How much receiver do I need?

[baraant]

I'm trying to set up my basement home theater and I'm still trying to learn all the terms and what they mean and how to do it myself for a bargain other than go to tweeter and have them 'set me up' and add about $1k or more to the price. I like the Onkyo brand receiver's because Cnet gives them good bang for the buck recommendations. Here's my question: For the DVD player I'm planning on using the OPPP DV-981HD, which has up-conversion capabilites, so do I need a receiver that has up-conversion capabilites? As I see it now the only other things that will get plugged into this system are my basic cable line, which isn't HD yet, and my kids game stuff which will grow as they get older, the TV will be a plasma 42" or 50". The room this will all be used in is 15' x 28' x about 6-7' high drywalled and well insulated with carpeting on the floor. I was looking at the Onkyo 674 and even the 804, but I may not need even that much receiver, what do you think? Should I buy the 674 and just be done with it or look at the 504 or others?

 

[Davemcc]

From what I can tell, you are looking to future-proof yourself to some extent as the kids grow up or your system expands. It looks like the Onkyo SR-674 will provide these capabilities. You should be able to hook up everything you listed to the receiver and then run one HDMI to your TV. This greatly simplifies wiring. Plus, it will handle the new HD games and an HD cable box when you upgrade that. The only thing it's missing, and it may not be important to you, is multi-channel pre-outs if you ever want to add external amplification. Otherwise, I could see the 674 being functional for a very long time with a great variety of sources.

 

[Seth=L]

The 804 has preouts, so you can add amplifiers down the road. It has all the features the 674 has and just a few more like power and THX.

 

[STRONGBADF1]

Do you have speakers yet?

Make sure of your speakers power requierments before you buy.

Have fun,
SBF1

 

[baraant]

speakers

I was planning on starting out with this set ONKYO SKS-HT240.

 

[MDS]

I was planning on starting out with this set ONKYO SKS-HT240.

If you buy the Oppo which only has HDMI outputs you will shoot yourself in the foot if you buy any Onkyo receiver other than the 674 or 804 because you NEED HDMI switching and transcoding from other analog video formats (likely used by the game consoles) to HDMI.