AVR needed for $500

craigpsu
craigpsu Posts: 106
edited February 2009 in Electronics
I am helping out someone and they want me to find the best AVR for $500 to drive a 5.1 Home theater consisting of VM20s (LCR) and VM10s (surround). What is the best bang for the buck in that price range? They have a blu ray player and it will be mostly used for movies/TV/Wii/ipod. Any recommendations on what is the best one to drive these for 500. I have been looking mostly at Onkyo and Yamaha but am open to suggetions. Thanks
LSi15s, LSiC, LSiFX, LC80F/X, microPro 4000, Pioneer Elite SC-07, XPA-2, XPA-5, PS3
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  • Marty913
    Marty913 Posts: 760
    edited February 2009
    craigpsu wrote: »
    I have been looking mostly at Onkyo and Yamaha but am open to suggetions. Thanks

    Look at the Pioneer 1018. I test drove one for a week and was pretty impressed (for the money anyway). I think the lower-priced Yamaha is under-powered. The Onkyo has a lot of fans on here. Some models seem to have heat related issues so you might want to follow up on that. Almost every Onkyo has a thread over at AVS.

    I'm sure you'll get at least 50 suggestions and a couple of verbal fist fights. I don't own any of the three brands but did test the Pioneer.
    Sony 60'' SXRD 1080p
    Amp = Carver AV-705THX 5-Channel
    Processor = NAD T747
    Panasonic BD35 Blu-Ray
    Main = SDA-1C Studio with RD0s, spikes, XO rebuild, rings, I/C upgrade
    Center=Polk CS10, Surround = Athena Dipoles, Sub= Boston 12HO
    Music/Video Streaming = Netgear NEO550
    TT = Audio Technica
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  • Conradicles
    Conradicles Posts: 6,195
    edited February 2009
    On that note, the Pioneer 1019 is getting ready to come out very soon and is supposed to be cheaper than last years model and have an extra HDMI input among a few other additions.
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  • craigpsu
    craigpsu Posts: 106
    edited February 2009
    Thanks for the help, I was going to look at Pioneer but I was not very familiar with their regular line. I have listened to and researched the Elites and have not gotten into their lower end equipment. I think I am going to make one of the Elite's my preamp, but they are out of my friend's price range.
    LSi15s, LSiC, LSiFX, LC80F/X, microPro 4000, Pioneer Elite SC-07, XPA-2, XPA-5, PS3
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