Need quick advice for new receiver for me to buy, Plan on purchasing tonight at BB

Yes the Onkyo's are good. But you can problably get a better deal from BB on one of the Denon's from this year. Look at the 1910 or 2310, better version of Audyssey for EQ'ing. Also better video processors if thats something thats important to you. Good luck.

Giving such a short time for advice is a bit limiting. Can't you wait like a day?

+1

If you don't expect to need 3D anytime soon, then pick up one of Denon's AVR's from last year, the 1610, 1910 or 2310. If you don't expect to go above a 5.1 setup, then the 1610 will work just fine.

If you're not running power hungry speakers, I'm going to put a vote in for the VSX-1020k for $550 + tax. It's a slight power downgrade from your 1015, but the interface/input options is top notch. I'm thinking of returning mine though due to the lack of "Huevos" I know it's not really fair, but when driving Polk Monitor 70's my old NAD C370 rated at 125w x 2 kills the 110 watt x 2 rated 1020K. I'm looking into the hopeful clearance sales on the ICE powered SC-25.

Yeah that was a downer for me too as I could've used my NAD to power the big front speakers. Pioneer really wants us to step for the $750 1120 as they seem to have purposely crippled the amp section and also took away the pre-outs!

Ahhhh you need pre-outs then. Hmmmm thats going to be a bit more difficult with your budget.

EDIT: I looked at BB's website and from what I see the only one with pre-outs is the Yamaha rx-v665 thats within your budget.

Your old 1015 could also handle the HD sound formats via the multi-channel analog inputs. Folks that don't want to upgrade to HDMI simply need to buy a BDP that outputs via mult-channel analog and they're good to go.

Then you may have to step up to the Onkyo 707 or RC180/807 for those pre-outs. Unless of course your BD player does have the multi-channel outs to connect to your current AVR and then all is good to go as you are. No need to spend anything. If your BD player doesn't have these connections, your cheapest option would be to get one that does other than replacing your current AVR+amp setup.

To the people suggesting on using the multi-channel inputs on his old AVR did you read the first sentence in the original post? He spilled water onto the AVR so I am taking a shot in the dark here and guessing it is fried. Hence the reason to buy a new one not to just upgrade.

+1 Just got my 707 up last night. Almost plug-n--play with HDMI...

And you will meet your budget at Amazon today; it's $22 less than I paid!

frank

Hes buying at BB to take advantage of 18 months no interest.

You are correct. But if he has not already purchased this AVR there is a very good chance that BB will at least or maybe even beat that price since these are on closeout as the new models are to be appearing soon.

Uh yeh ... got that. I was simply pointing out that it wasn't necessary to upgrade to an HDMI AVR to be able to pass the HD codecs.

Sounds like a downgrade to me. What's the Crown rated at?

What are the speakers you are driving with the Crown amp? Are they power hungry speakers or can you get away with just using the AVR to power them?

Too bad about the accident with the 1015 Kirtis, nice receiver. I had a 1015 many years ago, and it was an excellent sounding receiver with a vry robust amp section. In fact, I would say the 1014 & 1015 were sonically much better units than the 1020. If I am not mistaken, the 1015 weighed in excess of thirty pounds and the 1020 is no where that. The weight difference is in the amp and now that your Crown is gone too, I think you will be disppoineted in the way the 1020 sounds, depite the fact they have the latest decoders. I would think to rival what you already had, you woukld need to move up to the Pioneer 9040, similar weight as a 1015, latest ecoders and pre-outs if you ever want to add an extrenal amp. The 9040 also seems to be a twin of the Elite 21 and you may be able to find a deal on one of these as the Elite 30 series is coming out. As you want to purchase from BB, they carry the 9040 and the mini-Mags at some BB's may still have some 21's.

Last, don't assume that the newer receivers, regardless of brand, are better because they are newer and have the latest sound format decoders. Newer receivers do have more features, but also have downgraded amp sections at any given price point. It is still all about the sound afterall, not the features.

It would helpful to know what speakers you plan on driving. Best of luck.

You can sell it here, there is a section of for sale stuff. I think it costs a few bucks, not real sure how it works. Theres also ebay (which you have to pay fees for also), craigslist, various other audio forums, ETC,

So would you say the 1020 sounds better or equal to the 1015?