New receiver

Kresto

Hey there gang, gonna put this out to all you guys that know 100x more than me about this stuff

I finally got all my speakers (for now anyways) and I'm looking to get a newer more up to date receiver to round things out.
I currently have an older Yamaha RXV-2400, I got from a friend who upgraded to some top of the line reciever that costs about as much as my car. I didn't pay for it, he just gave it to me so I cant complain to this point.

The particulars:
My living room is 12x16 (give or take) I have my plasma TV, DVD player (getting BluRay next) and audio equip all on one wall.

My speakers are as follows:
Fronts - TSi200's
Center - CS10
Rears - TSi100's
Sub - PSW110

I want to be able to watch DVD's/Bru-Ray in surround, listen to music (mainly) old school rock, some country and jazz.
I don't need to blow the windows out of my house or throw a rave. I'd just like to have plenty of power on tap to listen to clean not underpowered music. Again, I'm not throwing a concert, but would like to sometimes turn it up a tad and really "feel" the music.

I've looked at the Onkyo's, Yamaha's, Sony's and some Pioneers. I have seen them priced at a comfortable $500 to I gotta take a second on the house to get one price.
I'd like to be able to get something around $600 to $800, now I know that wouldn't even buy the volume knob on some of the models you guys may have, but I only got so much money to play with.

I'm open to any help I can get, I just don't wanna plop down $600 for a receiver only to have someone tell me I should have gotten receiver "XYZ" for $100 more because it comes with this, this and this which yours doesn't have:(

Thanks in advance fellas

wutadumsn23

Well seems like you have done some legwork already so that is a plus. Me personally, I would recommend an Onkyo somwhere in the range of the TX-SR7XX series or higher so you will have the option of adding an external amp down the road, due to the fact that it will have the needed pre outs. Examples would be, but not limited to, the TX-SR 707, 806, 876 etc. Also, I have heard good things about the Pioneer Elites, but they tend to be a bit pricey, but you can sometimes get lucky on the used market. The SC-05/07 are solid options, but out of your $800 budget. Don't forget to look at Denon and H/K as well, they are good options as well. Good luck and I'm sure you will get more options soon.

-Jeff

cnh

+1 an Onkyo 707 is in your price range...so is the Pioneer Elite vsx21....both are good HT receivers with nice feature sets....but you should listen to them because they do sound different. See what you prefer...

Another good choice would be the Marantz 5003/5004 which is a more 'musical' AVR...

And not all of us are Diamond Jims! I bought my 1000 dollar+ AVR refurbed for about $424.00 (FREE SHIPPING--no tax). My 1500 dollar power amp cost me $300! My $500 dollar DVD/CD changer $88. And so on...you get the picture. A lot of us buy on the used market that way we can get better equipment than we could normally afford!

cnh

wutadumsn23

+1 C, good point on getting stuff on the used market. I have yet to score any good deals myself, but have seen plenty I couldn't pull the trigger on. CL and Epray can be goldmines if you do a little research and are patient. I bought all my speakers at CC that were clearanced and floor models to boot (except my sub and surrounds) 10 year warranty on them and they were in great shape considering all the poking and prodding they had surely endured. My AVR was brand new when I bought it, and I made a great choice, IMHO. Used can be the way to go, if you can get a look at it before you buy and make sure it is working like it should be. Happy shopping.

-Jeff

jimmydep

We all start somewhere, Buying used is not a bad thing, you get much more for your money, That said I have the Yamaha RX-v665, it's very good as a pre-pro but I wouldn't use it to drive my speakers. Look at the 765 if you like the Yamaha, or better yet one of the Pioneer Elite's.
Whatever you decide, try to get an AVR with Pre-outs, so when you're ready for separates upgrading will be a snap.

Welcome to the Best Club on the net.

Jimmy

Hillbilly61

+1 all of the above comments.

I have the Yamaha RX-V663 and have been very happy with it for HT. They are starting to show up on the used market at very good prices. The coin you've budgeted will allow you to get a better grade rig with some careful shopping. As others have said here used is a good route to go.

AVSforum.com is a good place to do some in depth research. They have dedicated threads for some of the brands and even specific models mentioned here.

If you go the used route or new, be doubly sure to get one with pre-outs, as a 2nd amp will add punch to your mains & off load the power handling of the HT rig to deal with the other speakers alone. Many HT amps are rated at a given power, but divide that power among the speakers hooked into them. So augmenting that power with a 2nd amp via pre-outs to drive the mains may be a definite long term option you want to preserve.

One thing to be careful about in the used market is to make sure the unit has HDMI ins and outs. Many very good older HT amps do not have this feature, leaving you with 480p resolution. Something you don't want since you have a BD player.

cstmar01

I would recommend the Pio Elites, if you could the SC-05 or SC-25 are very good. I had the RXV-663 and found I didn't care for its amp section or video upconversion. Also it does only have two HDMI imputs, soo if you have more than two sources with HDMI as I did then you would have to get a switch box ect. However not expensive, I just found it more annoying but thats just me.

I picked up my SC-05 for 799.99 new in the box at a dealer around in 01/10. It came with full warranty and everything. According to Pioneer there are still some floating out there and some dealers were able to get a few and still sell them, however they do not know what dealers have them.
So you could possibly look around for one of these to pop up. I think the amp section is very good, and provides more than enough to shake my place at a medium level. The video section was an improvement and it was working pretty well for 2 channel music.
Also you can find these used every now and then. Check out videogon.com under 7 channel recievers and sometimes they'll be under there. There is also a place that is selling a SC-25 (its the newer SC-05 pretty much the same features for the most part) for 950.00 I think. So otherwise that could be a option if you wanted to save a bit more and pick one of these up.

Otherwise the 21's are pretty good and normally you can get them for a bit less around 500-700 range. and I think they have pre outs which is good to have. However I don't think they have the ICE amps which I like in the higher elites but if you can get your ears on one, try it out and see if you like it.

PS I don't have Onkyo or dennon experience but some of the other guys can tell you about those.

Kresto

Thanks fellas, this is all great info!! I'm still looking, trying to work all my angles and not get set on any one thing.
Again, thank you for your insight and honest contribution.

dvran

+1 on the Onkyo 707. It has pre-outs so it's future proof.

I have the 607 and think its a great receiver for the money, it does excellent video up-scaling on my plasma. Standard def DVDs look almost as good as Blueray's through this thing. The Audyssey sound setup makes it easy to setup the perfect sounding system in any room too.