Upgrade home theatre receiver recommendations?

[witchcraftz]

I have an awesome RCA RT2360 receiver, it's an oldie but a goodie, but the lack of HDMI is bothering me and I'd like to upgrade.

Wish list: Full HDMI, 4k upscaling, auto sound calibration, around $200.

From what I can tell there are 2 types of HDMI, Passthrough and Full. Passthrough does not capture the audio signal and therefore is not going to be useful to me, so I'm looking for Full HDMI receivers.

I am fine with 5.1, I'm not in a rush to jump onto the 7.1 or 7.2 bandwagon.

I was checking out what the latest and greatest ones are and I've come up with a list of some candidates:

Onkyo TX-NR515 (closer to $350 so not really an option unless a great deal comes by but it is the perfect one otherwise)
Onkyo TX-NR414
Yamaha RX-V373
Yamaha RX-V471
Pioneer VSX-822-K

Any recommendations?

[Ur0Drivr]

Re: Upgrade home theatre receiver recommendations?

I like the ONKYO's. I've had one for a few years and it's been great!

[Kor]

Re: Upgrade home theatre receiver recommendations?

Keep an eye out on Audiogon sometimes good deals to be had there. Refurbs are a great deal since most of them are 100% fine.

At your price range they will all be about the same. There is little room for differences.

Also recommend Denon and Marantz. I would seriously consider the Denon 1612 if it has the features you want. Should be reasonably easy to find one.

You can get that Onkyo NR515 Refurbished online for $230 and I think this site has a reasonable reputation:

http://www.accessories4less.com/make...eceiver/1.html

[witchcraftz]

Re: Upgrade home theatre receiver recommendations?

After exhaustivley looking at features I'm down to 3 possible choices:
Onkyo TX-NR515
(I love the features but there are quite a few people complaining about these having issues)
Denon AVR-1613
(I've heard good of them, they look like a sub brand of Onkyo?)
Yamaha RX-V373
(Not the most features but the best reviews, the V473 would be better but it sits at $330)

[Kor]

Re: Upgrade home theatre receiver recommendations?

Amazon seems to have some awesome deals too... They also have used gear on Amazon if you are into second hand.

Another option is just to wait for a sale, sometimes best buy or visions puts something at cost to bring people in the door.

[danno]

Re: Upgrade home theatre receiver recommendations?

I just got the 822-k, it works. I'm not a big audio guy I still need to get some better speakers. The only thing that bothers me is that you have to buy a blue tooth piece to make the iPod work to full potential. It was 279$ I think.

[Circa1990]

Re: Upgrade home theatre receiver recommendations?

I love my Onkyo..

[turbomeyers]

Re: Upgrade home theatre receiver recommendations?

i have the dennon. Love the airplay feature

[witchcraftz]

Re: Upgrade home theatre receiver recommendations?

Due to all my receiver research I've also been thinking of possibly upgrading my speakers, I currently have the Pioneer S-FCRW-920 5.1 surround set, Solid heavy Aluminum with good sound, very little clear sound compared to anything else in the price range (about $180 right now).

However I've been eying a couple of upgrade options:
Monoprice 8274 - $100 (I hear they are good enough but I'm not sure this would be an upgrade over my current speakers)
Acoustic Research HC6 - $200
Monoprice 9774 - $250
Logitech Z906 - $250
Energy Take Classic 5.1 - $300
Onkyo HTX-22HDX - $270

[Kor]

Re: Upgrade home theatre receiver recommendations?

I do not see how Monoprice or Logitech brand "theatre in a box" speakers are going to be a good buy even on a budget. Its like buying a Daewoo.

How big is the room they are going in? If its a smallish room I would consider buying fewer, smaller speakers with better quality.

For $2-300 buy two good speakers and it'll sound awesome. Can always add rears later.

Also, you should IMO be spending WAYY more on the speakers vs the receiver. So I would consider cutting your receiver budget by $100 to get better speakers if need be!

[PRY4SNO]

Re: Upgrade home theatre receiver recommendations?

I do not see how Monoprice or Logitech brand "theatre in a box" speakers are going to be a good buy even on a budget. Its like buying a Daewoo.

How big is the room they are going in? If its a smallish room I would consider buying fewer, smaller speakers with better quality.

For $2-300 buy two good speakers and it'll sound awesome. Can always add rears later.

Also, you should IMO be spending WAYY more on the speakers vs the receiver. So I would consider cutting your receiver budget by $100 to get better speakers if need be!

I would agree with this sentiment.

Back in high school I started with a mediocre Pioneer amp and some good Paradigm speakers that I still have to this day. That amp has long since been handed off.

For more affordable HT amps, I tend to prefer HK or Denon. Speakers, as advertised... Paradigm all the way.

[witchcraftz]

Re: Upgrade home theatre receiver recommendations?

The reason I'm looking at this type of system is space, I have a room 24 feet by 20 feet. The Pioneer speakers I have are small and I can fit them on the walls and bookshelves.

I don't want tower speakers as I really don't have the space for those, I need small portable speakers.

I also don't need a lot of power for a room that size, nor do I want a super powerful system, I'm more interested in immersive clear sound at low volume.

My logic is that 5 decent speakers properly spaced and with a proper receiver will give more surround sound than 2 higher quality speakers with a low end receiver? But maybe this is because I haven't tried portable (and affordable) high quality speakers yet.

[Circa1990]

Re: Upgrade home theatre receiver recommendations?

I would agree with this sentiment.

Back in high school I started with a mediocre Pioneer amp and some good Paradigm speakers that I still have to this day. That amp has long since been handed off.

For more affordable HT amps, I tend to prefer HK or Denon. Speakers, as advertised... Paradigm all the way.

My dad has had his Paradigm speakers for over 20 years... They have been blasted for many many years and still sound as perfect as the day he got them. AMAZING quality and flat balanced frequency response.

[witchcraftz]

Re: Upgrade home theatre receiver recommendations?

Looking at Amazon I've come up with a different selection:


Polk Audio RM705 5.1
http://www.amazon.com/Polk-Audio-RM7...dp_ob_title_ce

Jamo S 426 HCS 3 WENGE
http://www.amazon.com/Jamo-426-HCS-W...ywords=klipsch

[stefan]

Re: Upgrade home theatre receiver recommendations?

I went to Polk Blackstone series speakers. They are small but sound quite nice. Running them from a Yamaha RXV1600.