Purchase question

[otis39]

I recently purchased a 40 inch Sony Bravia TV and Sony CD/DVD player. The sound is not great. I also need a audio sound system so I was advised that while Im spening the money I might as well get something that I can use in the future when im ready for a home theater system.

It was suggested to me that I choose between a Yamaha RX-V663 or the V863 - there is a $400 difference between the price of the two receivers. As I understand it, the major difference is power and the fact that the 663 will not do 1080p. Am I correct? I dont have a blue ray. If that is the only difference am I better off spending the money on speakers? (room size = 12' x 24')

Yes, I need those too but I have small kids and cant have speakers on the floor. Someone suggested a pair of Atoms, a Paradigm center chanel speaker, and a Paradigm 8" subwoofer. Any thoughts about the yamaha and speaker options would be appreciated.

 

[Shicks18]

Get the 663 for your receiver, you wont need anything more... for speakers it depends on your budget. A great starter set would be this: http://svsound.com/products-sys-sbs_black.cfm which would cover all your speakers and subwoofer.

If your worried about kids and knocking stuff over, I would just go with a 2 channel set up (2 speakers, and 1 subwoofer optional). Doing that you could get a pair of floorstanding speakers w/o a sub or a nice pair of bookshelves with a subwoofer.

The more specific requirements you have, the easier it is for us to find you the appropriate set-up.

 

[Adam]

otis39, welcome to the forum!

Shicks has you set up. I just wanted to mention a short article on the 663 on this site that also includes a comparison to the 863. You can link directly to it by clicking here.

 

[jliedeka]

I you don't care about 1080p for now, I wouldn't worry too much about it. I have a 720p TV and it's fine for me but I mainly use it for upscaled DVDs and video games.

Paradigm Atoms are really decent speakers for the price. Unless you pick C-notes off of trees, the Atoms are a good choice. You might also consider PSB Alphas if they are available in your area. I would also consider Era D-4s if they are available.

For a sub, it depends on what you want but I'd look at SVS, Hsu and AV-123. The Hsu I have kicks butt but there is nothing wrong with any SVS or AV-123 products. I also wouldn't rule out Axiom speakers. Their 500 subwoofer looks interesting and all their speakers are really good in their price ranges.

Jim

 

[otis39]

Thanks for the advice. This forum seems great. My brain has been going numb with this stuff. So here comes the question that demonstrates my place on the learning curve - So if I purchase the 663, even though I have a 1080p LCD, I will not actually ever see the benefit unless I have a blue ray? Is that right?

 

[Adam]

So if I purchase the 663, even though I have a 1080p LCD, I will not actually ever see the benefit unless I have a blue ray? Is that right?

Not necessarily. I'd have to check the manual again, but I'm pretty sure that the 663 will pass 1080p over the HDMI connection, but it doesn't upscale images to 1080p (say, from 480i or 480p up to 1080p). The big deal with it not upscaling? Maybe (well, probably) nothing. An image only needs to be upscaled once. The TV will upscale an incoming image to its native resolution if it needs to. If you have a DVD player that upscales to 1080p, then it can do it, too. You'd just want to pick the component with the best upscaler - the DVD player or the TV. You certainly wouldn't need your receiver to be able to do it, too.

 

[Shicks18]

Blu Ray will give you full 1080p, which is better than any other type of tv-upscaler, receiver, dvd player, etc etc.

Now some TVs, Receivers, and Up-Scaling DVD players will upscale lower outputs (480i, 480p, etc) to 720p/1080i/1080p to the best of their abilities. However, it will not match the quality of a blu-ray player.

I am sure your tv you just bought has an internal upscaler in the tv that will upscale your video to its native resolution, therefore the importance having a receiver to upscale isn't very important, UNLESS it does a noticeably better job than your TV.

 

[CAVU]

As I understand it, the major difference is power and the fact that the 663 will not do 1080p. Am I correct?

No! You are not correct.

The 663 does 1080p just fine but does not upscale. The 863 does upscale.

The output power on the two is effectively the same - there is no audible difference.

Here is a chart showing the actual differences.

Spend the money on speakers!

 

[Seth=L]

No! You are not correct.

The 663 does 1080p just fine but does not upscale. The 863 does upscale.

The output power on the two is effectively the same - there is no audible difference.

Here is a chart showing the actual differences.

Spend the money on speakers!

The fact is that both the RX-V663 and RX-V863 weigh exactly the same (26.2 pounds) and they both have the same transformer size (500VA) as well as the same power consumption (400watts). That would bring them super close to each other in terms of power.

And the Yamaha does pass full 1080p as you mentioned. The RX-V663 is in full compliance with HDMI 1.3 specs.

 

[otis39]

Thanks

This has been very helpful. Thank you to everyone who has helped me with this choice. I think Im going with the 663 since I just purchased a DVD player that can upscale. Now to pick out some speakers!

 

[Adam]

This has been very helpful. Thank you to everyone who has helped me with this choice. I think Im going with the 663 since I just purchased a DVD player that can upscale. Now to pick out some speakers!

Fantastic! Sure seems like a nice receiver from what I've read. Enjoy your speaker shopping.

 

[jostenmeat]

Yes, I need those too but I have small kids and cant have speakers on the floor. Someone suggested a pair of Atoms, a Paradigm center chanel speaker, and a Paradigm 8" subwoofer. Any thoughts about the yamaha and speaker options would be appreciated.

This is a shameless plug for speakers I do not own. Ascend 170 SE. I spent the night at my close friends' place, sight reading some music, Corelli, Dowland, Bach... had some dinner, and listened to Shostakovich and Debussy. This morning it was then Schubert. The family got these speakers on my rec, when there was a recent sale.

They are fantastic for the money. Simply fantastic, great imaging, very clear, great off axis. Its easily the best speaker I've heard at its price range. I would be quite happy with three in the front of my HT. They are running them with an ancient piece of electronics.

Its now my recommendation for anything in that price range. I've not heard all, but QUITE a few.

Regarding sub, please look into that specific sub forum here. Use the search function to find all of the usual suspects that we are always recommending.

-jostenmeat

 

[AVRat]

Nothing wrong with shameless, they're a great performer for the price.