'$1000 Bare Bones System' still the way to go?

[JoelWhy]

Thanks, jkgsxr, that Crutchfield side-by-side comparison feature is handy! And, not to sound too much like a schizophrenic, indecisive shopper, I've (possibly) changed my mind yet again.

Rather than the refurb AVR-X11000W for $349 + shipping, Accessories4Less is offering a refurb DENON AVR-S900W with free shipping. (i.e. It would end up costing me an extra $20 or so for the S900W model.) The two models seem very similar, with the biggest difference, as far as I can tell, being that the S900W has "HDMI to HDMI Upconversion".

One question I had, though, was about the "Auto Speaker Calibration". The X1100W has "Audyssey MultEQ XT", while the S900W has "Audyssey MultEQ". What does the "XT" mean? Can someone translate this to English for a noob?

Found a website (Flavors of MultEQ | Audyssey) explaining the difference between XT vs. not XT. So, XT is a more advanced version. Ok, so how important is that feature vs. the HDMI to HDMI Upconversion?

(Man, I'm starting to see how people get sucked into this hobby!)

 

[rojo]

You'll get more benefit from Audyssey XT than from upconversion I think. My Marantz AVR upconverts, but I can never tell whether it's actually doing anything or not. It certainly doesn't work any magic on DVD movies played on my Blu-ray player as they still look like DVD resolution. My HTPC display is a constant 1080p regardless of the video it's playing, so upconversion is no help there either. Stick with the X1100.

 

[JoelWhy]

Last thing I need to select now is the subwoofer. JCParks recommended the NXG NX-BAS-500 12" 500-Watt Powered Subwoofer. Or, I could spend about $70 more to get the subwoofer recommend on the "$1,000 5.1 Channel Recommended Home Theater System" page, the Hsu STF-1. Thoughts?

 

[jkgsxr]

I have herd good things about the nxg, but u can never go wrong with a hsu sub. That being said if it were my money hsu for sure.

 

[rojo]

Nah, the cheapest Hsu I'd consider would be the VTF-2. Comparing the 8" STF-1 with the 12" NXG, I'd go for the 12" sub without hesitation. It's got useable extension down to subsonics, whereas the budget Hsu has a steep rolloff at 30Hz.

 

[zieglj01]

Last thing I need to select now is the subwoofer. JCParks recommended the NXG NX-BAS-500 12" 500-Watt Powered Subwoofer. Or, I could spend about $70 more to get the subwoofer recommend on the "$1,000 5.1 Channel Recommended Home Theater System" page, the Hsu STF-1. Thoughts?

I would skip an 8 inch subwoofer

I would for sure, aim for the STF-2 sub woofer if you can swing it > it will go down low.
I would take the HSU 10" sub over the budget-friendly NXG 12" sub

Plus with HSU, you get good customer service.