AV Receiver
 

I am looking into upgrading my current speaker setup for my TV as I am less than happy with it right now.

Currently, I have an "all-in-one" 5.1 system with Blu-Ray system that I bought 4-5 years ago. I want to upgrade this, but to something that will last longer and be a more permanent fixture of my entertainment system with upgrading the other features as necessary.

Primary uses of my system is the typical: DirecTV, BluRay (need a new one), FM/AM, PS3, 5.1 System, Streaming Media, MP3 playback.

So first question, do I need an AV receiver for this? Or can I get away with a compact integrated amplifier?

Secondly, if I should get an AV receiver, which should I get or should I stay away from?

How much you want to spend is a pretty important thing to know.

I won't go high end, but I would say $600 or less should still get a solid "value" packed product.

My personal preference is Onkyo, but I think there are probably 4-5 brands you go with that are quality, and then it's simply about which functions and specs look most desirous for your setup.

Just a little comparison chart for AV receivers at around the $500 pricepoint. By now, these should be reduced, so you can either save some $$$, or jump up to a the next level or 2 in their model line, or get the newest model year.

http://www.audioholics.com/how-to-sh...-receiver-2013

By the way, I think your budget of $600, is a smart level of investment. You'll get some added features and integration, without overspending for some top of the line stuff that's probably going to be negligible
in your satisfaction with the avr.

Unless you're committed to really shelling out many many thousands for some insanely pricey speakers and the rest of the components- which most people are not audiophiles and the the cost to value is really either to stroke your ego and namesake and just a waste unless you're One that doesn't give a 2nd thought to discretionary spending.

Not to mention, if you wanna build up your system, invest it in a quality speaker. Even if it's done in phases by channel in order of importance

(C, FR, FL, MR, ML, RR, RL, S1, S2, RW, LW, LD, LD2, RC, RD, RD2, LH, RH ) - depending on your setup and processing / # of channels.

You can add to that over time and the item most likely that is going to need updating to handle new technology and types of of connections will be your avr.

My thought currently was a Onkyo TX-NR626, Sony STR-DN840 or Pioneer VSX-1023-K.

Any thoughts on any of these?

I don't think you can go wrong with the Onkyo or the Pioneer. If you can, go and play around with them, see which you prefer from a layout standpoint. That includes the front interface, as well as working with the remote and UI with all the On screen menus. It's a toss up depending on if you look to configure it and be done or if you like to tweak your settings a lot based on your current source. You're going to be splitting hairs in terms of capabilities, so get a feel for which is laid out in a manner you prefer. If need be, hit up YouTube to familiarize yourself with how they work and the on screen menus.

As I said, I'm an Onkyo guy, but Pioneer is top notch also, and it's my preferred aftermarket choice for any of my Car audio upgrades. At least for headunits.

Off topic, but I'm a huge fan of Klipsch speakers when you're talking about a fabulous budget minded speaker line.

Myself, I'm a Yamaha guy, though admittedly I'm paying for a bunch of DSP programs that I could care less about. I'm just comfortable with their receivers since I've been using them for years. Honestly, at that price point you probably can't go wrong with Pioneer, Onkyo, Yamaha, Denon or HK.

As far as speakers go, I've been thrilled with these:

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PU...kers/SP-PK52FS

Absolutely fantastic speakers for the price, roughly $500. The sub is somewhat of an underperformer, but again, for the price it will do.

Another vote for yamaha. I own a lot of these receivers. Mostly because they all still work perfectly, so I can't bring myself to ditch them when I want to upgrade.

I'm also selling a great pair of Klipsch towers that will make your system sing.

Onkyo's build quality was superior before they began outsourcing everything to Malaysia.

Consider if you want a plethora of HDMI inputs or HDMI 1.4, or if you want superior sound quality.

I ask for this reason:

The Onkyo TX-SR805 was probably the best pound for pound receiver the company ever made. It's a 60+ lb beast, with excellent internals and DACs. It only has 3 HDMI 1.3 inputs, though. If you can get by with that, I would give it the highest recommendation. I've had mine for over five years now.

It's also THX Ultra 2 certified. The only Onkyo receiver w/ a similar certification now is their $3000 flagship model.

In comparison, the NR 626 weighs 21 pounds, puts out far fewer watts/channel, and lacks THX certification.

When shopping for receivers, I'd highly recommend buying refurbished from Accessories4Less.

Anyone like Marantz?

Not a bad recommendation, more bang for your buck.

Also with the 805 and limited HDMI- I wouldn't let that dissuade you. Pick up a good Hub with wireless remote. I have so many hookups, I picked One up, and then taught my Universal Remote all the remote commands. I can control my entire system, lighting in 3 rooms, fireplace, and pretty much anything that has a RF/IR wireless control.

The Hub I got will automatically switch to the source input you're wanting to use by itself about 90% of the time, so it's really not a chore dealing with piggybacking 4 HDMI into one source. So, if you did get one like the 870, you should still be able to feed in 12 HDMI...

which sources will it not work with perfectly? i've seen some strange compatibility issues with some hdmi-cec device combos.

None that I've come across. It typically picks up source activity and will switch to that source- like if I power on the Xbox 360 or One, for example. Sometimes it just won't switch the device feed and you just have to use the remote to change it to Input 1, 2, 3, 4, that's all. As you know HDMI can be fickle sometimes and not maintain digital handshake, but like I said, this is the rare exception, not the typical experience.

I suggest putting almost all of your budget into the speakers. The changes in technology happen a lot quicker with your receiver and a lower level of receiver can often adequately drive quality speakers but a high-end receiver will not make lower level speakers all that much better.

Yep. Technology wise for speakers- you may see an advance like once a decade of significance, and most of the time it's use of new materials.

Even then, I don't know how much it is an Advance? Up through the 90's I definitely think they were greatly refining speaker technology, and maybe someone if more familiar than myself, but it feels like since then, the gains have been pretty modest.

A lot more marketing terminology and feature names that for the most part is buzzword selling tactics.

By the way, can I say I hate that this topic came up. Only because I've been checking out avrs and new speakers this morning / afternoon on and off, and flirting with the idea of getting some new toys to upgrade or add to my hts. It's completely silly and I still have like 3 or 4 other technology home projects and 3 car upgrade projects still tucked away in their boxes that I still need to get around too.

I have bought Technics, Pioneer, Yamaha and Onkyo.

Technics bought 10 years ago and had a slight hiss at low volume. stilll going strong

Pioneer just bought and has a long sync time to switch res on HDMI inputs.

Yamaha is my favorite. Only didnt support 3D is the only reason I replaced it.

Onkyo is 5 years old. Developed an issue of having to warm up in cold weather to output sound. Seriously. In winter I had to wait 5 minutes before getting any sound out of it. The newer Onkyos are notorious from having bad HDMI capacitors that fail. So I stayed away when shopping for a new one.

Agreed.

I have a Pioneer VSX-702S I bought back in 93 or 94 and the thing still runs great.

When I was in my 20's I had a pretty sweet set up. Started by buying cheap speakers and then saved up for a nice reciever. After that saved up for the best center and surround speakers I could afford (NHT Super 0's.) Then worked on a 50 disk changer (hey, it was the 90's.)

I'd recommend buying one really nice component at a time. You need your speakers to tonally match but other than that not a big deal.

Thanks everyone for the responses.

I ended up getting a Yamaha RX-V675 (I know it was not any of the 3 that was on my "final" cut list). I like the reliability of the Yamaha's though. On top of that, I got a great deal through the father-in-law who installs commercial grade AV for a living (stadiums and what not) and he used his connections.

So now I am on to looking for new speakers and a new universal remote.

I'm selling a pair of these. Let me know if you're interested. They're amazing speakers.

http://www.klipsch.com/klf-20/details

For some reason their site won't load...

Yamaha makes great stuff. I've had a Yahama as my main living room receiver for many years.

I also have a Denon receiver in the master bedroom that I like very much.

You won't be disappointed, that's a solid receiver.

Any suggestions on remotes? What does every one currently use?

Still the Harmony One? Or has anyone moved to the Harmony Ultimate?

This ^^^ on Onkyo and if dont believe google onkyo and HDMI problems. It has put a bad rep on a company that may not recover. My Onk 705 hdmi board went capoof right after warranty.
If I was looking id go Marranz, Pioneer or Outlaw.

I would search one the smartphone or tablet apps they are pretty good . I have the Logitech one and have been very happy. But I have an app for my windows phone that i use now.

In the end, I will have the tablet and both my wide and my Samsung S4 phones. However, I want a remote that we can use as well if any guests come over (in-laws) that they can use that will turn on the receiver on the right settings and right source for the TV without me giving everyone a tutorial of it first.

I am starting to lean toward the Harmony Ultimate, but it is very pricey and I have a hard time justifying that much for a remote.

Harmonies are nice and pretty easy online setup.

Might look at urc also as they let you add macros but they are more time consuming to setup.

I looked at that... the draw back that I have read for the URC's is that you have to purchase it with the software which means that you have to go through an authorized dealer (so no price breaks).

I'm still running a 14 yr old Denon 1700, and have had zero issues with it. No HDMI obviously, but it's great for what I use it for. Are Denon's no longer the shiznit?

They are not. They have started to decline. Not saying that they are crap. Some people still love them, but their reliability has suffered over the years.

Amazon is a authorized dealer.

I have a good amount of Harmony's. By far my favorite:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41JQZQ4PPKL.jpg
Best layout if you do not need fancy icons or anything. Things were built to take a beating. My dog chewed one up as a puppy and it still works fine years later. It was built to be destroyed by kids.

Looks like all hamony's are going the minimal button or smart phone route. I still love not having to look at the remote to use it.

I've a Harmony One for about 3 or 4 years now and am still happy with it:

http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/image...mplicity_1.jpg

The thing that bothers me about the Harmony One is that is not RF so if your system has cabinet doors, then the doors have to be open.

Yeah it is like Slingboxes. Such a cool idea, but they cheaped out on them and they will fail 6 to 18 months. And sling will charge you just to talk to them. I refuse to pay full price for sling products.

I thought they made a version that was RF with an IR relay?

They weren't. It's still basically the same technology that's been employed for 100 years or so.

Even transducer types as the electrostatic or ribbon planar.

However, I have been impressed in the sound quality of some of the newest portable speaker systems for mobile devices. They (some) are offering some very good sound quality for what they are from a physical perspective. I haven't gutted one to see what's going on inside, but there has been a real jump in sound quality in just the past few years in these types of units.

As to the OP, I just purchased a Sony 1030 myself. Main reason I chose this unit is that Costco had them cheap ($325) and it was one of the few units that upsampled all video input to HDMI output, which I was specifying in a AV receiver as I've got composite, component and HDMI inputs that I didn't want to have to change at the TV level. It also offered wireless networking.

Seems to be doing an admirable job so far.

I have a Denon and Marantz, I love both. My Marantz is the slimline NR1603 or NR1604.

I have Rotel gear... it's flat out awesome. Also have an older 3805 Denon that has been pumping for years. Great little AVR.

Separates are the way to go though.

My next upgrade will most likely be a Sunfire Amp. That thing is BEAST.

http://www.sunfire.com/productdetail.asp?id=4

Alright, looking for anyone's feedback / history with B&W's.

Obviously their reputation is top notch, but times change and opinions are welcome.

I want to get away from the bulky towers at least if I'm gonna get some new ones at this time.

So, I'm eyeing getting a pair of the CM5s.

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/02/24/2asu5y3a.jpg

http://www.bowers-wilkins.co.uk/Spea...eries/CM5.html

Came away rather impressed with this review on them.

http://www.stereophile.com/content/b...m5-loudspeaker

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/02/24/eme3anyv.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/02/24/zuganaqu.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/02/24/a2yha9a4.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/02/24/qaqu6e2a.jpghttp://img.tapatalk.com/d/14/02/24/mutade8e.jpg

If you have the money to move from B&W to Dynaudio, I'd do that, even at the entry level.

High end B&W is quality shit, but is priced on par with low end Dynaudio. I was never less impressed than I was with entry level B&W.

Trivia - dynaudio designed and installed the speaker system in the Buggati Veyron.

comparable to what you posted above

http://www.dynaudio.com/int/home_lou...ite/excite.php

These are in the 1400-166 price range as well, and their 'mass market' sets run up to $3.6K

They also run up to the $85K Evidence Platinums

http://i1190.photobucket.com/albums/...CT6A6853-2.jpg

I'd say you get more bang for your buck with Paradigm at the mid point of speaker pricing.

OTOH

If you like bright speakers, Klipschhorns are a great economical route.

If you like smooth even speakers, Martin Logan Electrostatics are a great choice.

One thing is clear, if you want quality [almost unsurpassed] bass at a good price, SVS is the only choice.

Definitely a bright speaker guy. Your take on Klipsch is spot on me- I LOVE listening to anything on my X10's throughout the day. While I have a few pairs of top notch cans and appreciate their presentation, the buds have always been my preferred solo source.

I'll give all the rest you mention above a thorough checking out- except maybe been the heavy lean bass. It's never been a draw for my audio enhancement or enjoyment.

I'm selling a pair of Klipsch KLF-20s. I already have one pair and had plans to use this pair also, but plans changed. Now, they're just sitting unused. Waste of a great pair of speakers. They have a few nicks and scratches here and there, but they're in fantastic condition and the drivers are flawless. Upgraded Crites crossovers and polyfill.

$500

Specs:

FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 34Hz-20kHz(+-)3dB
SENSITIVITY: 100dB @ 1watt/1meter
POWER HANDLING: 200 watts maximum continuous (800 watts peak)
NOMINAL IMPEDANCE: 8 ohms
TWEETER: K-79-K 1" (2.54cm) Polymer diaphragm compression driver
HIGH FREQUENCY HORN: 90(o)x40(o) Exponential Horn
MIDRANGE: K-52 1.5" (3.81cm) Polymer diaphragm compression driver
MID FREQUENCY HORN: 90(o)x60(o) Tractrix(r) Horn
WOOFER: Two K-1036-K 10" (25.4cm) Poly Carbon Graphite cones

http://www.klipsch.com/klf-20/details#specs

http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...098834BE2D.jpg
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...0B39D2A959.jpg
http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...A6169E69B2.jpg

No rattle?

Seen posts around about the 20s starting to rattle and people offloading them at some point. Long term unknown flaw of a Big batch that were made at some point...

Honestly, I wouldn't suspect thatd be what you were up to. Only problem is not sinking more $$$ in getting them to me in Chicago safe and sound.

Nope. No rattle on either pair. Never even heard of this issue until you just mentioned it. I could see why it would rattle if the internal bracing came unglued, though. There's a ton of it in there.

You'd know the internals better than me, just something of a topic I came across a number of times. Ya know they made that model for a ton of years.

Defective glue or epoxy, some moisture exposure along the production and they could have ended up with a quarter or half a year's worth of units or who knows maybe more that isn't maintaining structural integrity (?)

When'd you get them / their production year?

How much they weigh? I wish I could figure out a solution to cheaply get them up here, but nothing off the top of my head yet.

They're really heavy. Probably 85 lbs each.

I bought them about 3 years ago from someone on audiogon. They were shipped to me for $100, freight rate, I believe. I still have the boxes and packing from that.

Unfortunately, I think the cheapest way to get them would be to drive down and get them and drive back up. That sucks, though.

Sorry about not being more clear, though they do have a speaker line, SVS's strength is their subwoofers.

They were the garage startup that ran with the sonotube subwoofer innovation of the mid-90s. They now offer both traditional box subs and sonosubs.

A DIY example, woofer on the bottom, port usually on top

http://www.patcave.com/sunosub3/021-3402.jpg

SVS early model

http://cdn.avsforum.com/4/42/424ade5...Subwoofer.jpeg

That looks a lot like what M&K came out with in the mid/late 90's. Some ****ing amazing speakers that were out of my price range at the time.

Listen to this man^^^
Id eccho everything above accept SVS since the 2 owners split I think have gone down some.
The new king in subwoofers at the old SVS pricepoint is Power Sound Audio. Founded by the former SVS owner.