thunder04

iTrader: (1)

Hey Guys,

I'm in the market for a new A/V receiver, but I have a limited budget. I'm looking to spend no more than $500, but the less the better of course.

My biggest requirement is that it have HDMI switching capability, and at least 3 ports (satellite receiver, Blu-Ray player, and an XBox 360).

All my parents and I have ever owned is Onkyo and I like their receivers (though I don't have much experience with their new stuff), but I'm not afraid of other brands.

Are there any receivers anyone can recommend?

svtmike

I've got a newer Onkyo (my first -- had used Denon for years). It runs really hot, and I think over the nearly two years I've owned it the upconvert chip has been roasted, because the only non-HDMI device I have (my cable box) gets no signal after the unit has been running for a while on the Xbox or BluRay player.

I think I'm going to retire it to my basement and get a new Denon.

NWI_#73

Just got a Pioneer VSX-519V-K and so far it's freaking awesome. $189 from B&H Photo Video.

thunder04

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^ Unfortunately, it only has 2 HDMI inputs and I need a minimum of 3.

Hmm...I've been looking around...

http://www.amazon.com/Denon-AVR1910-...1129866&sr=1-3

It's a little above my price range, but if the reviews are true, I may be willing to budge.

I'm not planning on upgrading my speaker setup any time soon (just a simple 5.1 setup), will this pose a problem?

wrxyboy

iTrader: (2)

if you need some really good sound information i would check out this forum http://www.avsforum.com/ I learned alot there and did a piece by piece system which to my surprise came out awesome. But Denon has always been a safe and reliable buy. Even if you decide to buy a 7.1 receiver most have a setup feature that will allow you to do 5.1. Hope that helped. Also i still prefer optical for audio than to use HDMI, only cause HDMI comes in high and distorts alot of things, i find that i am constantly changing volume between talking and action scenes when i am using HDMI.

thunder04

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I've lurked around avsforum.com a few times...I guess I could go there but I wanted to show Azine the love.

wrxyboy

iTrader: (2)

I got a Harman Kardon avr 354 for christmas and i love that receiver. But that is 2nd receiver i have ever owned, i owned a sony prior to that and it worked with what i had. But you cant go wrong with Denon. If i were to build all over again i would look at denon first for that price range you are looking into.

Moog-Type-S

Love my Yamaha I purchased last year.

slvrdrgn123

Check out the Denon 590 or 790. I'm probably going to get the 590 soon.

http://www.amazon.com/Denon-AVR590-5...1140272&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Denon-AVR790-7.../ref=pd_cp_e_1

NSXNEXT

iTrader: (2)

I've been eyeing the Denon AVR-1910. Startting to put the home theater list together for the new house.

Receiver: Denon ACR-1910
BR Player: LG BD390
Speakers: Energy Take Classic
TV: Panasonic TC-P50V10
Remote: Logitech Harmony 900

Now all I need is to decide on a new house.

thunder04

iTrader: (1)

AHA!

The 790 and 1910 are almost identical with the two exceptions:

1. the 1910 has A/B speaker switching, whereas the 790 only has "A" front speakers
2. the 1910 adds a "room to room" remote control jack for wired control from Zone 2

For $50, I won't miss the above. I think I'm going to buy the 790 unless anyone recommends otherwise.

(found this info here: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1152799)

slvrdrgn123

Good choice. That was my first pick too, but it's a little out of my price range since I'm only looking for a basic AVR for now. So I'm stepping down to the 590 instead.

NetEditor

If you're willing to stretch you budget just a little, Sixth Avenue Electronics has the Denon 2310 for $549 with this coupon code: AFLDEN549

achenator

I just got the Denon 590 about 2 weeks ago. So far, so good.

Scrib

Denon AVR-790. Just got it and it's wonderful.

thunder04

iTrader: (1)

Ordered it from http://www.us-appliance.com/avr790.html earlier tonight. I'd never heard of them before, but they had the best price at $398 shipped with a $10 off coupon (welcome10). Hopefully the gamble of ordering from them will be worth it.

thunder04

iTrader: (1)

Hmm. That's a good deal. I'm going to call the place I ordered the 790 from and see how long it'll take it to get here. If it's backordered (which is the case on a lot of other sites), I may order that instead.

Doom878

I'd definitely not recommend the Onkyo TX-SR606. My friend got one and in a week it had HDMI issues. I checked amazon and avsforum and several had HDMI issues as well. Reports of Onkyo support are poor. Apparently a common problem with this model.

thunder04

iTrader: (1)

^ I had read about other issues with various Onkyo's in my price range related to video upconversion and whatnot. I think I'll stay away from them with this purchase.

I currently have an Onkyo 5.1 receiver (don't remember the model) and it's gotta be at minimum 5 years old. It still functions flawlessly. The only reason I'm buying a new receiver is for HDMI functionality. But, since I'm buying, I might as well buy something that'll last a while!

thunder04

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Oh yeah, the place I ordered the 790 from has in stock and it should arrive sometime next week. Looks like I won't be getting the 2310. Oh well.

litesout

The 1910/790 is a fantastic receiver. I was looking at it as a posibility before it came out. Only reason I didn't wait for it was I found a good deal on a 2809ci from an authorized dealer. I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

I know you said you just had a simple 5.1 set up, but do you have any details? Was your Onkyo a HTIB deal? Only reason I ask is that you'll want to check the impediance on the speakers. The Denon is designed for 8 ohm speakers, and that's not always what the HTIB systems use. Also, is the sub powered? The Denon has a pre out for the sub, but not a powered output. That's pretty much the norm.

thunder04

iTrader: (1)

The Onkyo receiver is from a "Home Theater in a Box" deal my Dad bought a long time ago, but he shortly (within a month) decided the receiver was inadequate for him. It lacks a phono in and a headphones out, and those were features he missed so he bought a better model receiver (he still uses the speakers & sub). Score for me! lol

As far as speakers go, I have Paradigm's for my fronts and center (given to my dad who gave them to me, I LOVE them), Boston Acoustics for my rears (again, from my dad), and a Costco special powered subwoofer (which is actually pretty decent for a $100 subwoofer).

So, I think I'm good. At some point in the future I may go speaker shopping to upgrade to 7.1. Perhaps maybe purchase matching surrounds (for surround and rear surround), as I really do like the Paradigms. Though, I'm in no rush.

litesout

You should be fine for speakers then. And as long as you're happy with the sub, you should be fine with it too. I'd recommend going over to the AVSForum when you're ready to upgrade that though. And I'd recommend that be your next upgrade. There's so little recorded in 7.1 right now, it's probably not worth the upgrade yet. And there are some fantastic subs out there for under $400.

In the long run I think you'll be happier with the Denon. The Onkyos run hot....really hot. People over on the AVSForum have run tests that prove it. I run my Denon in a small confined space with zero air flow and it never breaks 95 degrees in there. And that's after watching The Dark Knight on the HD audio track off my PS3 or playing games for a few hours at a time. I wouldn't recommend doing that, and I normally don't (have a fan and leave the door open when I'm home by myself) but it doesn't seem to make too much of a difference.

At any rate, congrats on the purchase. I'm sure you'll be happy with it. Now, go forth, enjoy, and wake the neighbors!

thunder04

iTrader: (1)

I can't wait for it to arrive. I'm very excited. It'll go nice with my new TV and future Blu-Ray player. It should be here sometime next week .

I'll definitely consider a sub upgrade as my next purchase.

Oh, my current receiver is the Onkyo HT-R490.

litesout

While you're waiting, just to wet your chops a bit more, check this out.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1152799

SupaRookie

Denon are great. I'm using the Onkyo 875 with a fan blowing at the top to cool it. Next receiver will probably be from Marantz.

thunder04

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Receiver should be here by Tuesday. The place I ordered from is slow as f*ck, bu that's what I get for wanting to save money lol.

thunder04

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I received it yesterday!!

I really like it. The Audyssey MultEQ setup is really cool. I ran the setup twice. I happen to have six seats in my livingroom (couch, love seat, and a chair), so I was able to place the mic in each seating position. I felt that sampling this way made the rears way to loud, so I ran the setup again only sampling the 3 positions on the couch. Things sounded MUCH better and I was very impressed.

However, after the 2nd sampling, there are times when my rears sound blown. I plugged my iPod into the receiver and switched it to 5 channel stereo and the rears sound absolutely horrible. I thought that maybe it was my iPod, so I put a CD in and played the same song and it sounded just as bad. They truly sound blown, but I don't remember them sounding like this before the new setup or before the 2nd sampling...

Is it possible that the Boston Acoustics I use for rears (don't remember model number off the top of my head, but they're from the early 90's) are being over driven...but 90 watts isn't all _that_ much comparative to A/V systems...is it? Or, is it possible that after the 2nd sampling that the receiver is trying to push out lower frequencies to the rears than they can handle? It's possible they were screwed up before the new receiver, but I don't remember them sounding bad. Though, with my old setup, they weren't turned up as much as they are now. I made sure that all speakers have proper polarity (red to red, black to black)...so I'm not sure!

If it means anything, the Paradigms I use as my fronts, as well as my Paradigm center, sound perfect.

I'm going to pull out my old receiver tonight and connect the Boston's to it as fronts and see how they perform. Maybe even see if I can snag a couple of speakers to test with. I just find it odd that BOTH rears sound blown.

Any thoughts?

svtmike

It could be that your rear speakers are blown -- if part of the cone has dry-rotted. Or if you turned it up too loud you could have overdriven them and blown them. The only way they should sound better with the old receiver is if there is a problem with the amplifier for those channels in your new one.

Paradigms are the bomb BTW -- that's what I have for my fronts/center/sub.

thunder04

iTrader: (1)

^ I've always wanted to complete my Paradigm set. I may use this excuse to buy Paradigm surrounds and a sub...of course not after testing my current surrounds when I get home from work this afternoon.

thunder04

iTrader: (1)

If I do discover that my rear speakers are toast, what do y'all think about Cambridge Soundworks? I've been looking at speakers I want, and I'm not ready to spend another $500 for rears alone just yet (I want to budget for a better sub). I found a set that Cambridge Soundworks has for $200...

http://www.cambridgesoundworks.com/s...53CW0010AA001#

I've always been impressed with their computer speakers. A co-worker has an older version of the linked speakers and he really likes them (and he's VERY picky about sound).

They're no Paradigm, but that's ok. Waddya think?

litesout

Before you buy new speakers for the rear, double check your settings. In the speaker settings make sure that they're set to small. Physical size doesn't have anything to do with this setting. The large setting is only for tower speakers with woofers and built in crossovers. The small woofers in your BAs won't be able to handle the full output from the Denon without distorting and possibly blowing.

That said, Denon manuals are horrible and don't really explain this. I constantly reference mine, but always wind up giving up and going online for my answers.

thunder04

iTrader: (1)

^I'm pretty sure all channels are set to small (I believe the Audyssey auto-setup set them as such), but it's something I'll double-check.

litesout

Audyssey set my front speakers to large and the rears to small. And they're the exact same speaker. Probably has to do with the poor placement of my fronts though. If they're placed in a confined area and there's the possiblity of reverberation, its mistakes that for a larger speaker.

thunder04

iTrader: (1)

Surrounds are toast. Hooked them up to my old receiver as mains and they sound TERRIBLE.

They were Boston Acoustics HD5's and at minimum 15 years old.

litesout

Sorry to hear that. Well, like you said, its an excuse to get a new set of surrounds.

thunder04

iTrader: (1)

eBay and/or Craigslist, here I come! lol

My dad has a set of Polk Audio's that I can use (relatively new), but I think they're too big for me to use as rears the way my room is configured. I could use them as mains and move my paradigms to the rear...but I'm hesitant to do that. I don't want to replace my mains with something that'll produce inferior sound! lol

thunder04

iTrader: (1)

Alright...I ordered a set of older Paradigm Titans via eBay. They'll match the current Paradigms I have, so I'm excited.

http://www.blackswampaudio.com/Inven...php?pk_inv=696

Slight cosmetic blemishes, but nothing that I can't disguise by placement and/or live with.

thunder04

iTrader: (1)

Finally got things relatively set up the way I want it. I figured, hey, why not post some crappy pictures of my budget setup!



Fronts, center, sub



Rears



And, of course, the AVR-790 that I am VERY glad I purchased .

litesout

Not bad, not bad at all. May I make one suggestion though? For the rear speakers, instead of using stands and putting lamps next to them, why not use shelf lamps? I've got 2 of them on either side of my couch with my rear speakers on them and it looks fantastic! I'll try to take some pics tonight when I get home and post 'em up here.

So, looks aside, have you run the Audyssey set up? And how does it sound? That's what's most important.