home theater receiver???

Ginkus Kahn

My home theater speaker system is equiped with: (2) RTi8, PSW404, CSi5, and (3) RTi6. Which reciever would you recommend for under $500? If $500 won't cut it, what would you recommend as the next closest unit?

MSkeezer

You can get a refurbished Harman Kardon AVR525 direct for only $430. A very good receiver, and a good match with the Polks. You'd kind of be hard pressed to find something as good for that amount of money, in my opinion anyways. Other brands to look at are Denon, Onkyo, NAD, and Outlaw.

Shizelbs

You can get a new or refurb Onkyo 601 for less than $500 or an Onkyo 701 from amazon for $600.

fgr41

I have a sony drt-de985 which is a little over 1 year old and in mint condition. I am willing to sell for 200. Its not the quality of some of the other higher gear but served me well till I upgraded to the Yamaha rxv1400.

gregure

I see you have 3 Rti 6's, so unless you can miraculously find a spare 6 somewhere, I would go with a 6.1 system to make use of the odd speaker. I have an Onkyo 701, which has served me very well. Harman Kardons are quite heavy, and when I tried out a 630 it produced an annoying humming/hissing in my speakers, very annoying. Onkyos are easier to use too. The Onkyo produces great sound and is a 6.1 system. I recommend it whole-heartedly. $600 at Onecall.com, or mydigitaluniverse.com. See which one has better shipping. You won't be disappointed. I've recently been upgrading cables too, and that has made a tremendous difference. The Silver Serpent digital coax at bettercables.com produces amazing sound results. $80. Their speaker cables are great too, but those are very expensive. Just make sure to use a decently thick set of cables.

jefft1314

I got my dennon avr-1804 for three hundred dollars shipped from ecost. At five hundred you should probably be able to come across a used or refurbed 2803 which is a pretty well regarded receiver. I certainly like my Dennon.:-)

superbrett

I prefer Harman Kardon over Onkyo, Denon, exct.
I have the 430 and have had no trouble with buzzing or anything....just me though. All three have unique sounds/features.

Pablo

I like my Denon alot. Since they recentlly put out the 3805, you may be able to get a referb 3803 for around the $500 range. It has good power and 7.1. Go to the Denon web site and take the link to their e-dealers. If you get it from one of those, I believe they still have the full factory waranty. (becareful where you buy. If it's not an autorized denon dealer, they won't honor the waranty).

MSkeezer

The Denon 3803 is a mightily impressive receiver, and if you can get it for around $500, then I'd definitely go for it. But, remember, like Pablo said, if you don't buy from an authorized dealer, you may not get the warranty. Be careful.

jefft1314

http://www.ecost.com/ecost/ecsplash/search/search.asp?Search=denon+3803&CurDSN=simple&calledfrom=1&incimage=on

There you go, Denon 3803 for like $530, defintiely a nice deal, it's factory refurbed, but my 1804 was as well and it appears to be in perfect condition, even cosmetically, I've yet to notice a single scratch on it. I like Denon's stuff, but your best bet is to find someplace that carries multiple brands like denon, onkyo, integra, harman kardon, marantz, etc and see what sounds best with you, bring one of your favorite cd's with you as that will make the whole process much better. From my limited experience with receivers I'd say probably go with a Denon or HK, but that's just cause I like the way they sound, you may think something entirely different.

jefft1314

One more thing, the warranty on b-stock or refurbed items is only for 90 days anyway. Considering that it won't make much of a difference where you buy the item if you're buying it refurbed or b-stock. Of course, 90 days is better than nothing.

Dennis Gardner

HK refurb warranty is full new warranty if bought through their site. Harman Kardon

They also sell by auction through ebay. Prices usually end up lower than their site.

Ginkus Kahn

Originally posted by Ginkus Kahn
My home theater speaker system is equiped with: (2) RTi8, PSW404, CSi5, and (3) RTi6. Which reciever would you recommend for under $500? If $500 won't cut it, what would you recommend as the next closest unit?

Thanks everyone for your recommendations!

rti8's

I have an onkyo 601 brand new from jandr for only $299.00 and it has plenty of power. I have the rti8's/rti4's for the rear and csi3 as my center. Right now i'm using the velodyne cht10 (good clean powerful bass, not going to shadow any windows, but man good solid bass)as a sub and let me tell you the onkyo has plenty of head room to spare.
On Fridays jandr has a one day sale only. i got the reciever for 299 no tax/no shipping cost. I also picked up the sub for only $179. Not bad. Just and FYI for you, check out it out this friday and thereafter. If you a patient you will find a great deal. Good luck. http://www.jandr.com