# Receiver Suggestions..



## Hometheatrguru12 (Apr 1, 2012)

Hey Ya'll,
My Family is looking to modify a room in our house to be a media/Home theater room.....
we are still in the planning stages and i want to get as much input as possible on the best bang for the buck.

Im wanting suggestions on AV Receivers that give a close to theater feel....
been noticing the Onkyo's and was wondering if anyone has a breakdown of what receivers (any brand) are good and what are bad.

trying to make this project as low on the cost as i possibly can. :spend: :bigsmile:

Thanks in Advance!


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Hi, without a budget its hard to say but Onkyo offers alot of bang for buck, Dont forget that speakers are very important as well as a good sub if you want the true Big theater sound.


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## Hometheatrguru12 (Apr 1, 2012)

Agreed!  im aiming to stay inside $500 for the receiver, and the same for speakers...


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

$500 for a receiver is a good level however to get 5 good speakers and a sub for $500 is going to be near impossible. What I recommend for a receiver is this Onkyo 709 and I would then simply start with buying two main speakers and a sub for the $500 do you have any speakers kicking around that you can temporarily use for the surround channels?


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## Hometheatrguru12 (Apr 1, 2012)

looks like a contender! and THX to boot  more like 500 for the speakers and additionally im looking at a polk 12" sub for i think 150


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

have you considered this package? although my preference would be to put all $500 towards front towers. How big is your room?


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## yoda13 (Feb 14, 2012)

If your're budget is fix and you're not planning to add anytime soon, I would go for the first 3 items on this page. and this sub.

Of course, performance would be related on how big (cubic feet) your room is, among others.


cheers


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## fschris (Oct 31, 2009)

don't be afraid to buy used gear from ebay, the emotive lounge etc.... you can get some high quality stuff and save a bundle. especially lets say you just need some in expensive surrounds. find those on ebay.

most speakers you buy in bestbuy will just be total garbage. even what they consider 'higher end'. check out some of the speaker only companies here that are sponsors. they will offer good advice. if you have any "DIY' spirit in speaker building your reward is vast.

also check out accessories4less... a good place to get some refurb gear that still has a warranty.


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## Hometheatrguru12 (Apr 1, 2012)

the room is About 10X15.

how are the Dayton subs compared to Polk?

those sites and craigslist


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Thats a fairly big room so a decent sized sub and main left and right speakers are going to be a must have.


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## Hometheatrguru12 (Apr 1, 2012)

10ft by 15 ft is considered big? it feels so small


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

for small speakers it is (1200 cubic feet), you need something thats going to fill the space and a 10" sub is not going to do that very well.


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## Hometheatrguru12 (Apr 1, 2012)

gotcha! would a 12 inch sub do the job? or two 10's? any recommendations on speakers for my room?


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## smurphy522 (Sep 21, 2010)

Currently Newegg has a great sale going on the Onkyo 616 series AVR ($350 shipped). Probably more than enough for you room assuming you do a decent powered subwoofer. Link here. Use coupon code: "EMCJNJB26"to get an additional $40 off until 10/20/2012

Speaker wise well that's another story. Best to listen to a few options at Best Buy and local Hi-Fi shops. At least you get an idea of differences in price/model/manuf. Speakers are the most important part of this investment. If you get a $200 speaker system and connect them to a $3000 flagship AVR you'll be limited to the $200 speaker sound. That's a pretty simple analogy.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Are you looking for towers or bookshelf speakers? Two 10" subs would give you a much more smooth bass response in the room. 
I know this will go well over budget but this speaker and sub package from SVsound would sound better than anything you can get in that price range
If thats to much get these JBLs and this JBL centre and your good to go for your fronts sound stage.


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## chashint (Jan 12, 2011)

yoda13 said:


> If your're budget is fix and you're not planning to add anytime soon, I would go for the first 3 items on this page. and this sub.
> Of course, performance would be related on how big (cubic feet) your room is, among others.
> cheers


On your budget I like the Pioneer speakers and Dayton sub.
I don't think 10x15 is a very big room at all and I think a single 12" sub will be fine.
Even though you cannot achieve thundering theater sound on your budget you can get a pretty decent sounding setup. 
You could even go with four bookshelf speakers, a center, and a sub (overall this is not much different that what yoda suggested).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882290130&name=Home-Audio-Speakers
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882117404&name=Home-Audio-Speakers
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882117406&name=Home-Audio-Speakers
This is a good inexpensive AVR and will help keep you on budget, the money put into speakers and a subwoofer is going to be much more noticeable than the money in the AVR. 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882117410&name=Receivers


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## Hometheatrguru12 (Apr 1, 2012)

chashint: How about your speaker suggestions with murphys Onkyo 616 setup?


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

I will point out that the Pioneer weighs only 20lbs the Onkyo 616 weighs 24lbs and the Onkyo 709 is 27lbs The weight is a very good indication of how strong the amplification section is truly going to be. The 709 is a fair bit more than the rest and no matter how you slice it the biggest failure in most receivers is the power supply not being able to meet the demands, Do Not go just by the specified watts output.


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## chashint (Jan 12, 2011)

I really don't know to much about the Onkyo AVRs but I really do not see any issue with the Pioneer speakers and any AVR.
When keeping the budget under control is a primary consideration I will save money on the AVR every time vs saving it on the speakers.
I pitched the Pioneer VSX-1022-K out there because it is inexpensive, has lots of features, and does not have any known reliability issues. 
I am really not brand loyal at all when it comes to this type of stuff and I think Onkyo, Denon, Pioneer, Yamaha, Marantz, HK all make a nice product. The notion that any brand is overall superior to the others is IMO rather silly.
I know its $1200 vs $1K but if you are near a Fry's I would take a serious look at this package deal they are running this week, Yamaha AVR and Klipsch entry level Reference Series speakers.
IMO this is a significant step up from the Pioneer speakers and the Yamaha AVR will get the job done in fine style.
http://www.frys.com/ads/page6 
http://www.frys.com/product/7331924?site=sa:adpages page6_FRI date:101912


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## Hometheatrguru12 (Apr 1, 2012)

gotcha! i am thinking.... i have a yamaha RX-V463 receiver.... any input on this model??


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## chashint (Jan 12, 2011)

Hometheatrguru12 said:


> gotcha! i am thinking.... i have a yamaha RX-V463 receiver.... any input on this model??


The biggest issue I see with this AVR is it only has two HDMI inputs.
This may or may not be an issue for you.
Otherwise it is fine, plenty of power for the room it will be in (not many AVRs spec anything at 4 ohms much less 2 ohms these days), it has a version of YPAO so it is easy to setup, and it does not do any video processing (in my opinion the TV can do its own video processing).
A PS3 can do games, Blu-Ray, Netflix, music streaming, and more so one HDMI can do a lot, and the cable/satellite can have the other HDMI.
Many TV's have built in streaming services too so that is another option to get streaming services.
But if you need more than two HDMI inputs (I need more) then you need a new AVR.

There have been many debates on this subject and I am sure there will be many more, but if you take several AVR's and turn off all the calibration and other sound processing I think there is little chance that you could tell any of them apart from one another when connected to the same source and speakers.
The soundfield calibrations are very different though and there are staunch fans of the various types.
Bottom line in my opinion is for sound quality you may or may not benefit by swapping out the AVR.

OK why go through all that ??
Well if the AVR has enough HDMI connections for you then you have $1000 for a speaker budget instead of $500 and you will most certainly hear a difference between $500 speakers and $1000 speakers.


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## Hometheatrguru12 (Apr 1, 2012)

im good with two hdmi inputs. i usually have my player go to tv then the tv audio out to the reciever 

sweet! now for some suggestions for speakers keeping price range 500-700 for all speakers/sub ( i want good stuff! but im not the person to just spend 1000 dollars in speakers


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

For a great system right now this MartinLogan 5.1 system would be very good.


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## Hometheatrguru12 (Apr 1, 2012)

ive never heard of that brand /:-/ where do those stand in the name brand line up?


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## Dale Rasco (Apr 11, 2009)

Martin Logan are a highly respected name in home theater. What brands are you familiar with?


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## chashint (Jan 12, 2011)

Hometheatrguru12 said:


> im good with two hdmi inputs. i usually have my player go to tv then the tv audio out to the reciever
> 
> sweet! now for some suggestions for speakers keeping price range 500-700 for all speakers/sub ( i want good stuff! but im not the person to just spend 1000 dollars in speakers


Connecting the equipment that way will work, however it will not produce surround sound (at least it won't on a Samsung TV).
To get the good audio you really do need to connect the BD player to the AVR and the AVR to the TV.
You can also get the good audio by using HDMI to the TV and connecting the audio from the BD player to the AVR with optical (or coaxial).

BTW when you start allowing $1k for 5 speakers and a sub you are starting to get into some pretty good stuff, if you were willing to do $1k for AVR and speakers I would really encourage you to allow the full amount for speakers and a sub.


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## chashint (Jan 12, 2011)

Here are several sets that get good reviews, use TV15 code in the shopping cart for 15% discount
http://www.sounddistributors.com/bu...rid=127&crid=63&cat_name=Home+Theater+Systems

http://www.sounddistributors.com/bu...rid=199&crid=63&cat_name=Home+Theater+Systems

http://www.sounddistributors.com/bu...rid=709&crid=63&cat_name=Home+Theater+Systems

tonyvdb gave out this link earlier http://www.svsound.com/systems/sbs-02-sb12#.UIAsI2d2FdI these speakers get really good reviews and the sub that is part of that package is a cut above the ones in the other packages

At $600 the Martin Logan package is good too


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## 3dbinCanada (Sep 13, 2012)

I don't understand why people suggest paying equal amounts for both speakers and AVR when speakers clearly make up 98 percent of what you hear when combined with the room acoustics. It would make more sense to put more money into the speakers than the AVR. However I do understand budgets and putting $750 doesn't leave much left over for the receiver. 

I would seriously look at Pioneer speakers designed by Andrew Jones. They simply cannot be beat for the ridiculous price that they are going for. Here's a review by CNET

http://reviews.cnet.com/surround-speaker-systems/pioneer-sp-pk52fs/4505-7868_7-35477425.html

and a thread in Audioholics
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/loudspeakers/81868-pioneer-andrew-jones-sp-pk52fs-review.html


I'm not a huge fan of Onkyo as they have been having lots of quality problems with many heat related failures due to improper thermal analysis. They offer a lot of features and are a good sounding receiver but their quality is spotty. 

I would look at Yamaha, Denon, or Marantz models.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

3dbinCanada said:


> I'm not a huge fan of Onkyo as they have been having lots of quality problems with many heat related failures due to improper thermal analysis. They offer a lot of features and are a good sounding receiver but their quality is spotty.


Here we go again, this is simply not true. If that was the case then I along with many others here who own Onkyo would not be proud owners of Onkyo. Yes they do get warm but what do you expect from a receiver that actually lives up to its specifications when it comes to actual output all channels driven. Every Onkyo ever bench tested has done far better than any other manufacturer.
I personally own an Onkyo 805 and have NEVER had it get so warm that it concerns me nore has anyone ever proven that they ever caught fire as the reports have said.

There was an issue with a faulty ribbon cable used in one series of receiver and another issue with a bad board (Onkyo did recalls for both problems) but no heat related issues.


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## 3dbinCanada (Sep 13, 2012)

tonyvdb said:


> Here we go again, this is simply not true. If that was the case then I along with many others here who own Onkyo would not be proud owners of Onkyo. Yes they do get warm but what do you expect from a receiver that actually lives up to its specifications when it comes to actual output all channels driven. Every Onkyo ever bench tested has done far better than any other manufacturer.
> I personally own an Onkyo 805 and have NEVER had it get so warm that it concerns me nore has anyone ever proven that they ever caught fire as the reports have said.
> 
> There was an issue with a faulty ribbon cable used in one series of receiver and another issue with a bad board (Onkyo did recalls for both problems) but no heat related issues.


I'm not slamming Onkyo but I have observed repeated HDMI card failures due to heat issues. This is a fact. I never heard about the bursting into flames thing. I would not believe that one either. I am however very happy for you that Your Onkyo remains trouble free. They do offer a lot bang for the buck in terms of features and good powerful amplification.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Just be careful, when you make statements like "having lots of quality problems" as thats not a fact. The thing is most people who make comments like that dont look at the shear numbers that Onkyo sells. I dont know the true numbers but its close to double what other receiver companies sell so there will inevitably be more problems. Every manufacturer has flaws not just Onkyo.


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## Hometheatrguru12 (Apr 1, 2012)

i like the pioneer package! just think it needs a bigger woofer :/


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## Hometheatrguru12 (Apr 1, 2012)

how would my sony SA-W2500 work with the pioneer package?


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## fschris (Oct 31, 2009)

Hometheatrguru12 said:


> Hey Ya'll,
> My Family is looking to modify a room in our house to be a media/Home theater room.....
> we are still in the planning stages and i want to get as much input as possible on the best bang for the buck.
> 
> ...


in case you are still trying to find something
http://www.woot.com/?variation=1&utm_expid=31924516-5

Pioneer VSX-1022-K 7.1-Channel 3D Ready 249.99


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## yoda13 (Feb 14, 2012)

fschris said:


> in case you are still trying to find something
> http://www.woot.com/?variation=1&utm_expid=31924516-5
> 
> Pioneer VSX-1022-K 7.1-Channel 3D Ready 249.99


wow, I don't think there's any better deal then this out there right now.


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