Entry level reciever help, complete newbie to it all

[moumtz]

I've been lurking the forums the last few days in search of the perfect receiver for my dad for Christmas. He has a real nice Pioneer 43" plasma, and I wanted to get him a nice home theatre system. He doesn't understand that the cheap $300 HTIB are crap, but I am trying my best to educate him. I figure I'll start off small for him, maybe a receiver and a couple of speakers and slowly upgrade as his birthdays come along and such.

Basically right now I am looking for a reciever around $500, could be a little more, could be a little less. The thing is, the TV he has comes with a receiver, which is kinda where I am confused. He has the Pioneer PDP-4345HD, and it has a receiver that you hook up all the DVD's, Cable, and everything else to. It isn't an audio receiver, but rather a receiver to reduce clutter to the TV.

My first question is, would I need a receiver that has HDMI so that I can get the best possible dvd quality? Or can I just take a digital out from this receiver it has and plug that into the new receiver I am buying, and not worry about video connections at all?

Second question is, what type of receiver should I get. I've been looking at a few in particular, mainly the Denon 1906, the Pioneer 1015, and the Marantz 5600. I was also looking at the Yamaha 2500, if that is a good option as well.

The pioneer is definately the cheapest, I can find it for 400 dollars from Vanns.com, but the Marantz I found for 529 at authorizedelectronics.com. I've noticed a lot of people pointing to authorizedelectronics.com, but is it a reputable place? The website doesn't make me feel very secure with ordering from them, but if someone says they are good I have no doubt.

Just for added info, I plan on spending an additional 300-400 dollars on speakers from the get go, and around $500 in the next year to complete the system, so any tips on speakers would be nice. My father does about 80% TV and Movies and about 20% music. Thanks for all the help!

 

[Nuzy]

I have a 50" Pioneer Plasma with a Pioneer 1015TX receiver and I am very happy with the combination (along with a Panasonic S77 DVD player).

A HDMI capable receiver will cost you quite a bit more than would like to spend. For your purpose, it probably isn't really necessary to get one anyway unless: (1) you want the receiver to do video switching, (2) you need more than the two HDMI inputs included with the plasma's media receiver, (3) you just like the convenience of one cable for sound and video. All you need to do is run the HDMI output from your DVD player to the plasma's HDMI input for your video. Then run the optical or coax cable from the DVD player to the Home Theater Receiver for your sound. You can turn off the sound being sent through the HDMI cable via the DVD player settings. This way you are sending the video via HDMI to the plasma media receiver while sending the sound to the HT Receiver. If you have a cable or satellite box you can do the same thing since the Pioneer plasmas have two HDMI inputs.

I can't comment on how the 1015 compares to the other two receivers you mentioned since I have never heard or looked into the other two. For the money, I like the features and performance of the 1015. It is essentially a rebadged Elite line receiver, so it's no slouch. Just a heads up, it is heavy and pretty deep so you'll need a fairly sturdy and deep cabinet or shelf.

As far as the on-line site you mentioned, check them out on resellerratings.com and see what people have to say about them.

I'll defer the speaker suggestions to others. My speakers were pieced together over time and are mostly timber matched entry level Polks (R30 fronts, CS2 center, R15 surrounds, no sub or rear surrounds yet). For the money, I am VERY happy with them. If I had to start over on speakers, I'd do some more research and may or may not end up with Polks. I've heard good things abourt the BIC Acoustech speaker performance for movies (better for movies since they are horn type speakers, but maybe not so good for music). They are relatively inexpensive too.

 

[jcPanny]

TV Audio box

My parents had a similar video box with their Sharp LCD TV. Like you suggested, it basically allows a single cable to run from the video box to the display to cut down on wiring.
All of the receivers in your price range have Video switching capability for component video, svideo, and composite video. All of them should also convert between these formats (take an svideo signal from VCR and output over component video).
Similar to your TVs video box, this Receiver feature allows a single video connection from the receiver to your TV. When the receiver is doing the video switching, then you don't have to worry about changing the TV's input to Video 1, 2, 3, etc. when changing sources. If your TV's video box has enough inputs, then you don't need to use the receiver for video switching. Also, for a receiver with HDMI expect to spend closer to 1K.

For your $500 budget, the Yamaha RX-V1500 is a good option. For a little more, the Yamaha RX-V2500 or Denon 3805 are good options.

For speakers for $3-400, consider a nice set of bookshelf speakers and adding center, surrounds and sub later.

 

[moumtz]

I decided to go ahead and pull the trigger on the Yamaha RX-V2500, so now I am looking for speakers.

I definately need two fronts, but also, depending on the price, I am looking for a center or sub (which should come first?)

Anyone know anything good I should go for?

 

[mulester7]

I decided to go ahead and pull the trigger on the Yamaha RX-V2500, so now I am looking for speakers.

I definately need two fronts, but also, depending on the price, I am looking for a center or sub (which should come first?)

Anyone know anything good I should go for?

.....hit the ground runnin' with a sub....get the center when you can, and it will be a very good add, but I want subs with a system, from the first breath of said system, be it car, home, treehouse, or cliff dwelling....

 

[jaxvon]

I personally think you should take your Dad speaker shopping. He'll know what's best for his ears when he hears some decent stuff. If you wanted to be really involved, you could call ahead to the shops and have them set aside speakers in your budget to listen to so you don't have to deal with any awkward moments when you're there. A good shop should be accommodating to these needs.

If you want to go internet direct, good options are Ascend, Axiom, Rocket (from AV123.com), and the Phase Tech Teatro series available for cheap at OneCall.

 

[moumtz]

Thanks for the replies guys!

I'd love to take my dad speaker shopping, but he lives in an area where there aren't any real great audio stores, and plus I want to suprise him.

Specifically, what type of fronts should I get for around 3-400 bucks? I prefer floorstanding, but if I can get better bookshelfs i'll stick with those. I've been looking at Energy Speakers, Polk and Klipsch, and I like them all. Any ideas?

 

[jaxvon]

I personally feel that at that price point, you'd do best to invest in bookshelves. You'll get much higher quality sound for the dollar. Check out the brands in my last post. They're all worthwhile. Aside from the Phase Tech (which just happens to be available at one-call), the internet direct companies allow you an in-home trial with their products.