Please help me ... old AVR dead ... Must. Have. Sound!

[SJesMe]

I had a HK AVR7000 which is not worth the $$ it will take to repair at this point (circa 2000). It drove a pair of JBL S312II speakers (yes, only one pair - which I adore) and delivered astonishing clarity and depth of sound with plenty of power to spare. I desperately want something comparable to replace it.

The AVR7000 was 100 watts x 5 at 0.07% THD and had a VMAx mode which simulated 3D sound (from -standard- dvds) stunningly over two channels. I imagine I'll be going blu-ray at some point in the near future so I guess I'll need an HDMI connection? ... or will my stubborn desire to stick with 2 speakers make blu-ray an impossibility?

I'm more of a purist audiophile than a home theater person but it would really nice if I could duplicate the best of both worlds as the AVR7000 did without having to mess with additional speakers/wiring/placement issues when I am perfectly content with what I have, and still get great sound from dvds.

Sorry to sound dumb ... I readily admit it's been 10 years since I looked into new equipment and now know nothing. Is there a 5.1 (or 7.1) out there that plays nice with just 2 speakers? Please educate me?

 

[selden]

All modern AVRs work fine in stereo mode. At worst, you have to manually configure the AVR to tell it which speakers you don't have. Most modern AVRs include some form of room equalization. When you run the EQ's auto-configuration, it'll detect which speakers you have and configure the receiver appropriately.

You'll have to tell us your budget if you want more detailed help. HK still makes decent AVRs, though, if you want to stick with that brand.

 

[sholling]

I think you'll find Onkyo's TX-SR707 is a good replacement. You can find these refurbished for $450 plus S&H. If that's out of your budget then I'd look at a TX-SR607 for $320. Don''t let refurbished scare you away, they come with a 1 year factory warranty and work just fine. In fact I bought a refurb for my bedroom and I'm very happy with it.

 

[SJesMe]

I rather impatiently had two threads on this. Forgive my lack of etiquette. That's why they call us n00bs I guess

Please join me on my other thread and consider this one closed, with my thanks for your help.
http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?p=706983&posted=1#post706983