AVR Needed

kevhed72

Something decent with HMDI in and out.... plus audio and video RCA connections in and out. Im trying to set up a system for my sun and my integrated wont cut it. Thanks!

K_M

Not an offer to sale any of ours, but we have had great luck with Yamaha brand in particular.
From one entry level one about 5 years old and up to an Aventage Series also.
Both have very decent sound with the Aventage being slightly better and for sure more RCA outputs and so on.

rburgess714

Personal fan of the Yamaha Aventage Series, but also check out Marantz and Denon. Also nice to have preouts should you want to add external amp later. Check out https://www.accessories4less.com/ .

kevhed72

Good idea on thw pre outs...then I can give him my amp and rationalize the Butler amp I always wanted. Purchases are always easier to justify when your children somehow benefit

K_M

kevhed72 wrote: »

Good idea on thw pre outs...then I can give him my amp and rationalize the Butler amp I always wanted. Purchases are always easier to justify when your children somehow benefit

What is funny, we insisted on the pre-outs with the Aventage receiver, but have not used them at all yet!
I think the internal amp is really decent sounding on ours,as far as clean and neutral sound, but if one needed really high power for each channel, for sure separates might benefit at times.

kevhed72

Well I cheaped out on the pre outs since there was an open box Yamaha RX V385 and I am a sucker for open box deals. So here's the current setup w a pair of Boston Acoustics A70 speakers. Here got a Pangea stand for Christmas since the old stand was scaring us. Here is a pic:

kevhed72

The Best Buy expereince was what you would expect, which was annoying. They were carrying the newest 4K Rocketfish banana plugs for 40 bucks, which were sweet looking I would have taken a pic but just wanted to get out of there.

BC6

Ditto on Yamaha. I’m a huge fan. I had a AVR I bought as a demo at Best Buy for $250. I don’t remember the model number. It was a work horse, had a ton of inputs, and sounded great. I gave it away but wish I hadn’t. I’d use it for a basement setup if I still had it. Now I have the 11.2 channel CX-A5100 pre/pro and MX-A5000 amp. Sounds amazing.

BlueBirdMusic

For future reference, Costco has the Yamaha TSR-7850 7.2-Channel Network AV Receiver for $489 currently. It was priced at $399 during the holidays. Member only price.

https://www.costco.com/Yamaha-TSR-7850-7.2-Channel-Network-AV-Receiver.product.100456240.html

K_M

BC6 wrote: »

Ditto on Yamaha. I’m a huge fan. I had a AVR I bought as a demo at Best Buy for $250. I don’t remember the model number. It was a work horse, had a ton of inputs, and sounded great. I gave it away but wish I hadn’t. I’d use it for a basement setup if I still had it. Now I have the 11.2 channel CX-A5100 pre/pro and MX-A5000 amp. Sounds amazing.

After reading several comments bashing AVR's, we got one for a 2nd system that was mostly video, handful of years back.

It was not a revelation in great sound exactly, but completely listenable, clean and neutral, and simply far better than the anti AVR comments would lead us to believe.

Maybe Yamaha has a better sound that some AVR's, but have not owned every brand or iteration to really make that comment stick, but they do sound quite nice!

mdaudioguy

K_M wrote: »

BC6 wrote: »

Ditto on Yamaha. I’m a huge fan. I had a AVR I bought as a demo at Best Buy for $250. I don’t remember the model number. It was a work horse, had a ton of inputs, and sounded great. I gave it away but wish I hadn’t. I’d use it for a basement setup if I still had it. Now I have the 11.2 channel CX-A5100 pre/pro and MX-A5000 amp. Sounds amazing.

After reading several comments bashing AVR's, we got one for a 2nd system that was mostly video, handful of years back.

It was not a revelation in great sound exactly, but completely listenable, clean and neutral, and simply far better than the anti AVR comments would lead us to believe.

Maybe Yamaha has a better sound that some AVR's, but have not owned every brand or iteration to really make that comment stick, but they do sound quite nice!

For the most part.... anti-AVR comments are usually reserved for when users say they favor music over HT. What else would would you use for an admittedly "mostly video" application?

RandyCroissant

I use my Yamaha RX- A1030 for both HT and music, not the best for music I will admit but very good overall I would buy it again.

txcoastal1

mdaudioguy wrote: »

K_M wrote: »

BC6 wrote: »

Ditto on Yamaha. I’m a huge fan. I had a AVR I bought as a demo at Best Buy for $250. I don’t remember the model number. It was a work horse, had a ton of inputs, and sounded great. I gave it away but wish I hadn’t. I’d use it for a basement setup if I still had it. Now I have the 11.2 channel CX-A5100 pre/pro and MX-A5000 amp. Sounds amazing.

After reading several comments bashing AVR's, we got one for a 2nd system that was mostly video, handful of years back.

It was not a revelation in great sound exactly, but completely listenable, clean and neutral, and simply far better than the anti AVR comments would lead us to believe.

Maybe Yamaha has a better sound that some AVR's, but have not owned every brand or iteration to really make that comment stick, but they do sound quite nice!

For the most part.... anti-AVR comments are usually reserved for when users say they favor music over HT. What else would would you use for an admittedly "mostly video" application?

Boat anchor? Just throwing ideas out there

mdaudioguy

txcoastal1 wrote: »

mdaudioguy wrote: »

K_M wrote: »

BC6 wrote: »

Ditto on Yamaha. I’m a huge fan. I had a AVR I bought as a demo at Best Buy for $250. I don’t remember the model number. It was a work horse, had a ton of inputs, and sounded great. I gave it away but wish I hadn’t. I’d use it for a basement setup if I still had it. Now I have the 11.2 channel CX-A5100 pre/pro and MX-A5000 amp. Sounds amazing.

After reading several comments bashing AVR's, we got one for a 2nd system that was mostly video, handful of years back.

It was not a revelation in great sound exactly, but completely listenable, clean and neutral, and simply far better than the anti AVR comments would lead us to believe.

Maybe Yamaha has a better sound that some AVR's, but have not owned every brand or iteration to really make that comment stick, but they do sound quite nice!

For the most part.... anti-AVR comments are usually reserved for when users say they favor music over HT. What else would would you use for an admittedly "mostly video" application?

Boat anchor? Just throwing ideas out there

There are some AVRs that could probably anchor a small boat. Not many, but some. Of course, once you figure out if they're adequate as boat anchors, they're probably not much good as AVRs anymore... That's the conundrum.

delkal

There is nothing wrong with using an AVR for AV............In fact I haven't yet figured out how to do it without one.

What are the "high fidelity" options instead of using an AVR? I assume you can get three audiophile amps for the front, center and rear speakers........but what do you use for the surround sound decoding? Specifically for the pro logic decoding when listening to TV shows? What kind of audiophile grade AV preamp do you use?

And how many remotes does it take to switch the channels /inputs?

txcoastal1

The boat anchor comment was a joke
And yes you need a processor i.e. pc or AVR for movie decoding

marvda1

ayre had a 6 channel av power amp, (discontinued) that was base 3 channel at $8.5k and you could add the other three channels at $1200 per channel. it makes a great two channel amp when configured that way. it has three power suplies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ov7UcJau5TU

K_M

delkal wrote: »

There is nothing wrong with using an AVR for AV............In fact I haven't yet figured out how to do it without one.

What are the "high fidelity" options instead of using an AVR? I assume you can get three audiophile amps for the front, center and rear speakers........but what do you use for the surround sound decoding? Specifically for the pro logic decoding when listening to TV shows? What kind of audiophile grade AV preamp do you use?

And how many remotes does it take to switch the channels /inputs?

We have done audio/video using complete separates, and liked the sound a lot, but found the convenience and usability factors (if one is truly honest) to be lacking.
Add in the fact that you simply have so much stuff (physically) sitting there and connected, it does not create the most sleek or visual look.

Not to mention remotes or Lack of remotes with separates.
Also the lack of sub crossover and adjustments from the seating area takes a toll on adjustability.

We were totally against an AVR originally, but had owned many stereo receivers, and separates but not until using an AVR did we discover the flexibility and control it offers.

jhw59

I have a couple of AVRS-Yamaha and Pioneer Elite I'm selling to raise some cash. I'm the original owner of both. PM for details.

tonyb

delkal wrote: »

There is nothing wrong with using an AVR for AV............In fact I haven't yet figured out how to do it without one.

What are the "high fidelity" options instead of using an AVR? I assume you can get three audiophile amps for the front, center and rear speakers........but what do you use for the surround sound decoding? Specifically for the pro logic decoding when listening to TV shows? What kind of audiophile grade AV preamp do you use?

And how many remotes does it take to switch the channels /inputs?

It's called a HT pre/pro. Anthem or Cary, Krell, Classe, even Outlaw makes a decent one that sounds good. You'd be surprised at the 2 channel sound from the higher end pre/pro's.

Also, there's injecting a pre-amp into the mix for 2 channel between the AVR and amp. You connect the music sources to the pre amp instead of the AVR. That way the AVR never gets turned on for music.

jhw59

I've got 2 AVRs for sale in the FS thread that might be of interest.

halo

I have a Marantz NR1403 that I'm not using. Pre-outs for the main L + R. Darn nice little receiver.

rooftop59

Sure looks like the OP already acquired an AVR folks...