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A/V receiver with HDMI switching and preamp out for under $300?

post #1 of 12
9/16/09 at 12:08pm
Thread Starter 
My audiophile friend persuaded me to buy a pair of Mackie MR5 speakers a while back. Now I'm in search of an A/V receiver that has preamp outputs to be able to use my powered speakers.

I'm no audiophile. I just need a receiver that has 3 HDMI inputs and preamp outs for my speakers and a remote (so I don't have to walk over to the speakers to change the volume all the time). Is there such a thing for under $300 on the market now?

I'm almost ready to give up and sell my MR5 speakers and get "normal" speakers so I can use them with a "normal" receiver instead.

Please help. Thanks.
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post #2 of 12
9/16/09 at 12:28pm
tough to find new, but if you go used/refurb it's no problem

Best bet is probably HK AVR 254/354; can be had under $300 from the Harman ebay store (refurb, but with full warranty)

Or a Marantz 5002 refurb (comes with 1-yr warranty, A4L is an authorized dealer):
http://www.accessories4less.com/make...urround/1.html

Other options (used market) include Yamaha RX-V663 (aka HTR-6160), Denon AVR 2307CI (aka 887), Pioneer VSX-1018. The Yammy and Denon only have 2 HDMI's though....

A lot of mid-level AVR's have dropped pre-outs, but last year's models (e.g. in the case of Pio 1018 last year vs 1019 this year) have them.
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post #3 of 12
9/16/09 at 1:08pm
Yamaha RX-V663 !!

Check HERE.
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post #4 of 12
9/16/09 at 1:29pm
Thread Starter 
the marantz 5002 looks good. However, I've never heard of this accessories4less website and am wary of buying refurbished electronics equipment. Is this place reliable? It seems to have gotten some bad reviews on resellerratings.
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post #5 of 12
9/16/09 at 2:26pm
A4Less is very reliable and is a Marantz authorized online dealer, the refurbs come with a 1-yr manufacturer's warranty. Many happy Marantz owners have taken advantage of the a4less deals. I wouldn't worry.
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post #6 of 12
9/16/09 at 2:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by gfunknation View Post

the marantz 5002 looks good. However, I've never heard of this accessories4less website and am wary of buying refurbished electronics equipment. Is this place reliable? It seems to have gotten some bad reviews on resellerratings.


I purchased a Marantz SR6001 refurb from them a couple months back and everything went well. I would not hesitate purchasing from them again. I made the purchase over the phone because their website was not showing correct pricing at checkout at the time and their customer service was excellent.
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post #7 of 12
9/17/09 at 12:45pm
Thread Starter 
Ok, I will try to check out the SR5002 in person somewhere and then order it from A4L if I like it.

Thanks a lot for the suggestions, guys.
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post #8 of 12
9/17/09 at 12:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by gfunknation View Post

Ok, I will try to check out the SR5002 in person somewhere and then order it from A4L if I like it.

Thanks a lot for the suggestions, guys.

Don't waste too much of a salesperson's time if you're not gonna give 'em the commission. Maybe they would work with you on price.
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post #9 of 12
9/17/09 at 1:23pm
Keep in mind that these are HDMI Switching and do NOT support HDMI audio decode. The Marantz 5002 will support audio output over HDMI for LPCM sources. That is it will work if you're source will turn the Audio stream going over the HDMI to LPCM (i.e. it decodes the DTS, DD, etc and pushes it through via LPCM.)

Not everyone is aware of this.

And no you're not going to find a Sub $300 receiver right now that supports full decode of the HDMI audio - at least not unless it's used/refurbed.

TAZ427
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post #10 of 12
9/17/09 at 2:50pm
Quote:


Keep in mind that these are HDMI Switching and do NOT support HDMI audio decode

false -- every single model mentioned in this thread can do HDMI audio!! They don't all have TrueHD/DTS-MA decoding, but they can all accept lossless hi-rez audio via multich PCM.


Quote:


And no you're not going to find a Sub $300 receiver right now that supports full decode of the HDMI audio - at least not unless it's used/refurbed.

again not true, the Pioneer VSX-919 and the Denon 1610/590 have both had "street pricing" of $300 or less recently. They don't have pre-outs, of course, which was part of the stipulation of the OP.
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post #11 of 12
9/17/09 at 8:03pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Easyaspie View Post

Don't waste too much of a salesperson's time if you're not gonna give 'em the commission. Maybe they would work with you on price.

Yeah, I know. On the other hand, salespeople nowadays are so useless in general that I pretty much just play around with the equipment myself without wasting any of their time.
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post #12 of 12
11/18/09 at 11:32am
Thread Starter 
Just to wrap up this thread. I ended up getting the Marantz SR 5002 refurbished from accessories4less.com. The unit I got was practically new and I've been pretty happy with it so far.
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