Noob seeking advice on receiver/speakers

[winterheaphones]

Hi, I'm a bit short on time and need to purchase the remainder of my home theater equipment. The reason being, a friend works for a local electronics store and he can get me cost on most things.

The store carries low end Denon (AVR689, 889 and the 989) and some Harmon Kardon receivers. I can't afford to spend as much as I would like. Around $1500 for the receiver and speakers.

I already have some JBL Northridge E60's that I purchased a few years ago and would like to buy speakers that would be compatible tone-wise. The store carries some Polk, Klipsch and Energy models. So far I've been looking at the RB61's, the RC52 and the RW10D by Klipsch. They also have a Velodyne 10" sub.

Does anyone know these products and have any suggestions they could make? The system is mostly for movies but, would also be used for my ipod/record player until I can afford a separate system.

Help!!!!

Thanks in advance

Connor

 

[Adam]

Hey, Connor. Welcome to the forum!

With the discount that you are getting, can you still audition or return merchandise? If you can, auditioning things in your own home is the best option.

Speakers

If you can audition/return items, try out those different brands of speakers in your home to determine which ones you like the best. I don't have any experience with them, so I can't offer any advice on which ones might match better - sorry about that.​

Receivers

Those Denons look pretty nice. For the receivers, focus more on if they have the features and connections that you want. They do have different amounts of power, but not so different that I think that you'll be blown away by the differences.

One thing that I'll note is that the AVR-689 does HDMI switching, but it can't process any audio over HDMI. The other two models that you mentioned can process audio over HDMI. That can be a nice thing, especially if you want to take advantage of the newer lossless codecs (like Dolby TrueHD) - you need HDMI audio processing to get those.

The 989 has some extra features and connections compared to the 889 - one of those features that you might like is that it can convert analog video to HDMI. That means that you can connect something using analog video (S-video, component, or composite) to the receiver, and it can convert it and send it out the HDMI output.

You didn't mention the models of the H/K receivers, so I didn't look into them.​

Just let us know what other questions you have! Enjoy your shopping.

Adam

 

[Pyrrho]

If you already have a receiver, I would not bother with a new one unless you really need it. Surround receivers are like computers, in that they lose their value rapidly, and next year you will probably be able to get something better for the same amount of money. Also, speakers make much more difference to the sound quality than the receiver generally does, so you need to put most of your money in your speakers.

So, if you already have a receiver that is adequate, I recommend putting ALL of your money in new speakers. (Remember, subwoofers are speakers, too.)

Listen to the speakers before you buy, and choose the ones you like best. No speaker is perfect, so it is a question of which defects one finds least objectionable. For probably the best bang for the buck, getting bookshelf speakers all around and a really good subwoofer is probably your best bet. Because the deep bass will be handled by the subwoofer anyway, there is no point in paying for really deep bass capability in the main speakers. The bookshelf speakers do, however, need to go low enough to properly go with a subwoofer, and generally it is a good idea to get satellite speakers that are solid down to at least 80 Hz, so a -3 dB point of about 60 Hz or so would be good. Of course, for it to sound right, you must set it up properly, too, so read the manuals carefully of the equipment you will be using.

 

[lsiberian]

Since you said you want this system for movies. I do suggest you get one of the Denon amps that has all the decoding. But make sure his cost for the equipment is cheaper than a refurb. For example my Onkyo 705 was 400. I would say if you are paying more than that for your receiver with your budget then you are wasting your money.

Now you can shoot me for this suggestion, but if you want a nice sub 1500 full surround system I suggest you see if this compares favorably with your buddies prices

http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/KEFIQSRPACKA/KEF/iQ-Speaker-Package-with-Marantz-SR4002-receiver-cables-More-/1.html

I know it isn't a great system, but I think it will be good enough for you. These speakers are currently at closeout prices and I think have great sound. Then you can get him to hook you up with the sub with your leftover funds. (it comes with all the wires(which a4less sells around cost anyway lol).

But hey if you find something you really like at his store then by all means get it.
You can set your jbl's on the zone 2 speakers spot and use them for music.