Receiver Purchase

jwalk40

I'm in the process of building my HT. I've narrowed my choices to the Sony 820 or the Onkyo 606. I'm pretty well aware of the differences in both and really cost will be the deciding factor. If I find the right price on either I'll probably pull the trigger (Sony<$280, Onkyo<$350) The cost savings of the Sony would be used toward better surrounds.

I know that prices are higher now than the last couple months (high supply at Christmas), but I'm hoping they will drop again. Can I expect prices to get lower, or will that only happen at the introduction of the next series from the manufacturers? I know a better deal is always on the horizon when it comes to electronics, but I don't want to kick myself later if waiting another month is all it took.

I'm open to other receivers at similar price range, but I want a receiver with TrueHD/DTS-HD.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

cnh

Maybe I'm wrong but does the Sony actually decode HD-audio options or does it only pass a Multi-channel PCM audio through its HDMI that is decoded in your blu-ray player: the Onkyo 604 also passed 5.1 channel PCM from Blu-rays via its HDMI, that's the model before the very first receiver to truly decode Dolby Tru-HD and DTS HD (the 605)?

In that case the 606 does more. And, in addition, the Sony is NOT a High Current design so it won't have anywhere near the real power or warmth of the Onkyo. The two are not really in the came class. The Onkyo is the superior receiver hands down.

Others to look at in that range are the Denon AVR 1909, and the Yamaha 663--all capable receivers!

Price-wise the Onkyo will probably be the best deal you'll get. CC has tons of them at 399 but they're not moving at that price.

You can count on all these receivers falling when the new models come out. I got my Onkyo 605 for 225 many months after the 606 appeared.

Higher level receivers are going to have a tough time selling in this environment. Discounts will be deep on remaining stock. Deep enough that you might want to wait it out for an Onkyo 706 so that you can get those all important pre-outs for future amp upgrades?

cnh

NewHTguy

The 606 is great (I owned a 605), but tt does not have pre-outs, which means that you canNOT add an amp. I had to sell my 605 when I decided I wanted mre power.

cnh

I have to agree there. You should consider the Pre-out option on a receiver if you plan to up your power.

I have a Denon 2807 that has those and will pass multi-channel PCM--that's what I plan to use for the power amp upgrade--Denon's make great pre-amps--starting at the 2800 level! As do Onkyo's at the 700series and above. The problem is price (a Denon retails for over 1000 dollars, and even the Onkyo 706, though it can be had for 550 online, retails for over 700!

cnh

comfortablycurt

The Onkyo 606. Hands down. Though I might be a bit biased because I own one. For that price point, the 606 can't be beat in my opinion. A lot of people would agree with me on that too.

One thing to remember though, as others have already said, if you ever plan on using external amplification I'd look into something like the 706. The 606 doesn't have pre-amp outs, so hooking up external amps is impossible with it.

I was considering that same Sony when I bought my 606. I went and listened to both of them...and I ended up going with the Onkyo. It has a much better overall sound IMO. The Sony was a little bright for my tastes...The user interface on the Onkyo is much better too. The Sony required twice as much effort to make any kind of adjustment in the menu.

Assuming that you don't ever plan on doing that though, the 606 would be the way to go in my opinion. It's a damn fine receiver.

jwalk40

I'm looking at placing Monitor 50's up front, probably a CS1 (or CS2) in the middle, and maybe M20's as my side surrounds. As for the rear surrounds, I'm undecided. Space is an issue as even a bookshelf speaker would be difficult to fit. I have looked at the OWM3's as an option.

Would an amp provide much help to this small of a system? I feel that by the time I'm ready to look at more serious speaker choices receiver technology will have changed enough that I'll be looking to get a new one anyway. That said, if I wait and the 706 (or others) make a significant enough drop, it's make sense.

My wife actually told me to hurry up and buy what I want so I'd spend less time looking at options online. I think she'd regret that statement if I bought what I really wanted. I've already moved far enough away from the RM6750 set I originally intended to buy. Is it possible to catch the upgrade bug before you actually even purchase anything?

Thanks for all the input!

cnh

Curt is right. I love my 605 run an all Polk M Series with it

M70s, CS2, M30s, PSW12. Though this system can handle a lot more power than the 605puts out; it sounds PRETTY loud in a mid-sized Home Theater set up.

The 606 adds greater upconversion for video to 1080i and two more HDMIs, among other things. It's a great receiver.

Would you say we like Onkyos? Nahhh

cnh

comfortablycurt

lol...Welcome to Club Polk, where the upgrade bug is infinitely catching. There is no known cure. The symptoms can be supressed, but only temporarily.

Monitor 50's would do great up front. I've only heard them a couple times myself, but they're excellent sounding speakers, especially at the price point they're in. There are many happy users of those speakers on board here.

As far as the center channel goes, you've of course got to work within your space constraints and budget, but I'd go with the CS2 over the CS1. A bigger center channel is going to make the most significant difference in a home theater setup. The center channel carries over 60% of a movies soundtrack...so needless to say, the center channel is very crucial.

For the surrounds...Ideally all 4 of your surrounds should be the same speaker, and should be voice matched to your fronts/center. This creates a much more realistic soundstage, and makes for a much more enjoyable movie watching experience. Have you looked into Monitor 30's? I know you said that space constraints were an issue for the surrounds...but those are some really small speakers. Plus they have keyhole slots on the back for wall mounting, which can simplify placement issues a lot.

An external amp would definitely help that system...is it necessary though? Not at all. External amps will benefit any speaker, but it's not always essential.

jwalk40

Okay. Given that information, how far behind should the rear surrounds be? There isn't much room behind the seating area and my wife isn't too keen on me pulling it further out. Also, it's in a bonus room on top of the garage, so the ceiling starts lower. That's why the thinner OWM3's were appealing. I guess I'm looking at voice match vs. aesthetics/space.

I listened to some Polk floor speakers (tsi300 I think) with smaller surrounds at BB and did feel they were lacking. Hearing the difference the floor fronts made is what got me looking away from an RM set.

I can get the Monitor 30's shipped for $99.99, but in maple not black. Cheapest I found in black were $139. Forgive me if I'm breaking some unwritten (or written for all I know) speaker rules, but is refinishing (painting) the cabinets a possibility. Staying within the wife's parameters makes this a little harder.

Hmm...

cnh

Anyone?

I don't really know. The MSeries, which I own is clad in a vinyl wood imitation. Don't know if you can paint those or what effect that would have on the speaker.

Any of our 'seniors' have thoughts on this.

Good choice BTW, if you can find that CS2 consider it, one of the best centers even at its MSRP. Monitor 30's (TSI-100s) a really nice bookshelf. M50s a nice entry level set of Front towers. Get a GOOD sub and the lack of a big bottom end on those will never be noticed in a Home Theater set up.

Onkyo 706, can't go wrong there. HD-decoding, Pre-outs, video Upscaling and THX select2 plus. A lot of receiver for the money. Check out onecall.com and jr.com for new units at good prices. If you'd be willing to go with a 1 year warranty instead of the 2, and buy refurbs--done by Onkyo...check out Accessories4less.com and Onkyo's own site sometimes has a good price--although there hasn't been much there lately?

And yeah. Upgrade-itis. You get a 605 you think about the 800 series, you have that you consider the Onkyo 906, you have the 906 you start looking into extra amps for your pre-outs.

You have a Polk satellite system, you covet the Mseries/TSIseries. You have the Mseries you're thinking, what about some RTI-A9s as fronts and then the rest.

You have Rtis you start listening to the LSis? It never ends. Then there are the 2-5,000 dollar CD and Blu-ray players, and, and, and......

Your wife is right. Don't take too long. Because there is plenty of time to upgrade...you'll be doing it for the rest of you life, probably....

cnh

NewHTguy

Most people will never need/want more than the 606. However, most people who hang out in these forums will eventually want to upgrade. Call it passion or addiction or insanity. As I said above, I had a 605 and believe it and the 606 are great buys. But you can save yourself the hassle of needing/wanting to sell it in a year -- when you find that great deal on Rti's or LSi's that cannot be ignored -- by stretching to a 705/6. That was one of my mistakes early on. Of course, if you get a smoking deal on the 606, then you might be able to sell it at little or no loss to someone on CL.

CallingMrBenzo

i have the 606 and love it...but as many have said it does not have pre outs and for that reason im unhappy as my thirst for this hobby grows. i wish i had stepped up to the 705/706

comfortablycurt

One thing to keep in mind is that if you don't have the room to properly place speakers in a 7.1 setup, you're better off going with 5.1. It sounds like you might have some issues with placement of the surround back channels. Ideally they should be 2-3 feet behind the listening area. If you can't place them correctly, a 5.1 setup is going to sound much better. A properly placed 5.1 setup is going to beat the pants off an improperly placed 7.1 setup.

7.1 at this point doesn't even really make a huge difference. There are barely any titles that have even been released with a 7.1 soundtrack to date.

I use my receiver to convert all of the movies I watch to 7.1...and it does still sound good, but it's not a night and day difference.

jwalk40

Pair of Monitor 50's for $220 shipped... pull the trigger?

comfortablycurt

That's not a bad price. They have them for 99 bucks each at Amazon, but that's without shipping, which would probably tack on another 100 bucks.

Where are they from? Is it an authorized Polk dealer? Just know that if it's not, you won't have a warranty on them. That is a pretty good price though.

jwalk40

From Newegg.com, so authorized.

jwalk40

Update...

I bought the Onkyo 606 today. All of my new purchases should be trickling in over the next week. Hoping to make the big install next weekend. Still amazed by the great prices over at monoprice. They were out of a wall plate, so I thought maybe I could bite the bullet and grad it at Radio Shack. Or maybe not, as they wanted $18 for what monoprice charged $2 for. I could wait and ship it next day for cheaper.

Still haven't grabbed my rear surrounds. Debating between a pair of bookshelfs or two pairs of smaller satellites (RM series). About the same price seeing as I'd have to build/purchase stands for the bookshelf speakers.

Thanks for all the help I've gotten so far.

comfortablycurt

Sounds like you're putting together a pretty nice system. I think you'll be very happy with that 606. Let me know if you need any help setting it up or anything. I own the same receiver, and I'm really familiar with it. I've usually got a line open.;)

So did you decide to pull the trigger on those Monitor 50's?

One thing to keep in mind if you did, is that you'd ideally want the rear surrounds to be voice matched. I'd look at the Monitor 30's or Monitor 40's for surrounds myself. Some of the satellites would probably work as well, but it's not going to sound as good as a full voice matched setup.

Mike21

I'm really happy with my system:

Receiver: Onk 805

L&R: Polk M50s

Center: Polk CS2

Sides: Polk M40s

Rear: B&W LM1s (which I will someday replace with Polk M30s)

Sub: Sunfire True Subwoofer (original model, not the current inferior model).
Mike21

jwalk40

So I decided to go with the Monitor 30's for my side surrounds. I've been looking into the in-wall speakers because of my size restraints. I can go either in-wall or in-ceiling, but in-ceiling will save me a paint job (already white). I read that the RC series is timber matched to the Monitor series. Would a pair of RC60i's do the job for rear surrounds? And if so, am I better off placing them in wall or on the ceiling (it is slanted at that point)?

Edit: In-ceiling placement would have to be place closer together because of a skylight. In-wall could spread out more. Almost the difference between a THX and Dolby placement.

jwalk40

Nothing Curt?

comfortablycurt

Well, personally I prefer in-walls to in-ceilings...but either one would work. How far behind your sitting position would the speakers be located? It's important to make sure you have proper placement.

Yes, the RC series in-wall/ceiling speakers are timbre matched to the Monitor series speakers, so the RC60i's would do a good job.

How much of a slant is the back wall on? That could affect the performance of the speaker...the in ceilings are designed to be used in a straight up/down configuration, and I'm not sure how well they would perform on an angle like that. I'd write Polk and ask them, to make sure it's ok, or maybe someone else who knows will chip in here.

Personally though, I'd recommend the in-walls over the in-ceilings...but it's up to you.