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Best Stereo Receiver under $300?

post #1 of 16
9/24/07 at 12:12pm
Thread Starter 
(This is a cross-post - I originally posted this under the AMPs, Receivers, etc Forum, but I see I should have put it here instead. My apologies.)

I want to buy a decent stereo receiver for my in-laws as a Christmas gift, as their old one is almost totally shot. My budget is under $300.

Ideally, I want something simple and reliable that sounds great. Preferably with big, legible buttons. They will want to hook it up to a tape deck, cd player, turntable and listen to the radio.

I'd rather get a reliable used audiophile quality receiver, than something new that sounds awful. (But getting something too "vintage" scares me!) My first choice was to find a used Rotel RX-975 on eBay, but they seem to be somewhat rare. And unfortunately I know nothing about other low-end audiophile brands.

Does anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks,
Tonya
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post #2 of 16
9/24/07 at 3:11pm
If I were you I would avoid used and refurbished since you can get an excellent stereo receiver such as the ONKYO TX8522 which has all you required plus it's XM ready for $220 at J&R with free shipping. The specs are excellent and it has 100 watts per channel. Check it out and see what you think. I'm sure your in-laws would prefer new.
Richard
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post #3 of 16
9/24/07 at 3:14pm
Thread Starter 
Any idea how the Onkyo sounds compared to a Rotel?
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post #4 of 16
9/24/07 at 3:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by zgeist View Post

Any idea how the Onkyo sounds compared to a Rotel?

Quality electronics have an insignificant affect on the sound. What really affects the sound is the speakers and the room they're in and the source.
Richard
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post #5 of 16
9/24/07 at 3:35pm
Thread Starter 
I don't mean to be rude, as I appreciate your advice on the Onkyo and I intend to look into it. But I completely disagree about the electronics not affecting the sound.

I was at a point once where I really thought I needed new speakers because my stereo sounded so bad. But before I could buy them, my receiver abruptly died. So I went out and bought a Rotel receiver and put it in my system. Wow! It made such a huge difference I decided I didn't really need new speakers after all.

One could speculate that there had been something wrong with my receiver all along that caused the bad sound. But it's been my experience that when electronics fail they just fail - unlike mechanical devices which frequently degrade in some way before they completely fail.

As you get higher in price though I do think the difference in sound becomes less. So a $10k system might only be a tiny bit better than a $2k system - while a $2k system is probably a whole lot better than a $200 system.

But that is, of course, is just my opinion.
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post #6 of 16
9/24/07 at 4:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by zgeist View Post

I don't mean to be rude, as I appreciate your advice on the Onkyo and I intend to look into it. But I completely disagree about the electronics not affecting the sound.

I was at a point once where I really thought I needed new speakers because my stereo sounded so bad. But before I could buy them, my receiver abruptly died. So I went out and bought a Rotel receiver and put it in my system. Wow! It made such a huge difference I decided I didn't really need new speakers after all.

One could speculate that there had been something wrong with my receiver all along that caused the bad sound. But it's been my experience that when electronics fail they just fail - unlike mechanical devices which frequently degrade in some way before they completely fail.

As you get higher in price though I do think the difference in sound becomes less. So a $10k system might only be a tiny bit better than a $2k system - while a $2k system is probably a whole lot better than a $200 system.

But that is, of course, is just my opinion.

There have been numerous double blind tests in which the listeners could not tell the difference between very expensive amplifiers and inexpensive ones. I'll quote one, " Out of all those decisions, one could expect 386 correct choices through chance alone. In fact, the overall score was 388. So for this panel of listeners, overall, and this group of amplifiers, no statistical audible differences were detected." Since you have had an experience which in your opinion verifies that differences can be heard, I do not suggest you purchase the ONKYO but do purchase the ROTEL receiver in which you have confidence. Remember you have to be happy with your purchase and that's more important than anything else.
Richard
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post #7 of 16
9/24/07 at 5:34pm
Thread Starter 
What I *do* like about the Onkyo is it's straight forward layout and the big buttons! And, realistically, ANY receiver would be better than my in-laws old Sony with the blown channel.

So as long as it sounds decent when I go give it a listen this looks like a good choice.

thanks for your input!
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post #8 of 16
9/24/07 at 6:46pm
Tonya were all about opinions. This topic about sound is well etremely subjective no doubt as many hobbies are. I might suggust something like hk3480 stereo receiver decent power not sonically flawless by any means but for the price, and performance its a good all round deal. To compare that or the Onyko to the Rotel i can't say. But for sure the rotel will be more neutrall for sure less colored not doubt. But it would also depend on the speakers you were matching with the receiver.

Once thing to keep in mind the greatest impact on sound that you will notice is SPEakers. Without question they will make even the best amplification, electroncis and soure your using sound like crap if they are crap. I agree your source and amp and pre are also very important variable and to a lesser extent cables.
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post #9 of 16
9/24/07 at 6:48pm
Oh if you could up your budget check out the Nad720bee. Very clean and simple. Not sure if your near chicago but SaturdayAudio has some good bargains on Nad stuff.
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post #10 of 16
9/25/07 at 6:47am
Thread Starter 
It doesn't look like that NAD one has phono input - unless you'd use the aux input instead?

I *do* happen to live in Chicago and I check out the saturdayaudio website quite often, but the good stuff goes really fast!
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post #11 of 16
9/25/07 at 7:54am
Quote:
Originally Posted by zgeist View Post

It doesn't look like that NAD one has phono input - unless you'd use the aux input instead?

I *do* happen to live in Chicago and I check out the saturdayaudio website quite often, but the good stuff goes really fast!

You cannot use the aux input as a phono input since it is a line level input.
Richard
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post #12 of 16
9/25/07 at 7:36pm
Yes you are correct no phono my bad sorry about that.
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post #13 of 16
9/26/07 at 12:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by chicomoralessxm View Post

Tonya were all about opinions. This topic about sound is well etremely subjective no doubt as many hobbies are. I might suggust something like hk3480 stereo receiver decent power not sonically flawless by any means but for the price, and performance its a good all round deal. To compare that or the Onyko to the Rotel i can't say. But for sure the rotel will be more neutrall for sure less colored not doubt. But it would also depend on the speakers you were matching with the receiver.

Once thing to keep in mind the greatest impact on sound that you will notice is SPEakers. Without question they will make even the best amplification, electroncis and soure your using sound like crap if they are crap. I agree your source and amp and pre are also very important variable and to a lesser extent cables.

I would also suggest the HK 3480. I got mine at Amazon for $230.00 about a year ago.
I think the newer model is 3485.
http://www.amazon.com/Harman-Kardon-...0834962&sr=8-2

It offers 120W per/ch, pre-out, main in, sub out, & phono input.
It's hooked up to B & W 600 S3's and Velodyne VA10 sub.

It's a nice budget system for my "man cave".
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post #14 of 16
9/27/07 at 11:51am
I suggest avoiding Onkyo.

I had one of their non-cheap units. It stopped functioning properly after a month. It was a nightmare getting it fixed. Three times it was brought back to their warranty servicing center. Once the thing finally was fixed, I sold it on Ebay. I actually got a LOT of my money back.

I am tempted by the NAD C 715. I have no use whatsoever for it. Just tempted by it. Looks pretty cool. I belive it's $400. Which takes you out of your price range.... but it wouldn't be fun it you were able to stay within the price range....would it?

I bought my father 2 HK3480's. They work fine. Nothing fancy. Had the C 715 been out... I would have gotten him that.

Comparing the C 715 and HK 3480. You really are getting a lot more for your money with the NAD. Though you're giving up a lot of power: 25 watts to 120. But depending upon room and speakers that may not be any issue.

The NAD is much more technology advanced. While the HK 3480 is super simple.
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post #15 of 16
10/12/07 at 11:39pm
In the $300 range, I would seriously look for used. Mid-fi 2-channel doesn't have the resale it used to, as everybody wants 76.1 surround. I went with a Rotel RSX-1050 receiver several years back, and can't complain. It sounded better to me than the HK and Marantz. My dealer did not have NAD. For new, the HK may be the best you can get at $300.
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post #16 of 16
10/13/07 at 5:50am
I don't think you can beat the HK 3485 for the money (or quite a bit more)


http://www.electronics-expo.com/make...HK3485/42.html

http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=4186720
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