Home theater receiver vs multi-room receiver

[Belaflek73]

Hi everyone,

I am definitely a newbie so please excuse if I say anything really stupid. I am interested in building a home theater system. I also love listening to music, I have Xbox, and in the future I would like to add speakers to other rooms in my house and have the ability to turn them on and off.

With that being said I feel like my biggest decision will be in what receiver I choose. I do not need to blow the roof off my house. I live in a colonial style house approx 2200 sq feet. I can't afford to get all the pieces to this puzzle right away but I don't want to buy a new receiver in 3 years either.

What's the difference between surround sound receivers and multi room receivers? I was thinking about the Yamaha rx-a720. I also want to be able to use Netflix, iTunes, and my iPod. Is that something the receiver will allow me to do?

Thanks

 

[markw]

You need to define your goals.

You know what an home theater receiver (AVR) is. That's a start.

Many AVR's offer "multi-zone" capabilites whereby a different zone can play and control speakers that can play a source other than that in the main zone (where the home theater is).

Many times those "zones" are limited to an analog source and you probably need additional amplification for them.

The number of additional "zones" a receiver can handle is defined in it's specs. I believe (not promising) that three is about the max.

But, if you just want the same source playing in different rooms, this might be simpler. It may be as simple as running wires and some impedance matching volume controls in each room and buying a very powerful receiver. It may also require additional amplifiers as well.

The number of speakers you want to feed and how you want to handle the sources you want need to be defined before more answers can be provided.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Wow, just last week Amazon Warehouse had these Denon 3312 (network, AirPlay, iPad, iPod, HDMI4, multi-room, etc) for $505 delivered.

Now they are $708.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B004Z50L6E/sr=/qid=/ref=olp_prime_used?ie=UTF8&colid=&coliid=&condition=used&me=&qid=&seller=&shipPromoFilter=1&sort=sip&sr=

These are open-box items with 3 yr Denon warranty.

I would watch those prices closely and grab them when they go back down to $505.

You can pretty much do anything with this Denon. It can also output 225wpc x 2 ch into 4 ohm @ 1% THD if required, meaning you probably won't need an external amp. But it also has ext amp output if you need or want.

 

[Belaflek73]

Great suggestion I'm sold on the Denon avr-3313ci. I won't get the open box though, that's just me I need it new. At any rate, that eats up a lot of my budget but I feel like its important to not skimp on the receiver.

I will have to build my speaker supply slower. I don't want any tower speakers. I'm thinking of starting with a surround system. I already have 2 book shelf Cambridge audio speakers that I will eventually move somewhere else. My budget for speakers right now is $1000. I listen to music more than I watch movies.

Any suggestions for speakers? Thanks again.

 

[lsiberian]

Great suggestion I'm sold on the Denon avr-3313ci. I won't get the open box though, that's just me I need it new. At any rate, that eats up a lot of my budget but I feel like its important to not skimp on the receiver.

I will have to build my speaker supply slower. I don't want any tower speakers. I'm thinking of starting with a surround system. I already have 2 book shelf Cambridge audio speakers that I will eventually move somewhere else. My budget for speakers right now is $1000. I listen to music more than I watch movies.

Any suggestions for speakers? Thanks again.

Do you want just speakers or a receiver and speakers?

FYI with receivers I've had great luck with open boxes and refurbs. Most come with full warranties and believe me there isn't a big difference between them internally. It's the same components.

 

[scott911]

my two cents...

a separate multi-channel amp (to add to your receiver) for your whole house audio is often a cheaper & less complicated option than getting a good multi-zone amp.

I have a $1600 avr with multiple zone support pouring out of it's utters. BUT, when I go whole house soon, I will still use a separate lower-end amp to power the ceiling speakers.

first, I'll have a lot more safe power channels to sent to speakers without worrying as much about ohm issues.
secondly, my ceiling speakers don't need the quality that the main stereo has.
third - less wear on my main amp.

There is nothing wrong with refurb - it's likely a better choice than new in many cases because it's had a good once over after return - not so with everything coming off an assembly line.

 

[j_garcia]

Great suggestion I'm sold on the Denon avr-3313ci. I won't get the open box though, that's just me I need it new. At any rate, that eats up a lot of my budget but I feel like its important to not skimp on the receiver.

I will have to build my speaker supply slower. I don't want any tower speakers. I'm thinking of starting with a surround system. I already have 2 book shelf Cambridge audio speakers that I will eventually move somewhere else. My budget for speakers right now is $1000. I listen to music more than I watch movies.

Any suggestions for speakers? Thanks again.

Speakers are far more important for sound than any other component in the system. Having said that, it is definitely a good thing not to skimp on the receiver, the heart of the system.

Open box carries the exact same warranty as new.

 

[Belaflek73]

Ok based on what you guys are saying I will reconsider getting an open box. I'm still in love with the Denon avr-3313ci. I can't find any open boxes of this selling but I'll keep checking and if not I'll get it new.

I'm looking for speakers as well. The amp idea sounds good. For right now I think a center speaker, 2 book shelf speakers, and 2 surround speakers would be good. I'm look at Klipsch. I really have no idea how to evaluate these speakers and I don't think there's anywhere I can go to hear them. What should I be looking for?

I appreciate all the quick feedback I'm getting.

 

[Belaflek73]

Also, I'm sure everyone has their favorite brand speaker. I had bought klipsch speakers 3.1 system for my computer and fell in love with them which is why I am favoring that brand. Brand loyalty aside, are there any specs I should be looking for? I also read that there needs to be some similarity between speakers. Lets say I get klipsch for the center speaker, can I get a different brand for the subwoofer? Said in another way...are there certain specs that need to be similar for all speakers in a home theater system?

 

[Drumheller]

Also, I'm sure everyone has their favorite brand speaker. I had bought klipsch speakers 3.1 system for my computer and fell in love with them which is why I am favoring that brand. Brand loyalty aside, are there any specs I should be looking for? I also read that there needs to be some similarity between speakers. Lets say I get klipsch for the center speaker, can I get a different brand for the subwoofer? Said in another way...are there certain specs that need to be similar for all speakers in a home theater system?

The consensus I have read is that it's a good idea to match the brand and series for fronts and center. If you can match the surrounds, also, that helps, but not as important as the front three. Subs don't matter for matching.

I recently bought Klipsch speakers for my front three and surrounds and a HSU Research sub. Sounds great to me.

Beyond that, I'll give you the same advice most people gave me: try to find a place to listen to different speakers and find what you like.

For instance, I was considering Polk speakers because I had a Polk set from a HTiB. They were low end but I was impressed with them for what they were. However, when I listened to the Polk RTi-A9s next to the Klipsch RF-82 ii, I was swayed over to the Klipsch speakers.

It might also be worth considering how much you will use the speakers for different modes. Mostly movies? Mostly music? Mix?

 

[Belaflek73]

Thanks for the response. I love listening to music, my wife likes movies so I would say both. I realized this thread is titled receivers and I changed topics to speakers, so I started a new thread on speakers.

I agree with your sentiment on klipsch. I've had nothing but good experiences with them.