HDMI surround receiver under $500

[davetroy]

I seem to have backed myself into a corner. I have a DVD player and a TV with HDMI connects, and I like having fewer wires. But it seems as if this convenience comes with a price: I can't do a low-budget surround system because there seems to be no such thing as a quality surround receiver with HDMI capability for under $500. Or am I mistaken. Does such a thing exist?

That being said, will I see any difference in quality of audio or video if I simply use the component connects on the TV and the DVD player?

Thanks for your help,
Dave

 

[pupuplader]

The Yamaha RX-V661 can be found for under 500 depending on where you look, ebay I believe has some new ones for under 500. It supports HDMI.

From what I have been told and other posts that I have read, an HDMI connection will give you a better picture.

 

[WmAx]

I happened across an ad in today's Best Buy weekly flyer: New! Sony Sorround Receiver, 2 HDMI inputs: $299. I don't remember the model number or the product details. But the price meets your specification.

-Chris

 

[Seth=L]

I happened across an ad in today's Best Buy weekly flyer: New! Sony Sorround Receiver, 2 HDMI inputs: $299. I don't remember the model number or the product details. But the price meets your specification.

-Chris

This receiver does processing for audio as well.

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-XPJJdr3oo9Y/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=10420&I=158STDG710

But it is a Sony, so if you like to gamble.

The Onkyo TX-SR604 is a better choice, IMO. Onkyo has a stellar user interface and has a better track record of reliability than Sony. You will see a bad review here and their for Onkyo, but when a Sony receiver sucks the reviews are consistant.

The Yamaha RX-V661 is pushing the envelope of your budget, but it has a few more features over the Onkyo TX-SR604 that make it worthwhile to spend more money.

Good luck.

 

[jonnythan]

I'm not sure how an HDMI receiver will help you.

With HDMI: One HDMI cable to receiver. One HDMI cable to TV.


Without: One optical audio cable to receiver. One HDMI cable to TV.

 

[Seth=L]

I'm not sure how an HDMI receiver will help you.

With HDMI: One HDMI cable to receiver. One HDMI cable to TV.


Without: One optical audio cable to receiver. One HDMI cable to TV.

Future proofing man!

 

[davetroy]

I'm not sure how an HDMI receiver will help you.

With HDMI: One HDMI cable to receiver. One HDMI cable to TV.


Without: One optical audio cable to receiver. One HDMI cable to TV.

Okay, now I'm really confused. Without HDMI, how can I run an HDMI cable from the receiver to the TV? Or did I mis-read what you said.

What I think I'm looking for is HDMI in and out, correct? And since I have am HD satellite receiver and a DVD player, both with HDMI, I need two HDMI inputs and two HDMI outputs on the receiver, correct? Or is this wrong? My TV has two available HDMi inputs.

 

[jonnythan]

Why do you need to run an HDMI cable from the receiver to the TV?

My point is that you don't need HDMI for anything.

If you have a receiver that does HDMI, then you'd run one HDMI cable from the DVD player to the receiver and another from the receiver to the TV.

If you have a receiver that does not do HDMI, then you'd run one HDMI cable from the DVD player to the TV and one optical audio cable from the DVD player to the receiver.

If you're using an HD satellite receiver with HDMI along with a DVD player with HDMI, you'd need to run one HDMI cable from DVD player to receiver, one HDMI cable from satellite to receiver, and one HDMI cable from receiver to TV. So two inputs, only one output. This method would allow you to eliminate a couple of cables over using a receiver without HDMI.

OR

You could use a receiver without HDMI switching, and run one optical audio cable from the DVD to the receiver, one optical audio cable from the satellite to the receiver, one HDMI cable from DVD to HDMI switcher, one HDMI cable from satellite to HDMI switcher, and one HDMI cable from switcher to the TV. You can get an automatic HDMI switcher for about $55 from Monoprice. This would allow you to use any receiver you wanted without worrying about whether it has HDMI or not.

Just another option for you if you can't find a good receiver in your price range that has the HDMI switching built in.

 

[Seth=L]

If you ever decide to delve into the HD formats you will probably want HDMI with audio processing, which of course an HDMI switcher cannot do for you. Also, depending on what DVD player you have you could be utilizing DVD-Audio or SACD using HDMI instead of a 6 channel analog connection.

If you have no aspiration of upgrading to the HD formats or using SACD and DVD-Audio then you don't need a HDMI receiver, and as it is it doesn't sound like you need one right now. But the Yamaha RX-V661 is a nicely featured receiver with plenty of connections, auto-setup features, decent amount of power, and a pretty good price for the features that it has.

 

[davetroy]

Thanks for your help and input, everyone. My current DVD player is a Panasonic which upscale to 1080i. But HD is a possibility in the future, so I'd like to keep that option open. Would the Sony, Onkyo and Yamaha all work on that front? The thing I don't like about the Onkyo is its lack of HDMI on-screen menu features, but otherwise, the reviews seem to be good. Prices of the Yamaha and Onkyo are about equal. The Sony is, of course, much cheaper, but I haven't seen any reviews.

 

[Seth=L]

Thanks for your help and input, everyone. My current DVD player is a Panasonic which upscale to 1080i. But HD is a possibility in the future, so I'd like to keep that option open. Would the Sony, Onkyo and Yamaha all work on that front? The thing I don't like about the Onkyo is its lack of HDMI on-screen menu features, but otherwise, the reviews seem to be good. Prices of the Yamaha and Onkyo are about equal. The Sony is, of course, much cheaper, but I haven't seen any reviews.

The Sony unit just came out, so you might not see reviews for a little while. My advice would be to stay away from it. Just because it is cheaper doesn't make it the better value and if it breaks down or has errors with HDMI you will be kicking yourself. I only say stay away from Sony because I have had bad personal experience with Sony audio components and reviews don't look great for them either.

 

[darien87]

The Sony unit just came out, so you might not see reviews for a little while. My advice would be to stay away from it. Just because it is cheaper doesn't make it the better value and if it breaks down or has errors with HDMI you will be kicking yourself. I only say stay away from Sony because I have had bad personal experience with Sony audio components and reviews don't look great for them either.

I would second Seth's Sony warning. I too had problems with a Sony receiver in the past. Since dumping the Sony, I have had Yamaha and Denon and LOVED both of them. Unfortunately, the saying, "you get what you pay for", is quite often true.

 

[pupuplader]

The Yamaha will support 1080i, good luck in your decision. If you decide not to get HDMI then I would suggest looking at the RX-V659, it is the predecessor of the V661 and has some great reviews.

 

[Seth=L]

I would second Seth's Sony warning. I too had problems with a Sony receiver in the past. Since dumping the Sony, I have had Yamaha and Denon and LOVED both of them. Unfortunately, the saying, "you get what you pay for", is quite often true.

I was thinking of saying something along those lines, You get what you pay for.

 

[Frugal]

Pioneer VSX-917

The Pioneer VSX-917 has two HDMI inputs/ one out. You can pass a Hi-def signal straight through and use a short coax for receiver audio. That way you can even use the TV speakers for watching the news.

 

[davetroy]

Well, here's what I'm thinking of doing:

Receiver: Yamaha RX-V661

Front, Left and Center: AV123 x-series (either the bookshelves or towers).

Sub-woofer: One of the ones from HSU Research, unless somebody has a better idea. As I said, my room is about 16 x 14, open on one side.

The back speakers will have to wait, possibly for a long time, for various reasons (I don't want to run wires; I've heard bad things about the wireless speakers).

 

[jake5717]

Only thing I don’t like about the 661 is only video that comes in on HDMI will go out on HDMI it won’t take you composites and switch them over to the HDMI out. Won't matter to most people but if you were looking for 1 wire to your TV it won’t happen.

 

[davetroy]

Only thing I don’t like about the 661 is only video that comes in on HDMI will go out on HDMI it won’t take you composites and switch them over to the HDMI out. Won't matter to most people but if you were looking for 1 wire to your TV it won’t happen.

I'm not sure of the implications of that. My current setup is cable wire into my HD Direct TV box, HDMI out to the TV. Then HDMI out from my DVD player to the TV. Nothing else. I'm running entirely off of HDMI outs from my components (satellite receiver, DVD player). What would change about that?

 

[Seth=L]

The Pioneer VSX-917 has two HDMI inputs/ one out. You can pass a Hi-def signal straight through and use a short coax for receiver audio. That way you can even use the TV speakers for watching the news.

The Pioneer VSX-917 pales in comparison the the RX-V661's performance. If Dave intends to upgrade to an HD Disc format in the future it would be in his best interest to get the RX-V661.

The Pioneer only passes HDMI, nothing else. The Yamaha will upconvert over HDMI, do 8 channel LPCM (for HD-DVD and Blu-ray), DSD (for SACD).

The Pioneer has the same amplifier that the 816 has, which isn't much in comparison to the Yamaha RX-V661.

The Pioneer doesn't have preouts for all channels, the Yamaha does.

The Yamaha has more advanced setup features and flexibility.

Lastly, the Yamaha has more connectivity.

This is the Pioneer.

The reason I am pushing the Yamaha so hard is because I think Dave will be really happy with this unit, and it should satisfy his needs now and in the near future. I am not trying to break anyones glass, just trying to suggest the best possible solution for Dave.

Good luck Dave.

 

[jonnythan]

I'm not sure of the implications of that. My current setup is cable wire into my HD Direct TV box, HDMI out to the TV. Then HDMI out from my DVD player to the TV. Nothing else. I'm running entirely off of HDMI outs from my components (satellite receiver, DVD player). What would change about that?

Nothing would change, but if you want to hook up a VCR, PS2, Wii, etc, then you'll need to run a separate component cable.