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Looking for receiver recommendations - Pioneer Elite?


endover

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I'm not sure which topic gets re-hashed more on this forum...the latest receiver recommendations or the quality of speaker wire so let me jump in on receiver recommendations. I've got $900 to $1K to spend on a receiver. I've had it with my Onkyo 709 reliability and I'm giving up. I've been looking seriously at the Pioneer Elite stuff lately and have never used it before but the more I research, the more good stuff I find. Let me know if you think something different? I'm currently looking at last years SC-63 and SC--65 and comparing that with this years SC-72 and SC-75. The 75 is over my budget but might come down. Give me the scoop on reliability, sound quality and ease of operation on these units? The Harman Kardon stuff just doesn't seem to have the build quality it used to which is very disappointing (I've just seen too many bad reviews on the 3700). Hit me with it!

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I went from a Elite SC-35 to a HK 3700. I loved my SC-35 but I wanted to try a little something different and I have always loved HK sound. I will say that I think the Elite had a little more "oomph" but the 3700 has much "clearer" sound. I am very happy I made the switch.

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The Pioneer Elites are nice avr's and last years model will be a better bargin with nearly the same features. A lot of the companies know what they will be adding to each years model for three to five years in advance, so there is no great leap in advancement over the previous years model. The Pioneer is fairly user friendly but there is a learning curve to tweak MCACC or Auddysee.

Over the past 2 years, I have swapped out amps, subs, and speakers multiple times but, my SC 35 is a keeper. It has been a great avr to build my system around. I usually don't recommend avr's because different flavors for different people but, my next avr will most likely be another Pioneer because I know MCACC very well.

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Seems that I'm narrowing things down to the Pioneer Elite SC-65 from last year or the Elite SC-72 from this year. The SC-65 has slightly more power and more features that I may or may not use (including THX 2 select) and is about $100 more than the SC-72 on Amazon. As far as I can tell, Pioneer does not warranty anything from the "Elite" brand off Amazon but Amazon's Squaretrade sells a 2 year warranty to cover the same items as the factory warranty for about $90. My only other option is to go to my local Best Buy and see if they'll match Amazon's price (or come close) with the SC-72 (since they don't sell last years models anymore) and then I'd get the factory warranty with it. Sounds to me like the SC-65 is the better of the 2 units even though it's last years model but price is cheaper for the 72. Is the THX 2 Select that's offered on the 65 that big of a deal for my "normal" family room-turned into 5.1 movie night? $100 is not a budget breaker at this point.

Any "Elite" fans out there that can give me a recommendation on which unit and how to pursue the warranty issue? Does anyone have any history with the Squaretrade warranty. SC-72 is $1300 at Best Buy right now. They'd have to come down $200 to get close to the Amazon price (with warranty)...

what to do, what to do.....

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I've been extremely pleased with the Harman Kardon AVR3600. It has performed flawlessly and was much better for HT than my previous Emotiva UMC-1. I also really enjoyed my Yamaha RX-V1800 receiver as well for HT. It's an older model but still supports HDMI and the HD Audio formats. Believe I paid $400 for it used, originally was $1200.

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