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Choosing AV Receiver

848 views 17 replies 8 participants last post by  jdsmoothie 
#1 ·

Good Morning all,

 

First time poster to the AVS Forums.  I am looking for a recommendation based on three different AV Receivers that have caught my eye.  I will be using this receiver on my secondary home theater system (projector based in my basement with an acoustic drop ceiling).  The receiver will initially be powering a Polk TL250 speaker system with a Pinnacle Sub225 Powered sub-woofer. Connected to the receiver will be Blu-Ray, five (5) disc dvd, PS4, Xbox 360 and HTPC.  As a comparison, my main home theater system utilizes the sames speakers but is powered by a Pioneer Elite VSX-31 receiver.  

 

In any event, the receivers I have been looking at are as followed:

 

- Pioneer VSX-822K (Older unit, but can be had cheap, just not sure if it is worth it as it seems to be bordering on a Home Theater in a box receiver.)  

- Sony STR-DN840

- Denon AVR-X1000

 

Any input would be great.  I suspect the train of thought would be to stay with the Sony or Denon which I am fine with.

 

Thanks

 

Chris
 
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#3 ·
My personal experience would lead me to recommend that you not get a Yamaha, Sony, or Pioneer AVR.


I find them poorly designed and not capable of driving many speakers very well.


Denon and Marantz are usually better, and NAD and Cambridge Audio are the best IMO..


The AVR X-1000 seems to offer a lot at a very low price.
 
#4 ·
Sony does not seem very popular with the enthusiast crowd, though I have never heard one of their AVRs so i can't really comment. Denon is good. I wasn't very happy with my last Pioneer receiver.


I would also recommend you have a look at this Yamaha. It drives my speakers very well.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?gclid=COiEgL-fqb4CFaNj7Aod-EcArw&Item=0MJ-0022-00014&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-_-pla-_-Receivers-_-0MJ-0022-00014&ef_id=UrHe7QAAAaSQ4dzX:20140513154633:s
 
#7 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Stealtharsenal  /t/1531556/choosing-av-receiver#post_24714680


I find myself being drawn back to the Denon over and over.  Seems like it really is the best bang for the buck.  My existing Pioneer has lot of options, but I feel I cannot get it to sound the way I want it to.  The X1000 might be the way to go.
The low end denon models don't like long runs to projectors. How long is that hdmi cable?
 
#8 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Stealtharsenal  /t/1531556/choosing-av-receiver/0_100#post_24714680


I find myself being drawn back to the Denon over and over.  Seems like it really is the best bang for the buck.  My existing Pioneer has lot of options, but I feel I cannot get it to sound the way I want it to.  The X1000 might be the way to go.

The X1000 (5CH) and X2000 (7CH) are on clearance now so you can get a great deal prior to the newer 2014 models being released next month.
 
#10 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Stealtharsenal  /t/1531556/choosing-av-receiver#post_24716912


The HDMI cable that is running from my subpar projector receiver is 35 feet or so and it works just fine.  I would think the Denon can handle that considering it is much more advanced.
I have never seen a hdmi handshake issue with advanced models like 4520 or x4000. Several people came here with video problems on lower level models and switching brands cured the problem. Denon has few defects. This is the only problem that keeps popping up. Only way to know is try it. Early reports of 2014 product says their hdmi 2.0 is not hdcp 2.2 compliant either. Those other brands have their own bugs.
 
#12 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Stealtharsenal  /t/1531556/choosing-av-receiver/0_100#post_24716912


The HDMI cable that is running from my subpar projector receiver is 35 feet or so and it works just fine.  I would think the Denon can handle that considering it is much more advanced.

Not necessarily no as HDMI is only guaranteed good to about 20'. Beyond that depends on the devices and whether an HDMI repeater/extender is used.
 
#13 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Stealtharsenal  /t/1531556/choosing-av-receiver#post_24716912


The HDMI cable that is running from my subpar projector receiver is 35 feet or so and it works just fine.  I would think the Denon can handle that considering it is much more advanced.

I returned a Denon for that very reason. It would not recognize my 40 foot HDMI cable. My Onkyo sends a signal just fine on the same cable.
 
#14 ·

Well depending on how I end up running my cabling in the ceiling I will be going up a wall about 10-feet and laterally 12-14 feet to the projector.  The receiver will plug into the wall outlet then run to the projector.  At the projector, there will be an adapter to DVI for the time being until I purchase my new projector.  I can get a shorter cable, I just have (3) 50-foot cables. 
 
#16 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by badgerpilot  /t/1531556/choosing-av-receiver/0_100#post_24721756


I returned a Denon for that very reason. It would not recognize my 40 foot HDMI cable. My Onkyo sends a signal just fine on the same cable.

Most likely a Monoprice cable or Redmere cable or using an HDMI extender would have resolved the issue.
 
#17 ·

JDS,

 

Would you say out of all the options (including the ones I suggested and Yamaha's suggested) the Denon is still the best choice. Granted it's my choice overall, but I would certainly love an expert opinion.  As I indicated, I can probably scale back the cable length a bit if that is something of a concern.  I am just looking for something that performs well but doesn't break the bank.  As I indicated, my main system uses a Pioneer VSX-31.  While I like the unit, I think somethings could've been done differently to make it more user friendly and sound better.  Unless some earth shattering tech comes out in the AV world, this receiver will be around for a long while. 
 
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