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Help a newbie!

post #1 of 11
10/7/11 at 7:30am
Thread Starter 
I'll start off by saying that I'm not sure if this is the appropriate forum for this inquiry; if it's not please move it to the correct place.

Alright, I'll preface this by saying that I am a relative newbie to all things audio. Up to this point I have used $400 - $500 HTIB systems which have worked for my purposes but have never fulfilled my desire to have something nicer. Now that I have some dedicated room for a home theater setup I want to make it sound as good as it possibly can within my budget. I've already purchased an Energy Take Classic 5.1 speaker set. At the advice of someone I trust I also purchased a Onno BDP-93 with the understanding that it should be able to drive my speaker setup via it's analog outs.

Upon more research I'm not sure that that is correct. So my first question is simple: will the Oppo drive speakers or are its analog RCA outs just meant to send audio to a legacy audio receiver without HDMI?

Next, if the Oppo can't drive my speakers and for a budget of $600 MAXIMUM, how can I get the best audio and video for that amount? (This scenario includes returning the Oppo, so I need both audio and video.) Remember, I'm a relative newbie and simple is generally better than complicated.

Priority is video quality over audio quality, although obviously both are important. More HDMI inputs and internet (Pandora, Netflix, etc.) would be a bonus. Don't care at all about iPod docking or AirPlay.

I very much appreciate your time and assistance!
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post #2 of 11
10/7/11 at 7:44am
The BDP-93 is a Blu-ray player so you will need to connect it to an AV receiver (or to a preamp then the preamp to a power amp) and the 5.1/7.1 speakers to the receiver (or power amp). For $600, you can get a very nice AV receiver and I suggest you check out the Yamaha RX-V667, RX-V671, RX-V867 and RX-V871. The RX-Vx67's are last year's models so you can find them cheap from some online stores. Newegg currently has the RX-V867 on sale for ~ $400 with a coupon code that you can find on that page.

Edit: These are 3D capable receivers.

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post #3 of 11
10/7/11 at 7:51am
Thread Starter 
Thank you for the reply Leo. That was pretty much what I thought after reading more. However, if the Oppo can't drive my speakers it will need to be returned to fund the purchase of a Blu-ray capable receiver. What would you recommend that combines both the audio and video aspects?
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post #4 of 11
10/7/11 at 7:58am
I bought a Panasonic DMP-BDT310 last month for $180 shipped. The Panasonic DMP-BDT210 is cheapper at about $138 as of today. You can find both on Amazon.com. They're 3D BD players with built-in wireless networking. They are the same but the 310 has two HDMI outs, one is HDMI1.4 and the 2nd one is HDMI 1.3, to use with older receivers that don't have HDMI ARC.

Edit: You will need to buy a BD player and an AV receiver like the ones I suggested above. They're 3D capable receivers.

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post #5 of 11
10/7/11 at 9:31am
Thread Starter 
Thanks, I appreciate that. As soon as you confirmed my suspicion that the Oppo wasn't the solution I was told it was I realized that I'd need either a 2-in-1 or a separate receiver and player. Just trying to figure out what the best solution for me is.
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post #6 of 11
10/7/11 at 9:40am
Get separates - makes it much easier to upgrade if/when you decide to do so. I don't believe there are too many blu-ray+HT receiver components out there (at least not ones which aren't already packaged as part of a HTIB).
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post #7 of 11
10/7/11 at 9:42am
Separate components give you the flexible options to select the ones with the features you need and want. They usually would cost more than the receiver with built-in BD player but they will have more features and better builds. You can get a receiver with built-in BD player from the HTIB systems.

Edit: +1 what tezster said.

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post #8 of 11
10/7/11 at 9:53am
Thread Starter 
Yeah, that definitely makes sense. The RX-V867 gets great reviews so that's definitely a consideration. I'm also considering the Onkyo TX-NR609 which seems to be rated well and is slightly cheaper through Amazon (Amazon Prime eligible, bonus!) at $390.

What are thoughts on the NR609 vs. the V867?
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post #9 of 11
10/7/11 at 10:01am
The NR609 has wireless networking that the RX-V667 doesn't have. The RX-V667 has 7.2 preamp out jacks that let you add external amps later when you need more power. I'm not sure if the NR609 has 7.1 out jacks (besides the 2 subwoofer out's). Both are excellent receivers.

For $400, I suggest you consider the RX-V867 from Newegg (please see my previous post).
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post #10 of 11
10/7/11 at 10:03am
Thread Starter 
Sorry, I accidentally put the wrong model # the first time. I meant the 867 which you linked to on Newegg.com
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post #11 of 11
10/7/11 at 10:15am
The RX-V867 is the step-up model of the RX-V667 with networking capability and two HDMI ARC ports (instead of 1 on the 667). I've got both and loved them so much. I always love the Yamaha's signal processing sounds. My last receiver was the Yammie HTR-5890 that served me well in almost 10 years. I recently replaced it with the RX-V667 for my bedroom because the HTR-5890 has no HDMI's and therefore, I had to run lots of wires to/from it for both audio and video.
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