Decent quality No frills receiver

[jcharbo]

Hi, I'm looking for a no frills receiver to power a $1500 or so bookshelf system. I'll be running everything through Apple TV so I don't need any of the fancy networking options and all the latest gadgets, I just want clean sound. What do you guys recommend?

 

[fmw]

Hi, I'm looking for a no frills receiver to power a $1500 or so bookshelf system. I'll be running everything through Apple TV so I don't need any of the fancy networking options and all the latest gadgets, I just want clean sound. What do you guys recommend?

I can recommend This from personal experience.

 

[ImcLoud]

need more info...
I take it this is for music only? just 2 bookshelf speakers? What is your source going to be, an ipod, cd player, turntable, or just the apple tv? Any future plans for a subwoofer? How loud are you looking to go and what speakers are you looking into?

If its just the apple TV, and a set of 8 ohm, mildly efficient speakers a simple integrated amp should do the trick...
Dayton APA150 will leave you most of your budget for speakers and give you 75 watts a channel or you can use two of them bridged mono and get 150 watts per channel and have no chance of cross talk...
Emotiva mini X

Sherbourne 2x50 on sale comes with remote

If you didnt pick a set of speakers I would go with ascend sierra 1's Sierra-1 Bamboo Loudspeaker and a audio engine dac will keep you in budget with a upa200... I use an xda2 and audioengine dacs and they both work great..

 

[jcharbo]

Sorry for the lack of info. It will be 50/50 music and movies. I will probably going with a hsu 5.1 system.

 

[ImcLoud]

OK, so you need a Receiver?
them HSU books shelfs are pretty efficient (92 if I remember correctly,) so almost any avr will get them to play loud with ease...

This is a great deal rite now Pioneer 7.2-Channel Network A/V Receiver I am not the type to spend $1500 on an avr, you can get a really nice unit for around $500 in most cases, denon 3312s are here and there on sale for around $550, pioneer 1222k for around $500, but rite now I like this sc63 for under $700 thats a lot of avr for the money, and its an Elite model, and I really like the d3 amp sections...

I would look into the Ascend Acoustics 340se, 170se, and 200se over the HSU bookshelfs, I have demoed them both and IMO the ascends are a much better sound, the ascend sierras are another step up which the HSU's couldn't compete with, I am not a fan of horns and they hsu's to me were fatiguing, they sounded great initially but by the end of a movie I was almost down to mute, because I kept turning it down as time went by, not as bad as Klipsch , but still brighter than I like... HSU is the rite place to be looking for a Sub, I love my vtf2, but you can do better than them bookshelfs...

Good luck, I hope this helps...

 

[jcharbo]

The pioneer vsx 523 looks great for my needs but will it provide great audio commensurate with the $1700 I'm about to spend on a hsu 5.1 system? Does going up in the pioneer lineup buy better sound or just more power and features?

 

[jcharbo]

Is the Harman/Kardon AVR 1650 5.1-Channel AV Receiver a better choice? It doesn't have the mcacc calibration like the pioneer. How important is that?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I would call Electronics Expo and negotiate a new Denon X4000 for about $850 or new Denon 4311 for $1225 shipped. Also call Onecall and other dealers for the AVR-4311.

 

[ImcLoud]

OK I thought you were in the market for something in the 500-$750 range, and with the 2 you broght up seems like you would rather be under $300...
That will work too...
If I were choosing an avr in that range I would buy this one..
DENON AVR-1913 7.1ch Home Theater Receiver w/AirPlay 3D ready | Accessories4less
or
DENON AVR-2112CI 7.1 Integrated Network A/V Surround Receiver | Accessories4less

I'm not a Harmon Kardon fan, and I like the Pioneers with the class d3 and the Mcacc is very nice and easy to use too... That Pioneer is decent but I would rather have one of the denons, they all make around the same power that Pioneer is like 80w @8 ohms and the denon is a little more with 90w @ 8 ohms... I have never heard that specific Pioneer, but I have heard others very similar and they are fine, but for the money the Denons would be better IMO...

Which 5.1 were you getting from HSU?

 

[jcharbo]

I only want to be in the $300 price range if that takes advantage of most of the capability of the hsu system. I went with the VHF-15h 5.1 system. I just don't want to pay a lot of extra money for cutting edge networking features, I want sound quality.

 

[ImcLoud]

Well then the Denton would be my choice from a4l. It still has networking just inexpensive because its from a4l refurb end but a lot of people have good luck with them...

Speakers are going to make the biggest difference in sound quality all avrs are going to be similar just try to get something with a decent room correction eq system....

Did you get a chance to check out ascend acoustics for your speakers? For the same price you can get 170 front left and right a 340 center and 200 surrounds. IMO will give you much better sound quality...

 

[fmw]

The pioneer vsx 523 looks great for my needs but will it provide great audio commensurate with the $1700 I'm about to spend on a hsu 5.1 system? Does going up in the pioneer lineup buy better sound or just more power and features?

Features and a little more power.