Choosing Receiver (Budget $400)

I would go with the Pioneer 1122 or a Denon 1713

Those would be my two picks.. never cared for yamaha, no particular reason just for whatever reason I dont like them, and onkyos decent but Id take the Pioneer/Denon over it

Denon, Pioneer or Yamaha. At this price point, each one will be good. Just pick the features you want. I was a Denon fan until the last few years. Starting to become a Yamaha fan. Denon dumped AM radio in all but their two top models. Most wont care but, I do listen from time to time.

a 5.1 speaker set for $400 is possible but, you might not like what you hear. Especially if going with floorstanders. Start with a good 3.0 set up for $400. Then add a sub and then some surrounds. Check the Speakers section in here for some possibilities.

The 400 dollar budget is for the receiver, not the whole setup

I would personally take the Pioneer myself, but im biased

as far as speakers go, take a look at HTD I just got some myself and I am extremely impressed with them, dont let the price fool you into thinking their cheap

You should be able to get a pretty good set of speakers for $400. You can go with the Pioneer setup of: SP-FS52, SP-BS22-LR, SP-C22 and get a sub when you can. I know it's a bit out of your budget, and I hate being one of those people to suggest things out of a person's budget, but these speakers are easily the best bang for your buck at the moment.

I started off with the SP-FS51's in a stereo setup and had problem waiting to get the rest of my system. They sound great and can easily play down to about 45Hz, which will help hold you over until you can pick up a sub.

Now, I have the first gen set of these Pioneer speakers, and the ones I'm suggesting to you are the second gen set. If you could find the first gen you would be able to get it for under $400 most likely, and still have a great setup. Best Buy still seems to have the first gen in stock.

I would probably get a receiver with networking just for firmware updates, internet radio and Pandora streaming, plus the possibility of Airplay if you use Apple devices. So I'd look at the Yamaha RX-V473 or HTR-4065 at Costco, Denon AVR 1613 or 1713, Pioneer VSX-1022 or 1122. Onkyo receivers are full of features but have had their share of problems recently.

I would look at the Marantz NR 1403. It comes with a 3 year warranty, is denon's high end receiver and is barebones when compared to other receivers. I have heard it in person and I was comparing the Yamaha V473 and Denon 1613. Marantz to me sounded clearer and was able to get extremely loud, no noticeable difference even though its rated at 50watts.

I think I'll sell you my CS2 Center speaker for 80 shipped if you want it

Used it for 6 months, have the original box/paperwork for it as well.

CS2 or CS2 Series II? Black or Cherry? Any particular reason you are ditching it?

Already sold it to Tulane

I ended up not going with a complete polk setup, I picked it up originally to use with my big sonys, the tiny HTIB center I was using just was not cutting it, future plan was to do a complete polk audio setup, but I ended up giving HTD a try and now use a complete HTD Level 2 Setup

I did not authorize that...

LOL no worries, I am actually a month or so away from wanting to do anything. Was just thinking of upgrading my Monitor 50s to the 60s (can get an awesome deal locally) and wanted to upgrade my CS1 to a CS2 as well. I was just going to keep my Montior 30s for the rears.

It was a great center, It just dident have the sound I wanted.

I'm in the market for one of the above and have been looking for a good deal. I know u'r on slickdeals too (from the energy V-5.2c deal) and was wondering if you or anyone else had any good leads on where to find a good price. The prices should be dropping soon right, cause of the new releases?
Edited by Mav3rick - 1/12/13 at 8:00pm