Tough Newbie Receiver questions...

[Reorx]

Hi Everybody,
I am a newbie, I can readily accept that. I have been reading reviews and FAQ's from many different sites for the past 2 weeks.
One thing I really understand is that speakers are as important to a sound system as the receiver. So if I go to a BestBuy and listen to 1 receiver, and Fry's Electronic's to listen to another receiver, unless they have the same exact speakers..I will not be able to get a good comparison. Either or can sound better then the other. Also, the fact that I am not doing a side by side comparison makes a difference.

I currently have (recently acquired) 6 EV FR12-2 100watt RMS speakers 8ohm(not sure on additional details...it's extremely difficult to find info). These speakers have never been used and are about 8-10yrs old. I am temporarily using a Yamaha 2ch amp p2075c, and a cheapo $50 Aiwa receiver to push 2 speakers.

My goal is:
1. To hook up my DVD player, Cable box, and PC running media center. All using fiber connections.
2. Output everything from #1 to a TV (Composite inputs only) or a video projector (composite, s-vid, Component). Video projector will be a NEC 1065 (I can get from work on a short term basis). Some receivers I know will upscale video. http://www.avdeals.ca/necprojectors/mt1065.htm
3. Have enough juice to pump audio throughout a future house without having to upgrade. I currently live in an apartment.
4. Audio normalizing. Intelli Volume as Onkyo puts it.
5. 6.1 or better.

The receivers I have been looking at to take care of my needs are below.

$250 Yamaha htr-5750 or rx-v550
$329 Yamaha RX-V650
$250 ONKYO TX-SR602
$329 Pioneer VSX-1014TX-K

I have heard both bad and good things about these receivers, and like any product out there, it happens.

My questions are thus:
1. Which would be best for my needs...HT and music primarily?
2. Am I missing any other comparable or better receiver in this pitiful price range ($250-$350)? (I'd like to get a better receiver $800-$1k+ but the wife would never go for that. yet)
3. Do many receivers downscale video's? Component in, composite out?
4. Have you actually heard 2 or more of these receivers on the same set of speakers?

Thank you for your time. And I hope I didn't just bore you with another lame newbie question.

Reorx

ps: Do $2000-$3000 monster cables really make THAT much of a difference? lol geeze that's a lot $ for a 10-12ft cable.

 

[Leprkon]

My goal is:
1. To hook up my DVD player, Cable box, and PC running media center. All using fiber connections.
2. Output everything from #1 to a TV (Composite inputs only) or a video projector (composite, s-vid, Component). Video projector will be a NEC 1065 (I can get from work on a short term basis). Some receivers I know will upscale video. http://www.avdeals.ca/necprojectors/mt1065.htm
3. Have enough juice to pump audio throughout a future house without having to upgrade. I currently live in an apartment.
4. Audio normalizing. Intelli Volume as Onkyo puts it.
5. 6.1 or better.

If the speakers have never been used, start by checking the foam around the speaker cones. Some manufacturers don't put alot of money into the foam and it dry-rots after several years. I'm not saying your speakers have this, but you should check to make sure.

I don't know if you can get to item 3 with the budget you have, unless you will only be using one type of input at a time. If you want to watch a DVD in the living room and listen to a CD in the kitchen from the same receiver, it will take more money. You could do pretty well with the choices you listed using the A/B speaker switch to only listen in the kitchen, but won't have what it takes to run two entirely different signals. You probably need to be in the $ 525 range with a Yamaha RX-V1500 or Denon 2805 to get solid two-room, two-signal performance. Even then (and at the next couple of levels as well) you won't be able to send two different digital signals. Most receivers only have one set of DACs (digital-to-analog converters), so they can only process one digital signal.

Most receivers that cost below a grand do not actually upscale anything, they merely convert whatever signal is coming in from one type of connector to another. You will get the output in the format you want it, but it will not improve the quality at all.

From my research in November when I was looking for a receiver, the Onkyo's in general will be best set up to deal with the computer. Yamaha's are generally better at HT than most other options. It seems that Denon's are a better choice for multi-room applications.

The good news is that the $ 250 to $ 400 receivers is a very competitive market and give alot of value and great sound for what you pay.

do Monster cables costing $ 3000 help your system ? Did paying Alex Rodriguez twenty five million a year help the Texas Rangers any at all ??

As long as you stick to 14 gage or larger for short runs and 12 gage or larger for anything over fifty feet, products by SoundKing, Impact Acoustics, BlueJeans, Axiom Audio, or even your local Home Depot, Radio Shack or Walmart will accurately produce the same signal as the Monster cables.

 

[Reorx]

Thanks for the response.
I have examined and tested the speakers. They sound excellent and work fine. There is no dry rot to be seen. I live in AZ, and they have been almost constantly kept in a air conditioned room.

I was under the impression that "MULTI-ZONE COMPATIBILITY" ment that you could play 2 different things in different rooms(zones). ie: watch a movie in 1 room, while listening to music in another. Kinda like the bose lifestyle systems. http://www.yamaha.com/yec/products/compare/receiver_18.htm

From my research in November when I was looking for a receiver, the Onkyo's in general will be best set up to deal with the computer.

I just bought a Hercules Fortissimo 4 sound card. I figured it has all the outputs I'd want and I could just plug it into any receiver and i'd rock. lol oops. http://www.tomshardware.com/consumer/20050127/index.html

Alex Rodriguez ... lol nice analogy

 

[mtrycrafts]

One thing I really understand is that speakers are as important to a sound system as the receiver. So if I go to a BestBuy and listen to 1 receiver, and Fry's Electronic's to listen to another receiver, unless they have the same exact speakers..I will not be able to get a good comparison. Either or can sound better then the other. Also, the fact that I am not doing a side by side comparison makes a difference.

You also need the same listeing room, acoustic space. Since they are not, that by itself will alter the sound perceptably.
Another is the memory of the event for small differences is very short, seconds. So, that will also alter your perception.
Not to mention bias.

 

[Leprkon]

I have examined and tested the speakers. They sound excellent and work fine. There is no dry rot to be seen. I live in AZ, and they have been almost constantly kept in a air conditioned room.

I was under the impression that "MULTI-ZONE COMPATIBILITY" ment that you could play 2 different things in different rooms(zones).

good news on the speakers

multi-zone is a very gray area. a receiver can claim to be "multi-zone" if it sends a second signal out at all. in many cases on lower end receivers, the signal is only at the line-level. you must add an amplifier somewhere down the line for any real volume. as you go up the line, you generally take a 7.1 receiver and dedicate the back two channels for your second zone. then you don't need a second amplifier, but you are left with only 5.1 in your main room.

it's pretty sad that the years the Rangers were paying Rodriguez, they were getting the snot kicked out of them by the A's, whose entire payroll was only two Alex Rodriguez's. Bye bye ARod, hello WINNING !!!. What does that tell you about paying too much for a product ?

 

[Reorx]

Well, after some searching, and disappointments (RX-V650's are being replaced with v657's almost everywhere I turn)....I found a Ultimate Electronic's store that has yamms v650's, v550's, and pioneer SXD814K and low to high end elites...not quite a vsx1014, but possibly reasonably close.

And as a extra bonus; They'll let me bring in 1 of my speakers to see how all the receivers sound on it. Hopefully they don't blow it on me. I'd hate to have to kill someone. lol of course, they'll probably tell me my speakers suck and try to sell me new ones... of course, I could use a sub and a center channel.

hmm..
Where can I find a awesome svs sub and center for under $100?

Reorx

ps: I'm joking about the sub and center question.

 

[ducker]

Heh.. I'm in your bind as well.... where can I get a sub,center and decent receiver w/o static from the wife

Have my 2 fronts, 3 rears... I wanna get the V550 (checked at tweeter, they just stopped carring them; they have the 650 and up still)

I'll most likely get the receiver from one of a couple of online vendors that are carrying it for around $280.

 

[Nick250]

And as a extra bonus; They'll let me bring in 1 of my speakers to see how all the receivers sound on ii
ps:

This keeps coming up again and again. As long as your receiver has enough power to drive your speakers it has virtually nothing to do with the sound you hear. It's speaker choice and room acoustics that control the sound you hear at home. Plus I doubt the receivers in the store will all be set up identically so while they may sound differently it's a set up issue, not one receiver being "better" than another. There is no point in bringing your speaker to the store since there will be no usable data to be gathered. IMHO, YMMV yadda yadda.