Beginner seeking advice about receivers

[aaronyc]

I have recently begun to piece together my first home sound system, largely inspired by my desire to buy a turntable and begin listening to vinyl again. So far I have purchased the following:

Turntable: Dual CS 5000
Pre amp: Musical Fidelity V-LPS II
Speakers: Polk Audio RTI A1 Bookshelf Speakers

I am curious about recommendations for a receiver. I haven't yet decided if I want a home theater surround sound receiver or a basic stereo receiver. My budget is in the $300-400 range. I will mostly be listening to jazz, classical, and rock music, all in a small living room. I currently have a cheap LCD TV that I will eventually upgrade, but I am mostly interested in listening to music for the time being.

Some receivers I am potentially interested in:
Yamaha RX-V571BL 7.1 Channel
Onkyo HT-RC360 7.2 Channel
Yamaha R-S500 BL Natural Sound
Onkyo TX-8050

First of all, I'm not hung up on Yamaha and Onkyo, these just happen to be the four that have caught my eye so far. The first two if I go the surround sound route and the second two if I decide on just a stereo. I'm still a novice and not sure about many aspects of putting together a decent system. First, am I going to blow my speakers if I buy the wrong receiver? Is that even a consideration? Also, since I am most concerned about listening to records, does that affect whether I go for a stereo vs. surround receiver? Will I lose something in the audio if I go the surround receiver route? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[ImcLoud]

You have a nice start there...

What are you going to use it for, do you need a receiver?

I definitely wouldn't get a Home theater receiver for music, in my experience the less in the audio path the better...


Are you just hooking the turntable to it? or cd player, cable box, ipod, ect?

If it were me and I only intended on using the turntable with the system, I would go with an amp that had a volume control built in...
In this case I would go with 2 apa150s and run them mono to each bookshelf... that will give you $300 watts for $318 not too shabby... Plus you can set them up for auto on when they get a signal they turn on...

If you are going to use multiple sources like cd player, ipod ect... then add one of these or something like it, I have used this one, 0 distortion, its just a switch... Amazon.com: TCC TC-716 6-Way Stereo Source Selector; BLACK VERSION: Electronics

heres the amp...
Dayton APA150 is a nice A/B class amp, puts out 75x2 {4ohm} or 150X1 8ohm
Dayton Audio APA150 150W Power Amplifier 300-812

emotiva miniX is nice too but not bridgable and 50wX2 8 ohm... I have one it is very nice, I also have the daytons, and just got the dayton/carver {same as dayton just says carver on it instead}.... Hope this helps...


If you want to go tube, I like Jolida {some dont like them, but I have awesome luck with them and I like the sound, plus once you have a bunch of systems its good to mix it up a little...} I have a 202brc in the bedroom hooked to a pair of red satin tekton lores, that amp glowing with all the lights low, and the crystal clear lores playing some soft slow jazz, its a different feeling than the regular systems I have that are just a box with blue leds...

http://www.musicdirect.com/p-98662-jolida-fx10-integrated-tube-amp-blue-demo.aspx not sure what size listening room you have or what levels you listen at but this amp should get your bookshelfs to 90db at 6feet away... Not too shabby... But it is all personal taste and wants..

I have this one http://www.musicdirect.com/p-59698-jolida-jd202brc-integrated-tube-amp.aspx hooked to these http://www.tektondesign.com/lore.html and I put the dac up half way, the pc up half way and cant turn the volume knob up 1/4 with out getting uncomfortable, but the lores are very efficient...

 

[ahblaza]

I have recently begun to piece together my first home sound system, largely inspired by my desire to buy a turntable and begin listening to vinyl again. So far I have purchased the following:

Turntable: Dual CS 5000
Pre amp: Musical Fidelity V-LPS II
Speakers: Polk Audio RTI A1 Bookshelf Speakers

I am curious about recommendations for a receiver. I haven't yet decided if I want a home theater surround sound receiver or a basic stereo receiver. My budget is in the $300-400 range. I will mostly be listening to jazz, classical, and rock music, all in a small living room. I currently have a cheap LCD TV that I will eventually upgrade, but I am mostly interested in listening to music for the time being.

Some receivers I am potentially interested in:
Yamaha RX-V571BL 7.1 Channel
Onkyo HT-RC360 7.2 Channel
Yamaha R-S500 BL Natural Sound
Onkyo TX-8050

First of all, I'm not hung up on Yamaha and Onkyo, these just happen to be the four that have caught my eye so far. The first two if I go the surround sound route and the second two if I decide on just a stereo. I'm still a novice and not sure about many aspects of putting together a decent system. First, am I going to blow my speakers if I buy the wrong receiver? Is that even a consideration? Also, since I am most concerned about listening to records, does that affect whether I go for a stereo vs. surround receiver? Will I lose something in the audio if I go the surround receiver route? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

If you are going to stick with a stereo receiver, I would recommend this.
Amazon.com: Onkyo TX-8050 Network Stereo Receiver (Black): Electronics
Also I think the Onkyo HT-RC360 would be good choice if you decide to go the HT route

 

[aaronyc]

Thanks for the great input guys!

I definitely do not need a receiver per se. Based on what I've been reading the last couple days, I'm thinking an integrated amplifier better suits my needs, listening to my turntable and the potential to run my TV audio and maybe my ipod through it.

My living room is relatively small, about 200 sq ft. Any suggestions on an integrated amp for under $500. I guess it doesn't need a phono input since I've already got a decent pre amp?

 

[ahblaza]

Thanks for the great input guys!

I definitely do not need a receiver per se. Based on what I've been reading the last couple days, I'm thinking an integrated amplifier better suits my needs, listening to my turntable and the potential to run my TV audio and maybe my ipod through it.

My living room is relatively small, about 200 sq ft. Any suggestions on an integrated amp for under $500. I guess it doesn't need a phono input since I've already got a decent pre amp?

I would suggest these.
Onkyo A-9050 Integrated Stereo Amplifier is IN STOCK at OneCall.com
Yamaha A-S500BL Integrated Amplifier is IN STOCK at OneCall.com
OneCall has an open box also for $302. Hope this helps, either should be an excellent choice with the nod towards the Yamaha.
Jeff

 

[sholling]

I would buy an A/V receiver for the additional features such as bass management and for room to grow it into a surround system when budgets allow - less is rarely better in modern electronics and it makes no sense to lock yourself into a limited system. Electronics manufacturers sell hundreds of AVRs for every stereo receiver or integrated amplifier allowing economies of scale to kick-in and making the AVR a better bargain. There is simply no downside to buying an AVR over a stereo receiver but there are significant downsides to making due with a stereo receiver or worse an integrated amp. It's not 1970 any more.

If you're in the US I would look at a factory refurbished Denon AVR 2112 or for a budget busting $450 the Onkyo TX-NR709. They both provide bass management, excellent room correction and network functions. The Onkyo has a dedicated phono input while the Denon does not list one in the specs and would likely require an external prono preamp. I'd spend the extra money on the Onkyo.