 1500$ on the one I wanted.


I put a lot more into my speakers than I did the receiver. Im glad I did. The Onkyo is a kick-butt receiver and the speakers are just WOW.