Help Picking a Receiver

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Kill_It
Kill_It Posts: 4
edited February 2008 in Electronics
Hi, I'm trying to setup a home theater for my parents.

They got a Samsung 46" 4665 LCD with a upcoverting Pioneer DVD (1080P) for Christmas, they have Dishnetwork HD, they think the TV sounds great but i'm working them over slowly to get them to make an upgrade.

I have a pair of Polk RT-10 Mains along with 2 Atlantic Technology 154SR surrounds that i used in my old home theater.

I'm going to gift those to them, I'm searching for a matching center channel on ebay, seems like the cs-250s would be the best match, not sure how much difference it would make if it wasn't exactly that model.

I'm on a very limited budget for this setup, so i'm not going to be using a subwoofer, the RT-10's base response is pretty damn good already. So basically i'm shooting for a 5 speaker setup no subwoofer.

Question # 1

Will this setup be compatible with Dolby 5.1 and DTS ? If you don't hook up a sub to the receiver does it automatically send the base to the left and right speakers ?

Question # 2

I was looking at the base Denon receiver, would this be a good choice?

It would nice to have full audio/video HDMI pass through, but i figured i can just hook the DVD and Satellite box up with Digital Audio Cables and that will do the trick just fine. The DVD and Sat Box are hooked up with HDMI To the TV right now.

So i'm shooting for a 5 channel surround setup on a VERY low budget, Do you think i have it planned out well ? Any suggested changes staying in my budget ($300ish)

Thanks for your help.
Post edited by Kill_It on
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  • Kill_It
    Kill_It Posts: 4
    edited January 2008
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    would this be a good choice if i really wanted to go low cost?

    Onkyo TX-SR304 Receiver

    http://electronics.pricegrabber.com/home-audio-receivers/m/37212762/search=TX-SR304/st=product/sv=title/sort_type=bottomline

    looks like going up to the TX-SR505 would be a major upgrade over that one.

    http://electronics.pricegrabber.com/home-audio-receivers/m/36290961/search=TX-SR505/st=product/sv=title/sort_type=bottomline

    I was also looking at this one but its significantly more, and i'm not sure its really worth it for their situation Denon - AVR-588

    http://electronics.pricegrabber.com/home-audio-receivers/m/52873358/search=AVR-588/sort_type=bottomline
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  • Dennis Gardner
    Dennis Gardner Posts: 4,861
    edited January 2008
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    Any of those receivers will work. Just realize that digital LFE (bass) is very different from the type of bass you get on music CDs. It is much lower in frequency and demanding on the best tower speakers.

    I know this is for your parents and they may not think they need the sub, but you should try to borrow/demo one just to be sure. Having a powered sub can also take alot of stress/strain off from your receiver's main/surround amplifier channels and allow only mids and highs to be run through them making them sound cleaner.
    HT Optoma HD25 LV on 80" DIY Screen, Anthem MRX 300 Receiver, Pioneer Elite BDP 51FD Polk CS350LS, Polk SDA1C, Polk FX300, Polk RT55, Dual EBS Adire Shiva 320watt tuned to 17hz, ICs-DIY Twisted Prs, Speaker-Raymond Cable

    2 Channel Thorens TD 318 Grado ZF1, SACD/CD Marantz 8260, Soundstream/Krell DAC1, Audio Mirror PP1, Odyssey Stratos, ADS L-1290, ICs-DIY Twisted , Speaker-Raymond Cable
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  • Braddles
    Braddles Posts: 228
    edited January 2008
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    I have a new Cambridge Audio 640R A/V and just love it. One of the few receivers that sound as good with music as it does with movies. Check out their wesite www.cambridgeaudio.com and check out all the great reviews the 640R has got.
    They have released some new smaller A/V's this year if the dollars are a bit tight.
    2 Channel
    Amp - Jas Audio Bravo 3.2 set
    Power Cord - Tunami GPX
    CDP - Marantz cd6002 - Audio gd Ref 5 Dac
    Speakers - Tekton Lore,Polk Audio RTA11tl completely refreshed.
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  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 33,077
    edited January 2008
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    Get a receiver that has pre outs and get them a sub,you can pick up a new psw10 for a 100 bucks.You do want your parents to like you don'tcha?
    HT SYSTEM-
    Sony 850c 4k
    Pioneer elite vhx 21
    Sony 4k BRP
    SVS SB-2000
    Polk Sig. 20's
    Polk FX500 surrounds

    Cables-
    Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
    Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
    Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
    Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable

    Kitchen

    Sonos zp90
    Grant Fidelity tube dac
    B&k 1420
    lsi 9's
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  • Kill_It
    Kill_It Posts: 4
    edited February 2008
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    update

    I got an Onkyo SR-304 , setup my rt10's, atlantic surrounds, and picked up a Polk CS1 for the center, sounds great, frankly there is no need for a sub for their use. And you might be suprised how much low frequency work the rt10's can actually do. Setup sounds great and i'm extremely happy with it as are they. We watched "Hunt for Red October" in 5.1 DTS, so sweet .....

    Thanks for your help PEACE !
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  • mrbigbluelight
    mrbigbluelight Posts: 9,878
    edited February 2008
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    Pretty cool doing that for your parents, btw.

    Hang around some, Kill_It, and be sure to do some posting.

    :)
    Sal Palooza
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