Best New Beginner Receiver Under $150

[thecrunge]

So in finding out that my nice Yamaha receiver (RX-V592) is likely fried beyond repair, I will be needing a new receiver to go with the speakers I will be purchasing soon. I am looking into a decent pair of bookshelves in the $100-200 range (at the top of my list now is Paradigm, unless I can find something else better for the money). I am looking for suggestions for receivers for now though. I will be running an older Pioneer Twin Tray/Dual DAC CD player into it and would like to run a computer into it eventually.

For now I just need 2.1 capabilities, but I guess 5.1 would be nice too (don't see myself with any more than 5.1 for the life of this receiver). My budget is around $150, so does anyone have any good suggestions for budget receivers with good sound. I have looked a bit at Harman Kardon or Onkyo, but not sure which models I should be looking at. I know I could find cheaper used receivers which might be a better value, but these things seem to be hit or miss, so I would prefer to buy new. Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[jcPanny]

Receiver and speakers

Check the AV123 form for specials and b-stock Onix X-LS speakers for <$200. You might also be able to find Athena and Polk RTi bookshelf speakers in your price range.

For a receiver, you might consider a refurbished one from ac4l.com or ubid.com to get more power and features for your money. If you can only afford 2 speakers right now you could probably pick up an old stereo receiver at a thrift store or pawn shop for next to nothing.

 

[mtrycrafts]

So in finding out that my nice Yamaha receiver (RX-V592) is likely fried beyond repair, .

Do you know why it got fried? Just be sure that doesn't happen to the next one and especially a less capable unit.

 

[thecrunge]

Do you know why it got fried? Just be sure that doesn't happen to the next one and especially a less capable unit.

Got fried in a lightning strike back in June (along with a TV, phone, and a few smaller things). Was a totally isolated incident though. I will have to look into these recommendations.

 

[thecrunge]

Just a quick question for those in the know about speakers. How are the Athena AS-B1.2's? I can get them for around $100 from Audio Advisor and they look to be pretty decent speakrs for the money. Any other suggestions?

 

[mtrycrafts]

Got fried in a lightning strike back in June (along with a TV, phone, and a few smaller things). Was a totally isolated incident though. I will have to look into these recommendations.

Well, ok. For a moment I thought it was abused.

 

[sparky77]

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=252-105

It fits your budget, and that what I plan start with, although it may find its way to my bedroom within a year, but thats besides the point.

 

[jcPanny]

Athena

The Athena's are good entry level speakers. I still use a pair of the ASB1.1's in the garage and they perform well for the price.

 

[hondajake]

Paradigm makes nice speakers for the price. I used to have a pair of Atoms about 8 years ago, great little speaker. Had the mini monitors too. HK has refrubs you can get for what you are looking to spend on a reciever.

 

[thecrunge]

How good is that Sherwood receiver? Is it on par with a similar Onkyo one? Seems to have great power (125watts) compared to other 5.1 receivers I have seen. Does anyone have one of these or has anyone heard it?

 

[sparky77]

I havent gotten the reciever yet, but the specs say 125W@6ohms which would be about 95w@8ohms, and it doesnt decode anything other than the basic dolby prologic but you can use the 6channel inputs and let your dvd player do the decoding.

 

[thecrunge]

It seems to be a good deal. Especially with free shipping from Parts Express. I might pull the trigger on that after Christmas and the Athena B1's to pair with my dual tray, dual DAC pioneer CD player (from the early to mid 90's, seems to sound great though).

 

[Seth=L]

It seems to be a good deal. Especially with free shipping from Parts Express. I might pull the trigger on that after Christmas and the Athena B1's to pair with my dual tray, dual DAC pioneer CD player (from the early to mid 90's, seems to sound great though).

The Sherwood can decode Dolby Digital as well. I used to have a similar Sherwood receiver that had DTS decoding as well, you may even be able to find that one, I believe it is the RD-6808. The performance for stereo matches any receiver with the same heft as the Sherwood, and surround sound performance wasn't bad from what I recall either. I also had no reliability issues or quirks with mine.

The Athenas are also nice sounding, at least to me. They have pretty good bass for their size and they are pretty efficient and even loaded. On a budget, you won't find much better buying new gear.

 

[thecrunge]

Changing things up a tiny bit, how good would the Mission M70's be versus the Athena B1's? The M70's are $70 from STO and I was just wondering if they can compare to the B1's? I have seen some reviews on here that say they sound pretty good, but no direct comparisons. Thanks for all the help guys.

 

[Seth=L]

Changing things up a tiny bit, how good would the Mission M70's be versus the Athena B1's? The M70's are $70 from STO and I was just wondering if they can compare to the B1's? I have seen some reviews on here that say they sound pretty good, but no direct comparisons. Thanks for all the help guys.

The Missions will not have near as much bass, they don't go very low because they are quite small.

 

[Seth=L]

http://www.tsto.com/cgi-bin/TSTO.storefront/476e98ad001913de2740ac1003410639/Product/View/2639

http://www.tsto.com/cgi-bin/TSTO.storefront/476e98ad001913de2740ac1003410639/Product/View/2321

 

[mojo_13]

You could also check ebay under the username "harmonaudio" they have refurbished receivers and go for a nice price. I got a AVR 135 for $160 shipped. Deffinately worth a look and you still get the full warranty.

 

[Davemcc]

The Athena AS-B1.2 is a decent entry level speaker. At very high volume levels, the highs can become a bit harsh, but this is not apparent at most normal to moderately loud use. For decent performance in your budget range, you can pick up an inexpensive sub to use with the Athena's and have quite a nice entry level system with an easy upgrade path. That is to say, when the budget opens up, you can get some better front mains, a center, upgrade the sub and move the Athena to surround use. The Athena are decent enough that you can continue to use them even as you upgrade the speakers and components around them.

For a starter sub, Sony has some decent ones in the $100-150 range.

 

[thecrunge]

I think I will be going with the B1's and the Sherwood receiver at some point in the next 2 weeks or so (depending on what sort of Christmas funds come in). Might have to look into a sub down the line. My dad just picked up a 10" Dayton sub a few weeks ago for $100 and it seems to be a pretty good deal. I think for now, the receiver and speakers will suffice. Although I need to find a cheap way to send an optical signal from my laptop to the receiver, so I can use the good speakers instead of the cheap $20 Altec Lansings I am using now. Doesn anyone have any good suggestions how to do this?

 

[Seth=L]

Doesn anyone have any good suggestions how to do this?

http://www.radioshack.com/sm-6-ft-gold-series-phono-to-1-8-y-adapter--pi-2103865.html

While the audio card on your laptop won't keep up with a good outboard sound card, it will sound better than your PC speakers for sure.

I haven't seen a computer with an Optical output, I think if you wanted to do that you would need to get a decent external audio card, but in that case it may have newer and better DACs than the Sherwood would have and connecting it via analog would probably yield the best results.