Newbie Looking for Advice on Receiver

[GomGom]

I just bought a pair of KEF iQ7 from Visions for my first purchase of HT. I've been searching around and have been told to avoid HTIB, and I did it.
Now, I'm looking for a decent but not too high-end receiver for my iQ7 standing speakers. In future, I will add subwoofer and rear speakers to make it 5.1 system. I'm not too sure what questions I should ask myself when buying a receiver.

Thanks in advance for helping me a newbie on this stuffs...

 

[santeini]

You got to let me know your budget?

 

[greggp2]

And what is important to you? 2 channel stereo for music? Home Theater? Also, do you absolutely want HD Audio and HDMI 1.3 support?

All of this and how much you want to spend will help get your question answered...

 

[GomGom]

And what is important to you? 2 channel stereo for music? Home Theater? Also, do you absolutely want HD Audio and HDMI 1.3 support?

All of this and how much you want to spend will help get your question answered...

Well, I want to play my HD DVD to LCD HDTV. 5.1 system in future. What does it mean 2 channel stereo?

Is $500 enough for a receiver? Does not need to be multizone capable because I'm putting my system in my apartment living room.

 

[just-some-guy]

What does it mean 2 channel stereo?

are you kidding ?

2 channel stereo = left and right front speakers only. playing (usually) audio mixed for only 2 channels.

i think $500 would do you just fine, if well spent.

 

[Adam]

The impedance listed for those speakers is 8.5 ohms, so you should not have a problem running them with just about any receiver out these days. They have a sensitivity of 90dB, which means that they'll play pretty loud without a huge amount of power.

There are many good options out there for receivers in the $500 or less range, and which one to get depends on which features you want. Some things to consider are, do you want (a) audio processing over HDMI or (b) pre-amp outputs so that you can add an external amp later on. If you want audio processing over HDMI, then you're looking at things in the $300 and up range. If you want pre-amp outputs, that might be a bit more (but I haven't done extensive looking at this year's receivers).

Some suggestions for receivers to look at are the Yamaha RX-V663 and Pioneer VSX-1018. There are new models of those out (or coming out soon). Denon, Onkyo, and Marantz also make nice receivers.

 

[lsiberian]

The impedance listed for those speakers is 8.5 ohms, so you should not have a problem running them with just about any receiver out these days. They have a sensitivity of 90dB, which means that they'll play pretty loud without a huge amount of power.

There are many good options out there for receivers in the $500 or less range, and which one to get depends on which features you want. Some things to consider are, do you want (a) audio processing over HDMI or (b) pre-amp outputs so that you can add an external amp later on. If you want audio processing over HDMI, then you're looking at things in the $300 and up range. If you want pre-amp outputs, that might be a bit more (but I haven't done extensive looking at this year's receivers).

Some suggestions for receivers to look at are the Yamaha RX-V663 and Pioneer VSX-1018. There are new models of those out (or coming out soon). Denon, Onkyo, and Marantz also make nice receivers.

Yeah but I think the Iq7s do have some dips. So you will want a stable receiver that can handle it. I am currently being forced to sell my Onkyo SR705, but it is a great option for a receiver. It has all the bells and whistles in it's price range and plenty of power.

 

[GomGom]

In term of sound quality, is Onkyo better than Yamaha? I also saw a guy is selling a 9 years old Rotel in this forum. How about that? Will an old Rotel receiver perform much less than the newer Onkyo or Yamaha?

 

[GomGom]

Also, how about:
- Onkyo 506
- Onkyo 576
- Harman/Kardon HK3390
- Harman/Kardon HK3490
- Yamaha RX-V365

For my iQ7? I suppose all of them are capable to support my future center piece, subwoofer and rear surround, right?

The spec said 2 channel with 75W (for example), then how should I plug the center and rear surround to make it surround 5.1?

 

[greggp2]

You would just buy speaker cable for your center and rears and hook up the cables to the + and - sections on the receiver under where it says Center and where it says RR and LR and make sure you put the same end + and - into each corresponding speaker. The power when all 5 speakers are being driven won't be 75w, but that is the case with any of the receivers you mentioned.

You would have to look at Rotel, Arcam or much higher priced gear to get continous power ratings, but I don't want to confuse the issue. If you pick up a receiver that Adam recommends and hook up your speakers, you will be happy...

Also, be sure to get a subwoofer too..