Looking for Advice on Good, Reliable Receiver for Home Theather

All -

I am new to this web site and forum. I am looking for advice on purchasing new home theater equipment. This time, I am purchasing separate components.

I bought a Panasonic SC-HT900 HTIB back in Dec. 2004. This past July (2008), it quit working. Cause: burned circuit board. Literally. Apparently the circuit board within the receiver / DVD / CD player over heated and burned even though the receiver / DVD / CD player had plenty of circulation. The one thing I noticed is that there was no venting on the receiver / DVD / CD at all. The entire receiver was encased in metal. The Panasonic authorized repair center said that there was no way to fix this and that they see this often in HTIB's. They chalked it up to poor design and having the receiver do too many things. Nonetheless I was livid at Panasonic. The best they could do is offer me a cheap discount on the junk I already had. Forget it. The repair guy at the authorized Panasonic repair center said I was much better off going the separate component route. All I know is that my parents had a stereo / speakers for like 30 years and it worked great. I want the same.

So, I am in the market for home theater components, beginning with a receiver. For the entire system, I am really not looking to spend more than $1500. This includes: receiver, DVD / CD player, 5.1 speakers (including sub). If I have to get a 7.1 receiver so-be-it; I just won't use the extra 2 channels.

I am looking for a good receiver that's going to last me. I want one that is reliable, full-featured, able to scale (will not be out-dated right out of the box), affordable, and produces good sound. I appreciate music probably more than watching DVD's. Throwing out price right now, what would be a good, quality brand? I have heard so many things about Onkyo. What other receivers are good. The main attribute I am looking for is quality.

Now, taking price into account, I would like to think I can get a very good receiver in the $500 range. Taken that into account, what would be some good options?

Any and all advice is greatly appreciated!! If anyone else has a great home theater within the $1500 range that they LOVE, please let me know. I would love to know your specs.

Thank you.

All -

Well, here we are ... a year later. For anyone still monitoring this "thread". I did end up purchasing a HT system this past August (2009). I gave it to myself for Christmas this year.

Here is what I bought after extensive research and talking to some local audio experts. I ended up buying the components from Ovation here in Indiana. They gave me a nice discount since new models were coming out in the Fall.

Components:

1. Marantz SR5003
2. Oppo DV-980H
3. Paradigm Atom's
4. Paradigm PDR-10 (sub)
5. Paradigm ADP-190 (surrounds)

I spent over budget of course, but with all the new cables I bought through Monoprice, the total came to around $2000. I spent more than I wanted but I think I got a great setup. I did spend more on the speakers and thought it was money well spent.

I did not go with a center speaker for now. After speaking with the Ovation guy, he really sold me on going with larger "bookshelf" speakers as opposed to "satellite" speakers. I am glad I did ... the sonic clarity and range is very noticeable compared to what I had before! I auditioned several satellite setups (i.e. Take 5 Energy) and always came back to the Paradigms.

I just wanted to update this thread even though it's over a year old. Hope someone sees this

Thanks for all the advice!!

Rick

Jim McC - Yes and no. I was trying to save some money. But after auditioning the speakers (both movie and music wise) I was happy with the way the voices were when watching a movie through the front speakers. Also, the way my family room is, it's tough to setup a center channel speaker. However, this could change in the future. For now, it's all good.

I am just amazed at the clarity of the speakers compared to what I had.

MStrickland1988 - Thanks. Yeah, if I had an unlimited budget, I might have gone a different speaker route, maybe. The Atom's get great reviews from a lot of HT mags. I have been tweaking some of the Audyssey and Marantz settings ... just a bit. What I am finding is the Multi-Channel Music mode is the best for just playing straight music. I am not a fan of Pure Direct ... plays shallow to me. I received the Beatles remastered box-set (stereo) for Christmas. I just started listening to the first disc. Man, it sounds great. I can't wait to get to the other discs where better recording techniques are used.

Thanks for the posts and your thoughts!

Rick