Judgement call here...

[awesomebase]

I'm just wondering if it is better to get a fully decked-out mid-range receiver (i.e. $1000 to $1500) such as a Pioneer Elite or Denon or HK or is better to get a cheap receiver and a good used amplifier with it (i.e. Rotel, Marantz, Aragon).
I guess what I'm wondering is if I don't really need the bells and whistles, do you think it is worth it to get a $200 Receiver and hook it up to a very good, but used 5-channel amplifier? I'm mainly concerned with sound quality and I guess my better judgement is to go with the former rather than the latter because it is doubtful that a cheap receiver will be able to send anything that can be improved upon by the amplifier. What do you think?
I'm trying to see if there is a way to make use of my old receiver in my HT or if I should stop trying and do what I know I should probably do...

 

[MacManNM]

I'm just wondering if it is better to get a fully decked-out mid-range receiver (i.e. $1000 to $1500) such as a Pioneer Elite or Denon or HK or is better to get a cheap receiver and a good used amplifier with it (i.e. Rotel, Marantz, Aragon).
I guess what I'm wondering is if I don't really need the bells and whistles, do you think it is worth it to get a $200 Receiver and hook it up to a very good, but used 5-channel amplifier? I'm mainly concerned with sound quality and I guess my better judgement is to go with the former rather than the latter because it is doubtful that a cheap receiver will be able to send anything that can be improved upon by the amplifier. What do you think?
I'm trying to see if there is a way to make use of my old receiver in my HT or if I should stop trying and do what I know I should probably do...

Does your old receiver have all the functionality you want? Chances are an external amp is gong to make a huge difference in a better sound. What kind of speakers are you running? What are their specs?

 

[awesomebase]

continued...

I'm running brand new Klipsch reference series speakers. My current receiver is a Sony 5.1 that I bought cheap 3 years ago just to drive a pair of Bose bookshelf speakers. I'm not going to really do anything beyond 5.1, but, the sound out of the Sony is pretty low. It claims 80W per channel, but I just don't get a lot of depth from it. Otherwise, it does almost everything I want it to. Does that help a bit? There was a VERY noticeable difference when I hooked up the new speakers, but, so far I only have the fronts hooked up.

 

[Takeereasy]

Are you going to keep the sony to use as a processor? I'm not sure but I don't think your receiver has the current outputs necessary to connect outboard amps. I'm not sure what budget receivers have the necessary outputs in the $200 range. I can't tell you for sure about your Sony but I've got a fairly new one and it has two sets of inputs in the rear and no outputs for the speakers to be driven by seperate amps. I wondered about the same thing you are with my receiver because I couldn't get decent dialouge out of my center no matter what. If you have $1500 to spend and really want seperates the only pair that I know of are the Outlaw Audio 950 pre and 7100 amp. You can get them B stock from outlaw for $1450 or new for 1600. They are a pretty kick butt combo. So that's my suggestion for if you have to have seperates. I think that you could get similar performance out of a good mid-fi receiver too though, so the call is yours. Seperates are cooler to show off to the friends in my opinion. You would most likely be much better off loosing the Sony Idea I'm sorry to say. Good luck whatever you decide.

 

[jaxvon]

RLA would say to get the Yamaha RX-V2500 (I guess it has really good pre-outs) and then an amp of your choice.

 

[rgriffin25]

Here is my 2 cents

Even if your sony has preamp outputs I doubt they are very good..Maybe if you bought one of these "decent" receivers, they might get the job done w/o an external amp. I mean we are talking about super effecient klipsch speakers here.

 

[Takeereasy]

Bah, RLA, all those guys who are professionals in the field with years of experience and customer serice think they know everything. Seriously though, that's a really good idea. On the other hand like it was stated, aren't those Klipsch very efficient? Wouldn't the 2500 do a good job all by itself? Just wondering.

 

[Nick250]

Even if your sony has preamp outputs I doubt they are very good..Maybe if you bought one of these "decent" receivers, they might get the job done w/o an external amp. I mean we are talking about super effecient klipsch speakers here.

I agree with rgriffin, with the klipsch speakers there would be nothing to be gained by adding an external amp to a Dennon 2805 or 3805. The receiver would not even close to being taxed by the speakers. It would be just ideling (sp?) using 7 to 10 watts if that.

 

[awesomebase]

Checking it out...

Yeah, I figure that I had to get rid of the Sony. I'll use it for the bedroom TV or maybe for my workshop in the basement. I guess I'll be looking at getting a good midrange receiver and adding an amplifier later if needed. I've been mulling over a number of receivers and have narrowed my own personal list down to these:

• Denon 3805
• Yamaha RV 2500
• Harman Kardon DPR 2005
• Pioneer Elite VSX56txi

I've even been considering the Yamaha HTR-5890 as well. I don't think I can go wrong with any of the receivers in the list above as I think that they are all good quality. However, I need something that has longevity (i.e. the Yamaha and HK I know from experience last a long time). I do not know about longevity with Denon or Pioneer. Each of these systems have their advantages. It is just a matter of making the choice...

 

[awesomebase]

Forgot one thing...

Oh, and yes, the Klipsch speakers are really efficient, even with the Sony they easily outperform the BOSE bookshelf speakers by a wide margin... I can't wait to get a good receiver and hookup my DIY speaker cables! That is when I'll hear the real performance of the speakers! Now if I can only decide between those receivers! Hmmm... what to choose, what to choose...

 

[zumbo]

No need to add an amp to your receiver. Ditch it. Get the Yammie or Denon. I would say go with the one you get the better deal on.

 

[awesomebase]

Got the Yammie!

Well, I finally made the decision to go with the Yamaha. I was going to get the RV-2500 when I saw that the RV-1500 was almost exactly the same and about $200 cheaper. So, I opted for that just in case I need to use the extra money later for other equipment (i.e. HDTV tuner, Harmony remote control, new DVD player). All I can do now is wait for it to arrive!

 

[xchinbrown]

How do you like the Harmony remote with the Yamaha?

I'm thinking about getting the Harmony 688, to operate my system, including HD Cable Box (Scientific Atlantic 8000HD) and my Yamaha (RX -v1400). I hate the Yamaha remote, but I'm concerned that the Harmony won't handle my Zone 2 (patio) control needs very conveniently, toggling between them. Any feedback, now that you have had it for a while?