Need help with to choose a reciever

[cancercell]

Hello, recently my roommate bought a set of Yamaha NS – 777 speakers and now she is looking for a decent receiver; however she does not know much about receivers and neither do I, nor do I want to give her a bad advice. I was wondering if you guys could help me out find a decent receiver on a budget, or at least give me some things to look for. We are primarily going to use the speakers for listening music (and hosting parties) and the system is going to be 2.1 at least for a while because we do not even have a TV. We are going to get a sub woofer (probably a decent 12 inch sub) to make the bass truly come out, so if you have any suggestions for a good sub it is also welcome.

Please give me the names of the receivers and/or links for them. Thank you very much!

(ok unfortunately the forum would not allow me to post the link for the Yamaha specifications sheet(b/c this is my 1st post), but it’s on their website if you need to look for them)

 

[Adam]

Welcome to the forum! We can certainly give you recommendations. You mentioned that you are on a budget, but what is that budget? What's the most that you'd want to spend?

 

[cancercell]

Welcome to the forum! We can certainly give you recommendations. You mentioned that you are on a budget, but what is that budget? What's the most that you'd want to spend?

AH, thank you so much for catching my mistake. I think the receiver budget is about $350 or so. I should have also probably pointed out that we are college kids. Also the sub budget is also probably about $300 or so, i like to compare prices and what you get for your money, if something is a little over my budget but it's THAT much better that the competition i do not mind spending the extra money.

Again, than you very much.

ps. i've looked around the forum, and i'm quite amazed by the amount of knowledge you guys have about the home theater and sound in general.

 

[Adam]

Those NS-777 speakers are very nice looking speakers!

The two things that I'd like to point out about those speakers are:
1. The nominal impedance is 6 ohms. Most modern receivers will handle those just fine, but it's one of the things for you to look at when you are shopping. The lower the impedance, the more current the speaker will draw - and some receivers can't handle it, so they go into protection mode and shut off.
2. The sensitivity is 89 dB. The lower the sensitivity, the more power is takes to drive a speaker to a given volume level. You mentioned hosting parties - so if you want ear-splitting levels (without damaging the speakers), then you'll need a receiver that has enough power to do that. One way to damage speakers is to try to play them louder than a receiver can handle, and the receiver will go into clipping. So, to make it simple, if the speakers sound really strained - turn it down.

I'd recommend a surround sound receiver, even though you are going 2.1 for now. That would allow you to expand without getting a new receiver, and surround sound receivers are a better buy than stereo receivers (IMO) because they are more popular...so companies make more of them...and they are cheaper to produce.

I've got some general recommendations in that price range, but I want to go double check their power ratings first. I'll post again in just a few minutes.

 

[Adam]

Alrighty, here are some recommendations:

1. Onkyo TX-SR506 ($200 or less) - it's rated at 100W/channel into 6 ohms with two channels being driven. That will play those speakers pretty loud, especially if you aren't trying to fill an entire house or backyard with tunes.

2. Onkyo TX-SR606 ($347 or less) - 110W/channel into 6 ohms. Not that much more power, really. It has more features than the 506, though, with one big one being that it can process audio over HDMI.

3. Yamaha RX-V663 (around $350) - about the same power as the 506. It will also process audio over HDMI.

There are also some good receivers from last year's line of products. Because they are from last year, you can get some good deals. Others here are better equipped to fill you in on those.

Another big consideration when you shop is to look at what features you want. The three listed above are just to get you started.

Adam

 

[mazersteven]

Hello, recently my roommate bought a set of Yamaha NS – 777 speakers and now she is looking for a decent receiver

It would help tremendously if we had a picture of your roommate so we can give the best recommendation for a receiver.