Entry level alternatives to Pioneer 578A?

[Scooter B]

I was planning on getting the Pioneer 578A for my birthday and asked for BestBuy giftcards from family and would make up the rest from my funds...

Called Best Buy today and they are not carrying them anymore instock or special order (due to the discussed bass issues)but you can order them online....Unfortunately you can not use Best Buy gift cards for online purchases at this time...grrrrr.

I am more into quality music reproduction than a killer HT and have a Yamaha Sub (with built in crossovers) that seems to be on the fritz and Paradigm Titans as my mains.

My reciever is an older Sony from when surround sound recievers first came out...low power surrounds and center channels (10 or 20 watts) and 100 watts for the mains. It only decodes surround from typical 2 channel inputs and does not have seperate inputs for 5.1-7.1 etc (no seperate sub out either).

Circuit City still carries them locally for $149 but no price matching.

I have skimmed most of the dedicated 578A review thread with the mixed reviews about bass distortion and low bass output and get the overall impression that as long as you set your speaker set up to "large" this is generally not a problem for most people.

Are there any quality alternatives to the Pioneer 578A for under $200 street?

If not would using the Yamaha sub (provided I get it working again), my Paradigm Titans and using the "large speaker" preset on the 578A work okay for me and avoid the bass distortion?

My requirements are;
Audio - SA and DVD Audio that will play MP3, regular CD and CD-R from PC DAW based home recording projects.
Video - DVD with progressive scan.

True surround DVD audio is not a huge issue for me right now as I have the cheap Sony surround satalites that came free with my stereo and I have no center channel speaker at all.

Mostly I want a decent progressive scan DVD player that supports 24 bit 196 khz audio and will also still play my CD-R's for checking my mixes on my home recording projects.

Thanks

 

[Leprkon]

you might check out the Samsung DVD-HD841, runs about $ 190 at Crutchfield.

never heard it, never seen it, but it's the one I could find in a similar price range...

 

[Scooter B]

Thanks Leprkon,

I re-read the whole 578A thread and it appears the 578A does fine with the stereo out signals and as long as you set it up correctly it does okay with true MCS.

My older reciever only takes in stereo 2 channel inputs so the whole MCS it not a big deal for me right now.

I think I am going to go with the 578A from Crutchfield for $129.

 

[3beanlimit]

Thanks Leprkon,

I re-read the whole 578A thread and it appears the 578A does fine with the stereo out signals and as long as you set it up correctly it does okay with true MCS.

My older reciever only takes in stereo 2 channel inputs so the whole MCS it not a big deal for me right now.

I think I am going to go with the 578A from Crutchfield for $129.

Check out Vanns....same cost but free shipping.

 

[Scooter B]

I found an open box display unit at the local Circuit City for $129 same warranty and went with that.

 

[SQ Kid]

oddly enough, i got my 578a after xmas and it was on sale for $110 at circuit city. i was expecting another $40, so that went toward my first couple discs....