Suggestions for a new HT receiver?

[crichton]

I have recently decided to upgrade my HT with a set of Elemental designs A6 5.1 setup. The customer service guy I talked to when I purchased them suggested a Yamaha v563. Does anybody have any experience with this receiver.

Speakers
A6 - 6T6 - Tower
A6 - 6T6 - MTM Single
A6 - 6T6 - MTM Pair
A5 - 350 Subwoofer

 

[Seth=L]

I would jump up to the Yamaha RX-V663. It's got a better amplifier and a lot more features (such as HDMI 1.3 repeating). The RX-V563 is HDMI pass-thru only, no audio processing or video transcoding on that model. Yamaha's listed price for the RX-V663 is only $100 more than the RX-V563 (so the street prices might have a narrower margin in price) and the RX-V663 offers a far better bang for buck.

 

[crichton]

Pass through only....

Yeah, it sucks that a lot of the "budget" receivers are doing pass through only, I just didn't realize that this one did it too. Do you have any other suggestions for an avr? I have always been a HK fan, but have heard that they are more of a music driven receiver, and I am looking for a more movie/gaming system.

 

[Seth=L]

I would say the H/K AVR-247 has some merits, but it's got plenty issues that make it not ideal for most any situation. It's video scaler is fixed at 720p, it can't be bypassed unless you send something equal to or higher than 720p. This is unfortunate because the scaler in the H/K isn't all that great, and most likely a decent TV would scale better than it would. The H/K is also only HDMI 1.2, it can't decode the bitstream audio from Blu-ray if necessary. I wouldn't recommend having the receiver handle the bitstream decoding unless you need it for DTS-HD, assuming the Blu-ray player doesn't have this decoding capability in it.

The RX-V663 is one rockin receiver, with all the right stuff in the right places. It's got power and features to kill.

 

[crichton]

I have looked at the Yamaha v663, and also the H/K 347. But am not sold on anything yet. I am really looking for something that has everything to HDMI output. I have recently seen that both H/K and Sony are both coming out with new models in the next few months. Does anyone think it is worth waiting??

My gear:
Sony Bravia 46" 1080p
Sony PS3
DirecTV HR21 HDDvr
Elemental Designs
A6 - 6T6 - Towers
A6 - 6T6 - MTM Single
A6 - 6T6 - MTM Pair
A5 - 350 Subwoof

 

[Seth=L]

There is always something new around the corner, don't wait too long. I suspect that H/K will be coming out with some very flexible receivers, I don't view Sony as being a great option typically, but we will have to wait and see what they churn out. Pioneer's VSX-1018 is another contender that should be out very soon.

 

[funked up]

I've read in the deals section of this forum that electronics expo is selling the 663 for $369, what a steal! I believe you have to call them to get that price in case your interested.

 

[crichton]

So I think that I have narrowed it down to the Yamaha 663 or the new H/K 355. I was wondering if anyone had heard a time frame for the h/k new lineup, as if it is more than a few weeks out I will have go with the Yamaha as my current receiver is doing my new speakers a great disservice.