Need help with amp

[Jappy]

Hi, i'm new here and people seem helpful so I'll ask for your help.


I am looking for a setup good for music, movies, amd even gaming. I do think that sound quality is more important for music, but still want good performances with movies.

I need help selecting a receiver. I have around 400-600$ budget and would like first and foremost a good sounding receiver.

I have read many reviews on the Onkyo SR606. I like the features on it and most reviewers like the sound but some mentionned less-than-perfect reproduction in the midranges... Is this really noticable?

I Have also looked at Yamaha's V663 but it seems the calibrating feature is not as good.

Also, My local soundshop recommends me a Harman/Kardon AVR154 to go with possible speaker choice JBL ES professing that HK have excellent sound quality but I fear that 5.1 may be shortsighted and also that the power may be low (although I do understand that HK is supposed to be more honnest about those numbers...)

Anyway, I am more lost than ever after days of reading about receivers... I don't know wich features I need (I like calibration and auto-EQ on Onkyo, Upconversion I don't see as a that big an issue and can someone clarifiy for me when DTS HD and Dolby HD decoding is necessary?)

Thanks for your help!

 

[Adam]

I'm not familiar with the HK, but the Onkyo and Yamaha that you mentioned have both gotten good reviews (here and elsewhere). I would recommend that you shop for receivers in that price range based upon the features that you want (such as number of HDMI connections, pre-amp outputs, etc.). They should all inherently sound the same - it's when you run the auto set-up routines in your room with your speakers that they may/will sound different. They do use different algorithms for the speaker equalizing (Onkyo uses Audyssey, Yamaha and Pioneer use their own versions). I don't know which is best. I have a Pioneer and was very happy with the way that it worked in terms of the auto set-up. If you can, buy from someplace that will let you return it. That way, you can check for yourself if you like it.

I honestly don't know when decoding of DTS HD and Dolby HD is important.

I'd also throw the Pioneer 1018 into the mix for your consideration. Seems like a good unit, and prices online from authorized dealers have been around $450 this past month.