I have a 40" LCD set up in my family room. We have a blu-ray player and an older 5.1 receiver connected to it. Well, it was just recently noticed that this receiver is only pushing 2 of the speakers...we were hoping it was the speakers that were broken, but unfortunately the receiver is what's broken.

I am now looking for a new receiver, or so I thought. Went to Best Buy where I was told by a salesman that I don't need an a/v receiver anymore and to just buy a "home theater" package, which all seem to basically consist of a DVD player or Bluray player and 5 speakers. He says the dvd or blu ray players act as the av receiver. I didn't buy anything and figured I'd come ask on here first.

There didn't seem to be many a/v receivers in the store(maybe 5 or 6), but many packages, but none of these include an actual receiver. I am so confused.

Do I need an actual receiver to listen to my blu-ray movies, dvd movies, and tv? If not, I already own a decent blu-ray player, do I need to buy the "package" with speakers? or can I just buy speakers separately?

I have a very basic set-up and am not looking for the best sound system or anything...just like having a step up from the televisions speakers, so not looking to spend $1000+ or anything on a system...in fact, would like to stay under $500 if possible.

Any help, advice is appreciated as the salesguy at Best Buy wasn't very helpful. Thanks!

Best Buy online shows a number of stand alone receivers with at least two HDMI inuts (and a bunch of other input types) starting at around $200.00.

Best Buy allows you to pick up at a local store or pay for delivery to your home.

You should be able to find something that will fit your budget to replace your old piece.

Don't listen to them. You'll end up spending more for a worse-sounding system. What receiver are you replacing?

CJ

Umm, buy a receiver, probably went to a new Best Buy or as I like to call them Best Buy lite, go online to bestbuy.com pick what you want out there are many options that should suit your needs, Yamaha, HK, Sony, some Denons are going to be showing up in all the stores, don't buy some home theater in a box junk.

Don't buy that crap the BB guy was selling. If you are happy with your existing speakers, just get a nice AVR. Look at this one, http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002AKKFPI

It is new this year and right around your budget, handles all of the latest audio and video, and has plenty of HDMI connections which should serve you well for many years to come.

Mike

As has already been said here, what the BB guy was pushing on you was a Home Theater in a Box (HTIB). It's fine if you are starting from scratch and have a limited budget and need to make sacrifices to get the whole system. If you already have the whole system, then it's best to buy each component separate and get what you can afford that meets your needs.

There should be plenty of receivers that can handle the task you need. What I would do is make a list of each component you need to hook up (Bluray player, game system, cable box, etc...). Find out what the best outputs from those components are. Finally, get a receiver that can handle all of these inputs (at a minimum). That's my recommendation.

If you can afford one that upconverts everything through the HDMI, even better. Then you only have one cable going from your receiver (the brain) to your TV. You could look at the Pioneer 919 or 1019 for an example. Both of these are under $500.

Are you SURE you're reciever is bad? Are you sending it a 5.1 signal? Does the panel indicate that all 6 speakers SHOULD be working but only two actually are working? Make sure your DVD player is sending a 5.1 signal and your reciever is set to, well..., recieve it. If it's an older receiver, it may not be automatically detecting the signal and the DVD is only sending out a 2 channel sound track (which is usually the default).

I'd double check all of the DVD and reciever settings first, before doling out any money. ESPECIALLY on that BB employee's say so.

Forgive me if I'm asking some basic questions that you have already considered:

Just double-checking - how is your blue ray connected to your receiver - not the red/white cables, right?

Also, blue ray audio going into receiver, right? Not blue ray > TV > receiver?

Edited: Forgot to also ask, how is blue ray player config? Make sure that is 5.1, not DD, etc.

BTW - read this recent thread if you are still confused about the tradeoffs in a HTIB and a separate receiver.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1159493

I echo Logan's suggestion. Before you throw money into a new AVR, make sure you need it.

How exactly did you determine that it wasn't working properly?