Hey guys!
I just made the jump from fledgling electronics fan to big wig by buying (drum roll please...) a blu-ray player and a 720p TV. I know, I know.
Now that I have that part of my system, I'm looking to continue building. I've got my eyes on a Pioneer VSX-819H (coming out in April if you haven' heard of it ces.cnet.com/8301-19167_1-10137163-100.html) mainly because it fits my projected budget (roughly $600-$700). My question for you guys is, what are some good speakers and a subwoofer (I'm looking at a 2.1 system) that would cost a total of $400?
I'm wondering if my choice of receiver is too expensive for an entry-level system (looking for opinions on that too). I want to use optical audio for my TV and HDMI audio for my blu-ray player so I'd like a receiver with support for these features if my original choice isn't too expensive.
Overall, I'm just looking for some advice! Thanks for your help guys and I'm looking forward to being a part of these forums.
I neglected one part of your question with my first response, so let me now add that for you to get all of the audio formats that are on Blu-Ray, you would have to ignore the advice I gave and go ahead and spend the money on the receiver. The thing is, downgrading the speakers will degrade the sound of everything, though omitting the new formats will only degrade the sound of those discs that have the new formats. Personally, I would go with better speakers, which, in my opinion, will be better than having great new formats heard through lessor speakers. You must, of course, decide for yourself regarding such matters, but there is little point in having better formats than regular DD and dts if one has poor speakers.
Also, from looking at the link for the receiver you are considering, I see now that you meant that the total budget was $600-700, not the budget for the receiver alone, which is what I and, it seems, others thought at first.
At your budget, assuming that you have nothing at all right now, you will need to buy something, and if you are not comfortable with buying used, I would guess that you have your eye on a good choice for your receiver, as you should be able to get it for something less than retail price, and it may be adequate for many years to come. Still, the better speakers you get, the better everything will sound.
If you will be able to budget more money in the future, you might buy the receiver you have in mind (when it comes out), and just the front three speakers to start, and then save more money for a subwoofer and rear speakers. If you will not have more money in the future, then I would probably go with a less expensive receiver and budget as much as possible for the speakers.
