Pre/pro receiver (El-cheapo(ish))

[Funkmonkey]

Hey guys, I'm looking for recommendations for a receiver. My situation is a little unique in that I am only going to use the internal amps to drive surrounds so pre-outs (at least for L,R,C) are essential. Those surrounds have not been purchased yet, but will be nothing fancy and should present an easy load. I'm thinkin' 100 wpc will cover my needs and provide plenty of headroom.

This AVR will only handle movies, the 2 channel side is taken care of.

Networkable (ethernet) would be ideal, but not necessary.

at least 5.1 (7/9.1 or .2 would have more longevity though)

HDMI 1.3a lossless codecs (seem to be readily available now)

Unit will be connected to a PS3 for games and Blu-Ray, an Oppo 983 for DVD, and a Sony XBR4, and a Motorola cable box so any known handshake issues should be considered.

Gotta keep it as inexpensive as possible. I was all set to pull the trigger on a Onkyo tx-nr3007 but the wife caught me when I was about to finalize the order She saw the price and ... so I gotta keep it less than $1000, even less than $700 would be great, do I hear less than $500 for basic receiver with pre-outs?

I've been beating around this bush for a year or so waiting for a pre-pro with all the bells and whistles and XLRs to show up but now that money is tighter, my priorities have changed a bit and I am ready to pull the trigger and forget about my system for a couple of years.

Thanks in advance.
Cheers

 

[Lordoftherings]

Well, the cheapest receiver with Network features is the Onkyo TX-NR807 for $699.99, at Accessories4Less.
And two years from now, who knows what will show up...

* By the way, the Onkyo TX-NR3007 was purchased recently for only $901 at NewEgg (open box).
And with full warranty.

 

[Warpdrv]

Hey FUNK, Hows about you sell me those custom HT3's and you can free up some money for this...

http://store.audioholics.com/section/66235/1/?gclid=CL_Qm6rYrp4CFQ_xDAodOUiFlg

http://store.audioholics.com/section/66344/1/marantz-surround-receivers

http://store.audioholics.com/product/1927/69/harman-kardon-avr-254
http://store.audioholics.com/product/1928/69/harman-kardon-avr-354

 

[Funkmonkey]

Hey Warp, no way I'm sellin' my HT3s unless I can replace them with the HT4s... though I still like the look of my custom boxy cabinets better, the improved imaging might be worth the trade-off. Plus didn't you just get some shiny new Sigs to play with?

Not a big fan of HK, I owned some of their electronics back in the 90's and thought they were junk. Never quite got over it.

I've been looking at receivers and pre-pros for so long I am on information overload. Just looking for some specific models that might suit my needs.

 

[Warpdrv]

Scour your local craigslist and see if you can find something in a last years model for the time being to get you by.

 

[Warpdrv]

Yeah, diggin the S8's

I liked the Marantz, they were pretty good and sounded nice, plenty good enough for HT, and I think the internal amps are some of the best out of all the receivers, especially if your only using it for surrounds. You can find last years models pretty reasonable, like the Sr5003 $449.00 ?

I think you have enough equipment that is nice enough that you really don't have to worry about upscaling, just pass the signal right through.... BluRay & PS3 need no upscaling, the oppo has a great scaler already... in fact Bob Parissau in the Anthem thread doesn't even use the internal scaler on the D2v for regular dvds, the oppo is that good.

Just a thought...