Receiver selection help

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holeinone
holeinone Posts: 3
edited February 2008 in Electronics
I have a newbie question.
i just bought a set of monitor speakers and need help picking a receiver. I bought a yamaha rx-661 with them, but it seems to be awfully bright sounding. Any ideas in the $500 range that may not sound so bright?
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  • holeinone
    holeinone Posts: 3
    edited February 2008
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  • andrew_mac
    andrew_mac Posts: 95
    edited February 2008
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    holeinone wrote: »
    I have a newbie question.
    i just bought a set of monitor speakers and need help picking a receiver. I bought a yamaha rx-661 with them, but it seems to be awfully bright sounding. Any ideas in the $500 range that may not sound so bright?

    I have a Yamaha as well and it is bright and under powered. Can't wait to upgrade!
    If HDMI switching is not a concern look at the HK 147 and 247 - Nice warm receiver.
    If HDMI switching is a concern look at the Pioneer elite - Also warm sounding, but they may be out of the $500 price range.
    Front - RtiA5's
    Surround - RtiA1's
    Center - CsiA6
    Sub - Velodyne DPS12
    B&K Ref 50 Pre
    Amp - B&K AV5000 II
    Ben's Silver IC's
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  • Rike255
    Rike255 Posts: 131
    edited February 2008
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    Onkyo 605 or 705 would be perfect for you. The 705 may be a bit higher then what you want to spend but it's well worth it. Shop around and you can find some excellent prices on both models.
    Polk Audio RTi8 Fronts
    Polk Audio CSi A6 Center
    Polk Audio RTi A3 Surrounds
    Polk Audio PSW505 Subwoofer
    Onkyo TX-SR805
    Sony Bravia V5100 46"
    Sony Playstation 3 160GB
    Sony Playstation 3 120GB Slim
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  • daboyz
    daboyz Posts: 5,207
    edited February 2008
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    If you don't mind refurbs you can get a great deal on HK's on ebay from Harmon Direct.
    Is that 635 still up for grabs in the FM? Great deal for the price.
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  • lakesailor
    lakesailor Posts: 319
    edited February 2008
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    andrew_mac wrote: »
    I have a Yamaha as well and it is bright and under powered. Can't wait to upgrade!
    If HDMI switching is not a concern look at the HK 147 and 247 - Nice warm receiver.
    If HDMI switching is a concern look at the Pioneer elite - Also warm sounding, but they may be out of the $500 price range.


    Good suggestions. The H/K’s are about the only entry level AVR’s that offer true hi-current amplification. If I recall correctly either of these models can put out 25 amps of instantaneous high current when needed. This is great for home theatre given the huge peaks you can run into with some of the movies on the market these days. Also good if you run a gaming system as well.

    About the only downside to the H/K’s is that they have few other frills, but they are good looking. If you don’t care about the HDMI I would look for the AVR 144 at one of the online discount houses. I saw one a few weeks back for under $ 250. That is just stupid good sound for that price.
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  • holeinone
    holeinone Posts: 3
    edited February 2008
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    Thanks everyone. So the H/K and Onkyo will not be as shrill sounding with voices? That is my main problem with the yamaha is that it hurts my ears.
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  • lakesailor
    lakesailor Posts: 319
    edited February 2008
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    I have found that Yamaha’s can at times sound a tad on the mechanical side as well; in my books for the money you cannot beat the sound quality of the H/K AVR’s. You can get way more features for the money but I think sound quality they are solid. They also have the Logic 7 circuit onboard that was originally developed by Lexicon. You don’t normally find Lexicon technology at this price point.

    Your best bet is to go and demo one but do your self a favor and really crank it up loud during a challenging movie sequence and you will be amazed at how stable these things are. One thing I really like about mine compared to my Pioneer Elite is that often during movie playback with the Elite I find I am constantly having to adjust the volume; with the H/K AVR’s it is rock solid all movie long. They make a nice sounding unit.
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  • Shmenan101
    Shmenan101 Posts: 5
    edited February 2008
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    While it may be older, my HK AVR135 sounds great but i might look for an HK with a little more wattage
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  • chadjessie@hotm
    chadjessie@hotm Posts: 101
    edited February 2008
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    I went the Harman Direct route when I was looking. Ended up with the HK645. Nice avr. Plenty of power. Nice warmer sound, compared to some others, such as Yamaha. Should be able to get for around 500 too.
    Silversmoky
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  • LuSh
    LuSh Posts: 887
    edited February 2008
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    When using the optimizer microphone with the likes of Pioneer, Yamaha and Denon I've found all the mentioned receivers warmer sounding then HK. I suspect that many people who find Pioneer and Yamaha bright haven't setup their system properly; those parametric EQ's seem to really work.
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  • lakesailor
    lakesailor Posts: 319
    edited February 2008
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    LuSh wrote: »
    When using the optimizer microphone with the likes of Pioneer, Yamaha and Denon I've found all the mentioned receivers warmer sounding then HK. I suspect that many people who find Pioneer and Yamaha bright haven't setup their system properly; those parametric EQ's seem to really work.


    I have both a Pioneer Elite and the H/K AVR 645 and while I don’t have any issues with the sound quality of the Elite I would take the H/K over it any day; especially for HT.

    I will say that the Elite is by far the easier of the two to setup properly. Pioneer is first rate when it comes to the auto.cal abilities.
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