Entertainment Center: TVs, Stereos, VCRs and DVDs - Selecting the right receiver

I’m in the process of building my home theater and am now at the point of selecting my receiver. The receiver will be powering a 5.1 system. The speakers are as follows…

Front Surrounds = Polk Audio bookshelf RTi4
Center Channel = Polk Audio CSi3
Rear Surrounds = Polk Audio in-ceiling RC60i
Sub = Polk Audio PSW12

I have a couple of requirements.

1. Want 7.1 capacity, and
2. Ability to play music in “All Channel Stereo”

Additional equipment will be…

DVD Player
Digital Cable Box
VCR Player
CD Player
42” flat panel (plasma)

What are some recommendations for a good receiver? Looking to spend in the $300 range. Please tell me if I’m being penny wise/pound foolish…

Thanks!

While I don't have any specific models for you, I would also look at the future use of it as well. Meaning, are you some day going to be HDMI, component, S-Video? How many optical inputs/outputs do you want? Some would think spending only around $300 will get you a cheap receiver. I tend to think a $300 could be a great bargain if you find everything you want. I will see if I find anything you would be interested in and get back with ya :thumbup:

This one here (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7040533&type=product&productCategoryId=cat03031&id=1099396102345)
And this one here (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7455103&type=product&productCategoryId=cat03031&id=1125464988778)

Though, the second is a bit more in price...the additional inputs are important for future compatibility (for me anyways).

I have the Pioneer VS-515-K which is a notch below the one here. It's awesome, I paid under $200.00 on sale during the holidays. I think you'd be really pleased with the Pioneer being recommended.

Max 'A' Million,

depending on your budget i highly recommend either the mid end denon or pioneer elite receivers.

Sam

I prefer Onkyo or Integra line. I have purchased 2 Onkyo's in the last 18 years.
I still have them both and they still work. Have you already purchased the speakers? I would suggest getting the same speakers for the front and rear.
It is better this way when running 5.1 since a 5.1 receiver/amp will make the
same amouht of WATTS for the front and rear (also for the center). After looking at the RTi4 and RC60i, they are not the same frequency responce and slightly off on the WATTs. Not sure what you will find in the Onkyo line for
$300.

Thanks to all…

Death Touch,

Unfortunately, I have purchased the speakers and really didn’t have an option other than ceiling speakers for the rear surrounds. That said, what impact will the differences in frequency response and WATTs really have on my system. Is this something I really need to be concerned about…?

Being that you want to go with 5.1/7.1 receiver, and most if not all 5.1/7.1
rate the front/center/rear speaker WATT the same, you will have to
get one that will best fit the lower WATT speaker. Probably wont make that
big a difference as these speakers specifications are not too far off. What I
am trying to say is the front is 125W, the center is 180W and the rear is 100W.
The typical reciever will be 100W for each channel, or 125W for each channel,
etc. This is one reason to use same or closely matched speakers for your
surround system.

Thanks again to all that responded…

I have done some home work of my own and have raised the price point. I’m now looking at two models…

Denon AVR-1906 – MSRP $549
Yamaha RX-V657 – MSRP $549

The Yamaha offers more wattage, but people tell me the Denon receiver has better “movie” audio. Not sure what that means, or if there is even a distinction between movie and music audio.

Does anyone have any experience with either one of these receivers? Even if you don’t have experience, I open to your opinions…

Thanks!

First of all - ignore the wattage ratings unless you are sure they are continuous watts. Sony and Pioneer quote power in peak watts. Onkyo and Harmon-Kardon qoute in continuous watts, which is a lower number. Yet both Onkyo and H-K will blow the doors off the other two. Not sure about Yamaha or Denon, though I suspect Denon does quote in continuous watts.

Second - don't worry about the power rating on the speakers. You aren't spending enough money on a receiver to damage the speakers provided you hook them up correctly - not in parallel, not in series, and pos to pos and neg to neg.

Denon makes very good high end receivers. I'd opt for the Denon. Or look at the Onkyo txsr603 in the same price range. I have the Onkyo txsr601 (older model). I'd avoid any receiver that quotes power in peak watts - why can't they give one a more realistic number?

As the post above stated, do not worry about the total wattage of the receivers you are looking at. Almost all receivers overestimate the power output by a significant margin. Most speakers are damaged by a "dirty" signal (distortion, clipping, etc.) I would start with a more thorough list of what features you need and/or want. First look at your current equipment and how you want to hook everything up. How are you going to connect the DVD player, cable box, etc. to the receiver. (digital coax, digital toslink, rca, dvi, s-video, hdmi, component, etc.) Are you going to use the receiver for video switching? If yes, how are you going to hook up the TV to the receiver and is the receiver going to have to do anyone video conversion? (ie. s-video to dvi) Are you going to upgrade to HDTV or upgrade your TV or dvd player in the near future? What type of connections and video switching would those upgrades include? Are there any other sound molding features you want or are bass/treble controls enough? Only after you know exactly what you want/need should you start thinking about specific brands or models. I know it seems like a lot of things to consider, but the more research you do now, the better purchase you'll make.