Need a recommendation on a receiver please

[nixie21]

So I have a old receiver that I love but has no HDMI ports. So it is time to get a new one. I have good speakers (five surround sound) so all I need is a receiver. I will need a minimum of 3 hdmi slots (4 perferred if possible) My biggest issue is cost. I need to pay as little as possible but do not want a piece of junk. I have a onkyo HT-530 (I think that is the number as it came as a system HT-S780).

Is it possible to get a decent receiver (refurbished is fine) around $200 that I could be happy with???

Thanks for any suggestions!

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Here is a $200 used Denon AVR 1612 with 4 HDMI.

Or New Denon 1612 for $219.

 

[jonnythan]

Manufacturer refurb 1612 for $170:
DENON AVR-1612 5.1 Channel A/V Home Theater Receiver | Accessories4less

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Manufacturer refurb 1612 for $170:
DENON AVR-1612 5.1 Channel A/V Home Theater Receiver | Accessories4less

Oh, yeah.....

Well, take THIS Denon 1312 with 4 HDMI inputs for $139 brand new.

Whatcha gonna do now?

 

[jonnythan]

Oh, yeah.....

Well, take THIS Denon 1312 with 4 HDMI inputs for $139 brand new.

Whatcha gonna do now?

Point out that after shipping the AC4L 1612 is probably the same price as the Amazon one, and that the 1612 has MultEQ

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Point out that after shipping the AC4L 1612 is probably the same price as the Amazon one, and that the 1612 has MultEQ

Oh, yeah, and the $200 delivered Amazon used-good-condition is not refurbished, which means you get the full 1 yr Denon warranty (I've confirmed this with Denon Customer Service).

Also, at this $200 price point, and thus speaker systems at this price point, I don't think Audyssey or any RC will do too much.

 

[jonnythan]

The worse the speaker system the more useful Audyssey is right?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

The worse the speaker system the more useful Audyssey is right?

DS-21 pointed out that Sean Olive conducted a double-blinded study on RC software.

Conclusion: some people preferred no RC at all over some RC (Audyssey), some people can't even tell the difference between RC (ARC) and no RC, and some people preferred RC (JBL flagship RC) over no RC.

I can't even tell the difference between Audyssey ON and Audyssey OFF - as many times as I've tried.

 

[jonnythan]

Fascinating. I guess it really depends on the room. I can tell the difference big time between 2EQ and MultEQ XT just because of how much it fixes this crazy boomy bass mode my room has.

 

[nixie21]

thanks so much for the replies, they are much appreciated. The wife turned down buying a new receiver (i thought I had her on my side!!!)

 

[canelli]

AcuDefTechGuy,

The conclusion you stated is not what Sean Olive concluded. It never said people could not tell the difference. It just stated that the one of the RC tested was equally rated as no RC at all.

“The room correction products are coded from R1 through R6 in descending order of preference. The identities of the products associated with the results are not relevant for the purpose of this article. Three of the five room corrections (RC1-RC3) were strongly preferred over no room correction (RC4). However, one of the room corrections (RC5) was equally rated to the no correction treatment (RC4), and one of the room corrections (RC6) was rated much worse. Overall, the sound quality of R6 was rated "very poor" based on the semantic definitions of the preference scale.”

 

[jonnythan]

Ahh. I'd love to know what RC6 is. I bet it's not MultEQ though.

 

[jonnythan]

RC5 = one of the room correction
RC4 = no correction treatment

If RC5 = RC4, doesn't that mean people thought RC5 & RC4 sounded the same?

RC5 is only one of them.

RC1, RC2, and RC3 were three different correction methods that all sounded much better than RC4.

 

[jonnythan]

DS-21 pointed out that Sean Olive conducted a double-blinded study on RC software.

Conclusion: some people preferred no RC at all over some RC (Audyssey), some people can't even tell the difference between RC (ARC) and no RC, and some people preferred RC (JBL flagship RC) over no RC.

I can't even tell the difference between Audyssey ON and Audyssey OFF - as many times as I've tried.

I searched the threads involved and couldn't find anywhere they identified what RC1, RC2, etc, actually were.

How did you identify RC6 as Audyssey? And what version of Audyssey was it?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I searched the threads involved and couldn't find anywhere they identified what RC1, RC2, etc, actually were.

How did you identify RC6 as Audyssey? And what version of Audyssey was it?

AcuDefTechGuy,

The conclusion you stated is not what Sean Olive concluded. It never said people could not tell the difference. It just stated that the one of the RC tested was equally rated as no RC at all.

“The room correction products are coded from R1 through R6 in descending order of preference. The identities of the products associated with the results are not relevant for the purpose of this article. Three of the five room corrections (RC1-RC3) were strongly preferred over no room correction (RC4). However, one of the room corrections (RC5) was equally rated to the no correction treatment (RC4), and one of the room corrections (RC6) was rated much worse. Overall, the sound quality of R6 was rated "very poor" based on the semantic definitions of the preference scale.”

I think DS-21 said they could not tell the difference between the Anthem ARC & no treatment at all. But they preferred no treatment over Audyssey.

 

[jonnythan]

I think DS-21 said they could not tell the difference from the Anthem ARC & no treatment at all. But they preferred no treatment over Audyssey.

Audyssey what? And what's DS-21's connection to this experiment?

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Audyssey what? And what's DS-21's connection to this experiment?

I think DS-21 read the actual study. But I don't recall which version of Audyssey it was.

DenPureSound used the Audyssey MultEQ XT32 in his Denon 4311, and he preferred it turned OFF as well. But I think every case is different.

 

[jonnythan]

Looks like it was the old Audyssey standalone box. They've come a long way since that.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Well, applying RC is simple enough. Everyone should try it. If RC sounds better, then use it. If not, don't use it like me, cpp, DenPureSound, Nuance, and some people.

Both PENG and I could not tell which was better - Audyssey On or Off.

But everyone should try it if it's available.

I'm just saying based on my experience, I wouldn't pay extra for RC.

 

[cpp]

Agree, I turned RC off my 4311, just a little fake sounding to my ears.