Best sounding receiver <250$ ?

ViperZ · November 2009

Older Denon (say 3803) and Marantz (7500?).

rdb2001 · November 2009

My vote is for the HK 254. I used one as a pre/pro and for its features and pricepoint on their ebay store, I dont think you will find a better receiver. Nice warm sound. The only reason I sold it, was because I want to see what the pioneer elite hype is all about. It served me well though.

cnh · November 2009

TNTsTunes wrote: »

I have a 8.1 Yamaha RS-V3000 I use and love it. It doesn't have HDMI ports but does have optical inputs. I love the 8 channel Stereo mode for music. It had a $1999.00 list price when new.

I also have a Yamaha 7.2 DSP-3090 that is a great reciever. It doesn't have HDMI ports but does have optical inputs. This has mono and stereo sub outputs. It had a $2499.00 list price when new.

I sold my Yamaha RS-V870 5.1 recently and miss it. It was an old analog 5.1 design but had such a great warm full sound. I should have kept it, but I wanted the optical inputs the other units use.

Good quality used units are a bargain and blow any new ones out of the water for way less money.

Either can be bought for less then $250.00 used.

Can't disagree there...but those are pretty old AVRs....the price of a similar Yamaha that's only a few years old will probably hold at 4-500 dollars or more...my 2 year old Denon STILL SELLS FOR 550???? And that's only an 1100 New.....some AVRs depreciate less than others....Denons are one, for example. And there have been 'improvements' in surround processing in AVRs in recent years....NEW chip sets that are cleaner and faster, new processing. etc.

Old gear still has good power but it's better for 2 channel more so than HT where you do need to stay fairly current.

cnh

TNTsTunes · November 2009

cnh wrote: »

Can't disagree there...but those are pretty old AVRs....the price of a similar Yamaha that's only a few years old will probably hold at 4-500 dollars or more...my 2 year old Denon STILL SELLS FOR 550???? And that's only an 1100 New.....some AVRs depreciate less than others....Denons are one, for example. And there have been 'improvements' in surround processing in AVRs in recent years....NEW chip sets that are cleaner and faster, new processing. etc.

Old gear still has good power but it's better for 2 channel more so than HT where you do need to stay fairly current.

cnh

The RS-V3000 and the DSP-3090 both were top of the line models and still hold there own against a ton of new AVR's.

They both have 4 ohm stable amps and many sweet soundfields.

I like having the rear center channel the RS-V3000 has, it has a great 8 channel stereo soundfield also. For music the 8 channel surround is much nicer the a 2 channel rig IMO. I do run seperate amps with it to give my SDA's more Kick.

The DSP-3090 is nice because it has even more soundfields and a better chip (but lacks the 8 channel surround effect) and has stereo subwoofer outputs.

LandShark · November 2009

http://shoponkyo.com/detail.cfm?productid=TX-SR307&modelid=40&group_id=1&detail=3

domflane · November 2009

If you're looking to save money, be patient and start looking around. Just make sure the AVR you decide on has enough inputs for all your sources and preouts for future expansion. I vote for the HK as well, they offer a lot of features for the price and are pretty powerful considering their wattage ratings. I found my AVR354 as a floor model and got it for $280 with an extended warranty, so the deals are out there . . .

RutgersFTW · November 2009

I'll throw the Panasonic SA-BX500 class-D receiver into the ring. It can be found for $250, has 3 HDMI ins and decodes all the formats etc... it's quite powerful and nice.

steveinaz · November 2009

Be sure to check http://www.audioadvisor.com as they have a few NAD AVR's at crazy low sale prices lately. Probably worth stretching the budget just a bit further...Check their "Clearance" items pages.

Best sounding receiver <250$ ?

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