Hey all!
Tonight a friend of mine asked me about getting a new receiver. He was looking at a Pioneer, but I don't remember the model. His budget is $300. I've never shopped for a receiver in this price range (except a refurb once). In the past this kind of budget didn't get you much. However, it seems things have gotten very competitive so we may be able to find something ok here. I'm hoping that once he has a modern receiver, he might eventually entertain the idea of getting new speakers. Right now he's just using some cheap cubes. He wants a new receiver so he can use the new audio formats run through the receiver. At this point, I personally don't think it's going to do a lot for him until he gets better speakers, but at least this is a step in the right direction. Maybe I can talk him into speakers next. I know he's actually doing this backwards. He should upgrade his speakers first for the most noticeable difference, but hey, at least he's doing something. I'm actually pretty thrilled about it. Maybe after he plays with his new toy, it will motivate him to get speakers. Anyway, this is for a living room setup. The room is not large so power is of little importance, especially at this price point. The most important thing here is features for the money, primarily being able to pass audio and video via HDMI and decode DDTHD and DTSMA through the receiver. OK, start tossing suggestions please.
