Budget HT Receiver to match with Athena Micra 6 ?

[Kinketsu]

Hi folks,

Newbie here ... nice site !!

I'm just getting set up with my first home theatre. Sticking to fairly budget components, since at the moment my spouse chairs the "House Appropriations Committee".

I just picked up what I think is a good deal on Athena Micra 6 speaker system (Cdn $380 at FutureShop.ca ... basically half price).

Basic question: Any recommendations for a reasonably budget receiver to match (say ~$400 Cdn)? (Details on requirements and preferences below.)

Thanks !!

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The details:

9' x 15' basement room. 65" front-projection screen on one of the 9' walls, seating at ~12' at opposite end. Projector is BenQ PB6110, eventually to be ceiling mounted, will take composite video by way of composite->VGA converter cable.

Receiver requirements:
- 5.1
- composite video switching, 2 inputs OK ... more is better
- good quality
- decent bang / buck

Receiver preferences:
- all black in colour
- ~$400 Cdn

I have access to a new Harmon Kardon AVR230 at $600 Cdn, but it's more than I intended to spend, it isn't all black, and it's unclear it's that much of a deal. (Though I LOVE the sound on my old Harmon Kardon AVR100.) So, if anyone can suggest an all-black, good quality, better bang/buck receiver, then I'll consider that instead of the AVR230.

Thanks !!

 

[WndrBr3d]

OneCall has a Harman/Kardon AVR235 on sale for $349 USD (~$420 CAD). I've purchased a lot of my AV equipment from OneCall, they're very reliable.

This would probably be the best receiver for you. It has two component inputs and cranks out 50 watts x 7 or 65 watts x 2. AND it has 7.1 Pre-Out's incase in the future you wanted to upgrade and add an external amp.

One think about H/K receivers (at least this was true on my AVR520) was that when using Component Video, it cant put Graphics Over Video. So the OSD, Volume and on screen menu's through the receiver will not show up on screen while using a component video monitor out.

This may be different on the X35 series.

Cheers!

 

[Kinketsu]

WndrBr3d,

Thanks for your response.

I am so jealous of American pricing ... however, in my past experience the hassle of cross-border shipping, customs brokerage, occasional warranty issues, etc more than outweighs the savings.

(Of course I always take advantage of the duty-free privileges for those small things I can easily carry over the border myself on one of my frequent business trips. However, I don't think this item quite qualifies.)

All that said, FutureShop is asking Cdn $900 for the AVR235 ... gasp. Compared to that the $600 AVR230 looks almost reasonable.

Cheers ! (I think ...)

 

[Kinketsu]

Updated thoughts and followup question

OK, I am continuing to research, and here's the decision point I'm at:

Yamaha RX-V550 $550 Cdn
Harmon Kardon AVR230 $600 Cdn
Yamaha RX-V650 $650 Cdn (YPAO seems a big plus)
Marantz SR6400 $700 Cdn

Would love to hear some thoughts/recommendations ... are the upgrades really upgrades? Are they worth it? (I'm not gonna starve if I upgrade, but I like to get value.)

Thanks in advance ...

Cheers!