Help with my setup and choosing a receiver? :)

Originally Posted by zowzout123 

So I posted this in the speakers forum but think this might be a good place to add it as well, so copy pasta!

Goal: I'm looking to get a 3.0 system setup or possibly at a later time add a sub in for 3.1 and already have a pretty good idea of what speakers I am wanting to go with.

Problem: I need to know whyyyyyyyy there are so many receivers ranging so far in price. What the heck is the difference and what can I get away with while spending the least amount necessary. I'm not looking for something that's crap, but I've just always looked at receivers as just something everything hooks up to and don't understand how or why they get so costly. (I know, I'm ignorant to receivers).

My setup:

I think I will be going with Infinity all the way.

Center channel speaker - PC351 $ 200 on Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Infinity-Primus-PC351-Three-way-Center-Channel/dp/B0044D1788/ref=pd_bxgy_e_img_y

2 x's Floor speakers - Infinity P363's $117 each at Fry's Electronics
http://www.frys.com/product/6878376

This brings me to about $434 and to keep me around budget of $700, about 250 ish for a receiver. Now I am flexible on price for the receiver but I saw this - http://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-TX-NR515-7-2-Channel-Network-Receiver/dp/B0077V88VI/ref=pd_sim_e_9 for about $300 and thought "What the hell else do I need from a receiver?"

So any help is greatly appreciated! Hope to visit the boards more often

Originally Posted by 67jason 

^^^ correction Arny, you forgot about Audyssey Multeq XT.

in order of amazing to meh it goes like this:
Audyssey Multeq XT32
Audyssey Multeq XT
Audyssey Multeq
Audyssey 2EQ

Originally Posted by arnyk 


Yes I did forget that, and thanks for the correction. However it seems that even Audyssy Multieq (no extra letters) is at least competitive or better than YPAO and MCACC.

Originally Posted by Theresa 

Also XT32 comes in two different flavors, one that sets up two subs separately. This comes at a considerable cost. I know of no receiver's or pre-pro's with XT32 that cost $500. I know of one that costs $800 that does not setup the subs separately and apart from this one receiver's/pre-pro's with it cost a minimum of $1,500. You use false price figures to make your argument stronger. You often exaggerate when making your case including when you argue about external amps and quality/similarity of AVRs.

Originally Posted by Theresa 

Also XT32 comes in two different flavors, one that sets up two subs separately. This comes at a considerable cost. I know of no receiver's or pre-pro's with XT32 that cost $500. I know of one that costs $800 that does not setup the subs separately and apart from this one receiver's/pre-pro's with it cost a minimum of $1,500. You use false price figures to make your argument stronger. You often exaggerate when making your case including when you argue about external amps and quality/similarity of AVRs.

Originally Posted by 67jason 

sorta, XT32 and SubEQ are two different feature sets offered by audyssey, sorta like dynamic eq and dynamic volume being two separate audyssey features. it just so happens that almost all XT32 equipped receivers also have SubEQ with the exception of the onkyo 818. No where does audyssey say that XT32 needs SubEQ in order to be a complete version of XT32.

I suspect within the next few years we will see more mid level avr's from denon, onkyo and marantz (and a few others) that will offer XT32 but have no SubEQ feature, as this way it will differentiate the mid lines from the higher lines.

Originally Posted by jdsmoothie 

Unless one has 2 or more subs, the Sub EQ HT feature does not play a part in the equation.

Originally Posted by Theresa 


Come on, this isn't the "real world" where most people don't even have surround sound, its an audio enthusiasts forum in large part. Many of us have more than one sub and many of those that don't aspire to having more than one. For me, with more than one sub, having XT32 without SubEQ HT would be unthinkable.