Why does picking a receiver have to be so frustrating?

[Montague22]

Well it is pretty obvious what do about speakers around here. Thank god for that. But to me the receiver is the most frustrationg thing to find. I guess it is better to state which one is the harder question. I know that it is for Movie/Music purposes only. I am not going to hook up a computer or do streaming radio or what ever you call it. Nor do I need it to be a network reciever. I like Denon, Marantz, Sony ES. Had a yamaha RX-V1000 and had some issues with it. Don't really know about their new stuff. I want to spend around 750.00 to 1000.00. They all claim to be the shiznit with this and that. But recievers also compliment the speakers too. What do you recommend for a RF-63/64 front or RF-82/62 front?

Brown

P.S. Professor Thump, What really makes these speakers come to life? What would you recommend?

[Bill H.]

I use CNet reviews and Crutchfield.com for good info.................

[mness4]

I'm in exactly the same boat right now. I know I want Klipsch (old school in my case). As for the receiver, I'm only concerned about (a) having enough power to drive my KG5.5, KG4, KG1, and KG3.5 surround system, and ( being about to autocalibrate. I didn't even care about HDMI until a recent thread convinced me it's probably better to get a newer receiver (Denon AVR 1910 or 2310CI) rather than an older Denon AVR 5800. Although the 5800 was much more powerful, the autocal and HDMI on the newer models tipped the scale.

However, the best advice I was given was that the choice of receiver only minimally impacts your final experience. A much bigger role is played by the acoustics of your room. A mid-range system will sound much better than a multi-thousand dollar system if the former has proper acoustical room treatments and the latter doesn't (see www.ethanwiner.com/acoustics.html#part2). Very interesting stuff...I hope to incorporate some of it into my design.

Mike

[Bob Foss]

Montague22: I am fairly new at this also, but I did have Klipsch's 30 years ago. My discussions with audio people here in Las Vegas and online with CNET tell me that some receivers do better than others. I have heard about the Yahama's being too bright for Klipsch (which is a bright, crisp speaker anyway), but I am going to get the Denon 2310 because, according to CNET's tests, the Denon was the best at converting video signals to 1080p, though it was just average for music. I am not going to listen to much music in my Home Theatre system, but I will watch movies, so that feature is important to me; that is, of course, if I run my TV from the receiver, which I probably will. CNET says some receivers get too hot, like Onkyo, but no receiver is perfect. To me, the fact that the Denon will help my TV picture and does not get hot, and has good reliability, means the most to me. You mentioned Marantz and Sony. I've heard only good things about Marantz, but no so much with Sony, even though I have their XBR9 52" TV. Good luck.

[mness4]

I've heard many of the same comments, except for Denon being average wrt music. But so much of that depends on your room that I will be focusing more on that. It's the 2310CI for me. I don't think you can go wrong with any of these though.

Mike

[Vick's Pit]

I would go with either an Onkyo or HK receiver. I believe they have better sound and easier configurations.

The other route to look at is you could also buy an used Onkyo 705 , 805 or 806 or other similar unit and use the preouts to an external amp. You can pick up an Emotiva XPA-3 for $600 to power the L/C/R speakers. It would really add the power and punch to the speakers you are looking for. This would probably also fit the $1,000 budget. This would be my way to go if I had to use your budget sceme.

[Islander]

There are forum members using a variety of brands of receivers with success. Marantz, Yamaha, Denon, Harman Kardon and Onkyo would probably be the five most popular ones.

[biglaz]

For What it's Worth.

I am not doing HT. However, I had a Marantz receiver and I thought it was a little bright with my LaScalas. I changed to a Harmon Kardon and the brightness was gone.

[SuBXeRo]

One of the biggest issues i have seen is the power loss in receivers when you run a full 5.1 or higher. I read many of the reviews that are in my sound and vision magazine and most really start to tank when you add on the channels. Check out http://www.soundandvisionmag.com for reviews on equipment. Marantz is quality, sony's tend to slack with the power as you add channels, pioneer as well. Denon is also great for receivers, onkyo as well. I do love HK, they make really high qualit receivers, i have one and absolutely love it

Alot of the receivers out just do too damn much for what a person really needs and unfortunately, those addons cost you more money. Power is another thing, more power, more money. 1000 bux is alot for a receiver, this is where IMO you start to get into the range of where considering a preamp/processor becomes more of a reality. Im very much for component style in the end, all in ones do serve purposes and i too have a 5 channel sony receiver but at that cost, the curve for me starts to take components into consideration. Im a fiend for outlaw audio, never heard a bad thing about them aside from some software lacking, but they are great, you can download firmware upgrades from the internet. They are hella expensive, but their amps are awesome. May be something to consider, get a functional receiver, low power, less money and buy an external amp.

[theplummer]

One of the biggest issues i have seen is the power loss in receivers when you run a full 5.1 or higher. I read many of the reviews that are in my sound and vision magazine and most really start to tank when you add on the channels. Check out http://www.soundandvisionmag.com for reviews on equipment. Marantz is quality, sony's tend to slack with the power as you add channels, pioneer as well. Denon is also great for receivers, onkyo as well. I do love HK, they make really high qualit receivers, i have one and absolutely love it

Alot of the receivers out just do too *** much for what a person really needs and unfortunately, those addons cost you more money. Power is another thing, more power, more money. 1000 bux is alot for a receiver, this is where IMO you start to get into the range of where considering a preamp/processor becomes more of a reality. Im very much for component style in the end, all in ones do serve purposes and i too have a 5 channel sony receiver but at that cost, the curve for me starts to take components into consideration. Im a fiend for outlaw audio, never heard a bad thing about them aside from some software lacking, but they are great, you can download firmware upgrades from the internet. They are hella expensive, but their amps are awesome. May be something to consider, get a functional receiver, low power, less money and buy an external amp.

Best bang for the buck out there right now.... Used Sunfire TGRIII's. For about a Grand, you can get a TRUE 200WPC on all channels in a really nice unit. These things were over $4K new, just a couple a years ago. BTW their built like a Tank....