Looking for 7.1 HDMI Receiver in Canada

[veovius]

Hi, sorry if this post is redundant with others, but I'm dizzy from searching different forums and looking at different model numbers. Frankly, the amount of models and information is staggering. I'm also in Canada, so some models aren't available, I think. I haven't been able to find Yamaha's RXV series, at least not online here. I haven't been able to head to a brick-and-mortar audio store yet, and the only Audio retailer locally only has Denon on their flyer.

I'm looking for a 7.1 HDMI receiver with repeating, so that it can strip the audio before it gets to the TV. This will mainly be for movies and games. I'm not big into music. Upconverting to at least 720p would be great, as I've got a Wii. I also have a PS3 and Xbox360, and maybe a PVR in the future. I'm looking to get HD audio as well (not sure what kind, all of them?). It's all going to a 42" Panasonic Viera Plasma TV with 720p/1080i. Here's a quick breakdown :

Features I'm looking for :
- 7.1 sound
- HDMI with repeating, stripping audio
- Upconverter, at least 720p
- At least 3 HDMI inputs
- HD Audio capability

Receivers I've looked at :
Pioneer VSX-1019AH-K
Sony DTR-DN1000

I'm not sure what they go for in the US, but here, in the big-box stores, they list for 6-700. I'm not sure what else to look at, or what is good/bad about the ones I've look at. I've heard that the upconverting on the Sony sucks.

Any help would be great, I'm swamped here!

 

[Davemcc]

Future Shop sells both Denon and the Yamaha HTR series. Currently, the Denon AVR-790 ($649) and the Yamaha HTR-6260 ($699) are within your budget and perform all the functions that you listed, although Yamaha does not list component video upconverting. I suspect that it will transcode component video to HDMI but will not scale the signal to a higher resolution.

Best Buy has the Onkyo TX-SR607 for ($729) with six HDMI inputs but lacking a full set of preouts. The Onkyo and the Denon will scale your component video to at least 1080i (Onkyo) or 1080p (Denon).

I might consider the Yamaha anyway because it has a full set of preouts and a 12v trigger that may come in handy down the line, whereas Denon dropped these features on the 790. The other thing is that I ran my Wii on my 40" monitor in it's standard resolution and it looked fine for what it is. I don't think I'd give up much just to upgrade the resolution on the Wii. Having said that, you will have your own priorities for choosing which features are more important to you but these three look like the front runners to me, right now.

 

[AVRat]

Don't worry about scaling in the receiver as your TV does a good job of that.

 

[Davemcc]

Don't worry about scaling in the receiver as your TV does a good job of that.

I agree. I learned a hard, expensive lesson on that point.

I'm laughing right now. Machina Dynamica's Clever Little Clock is in the Google ad sidebar right now.

 

[popotoys]

Hi, sorry if this post is redundant with others, but I'm dizzy from searching different forums and looking at different model numbers. Frankly, the amount of models and information is staggering. I'm also in Canada, so some models aren't available, I think. I haven't been able to find Yamaha's RXV series, at least not online here. I haven't been able to head to a brick-and-mortar audio store yet, and the only Audio retailer locally only has Denon on their flyer.

I'm looking for a 7.1 HDMI receiver with repeating, so that it can strip the audio before it gets to the TV. This will mainly be for movies and games. I'm not big into music. Upconverting to at least 720p would be great, as I've got a Wii. I also have a PS3 and Xbox360, and maybe a PVR in the future. I'm looking to get HD audio as well (not sure what kind, all of them?). It's all going to a 42" Panasonic Viera Plasma TV with 720p/1080i. Here's a quick breakdown :

Features I'm looking for :
- 7.1 sound
- HDMI with repeating, stripping audio
- Upconverter, at least 720p
- At least 3 HDMI inputs
- HD Audio capability

Receivers I've looked at :
Pioneer VSX-1019AH-K
Sony DTR-DN1000

I'm not sure what they go for in the US, but here, in the big-box stores, they list for 6-700. I'm not sure what else to look at, or what is good/bad about the ones I've look at. I've heard that the upconverting on the Sony sucks.

Any help would be great, I'm swamped here!

Where in Canada are you?

 

[veovius]

Thanks all for the responses. I managed to go browsing today, and went to two sound shops here. I found the Yamaha RXV565 and 765, for 529 and 699 respectively. And the Sony 1000 for 599. Another shop recommended a Denon AVR1910 for 650, which is the same price as the AVR790 at Future Shop. From what I understand, they are pretty much the same receiver?

It turns out that my TV doesn't scale anything, as far as I can tell. I'd like a decent upconverting receiver so that I can upconvert the SD cable box (while I still have one) and the Wii, while DVDs can be handled and upconverted by the PS3. I don't really need upconverting from a HD source to another HD source, as my TV can only handle 720p.

How does the HTR-6260 compare with the RXV765? I saw that the HTR is the same as the 665, and the 765 adds a bit of power and "discrete" amps? What does that mean?

The Onkyo is a bit beyond my budget, as I'm probably going to have to buy speakers as well. I'm hoping to have the Future Shop-available ones a bit cheaper, since a buddy works there So far from what I'm reading, the Pioneer is looking pretty good.

I'm in Victoria BC, by the way.

 

[popotoys]

was going to suggest some shops but you are 4500 km's west of me.

 

[veovius]

was going to suggest some shops but you are 4500 km's west of me.

No worries, although in a few weeks, my girlfriend's aunt is moving here from Toronto. It'd be nice if she could bring something with here

On a positive note, I found that I can actually buy a Pioneer VSX-9040 (similar to VSX-21) for ~650, which is a hair more than the 1019 is when it's on sale! As far as I can tell, the only difference is that the 9040 is about 10 lbs heavier, which I assume is mostly amp. Does anyone know more about it?

 

[veovius]

I actually picked one!

I know I'm necroing this post, but I thought I'd let you know what I picked in the end and why, and maybe it'll help someone else

I ended up choosing the Yamaha RX-V765, for a couple reasons. It's main competition were the Denon AVR-1910, Pioneer 1019 Yamaha 665/6260 and the Sony STR-DN1000. I took the Pioneer off my list because of how light it was compared to the others, for the same price, which turned me off some. The Sony, for some reason was the heaviest on the list, but the Faroudja video chip was crap compared to the Anchor Bay chips in the others. That being said, it was also cheaper by $200 around here. I was about to buy the 6260, especially since it came in at $150 less than the 765 here, but I figured that the weight and discrete amps would let me grow into it more, instead of limiting me sooner and running out of steam when things got loud.

In the end it came down to the 765 and the 1910, since both were offered at about the same price at two different local sound shops. The Denon had better upscaling, but the layout of the rear panel looked retarded (to me, at least), and it had no pre-outs (aside from subwoofer). I don't even want to mention the remote and the on-screen display, although Batpig's guide could probably help out there. The Yamaha had a full set of pre-outs, and what looks like a decent remote and manual. Image quality isn't too bad, apparently, and the back panel is pretty sensible.

Anyways, I'm going to go pick up the Yamaha on Monday, and hopefully it's as good as I hope it will be! I hope this helps someone else in my situation, being relatively new to audio/home theatre.