Need new reciever help for a noob.

[proguy]

Hello all, I need a little help. I am in the need for a new HT reciever. I currently have a crapy sony. I have a 5.1 system with all the speakers being B&W 600 series except the sub. The sub is a velodyne. I would like to upgrade my set in the future. Right now I need to upgrade my reciever.

Let me start off by saying I spend 80% percent of my time using the system for Xbox live games (MW2), HDTV, And bluerays. I do not listen to music that much anymore.

I went in to my local store and was encouraged to by a rotel 1560 for $2600. I then found the rotel 1550 for $1800 and the salesman encouraged me that being a gamer I needed the 1560 becuase it was a true 7.1, but I only have a 5.1 set-up.

Should I go with Rotel? Is that needed becuase I am not listing to jazz sipping a glass of wine. Dont get me wrong, I enjoy the finer things and life and appreciate others intrest too. Just at this stage in my life I strictly play games and watch TV.

Please guide me with your expertise.

 

[jamie2112]

The guy is full of it and you don't need the more expensive unit. There are alot of units such as last years Denon's Yamaha's and Marantz that are much less than the Rotel.Not to say Rotel is not great stuff,but what are you looking for in a AVR?Do you need HDMI?Do you need 7.1?only you can answer these but I would not spend more than 1K on a AVR myself....If you check out the Audioholics store there are some great deals as well http://store.audioholics.com/product/2679/69/yamaha-rx-v1065-surround-receiver

 

[Cristofori]

Should I go with Rotel? Is that needed becuase I am not listing to jazz sipping a glass of wine. Dont get me wrong, I enjoy the finer things and life and appreciate others intrest too.

Get your alcohol/music pairings straight young man!

One sips wine or cognac while listing to Classical...

Jazz is more of a Scotch/Bourbon type thing.

 

[proguy]

Yes I need HDMI, but it seems like most avr's come with it. I was told true hd sound is only available through HDMI. is that true? 7.1 is not needed at this point becuase most content is not in 7.1 and I do not have room for more speakers. Will i notice a real difference betweeen a 1k yamaha, marantz and a 2k rotel?

 

[proguy]

well after more research it looks like seperates look like a good option. I noticed that emotiva XPA 5 would be a good choice. This would allow me to grow to a 7.1 system later if needed. Now changing ideas and looking going this direction. Know I need to study processors. One thing I would like is HDMI cables as my only connections between gear.

 

[selden]

Yes, HDMI is needed in order to transport the new lossless Dolby and DTS encodings. Old-style optical and RCA digital audio circuits simply don't have the bandwidth for high resolution multichannel audio, just for stereo.

A disadvantage of Rotel equipment is that they do not (yet?) include automated room equalization like Audyssey or its competitors. This can make a big difference, depending on the quality of your speakers and room acoustics.

 

[proguy]

Yes, HDMI is needed in order to transport the new lossless Dolby and DTS encodings. Old-style optical and RCA digital audio circuits simply don't have the bandwidth for high resolution multichannel audio, just for stereo.

A disadvantage of Rotel equipment is that they do not (yet?) include automated room equalization like Audyssey or its competitors. This can make a big difference, depending on the quality of your speakers and room acoustics.

I agree that is a very nice feature. Marantz seem like fair priced equipment , however they seem to have problems. Could be the the small sample I see here.

 

[greggp2]

Have you considered separates?

What about an Emotiva UMC-1 with a UPA-5? You'll spend about $1,300 and have a great system with expandability. Otherwise, I'd probably go with Marantz over Yamaha or Denon. The Marantz has better sound in my opinion. Rotel makes great gear, but why on earth do you need 7.1 with only a 5.1 set up?

 

[proguy]

Have you considered separates?

What about an Emotiva UMC-1 with a UPA-5? You'll spend about $1,300 and have a great system with expandability. Otherwise, I'd probably go with Marantz over Yamaha or Denon. The Marantz has better sound in my opinion. Rotel makes great gear, but why on earth do you need 7.1 with only a 5.1 set up?

I was thinking of going that direction. However I have been reading that the UMC-1 is a bust.

 

[XEagleDriver]

Get your alcohol/music pairings straight young man!

One sips wine or cognac while listing to Classical...

Jazz is more of a Scotch/Bourbon type thing.

+1 LOL, the most important point in this thread thus far!

XEagleDriver

 

[proguy]

Ok, After more research I want to stress that I want a pre/pro or reciever that has the best or not touched video signal through the hdmi as I do not want any PQ loss for My pioneer fd101!

 

[jostenmeat]

Ok, After more research I want to stress that I want a pre/pro or reciever that has the best or not touched video signal through the hdmi as I do not want any PQ loss for My pioneer fd101!

You will be fine with most any choice.

Historically, many Onkyos mess up component transcoding to HDMI, so if you have component connections (and have bought an Onkyo), you can run these connections directly to TV. OTOH, if you use current Reon enabled Onkyo/Integras I think you are fine, expect I'd probably prefer to use the Sig's VP over the Onkyo's. Older Reon models from Onkyo, I think just the first year, had colorspace issues.

Otherwise, HDMI only, Onkyo will be fine, and as far as I know, ditto for any Denon or Marantz too.

Certain Yamaha models like the 663 do not pass BTB or WTW. I don't know why they did that since the previous 661 was just fine in that regard.

This is all I remember for now.