AVR help

[q123we]

Looking for some help on an AVR. I have a 17 year old Kenwood KR-7040 Surround Sound receiver(no subwoofer connection) that has served us well but with the new 58" Plasma TV and wanting to connect a PS3 for Blu-Ray it is time to upgrade.

I have some hard and fast requirements for my wife that may seem silly but "it is what it is".

1. Must be able to turn TV and Cable box on without the receiver. HDMI Throughput?

2. Must be able to turn on the B speakers from the front of the receiver to get music to the patio.

Some requirements that I have for myself.

3. All speaker connections need to be banana
4. 15" depth maximum(seems to eliminate all the Pioneers)
5. Not all that room in the cabinet so I can't have anything running hot.(does that eliminate the Onkyos?)
6. 7.1(I will use a 5.1 and the additional connections would be for the patio speakers.
7. 90-120 watts(but I rarely play the system loudly)
8. Don't really have a budget if it fits the bill I would probably buy it irregradless of cost..............within reason.

I am not a guy that can tell if the sound is coming from a flute or an oboe but I do appreciate decent sound. I have Bose speakers today and they sound good enough for me.

I don't think I need the upscaling unless it is meant to somehow "future proof" the receiver.

All those Jazz, Cinema etc. scene settings will never be used.

I have never used the AM/FM tuner I just put an XM channel on the TV and pump that through the receiver.

I have looked through a ton of posts but I am worn down just way too much information out there to digest for an old man like me.

I would need a matching subwoofer to go witht he AVR.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[markw]

Just off the top of my head, I think that 15" depth requirement might be a major stickler, particularly if you intend on using banana plugs.

 

[q123we]

The 15" depth gives me 4" for connections

 

[sawzalot]

very minimal alterations to the back panel of your audio rack will give you more ventilation and there are definitely super quite fans that you could use ,if you start to invest some decent amounts of money you surely want to protect your equipment from the overheating issues.also removing some of the back panel would allow for a better choice of avr receivers. IMO.

 

[Jeff R.]

I would check out the Marantz Receivers. They are all a shallow depth, I believe 16" which still leave 3" for your connections. I don't think you will find anything that is 15". Check out www.accessories4less.com they usuually have some refurbished Marantz for very reasonable pricing and they will also have the Multiroom function for your patio.

 

[AVRat]

I think the Yamaha 665 comes closest to meeting all your requirements.

For the sub, how large is your room?

 

[q123we]

the room is 14x22

 

[AVRat]

Since you have that nice sized plasma, I wouldn't want to skimp too much on the sub. An SVS PB10/12-NSD or HSU VTF-2 MK3 should work very well.

Are you using the Bose cubes/bass module system or the larger box type speakers (301, 501, 901)?

 

[q123we]

I have 301s with a Yamaha NS-C225 Center(recent purchase) with Kenwoods for the rear. Like I said before they sound good for me(although with the Kenwood amp I do have to **** around too much with the center and rear volumes). My next door neighbor has a ton of high end crap and it sounds the same to me(ala why he isn't my first choice for reccomendations). Bottom line.........I am just not an audiofile. But I do want surround sound for my TV movies and blu-ray. And I don't want a piece of junk......looks like CNET panned the Yamaha 665..I could wait for the 765 which seems to have all banana clips whereas the 665 has spring loaded for the second zone. I will look at the sub woofers that you recommend.
Thanks for the input.

 

[deepaklibra]

suggestion

SOLUTION IS VERY SIMPLE.
buy denon avr-1909 ,true HD amp.good for gaming and audio as well.

option -2
buy YAMAHA RXV-663.,TRUE HD AMP.

I am using both of them because iam demonstrator in a showroom where we got both on demo.

but denon is much-much better in terms of quality.


Deepak Saxena.

 

[deepaklibra]

suggestion

SOLUTION IS VERY SIMPLE.
buy denon avr-1909 ,true HD amp.good for gaming and audio as well.

option -2
buy YAMAHA RXV-663.,TRUE HD AMP.

I am using both of them because iam demonstrator in a showroom where we got both on demo.

but denon is much-much better in terms of quality.


Deepak Saxena.[/QUO

 

[Lordoftherings]

A top notch receiver is the Marantz SR6003.
Check reviews at Sound & Vision Mag. and at Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity.

Might not do some of the stuff that you're asking, but it'll do much better than that, with lots of clean power (110 true watts x 7 channels), Audyssey MultEQ, Multiroom, pre-outs for all channel, excellent sound and much more... And the depth (inches) is less than any other receiver in the market.

And the price is excellent too at only $700 at accessories4less.

This is a winning receiver, period!

Bob

 

[q123we]

A top notch receiver is the Marantz SR6003.
Check reviews at Sound & Vision Mag. and at Secrets of Home Theater and High Fidelity.

Might not do some of the stuff that you're asking, but it'll do much better than that, with lots of clean power (110 true watts x 7 channels), Audyssey MultEQ, Multiroom, pre-outs for all channel, excellent sound and much more... And the depth (inches) is less than any other receiver in the market.

And the price is excellent too at only $700 at accessories4less.

This is a winning receiver, period!

Bob

This does look nice....seems it is missing the HDMI Passthrough to alow the TV to have a/v without the receiver being turned on.......anyway around that?

 

[Lordoftherings]

This does look nice....seems it is missing the HDMI Passthrough to alow the TV to have a/v without the receiver being turned on.......anyway around that?

The only receivers that will allow you to do that are the Yamaha RX-Z7, RX-V3900 and RX-V1900.
I think that you are asking a little too much here.

If you really want to do that, just run the component outputs from your source directly to your TV. And just connect the HDMI output to your receiver. That's what I do, and it works as a charm.
And when you want to use the full system, just HDMI beam me up Scotty.

Or just buy a cheap HDMI splitter with 2 HDMI outputs, that will give you exactly what you want.

Be wise, be smart, be simple, be realistic, work through that yourself, be immaginative, don't wait for the manufacturers to give you exactly what you request.

How's that for a response?

Bob

 

[jayhawk069]

Take a look at the Harman-Kardon AVR-354. It's exactly 15 inches deep. Looks great, sounds great, hasn't gone cuckoo with sound fields. The manual makes sense (probably because it was written by someone whose first language is English). The LED readout can actually be read from 10 feet away. The GUI interface (which you see on the TV screen) is well designed. And there's plenty of power.

 

[AVRat]

FYI – HDMI Pass-through is a different process than the Standby Through feature in the 665. As the Lord mentioned, probably the easiest way for TV viewing sans receiver is with component/stereo connections from the cable STB to the TV. This opens up more receiver options available.

 

[Patrick_Wolf]

4. 15" depth maximum(seems to eliminate all the Pioneers)

Pioneer's non-elite AVR's have a depth slightly under 14".

 

[q123we]

If you really want to do that, just run the component outputs from your source directly to your TV. And just connect the HDMI output to your receiver. That's what I do, and it works as a charm.
And when you want to use the full system, just HDMI beam me up Scotty.

I actually thought of that. I would leave everything set for the components so my wife does not have to do anything and change to HDMI when I am watching movies and TV. Only problem is when I forget to put it back to the component input...............but hey I have taken a whole lot bigger bullets in the chest after 27 years to be worried about that.

 

[q123we]

Thanks

Thaks for the input guys. I did research all the reccomendations given and I think the Marantz looks the like the best fit. However I got some time so I will wait for the Yamaha 765 to come out before pullng the trigger. I did spend some time trying to figure a way to get a bigger amp into the cabinet, say a Pioneer SC-05 or 07 but the plasma sits on top of the fireplace with a cabinet on each side and if I extend them anymore it would cause some grief on the TV view(right now it is perfect). I am extemely handy as a woodworker and thought about just extending the bottom shelf 4 " to support the amp but then I would have the top of the amp exposed to all sorts of "stuff" that are out of my control.

 

[Lordoftherings]

Not only the Marantz will be the best fit, but it will look and sound good, period!

I will not wait for the newer Yamaha RX-V765, I don't expect too much there.

Any Marantz receivers from the SR5003, SR6003, SR7002 and SR8002, is the big winner for your home in my book.

Cheers,

Bob