avr assistance

[ccotenj]

starting a quest for a new avr.

i currently have a pio elite 82... unfortunately, it's starting to have some occasional flakiness ... nothing serious enough to require replacement today, but the day is coming soon...

needs:
at least 3, preferably 4, hdmi inputs (that actually work).
reasonable amount of power.
hdmi switching
room correction, preferably audyssey multeq xt

don't care:
video scaling

would be nice:
network connectivity

i have the following components:
sony bdp-s1 blu-ray
tosh a20 hd-dvd
pio elite 59avi
airport express for music streaming
cable tv box
pio elite 150fd display

speakers:
ascend sierra-1 l/c/r
ascend htm-200 surrounds

let's set the budget at $1500. more is do-able, less is always better. the denon 3808 comes to mind, but i would like some input from others. also, since i don't have to do this today, if there's anything tasty on the horizon, i can wait.

thanks in advance.

 

[PeterWhite]

I'm certainly no expert on the range of options. All I can tell you is the Onkyo TX-SR805 receiver I bought recently has just about everything I need. It has three HDMI inputs. The replacement model, the 806 has either one or two more, I don't recall. It has the Audyssey XT system, 130 watts per channel, and gobs of inputs. You can download the owner's manual of the 805 version from Onkyo's website. And I think you can find info on the 806 here on this website. I paid under $700 for it through Amazon and the new version should cost about the same. It's supposed to be available in August.

The 805 got a stellar review in The $ensible Sound, which I only discovered a few weeks after buying the unit based solely on its specs and my more than thirty years experience using various Onkyo electronics.

I don't know if the 806 has network connectivity, but the top of the line 905 does, and it should still be in your price range.

 

[jcPanny]

Receiver upgrade

There are some killer deals on the Onkyo 805 for around $600. Denon and Yamaha have models with the features you need for closer to $1k. As newer models come out, there are ususally some good discounts.

The airport networking you are using is probably better than the features built into most high end receivers.

 

[itschris]

If you like your Elite, why not stick with it. I have have the Pio Elite 94 and absolutely love it. I use a serperate amp, but I've had my system hooked to the internal amps and it ran it quite effectively.

It's got a network connection and has the Home Media Gallery so you can access Internet Radio and your music files from your networked computer.

It decodes all the new lossless surround formats and performs flawlessly. You can get some exceptional deals on it. Take a look at SoundPros.com. That's where I got mine and they fine people over there.

I'll try to answer any specific questions you may have on it if you like.

 

[ccotenj]

thanks for the responses...

i think if i was going to stay with the pio elite line (which i very well may, i've had pretty decent luck with the brand over the years, although my current receiver isn't making me happy), i think i'd lean towards one of the new sc offerings that are coming, as i am a BIG fan of ICEPower amplification.

the network connection was more in "hope" that any firmware updates anyone did would be available that way, but that's probably a vain hope with some... i'm perfectly happy with the airport express solution for streaming, it works very well...

the heat issue concerns me with the onkyo... not because i'm worried about it burning up (i have faith that the designers used appropriate tolerances on internals), but because i already have one space heater in this room with the plasma... other than that, it really does appear as if it's hard to beat their feature sets for the money, and onkyo's i've had in the past have been pretty bulletproof... i'm actually using an ancient one down in my kitchen to stream to...

there's a lot of options in today's world... it's good for the consumer, but it sure can make it hard to avoid paralysis by analysis... to be honest, the more i read/research, it pretty much seems that it's hard to buy BAD equipment these days unless you really try...

 

[bandphan]

starting a quest for a new avr.

i currently have a pio elite 82... unfortunately, it's starting to have some occasional flakiness ... nothing serious enough to require replacement today, but the day is coming soon...

Did you have the units firmware updated? That fixed the hdmi issues that im aware of.

 

[ccotenj]

Did you have the unite firmware updated? That fixed the hdmi issues that im aware of.

yup, firmware has been updated... but thanks for pointing that out...