Audiophyte needs your help! Buying my first receiver

[kubakuba]

I just bought a new tv and am looking for a middle-of-the-road av receiver to compliment it. I haven't bought speakers yet either so some suggestions for those would be great aswell...

I'm looking to spend up to $400-450 for a receiver and from a bit of research have narrowed it down to the Yamaha RX-V663BL 7.1 (~$400) and the Onkyo 605 (~$400).

What are your thoughts on these receivers and also why is it that I dont see a THD% rating for the Yamaha, isn't this one of the most important specs when looking into receivers?

Sorry if I come off a bit ignorant. I've read a few articles on a/v receivers and spent that past few days looking on the web for the best deals.

I'll be using a Sony PS3 for Blu-ray and will most likely buy a 5.1 speaker setup first if that helps. Thanks for any help!

 

[chadnliz]

The Onkyo is one of the better values out there for the cash, BTW the THD rating means next to nothing at this level and further the numbers are often not accurate in the first place.

 

[Davemcc]

I'll throw out a few comments to get you started. Some early users of the Onkyo 605 have not been happy with the quality of their units and they tend to run very hot. The Yammie may be the better choice. I'm not sure about the THD specs, but the 663 apparently uses a well-regarded amp section. No worries there.

With these receivers, you will want to shop for speakers in the 8 ohm range, possibly 6 ohm if you have to but look for speakers with 91dB sensitivity or higher. This should include most normal consumer oriented speakers, so you will still have a lot to choose from.

 

[fredk]

isn't this one of the most important specs when looking into receivers?

Kind of. All the research tells us that THD of 1% or less can't be heard and all the decent receivers fall into this catagory.

From what I understand, it is equally important that you have enough power to drive your speakers at the volumes you like to listen to in your size of room and for the dynamic range of the music you listen to.

If you are going to be watching movies in HD using a bluray player of some sort, supported audio formats may also be important to you. The Yamaha RC-V663 is one of (or) the only middle-line receiver(s) I know of that will decode the new HD audio formats. I believe it is the only one in its price class that does so.

Fred

 

[Exit]

The surround channels don't play loudly or very much at all and you probably could get by with a sensitivity as low as 85 dB. What is nice is if you can get surrounds that go as low as 70 Hz so you can use an 80 Hz subwoofer crossover and keep the vocals out of the subwoofer.

 

[mudrummer99]

The THD on this unit is .06% @ 8 ohms. For some reason it isn't published on the Yamaha website but this is what it is listed on nearly every retailer's websites so I'm going to say it's fairly accurate.

Mike

 

[kubakuba]

Thanks all-- I appreciate the help!

So is it fair to assume that the Yamaha is the best mid-priced receiver currently on the market? I'll be making an order in the following days, then I get to start speaker shopping =)

I definitly want a receiver thats future proof with upcoming HD audio codecs (if thats the word) so that's a great feature, a dvd upconverter would be nice but isn't key at all in my purchase, the sound is what's most important to me.

 

[jcPanny]

Yamaha features

Another benefit to the Yamaha is the pre-amp outputs for adding an amp. Don't stress over power of THD numbers on receivers in this price range.

Both receivers are good options, but I have read a few heat and quality complaints on the Onkyo's recently.

 

[rnatalli]

Another vote for the Yamaha 663. Or, the Pioneer 1018 due in June.

 

[smurphy522]

Kubakuba,

I would first recommend the purchase of a speaker system or at least a 2.0 or 2.1 set-up. That purchase is more important than a receiver. Also note that electronics are much more likely to drop in price than that of speakers. So getting speakers now and waiting for the electronics is a safer bet that a better deal will come your way. Any idea of budget for the speakers? Please look at this sites guides and recommended systems through this link.

Also I heard mention of the PS3. Currently there are not many receivers in the price range that will have better video processing than that player (nor better than most decent TVs). So don't get caught up in a receiver with processing, although so far you don't seem to be leaning towards that.

Speakers: well just stick with name brands and make sure that if you are unable to listen to them that there is a gracious return policy 9also known as a listening trial or home audition). Most places will offer that but stray from the NY City based online retailers, theay are notorious for charging high restocking fees, Etc.

Look to (or rather listen to) the likes of: Paradigm, Kef, RBH/EMP, BIC, Axiom, AV123, Infinity, JBL, Polk, Klipsch, B&W, Mordaunt Short, NHT, , Definitive Technology, Mirage, Pinnacle, MB Quart, Emotiva, Dynaudio, Sonus Faber, Boston Acoustics, the list goes on and on and................on. Note: these were in no particular order.

Please, Please stray from Hi-Fi super deals out of the back of trucks and just as important run from anyone preaching the benefits of Bose!

I would also recommend to plan on a subwoofer, this day and age it goes without saying.

Good Luck!