Upgrading a home theatre, need receiver suggestions.

[Tsylord]

Hello everyone. This is my first post here. I've come searching for a receiver that will meet our needs. I've spoken to my local home theatre stores and I've gotten two suggestions. At the moment both receivers are $599.
So store #1 recommended the Denon AVR-1912
Store #2 recommended the Pioneer VSX-1020-K
(Sorry, I can't post the links to the product pages due to posting restrictions)
I'm torn between the two and I don't really know which one to choose.
So a little about what we're trying to set up. Currently we have a 5.1 home theatre, this may extend out to 7.1 eventually. We also have 2 outdoor speakers. We plan on expanding it to 4. I'd also like to play our itunes library through them, possibly through Airplay or just directly connecting our ipods directly. Please let me know what you think, I'd like to get the best system for our needs. Thanks in advance.

 

[ashergill]

Hello everyone. This is my first post here. I've come searching for a receiver that will meet our needs. I've spoken to my local home theatre stores and I've gotten two suggestions. At the moment both receivers are $599.
So store #1 recommended the Denon AVR-1912
Store #2 recommended the Pioneer VSX-1020-K
(Sorry, I can't post the links to the product pages due to posting restrictions)
I'm torn between the two and I don't really know which one to choose.
So a little about what we're trying to set up. Currently we have a 5.1 home theatre, this may extend out to 7.1 eventually. We also have 2 outdoor speakers. We plan on expanding it to 4. I'd also like to play our itunes library through them, possibly through Airplay or just directly connecting our ipods directly. Please let me know what you think, I'd like to get the best system for our needs. Thanks in advance.

Don't know anything about the Pioneer, but have recently ordered a Denon 3311 for $808 with a coupon from 6ave.com; also, if you don't mind a refurbished unit, you can pick up a 3311 (higher in the series than the 1912, better Audessey as well as more watts/ch) for a little more than what you were quoted for those receivers from some Denon authorized online retailers (Dakmart.com is one; look on Denon's website.)

Good luck!

 

[sholling]

Of the two I would take the Denon over the Pioneer, but I would avoid refurbished Denons due to one of our members buying 3 lemons in a row. Donon makes good stuff but stay with new. On the other hand re-certified Onkyos have a good track record and if you're in the US the price A4L has on the TX-NR708 (last year's model) it pretty good for a fantastic receiver.

 

[AVRat]

What speakers will it be powering and how big is your space and budget? With the 4-outdoor speakers you'll need to add a separate amp and any source you want piped to Zone 2 will need analog connections to the receiver.

 

[Tsylord]

Our speakers are the Bose Acoustimass® 10 speaker system (I'd post the link but there are still posting restrictions for my account), the speakers seem to be about the same minus the centre bar. Yes, we're looking at a good switcher that can output to multiple sources without blowing the receiver. We'd like to output several things outdoors including ipods, our TV (Music channels that are from our cable provider) and our playstation 3. What would be cool is to be able to play something like our TV inside and our iPods outside. We figure the amp and the switcher are going to be about a grand. But we also have to purchase some more speaker wire to run outside and a two more speakers.

 

[DenPureSound]

Don't know anything about the Pioneer, but have recently ordered a Denon 3311 for $808 with a coupon from 6ave.com; also, if you don't mind a refurbished unit, you can pick up a 3311 (higher in the series than the 1912, better Audessey as well as more watts/ch) for a little more than what you were quoted for those receivers from some Denon authorized online retailers (Dakmart.com is one; look on Denon's website.)

Good luck!

Good Selection, and I love mine also. The Denon AVR-3311CI is one very nice AVR, and I teamed mine up with a Emotiva XPA-5, and now it Rocks Out for maximum SPL w/5 ch. blaring clean.

 

[Nayam]

I have some test article about Pioneer VSX-1020-K. It may be help you to make decision.

please go to
ww.bestreceiver.net/test-pioneer-vsx-1020-with-the-first-sound-impressions-1

Enjoy.
(sorry i cannot post correct url because i'm new member)

 

[AVRat]

Our speakers are the Bose Acoustimass® 10 speaker system (I'd post the link but there are still posting restrictions for my account), the speakers seem to be about the same minus the centre bar. Yes, we're looking at a good switcher that can output to multiple sources without blowing the receiver. We'd like to output several things outdoors including ipods, our TV (Music channels that are from our cable provider) and our playstation 3. What would be cool is to be able to play something like our TV inside and our iPods outside. We figure the amp and the switcher are going to be about a grand. But we also have to purchase some more speaker wire to run outside and a two more speakers.

Surprisingly, the Denon 1912 doesn’t feature Zone 2 pre-outs to use a separate amp, but the 1911 does and can be had for ~$400: http://www.crutchfield.com/p_033AV1911/Denon-AVR-1911.html?tp=179

This amp will power the outdoor speakers nicely: http://emotiva.com/upa2.shtm

I know nothing about iPods or Airplay, but the cable STB and PS3 have the analog connections allowing for zone 2 usage.