Looking for a A/V Receiver

[giacona]

I am looking for a decent receiver, and wanted to get some advice. The brands I have looked at are pioneer elite, yamaha, denon, and onyoko. I want to stay under 1K if possible. I don't have to go with these brands, but I know they have good reputations.

I want to make sure this receiver has several modes so the eq changes if i am watching sports, to watching an action movie, or listening to music.

I'm not too familar with oms and watts, but I want something decent incase I do upgrade my speakers at a later time.

I also want to make sure it has the latest technology as far as surround sound. If i'm not mistaken I think surround sound ex or thx is the latest. Do I need to make sure my speakers support this type of surround sound as well?

One last thing my friend has a feature on his pionner elite that allows him to connect it to pc, so he can play his mp3's. Not sure if this is feature is feasable in my price range or not. Do I need a cable for this or can this be done wirelessly?

How long would I get out of a decent receiver before i'd have to replace it and technology changes? I would hope 5 years +.

 

[tcarcio]

Well I have a Pioneer Elite that I will be selling in order to upgrade to the new model of Marantz that will be out in a couple of weeks. It really is about as futureproof as you can get,IMO, for $1000. Most people will tell you that Marantz makes a great product with great sound. You would be ready for 3d and off to the races... Check it out...http://us.marantz.com/Products/3236.asp

 

[Pyrrho]

You might find this thread useful:

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67521

Right now, there are great deals available on a Yamaha RX-V1900 and a Marantz SR7002. You can get either one for about $600 delivered (from places like Amazon and others), they are both solid and good, and both retail for about $1400. The reason for them being so inexpensive is that they are discontinued, and, I believe, they are not capable of 3D passthrough. With reasonably high end units, a lack of the latest features tends to cause the price to drop dramatically, and so you can get great deals on them in cases like this.

If you want 3D passthrough, you will pay more (if you want equal quality to the above models), as that is only on very new models. But if you don't care about that, then you can get a great receiver for a great price.

I recommend that you visit the manufacturers' web sites and make sure that whatever you buy has the features you want.

As for how long they will last, if you don't care about 3D, they both seem about as ready for the future as anything, and I doubt you would need to replace either in the next 5 years. Of course, manufacturers like to add new things (like 3D), to get people to replace their old gear that works perfectly with something new.

If you get really difficult to drive speakers in the future, you will most likely end up with a separate power amp, and to use such an amplifier, you need preamp outputs, which pretty much everything at this price point has (though check and make sure on the one you plan to buy before you buy). But both of the above should handle most speakers without difficulty.

If you do care about 3D, the above models can still be used if you get a 3D BD player with two HDMI outputs, so that you hook up one to the receiver and one to the TV, but it is generally less convenient to do things that way. But getting a $1400 receiver for $600 is such that one might want to deal with a little inconvenience if necessary, but only you can decide what matters to you.

 

[waxey]

the Marantz receiver sounds like it would work for you also the new Yamaha Aventage line Rx-A 1000 model or 2000 would work too. They have the newest suround and internet conections.The 2000 is pricer than marantz or 1000 but has more power 130 watts per chanell.check it out

 

[giacona]

Thanks for the replies, but I still have a few questions.

1. what exactly is 3d passthrough and what does it do. I googled it and can't find much on it.

2. Highly considering ps3 as my 3d bd player, does it have 2 hdmi's? If not I guess i will have to get another player that does or get a receiver with 3d passthrough.

3. Would I lose any quality by using the 2 HDMI outputs via the 3d bd player for 3d passthrough or would I be better off with a receiver that has it to get it?

4. As for hdmi cables, are there any recommedations for certain ones with the best gauges/speeds?

I am kinda new to this, so thanks everyone for the responses

 

[jostenmeat]

Thanks for the replies, but I still have a few questions.

1. what exactly is 3d passthrough and what does it do. I googled it and can't find much on it.

That would be HDMI 1.4, in order to handle the greater bandwidth that the 3D video presents. It cannot be upgraded by software, AFAIK, and requires the hardware.

2. Highly considering ps3 as my 3d bd player, does it have 2 hdmi's? If not I guess i will have to get another player that does or get a receiver with 3d passthrough.

I don't know if the PS3 does, I doubt it, but you are correct: if it does not have 2 HDMI outputs, you need a receiver with 1.4.

3. Would I lose any quality by using the 2 HDMI outputs via the 3d bd player for 3d passthrough or would I be better off with a receiver that has it to get it?

No difference whatsoever.

4. As for hdmi cables, are there any recommedations for certain ones with the best gauges/speeds?

Monoprice. Blue Jeans Cable. I prefer the pricing, packaging, and other more insignificant things about the former. However, many like BJC for what they represent, smaller company, with greater use of American made materials (not all though, and generally the American cabling is more expensive too). With HDMIs you're fine there, but watch out with analog pricing.

Reallly though, if you can just spend 5-10 minutes, hell even less than that, running some search function exercises, you could really save me a whole lot of typing.

I am kinda new to this, so thanks everyone for the responses

Ok. Repeat after me:

Search engine is my friend.

Search engine is my friend.

Search engine is my friend.

 

[Pyrrho]

Thanks for the replies, but I still have a few questions.

1. what exactly is 3d passthrough and what does it do. I googled it and can't find much on it.

http://www.crutchfield.com/learn/learningcenter/home/receivers_faq.html#3D

Keep in mind, they want to sell you a new receiver, but the facts they state are true.

You should also keep in mind that there is a good chance that 3D will never really catch on, but there will be some material in 3D.

2. Highly considering ps3 as my 3d bd player, does it have 2 hdmi's? If not I guess i will have to get another player that does or get a receiver with 3d passthrough.

Visit Sony's web site and look at it.

3. Would I lose any quality by using the 2 HDMI outputs via the 3d bd player for 3d passthrough or would I be better off with a receiver that has it to get it?

No, there would be absolutely no loss of quality doing that. The ONLY issue is convenience in switching sources.

4. As for hdmi cables, are there any recommedations for certain ones with the best gauges/speeds?

I am kinda new to this, so thanks everyone for the responses

Get inexpensive HDMI cables. You should probably order them online, from a place like monoprice.com or parts-express.com, because almost all stores charge insane amounts for them, and stay away from any that cost much. You ought not pay more than $5 for a 6' HDMI cable. Anything more expensive is, in my opinion, no better than theft. Longer cables, obviously, will cost somewhat more, but they ought not be crazy expensive either. Get cables that are long enough, but not much longer than what you really need.

I have never had any trouble with any cheap HDMI cables I have used.

In fact, you should stay away from expensive cables of all sorts. Here is some reading that should help you regarding other wires:

http://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm

Exotic wires are a con game.

 

[caper26]

Yamaha or Denon would be my pick...probably a Denon even though I have a yammy....

 

[3db]

Don't get hung up on this 3D BS though. I have a feeling that fizzle out quickly. The older Maranzt and Yamaha modles suggested by Pyro at the start of his post are excellent suggestions and will save you a some coin to move towards better speakers/subwoofers

 

[Pyrrho]

Don't get hung up on this 3D BS though. I have a feeling that fizzle out quickly. The older Maranzt and Yamaha modles suggested by Pyro at the start of his post are excellent suggestions and will save you a some coin to move towards better speakers/subwoofers

That is what I would do (which is why I suggested them). But some people do want the latest features and will want 3D with convenient switching, and so they will want to make different choices. I personally don't want to generally wear glasses while watching TV, and all of the old 2D stuff will never be proper 3D, so all of it can be viewed properly with a 2D system. And, of course, most movies made today are also 2D, so that will have to change before one will miss out on the best viewing experience of most current films as well.

And in my case, I am willing to have a slight inconvenience in switching to save a few hundred dollars, or to get an otherwise much better unit, so for me those would be good choices even if I were going to go with 3D in a new TV and BD player.

Also, your point about spending more on speakers could not be directed to a more sympathetic person. I think most people spend far too little on their speakers and far too much on everything else. My surround system was done with a system of speakers retailing for about $6500 with a $600 receiver, and it sounded great. I have since then upgraded the receiver to get more features, and it retails for about $1700 (it was a discontinued model, and I paid less than a third of that for it), and, unless I engage a feature that affects the sound, the system sounds the same as before. But still, notice how much more the speakers are worth than the receiver, and you will get an idea of where I think the money should go. I would much rather have a $600 receiver and $6500 speakers than having lessor speakers with a better receiver. Most other people do not do things that way, probably because it is harder to quantify good sound than it is to count features and count watts of rated power output. But no matter how awesome the receiver is, if it is hooked up to lessor speakers, it will not sound as good as having better speakers.

Now, if it happens that one's expensive speakers are difficult to drive, either with a low impedance or low efficiency or both, then one will need to spend more on amplification. But if not, then spending the money on great amplification is a total waste of money. Some people do like having many racks of equipment, though, and this, again, is easier to quantify than good sound. So they are happy with their choices, even though they generally could have gotten significantly better sound putting their money into better speakers (better speakers do include subwoofers, of course).

 

[btarb24]

I currently have a brand new Yamaha RX-Z7 for sale. It's a really cheap price, though it's a little bit more than 1000. But who knows, perhaps you're interested I have it listed on ebay currently. I can't post a link due to my low post count, but here's the ebay item number: 220661078894