What does you money get you in receivers?

[cadfael_tex]

General question:

There are many price points in AV receivers these days and it seems for the most part that receivers at a certain price from different manufactures generally have a pretty close feature set.

So, here's the question: What major features appear at what prices? (ie pre-amp out, audessy, and the others I haven't figured out yet since I'm new to this)

TIA,
Tony

 

[lsiberian]

General question:

There are many price points in AV receivers these days and it seems for the most part that receivers at a certain price from different manufactures generally have a pretty close feature set.

So, here's the question: What major features appear at what prices? (ie pre-amp out, audessy, and the others I haven't figured out yet since I'm new to this)

TIA,
Tony

<200 barebones 5.1 receiver with a weak amp section unless used. Maybe HDMI switching

200 - 500 Refurbs with HDMI repeating some with 3 point Audyssey, decent amp sections. Usually pre-amp outs though some sacrifice this for new format decoding.

400-1000 Varies a great deal depending on refurb or new status. Most have good amp sections, 8 point audyssesy, pre-amp outs 720p upconverting and upscaling

>1000 Feature filled 1080p upconverting and upscaling, lot's of inputs. so many DSPs you go crazy trying them all.

Once you get above 1000 I suggest a pre-pro approach.

 

[Lordoftherings]

Well, for less than $1,000 ($899), you can get pretty much state-of-the-art receiver.
Best example is the Onkyo TX-SR876 (refurb).

You don't need more than that, it is very complete.

Bob