Decent receiver?

[Smartass408]

My parents are looking at getting some stuff for their living room and are redoing it. All of the family is coming over to their house for Thanksgiving and they want to get the room all finished off. The room is 17x12x8ish but they will probably never have the sound blasting.

They've gotten a 42" panny G15 plasma (for $999, so not too bad) and a PS3 slim for Blu Rays, and another DVR cable box. They were looking to add some stereo equipment since the TV's speakers are pretty poor. I don't know much about A/V receivers or speakers but I recommended that for now they only add a 2.1 system and add on later.

The speakers I was looking at getting for them are the Behringer 2030p's and I would mod them later based on the post I found on this forum when I have a chance. These should be adequate for their needs, no? She was probably going to get these off of Amazon and wanted to know if there was any difference between the reg studio monitors and the Ultra-Linear Reference Studio Monitors, I didn't know what to tell her(besides a $1 price difference). Is there a better place to buy these than Amazon?

My mom was looking at the Denon AVR-590 receiver and I was wondering what you guys thought about it. Everything will be hooked up through HDMI if that makes any difference. If you have any other suggestions in a similar price range (not too much over $400) I'd be glad to hear them, refurb or not doesn't really matter as long as she can get a warranty of some sort for it.

As for a subwoofer I think they should wait until black friday/cyber monday (not as fun as it sounds) to look for one. But suggestions would be helpful.


Thanks for the help guys.

 

[XEagleDriver]

Cool to be helping your folks!

My parents are looking at getting some stuff for their living room and are redoing it. All of the family is coming over to their house for Thanksgiving and they want to get the room all finished off. The room is 17x12x8ish but they will probably never have the sound blasting.

. . . . I don't know much about A/V receivers or speakers but I recommended that for now they only add a 2.1 system and add on later.

Good plan! However, depending on the level of your folks "techno-peasantry" (an endearing term I use for my folks ) you may want to consider just getting a pair of active monitors to connect to the L/R audio outs (RCA plugs) on the TV vice a receiver/speakers set up.

The speakers I was looking at getting for them are the Behringer 2030p's . . . These should be adequate for their needs, no?

Yes. PM "Lsiberian" (or is it ISiberian ?) if you need more specifics, he seems to know a lot about these speakers.

. . . know if there was any difference between the reg studio monitors and the Ultra-Linear Reference Studio Monitors, I didn't know what to tell her(besides a $1 price difference). Is there a better place to buy these than Amazon?

No difference, one entry uses more marketing lingo than the other, a 2030P is a 2030P.

Google search "2030P price" for other online options, just make sure they check out feedback/are comfortable with other online retailers. Amazon is reliable and in my experience trustworthy, I would not want my folks to get burned by some sleaze outfit--not worth the "savings"

My mom was looking at the Denon AVR-590 receiver and I was wondering what you guys thought about it. Everything will be hooked up through HDMI if that makes any difference. If you have any other suggestions in a similar price range (not too much over $400) I'd be glad to hear them, refurb or not doesn't really matter as long as she can get a warranty of some sort for it.

Denon is very good, but their manuals suck and set up is more difficult than average.

If this would pose a problem for them consider Yamaha. The "SCENE" buttons found on their moderate priced models are very helpful to techno-peasant family members . One button press turns the AVR on, sets the audio & video paths and the proper sound field (direct, neo-cinema, 2ch enhanced, etc.) --very cool!

As for a subwoofer I think they should wait until black friday/cyber monday (not as fun as it sounds) to look for one. But suggestions would be helpful.

Good idea! In your case, Mom Acceptability Factor (i.e. smaller sized/less intrusive) will probably be a large factor in picking a sub.

Cheers,
XEagleDriver

 

[njedpx3]

My parents are looking at getting some stuff for their living room and are redoing it. All of the family is coming over to their house for Thanksgiving and they want to get the room all finished off. The room is 17x12x8ish but they will probably never have the sound blasting.

They've gotten a 42" panny G15 plasma (for $999, so not too bad) and a PS3 slim for Blu Rays, and another DVR cable box. They were looking to add some stereo equipment since the TV's speakers are pretty poor. I don't know much about A/V receivers or speakers but I recommended that for now they only add a 2.1 system and add on later.

The speakers I was looking at getting for them are the Behringer 2030p's and I would mod them later based on the post I found on this forum when I have a chance. These should be adequate for their needs, no? She was probably going to get these off of Amazon and wanted to know if there was any difference between the reg studio monitors and the Ultra-Linear Reference Studio Monitors, I didn't know what to tell her(besides a $1 price difference). Is there a better place to buy these than Amazon?

My mom was looking at the Denon AVR-590 receiver and I was wondering what you guys thought about it. Everything will be hooked up through HDMI if that makes any difference. If you have any other suggestions in a similar price range (not too much over $400) I'd be glad to hear them, refurb or not doesn't really matter as long as she can get a warranty of some sort for it.

As for a subwoofer I think they should wait until black friday/cyber monday (not as fun as it sounds) to look for one. But suggestions would be helpful.


Thanks for the help guys.

Behringer Truth B2030Ps are good but there is only one model of the Truth B2030P; the difference is the marketing advertisement one of their advertised features: "Ultra-linear frequency response from 55 Hz to 21 kHz".

$129 at http://www.dvwarehouse.com/Behringer-Truth-2030P-Passive-Studio-Monitors-Pair-p-33977.html

$130 Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Truth-B2030P-Studio-Monitor-Pair/dp/B000QF2T1M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1258631914&sr=8-1

Toss-up , go with Amazon - very good customer service and return policies



Just checked out the specs on the Denon AVR-590 and manual and it looks very good. Manual complicated -setup hard?- no more so than most others.

Concerning Subwoofer. A very good inexpensive one is the Dayton SUB-120 HT Series 12" 150 Watt Powered Subwoofer $155. 23 from Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000C9NV78 I would buy this and forego Black Friday hassle.

Later,

Forest Man

 

[rnatalli]

The Denon 590 is a great receiver for the money. Good amp section, Audyssey MultEQ, and reliable. It's true that they're a little more difficult to setup, but you only have to do that once hopefully. I would suggest using batpig's guides over at AVS.

 

[krzywica]

You didn't mention a budget but HSU is having a huge sale. I would look at the VTF1 as it is only $410 from the normal price of $550 and comes with gorgeous real wood veneer.



Here is the link to the retail sub.

http://www.hsuresearch.com/products/vtf-1.html

I can't vouch for Denon , but I have owned many Yamaha Receivers in the past and they are probably the most user friendly as well as having excellent features and amplification.

 

[bandphan]

The 2030 are nice little speakers, but they are not WAF speakers without grills.

 

[rnatalli]

I can't vouch for Denon , but I have owned many Yamaha Receivers in the past and they are probably the most user friendly as well as having excellent features and amplification.

Yamaha's had great amplification up until last year. Unfortunately, they along with Pioneer have really scaled back their amp sections on the budget line receivers. Denon, Onkyo, and HK stomp on them in terms of power.

 

[3db]

Yamaha's had great amplification up until last year. Unfortunately, they along with Pioneer have really scaled back their amp sections on the budget line receivers. Denon, Onkyo, and HK stomp on them in terms of power.

As much as I hate to agree with you, I've noticed this disturbing trend from Yamaha too. But until we get some real tests here, its educated speculation on our part.