Cheap Receiver advise?

[simpsonps121]

Hi guys,
You were great help with my speakers.
Now... I am looking to complete my home theatre system.

I have a Sansung LN t4665F - 1080p
I have an Athena Micra 6 system http://www.athenaspeakers.com/micra6SystemSpeakers.htm

I am looking for a $250 or so receiver. I know I am being cheap, but money is scarce...

I have 1 HDMI, the rest are components.

Here are the receivers I have looked at:
SONY STR DG710
Sony STR DG 800
Onkyo TXSR504
Onkyo TXS R505.

Thanks for any advice that you can provide.

Matthew

 

[avaserfi]

While I do not have direct experience with any of the receivers you have listed I have experience with both brands and say Onkyo is the better hands down. Just from having played with the different receivers I perfer Onkyo over Sony receviers for not just looks but also functionality and what I found to be more ease of use.

 

[markw]

You might widen your search to include Denon, Marantz and Yamaha. All offer fine products as well.

For no particular reason, I am not overly fone od Sony. IMNSHO, a lot of their draw comes from their past history, not their current lineup.

 

[Nick250]

Agreed about Sony. If you find a Denon or Yamaha in that price range they are well worth considering as well. A few years ago I bought a new in box Denon 1705 for $228 on closeout at Tweeter. It's a dandy receiver. At the moment it's doing 2.1 service in a music only system, but it filled in for a few weeks on the main system and I was impressed by how well it performed.

Nick

 

[Leprkon]

here's a decent deal on a Denon 1907 for $234.

http://www.ubid.com/Denon_AVR-1907_595_Watts__7.1_Ch._AV_Home_Theater/a11048668.html

or the Onkyo 604 for $279, which sells for about $330 new. probably just out of your budget, but worth a look.

http://www.ubid.com/Onkyo_TX-SR604_630W_7.1_Ch._A/V_Home_Theater_Receiver/a11048669.html

 

[jcPanny]

Yamaha receivers

Look for a Yamaha RX-V659 or HTR-5960 in your budget. It won't include HDMI but should have plenty of power and features for your HTIB speaker system.