The Domino effect...and a request for opinion on rx choice.

[BillaVista]

Ahhh...the domino affect!

A 5 year-old 40" Toshiba DLP TV had gotten into the habit of blowing a $300 bulb every year.

Went out to get a cheap LCD replacement.

Came home with:

TV: Toshiba REGZA 47ZV650U LCD (47" LCD)
Blu-ray: Samsung BD-P1600
Satellite: Bell TV 9241 HD PVR

So much for that!

This has been integrated into the existing:

Console: X-box 360
Speakers: 4 x Paradigm Cinema 70 v2 (fronts and surrounds) , 1 x Paradigm Cinema CC v2 (centre)
Sub: Paradigm OM-100

Current reciever: Panasonic SA-XR25 6.1

I am now somewhat obsessed with the idea of tidying everything up and actually being able to do video and audio switching with the Rx. It seems that HDMI may make this a real possibility (back in the day, nobody would dream of video-switching in a Rx as they didn't do a very good job).

If improved sound and useful features come as part of the package, I'm all for that.

And though it's a fool's quest - I haven't given up hope on having 7 speakers someday (currently limited to 5 by she-who-must-be-obeyed).

So I've done a lot of reading on here - very helpful, and am considering a refurbished: Onkyo Tx-sr707 Thx™ Select2 Plus™ from accessories4less

Would this be a good fit?

Are there comprable Denon or Yamaha models to consider?

Many thanks,

Bill

 

[AVRat]

Price/feature-wise the Onkyo is an excellent choice.

 

[Shell]

Hey Bill, good to see you over here.
I recently bought a Pioneer Elite VSX-21, I think it's big bro, the VSX-23 would have the 7.2 and the other features you want and it was listed cheaper than their price as well. I'll Nextag it to see. The amp sections in those were pretty highly acclaimed over here.
Also, I assume you have a workaround for the acc4less no shipping outside USA policy?

 

[Shell]

Did find it for within $20 new but it's only 7.1, sorry.

 

[BillaVista]

Hi Shell! Small world! You don't have HDTV in the chamber do you?

I will look into the Pioneer Elite, thanks for the tip (I don't really need 7.2)

Thanks AVRat too.

Yes, I'd get anything shipped to my warehouse over the border in NY and then drive down to pick it up - same as I do for all those orders from Summit

Is it right to assume that the old adage about never letting a rx do video switching is no longer valid? (Used to be they weren't very good at it and only introduced noise or sig loss - but that's from back in the analog only days when no serious 'phile would allow anything in the signal path that wasn't absolutely required)

 

[Shell]

Lol, this is the GOM, not the North Sea Bill! So low tech, it's no tech. I can't even email in the system, send out handwritten notes to be scanned instead. Home is a different story though.

From what I've read, alot of guys still let the display do it. However, receiver video processing is very good with alot of the better units, as is the case also with quality sources, so pass through is an option nowadays.
I'll be watching to see what the experts say on it but things have definitely improved in that department.