Hello there. Long time viewer/searcher, first time poster. I am very very new to the HT world, and have started piecing my 5.1 system together recently. I am very budget minded ($2000 total) and planned out a budget for all my pieces put together, and then tried to find the most bang-for-buck I could, in each category. I am down to my receiver and here is where I need your help.
I want to stay somewhere around $500. Give or take $50 is no biggy... I was originally comparring the 1018, the yammah663, and the onk 606. I eventually found the pioneer to be the best of the 3 from every review I could find online. Then I found the pioneer Elite series. It seems that the base model Elite series, the VSX-01, isn't THAT much more expensive than the 1018. (although, I haven't found the best price for the unit yet... any online retailers yo know with a bangin price for the VSX-01?) So my question to all of you is, What is the main difference between these two models? The 1018 being the top of their base line, and the VSX-01 being the bottom of their Elite line. What am I missing by going with the 1018? I tried to do a comparrison between the two on pioneer's website, but you can only compare models in the same series.
Here is what I have already
Mains - polk audio RTI10s
Center polk audio C5
Sub - Elemental Designs a3-300
Surrounds - TBD
Thanks for any help you can provide!
-Cpt.America