Help me pick next upgrade. Receiver? opinions wanted

[hv9200]

Hello All

I have a budget of around 700.00, here is a list of current equipment.

60" XBR1 SXRD
Yamaha RX-V795A (circa 1998)
Boston Acoustics VR3
Boston VRC
Boston VRX
Klipsch KS-W12
Parasound A-21 (powering mains)
Outlaw M2200 (3)
HD-A1
Tivo Series 3
Panamax 5300 EX

My first thought was to upgrade the receiver (its the oldest in the chain), had my eye on the RX-V1600.(699.00) However would I see a substantial improvement over the RX-V795A? The RX-V1600 has the YPO and other features my current receiver does not. HDMI switching would be nice, but I dont want to pay 700.00 just for switching. Basically I am asking fellow forum users if they have recently upgraded thier "older" receivers for one of the newer ones and if it as worth the expense.

And also if I am better off upgrading somewhere else for the same money...SVS or HSU Sub?

My current reciever has no room correction or usable bass management...it does have DTS and 5.1 analog ins...which is nice.

Wife set budget cap at 700.00...so keep that in mind!

thanks!!!

 

[VegaDog]

Hk

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-HARMON-KARDON-AVR-645-7-1-CH-AV-RECEIVER-AVR645_W0QQitemZ250067008311QQihZ015QQcategoryZ39794QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem I have HK, and their power ratings are on the low end, they actually put out as much if not more clean power than most receivers. I love it plenty of seperate adjustments available, and if you want the exact specs go to:http://www.harmankardon.com/, you would need to squeeze about 150 more outta you lady but thats not hard, make dinner everynight, do the laundry, send flowers to her work etc etc etc.

 

[Nick250]

Two words. Room treatments.

Nick

 

[no. 5]

I have HK, and their power ratings are on the low end, they actually put out as much if not more clean power than most receivers.

H/K's wattage ratings are low compared to other manufactures because H/K uses a very conservitive and ultra-hard, all channels driven test.
(some thoughts about that test)
in a ACD test of a AVR-645 and a RX-V2600, the H/K delivers 75 watts, and the Yamaha delivers 119 watts.

hv9200,
yes, I do think the 1600 will be a improvement over the RX-V795A, just having bass management makes it a improvement.
if you want to save some money what about a HTR-5890?

 

[hv9200]

The HTR-5890 does not have HDMI

Anyone know the HTR equivelent of the RX-V1600 ?

 

[cabron1]

the htr 5990; had hdmi switching,

 

[tomd51]

hv9200;
You may want to consider a more incremental upgrade process similar to what I've done. Earlier in the year I wanted to upgrade my Denon AVR-3803 to a receiver with slighty newer features, yet still maintain most of what I liked in my existing receiver. As I was using it mainly as a pre/pro, the amp section was secondary in my selection process, however it still was important for value reasons and frankly, most well built mid-level receivers (Denon, Yamaha, Onkyo, HK, Pioneer) are fairly comparable with their built-in amps.

As such, I considered a few receiver options, HDMI was not one of the more important features as the most prevalent 1.1 format during my research (and is still the more common format now besides brand new models) showed quite a bit of compatibility inconsistency, therefore I focused mainly on feature set, specifications, amp section and lots of reviews of user and reviewer feedback, as well as my own demos.

When it came down to purchase time, my budget, wants and needs came to two conclusions: the Denon AVR-3805 and Yamaha RX-V2500. From all the research I'd performed on these two, they were more often referred to as almost identical in features and performance. As I'd owned a couple of Denon receivers, I leaned in this direction initially. However, after doing some pricing, I found the 2500 approximately $150 cheaper than the Denon, so I thought I'd give it a shot.

Having owned the 2500 for a little less than a year, I can honestly say I'm more than happy with it's performance. While it's a few models back (current version is 2700, I believe), it has all of the features I needed and being not the latest and greatest, the price was much more attainable.

If HDMI is a nicety for you, I would consider a 2500 if you can find one. I've seen some new units come up for sale under the $500 price point, also some refurbished units for even less... -TD

 

[hv9200]

Thanks TD,

Intitially when this search started I was looking at the RX-V2500, My local dealer had them advertised for $479.00, of course they sold out very quickly and although they do have some open box units left, they wont drop down to the previous sale price and want $599.00 for an open box unit. I hold a 5% discount card plus a $25.00 gift cert to this dealer so I wanted to take advantage of that, but of course I cant use the 5% on open box "clearence" items. However, I am able to use these on a new RX-V1600, with my discounts and a price match from another dealer down the street, I can get a new RX-V1600 for 640.00...hard to pass up but wanted to make sure I saw a significant improvement over the RX-V795A.

 

[tomd51]

I wish I could offer some additional input, however I have no experience w/the RX-V795A.

Does either of these two dealers have a return policy on either receiver? If so, you could evaluate either of them in-home with some material you're quite familiar with and see if it's worth the upgrade.

On one of your other notes in the original posting, a solid sub from SVS or HSU would likely give you significantly improved performance whether it's music or movies. I previously had a pair of Infinity IL50 towers that each had 10" built-in powered 250w subs. Using Infinity's RABOS system to flatten out the FR, these offered some good, tight bass down close to 30Hz, but after getting my 20-39 PCi, there's really no comparision. While not cheap, my SVS has been one of the biggest improvements in my system for sure... -TD

 

[hv9200]

I am sure I would not have a problem returning the reciever if I was not satisfied. Although I tend to get the placebo effect from new equipment

An SVS sub is certainly an option, I would most likley run both the SVS and the Klipsch. The room is good sized (24x18 or so) and I do like bass...I use this system 98% for movies. Right now, I need to turn the Klipsh all the way up to get decent bass response...but again, this may be a lack of bass mgt problem

I figured for the money, the rec would be a better choice...HDMI switching, room correction (YPAO) and the bass mgt may improve my current sub as well

 

[tomd51]

I wouldn't put too much stock into YPAO. While it is a nice feature and definitely has some positives such as PEQ and is nice for smoothing out some frequencies in odd shaped rooms, the YPAO wizard doesn't do some things too well (speaker size identification issues, tends to set the crossover level fairly high, polarity check inaccuracies). Having noted these discrepancies, used with a separate SPL meter, you can get some nice results w/YPAO. I particularly like the flexibility of using the EQ features to match my other speakers to my mains, generate a more flat response and store 6 different memory settings for different calibrations.

If your existing receiver doesn't do any bass management (allows for specific frequency crossover level settings), a newer generation receiver will definitely help from that aspect, though I wouldn't expect it to drastically improve the performance of the KS-W12. While this isn't necessarily a bad sub, it's somewhat limited from a power aspect and in a room the size you described is likely to get a bit lost. I'm not so sure you'd want to run the Klipsch alongside an SVS once you had them both in-house and calibrated, short of musical use, you likely wouldn't get much additional output from the Klipsch.

I'm running my 20-39 PCi in a 28x12x8 room and I have plenty of punch and low-end. Having had a taste for very good bass w/this, I'll upgrade at some point to a Plus version of the 20-39 or add another PCi, but for now, it does some serious pounding. At least, all I can crank it up to w/the WAF... -TD

ps
If you're willing to do a refurb, there's a couple of RX-V1600s here at uBid for $439 w/~$30 shipping...

 

[hv9200]

Yes, I have heard similar comments on the YPAO, Its a nice feature, but sometimes you need to double check what it is doing. I would certainly have SPL meter if I had a reciever that you could adjust speaker and sub settings

My current reciever has zero bass Mgt or intricate speaker settings. just basic settings (large, small....Both and SUB only..etc)

Now I see the RX-V1600 on UBID for $439.00

hmmmm...

 

[tomd51]

Now I see the RX-V1600 on UBID for $439.00

hmmmm...

Must have read my mind...

I've had nothing but great experiences w/my purchases from uBid. In fact, my RX-V2500, my secondary setup's Denon AVR-886 and bedroom's RX-V659 are all refurbs from uBid w/in the past year. They all looked brand new out of the box and have been running perfectly since I've set them up in March, June and October respectively... -TD