[bmw7a]

So here's my situation-


Moving into a new house, and will finally be mounting plasma tv on the wall. Have an HDMI cable in the wall for that clean look. So, I now seem to have to finally get a receiver to input all the other devices into. Right now that is gonna be cable TV, Wii, and DVD player. No dedicated speakers at this time.


My question is what sort of range of AVR do you think I should be looking at? I am no audiophile (dont even own an MP3 player or any apple device). I mainly need something to handle the various inputs. Also, I would like at some point in the not too distant future to add a 5.1 surround system for movies, not so much for music (although my wife may listen to a bit of music).


I was looking at the Pioneer 1019 at about $500 price point. Does this sound reasonable, or are there things I should be looking for at a higher or lower point? If this is about right, any other comparable AVR's to look at?


Sorry for long post, thanks for any rec's. I am a total noob at all this audio stuff.

 

[phantom52]



Quote:
Originally Posted by bmw7a /forum/post/18229571


So here's my situation-


Moving into a new house, and will finally be mounting plasma tv on the wall. Have an HDMI cable in the wall for that clean look. So, I now seem to have to finally get a receiver to input all the other devices into. Right now that is gonna be cable TV, Wii, and DVD player. No dedicated speakers at this time.


My question is what sort of range of AVR do you think I should be looking at? I am no audiophile (dont even own an MP3 player or any apple device). I mainly need something to handle the various inputs. Also, I would like at some point in the not too distant future to add a 5.1 surround system for movies, not so much for music (although my wife may listen to a bit of music).


I was looking at the Pioneer 1019 at about $500 price point. Does this sound reasonable, or are there things I should be looking for at a higher or lower point? If this is about right, any other comparable AVR's to look at?


Sorry for long post, thanks for any rec's. I am a total noob at all this audio stuff.

In that price range there are many AVR's to look into, the 1019AH not being one of them. For a few dollars more or even less in some cases the Pioneer Elite 21 or the Pioneer 9040 can be had and be a much better buy. There's also the Denon 690/1910, Onkyo 707,807/RC180, Yamaha 765. There's also some very good refurb units from Marantz and Onkyo at accessories4less in your budget. You should try to factor in the amount you want to spend for the whole system including a good subwoofer. How large is the room this going into? All of this needs to be taken into account before purchasing a receiver. You want to try and spend ~2/3rds of your budget on speakers if possible and the rest on your AVR. The speakers are the most important part of any system, therefore the biggest part of your budget.

 

[lynx]

^^^

Room size and listening habits would help

 

[ruadmaa]



Quote:
Originally Posted by bmw7a /forum/post/18229571


So here's my situation-


Moving into a new house, and will finally be mounting plasma tv on the wall. Have an HDMI cable in the wall for that clean look. So, I now seem to have to finally get a receiver to input all the other devices into. Right now that is gonna be cable TV, Wii, and DVD player. No dedicated speakers at this time.


My question is what sort of range of AVR do you think I should be looking at? I am no audiophile (dont even own an MP3 player or any apple device). I mainly need something to handle the various inputs. Also, I would like at some point in the not too distant future to add a 5.1 surround system for movies, not so much for music (although my wife may listen to a bit of music).


I was looking at the Pioneer 1019 at about $500 price point. Does this sound reasonable, or are there things I should be looking for at a higher or lower point? If this is about right, any other comparable AVR's to look at?


Sorry for long post, thanks for any rec's. I am a total noob at all this audio stuff.

At around $500.00 you will get a nice receiver no matter which brand you buy. Look for a receiver that has the features you want. Buy from a reputable dealer. J&R Musicworld, Crutchfield, etc. Sometimes it is best to call the dealer and explain what you are looking for. Most reputable dealers have been in the business a long time and can offer valuable advice.

 

[bmw7a]

Some more info as requested:


Listening will be about 98% movies.


The room is part of an open floor plan first level. The "room" itself is about 19' x 12', but the fourth wall is totally non-existent, and it flows straight into the dining room (about 17' x 10'), which flows directly into the kitchen. This whole part of the house is basically like one really big square room.


Again, I am not looking for anything too crazy for audio, but I can afford something decent. I had been considering a 5.1 system from SVS (forget the name now), which would have been about $1000-1200, but I put it off till I got out of my small apartment. I dont think I would really want to go to much higher than that for speakers.


I guess my real question also might be, at a 500 price point for receiver, will I be missing and decoding abilities etc that I desperatly need. the decoding and interlacing with all the acronyms is where i get totally confused.


thanks

 

[Selden Ball]

Decoding isn't a problem at that price (it might be if you were looking for something at the $300 level).


However, driving speakers to an acceptable loudness level in that large an open room could be a problem.


You need to get efficient speakers (greater than 90db) and a relatively powerful receiver. Otherwise when you turn up the sound, the receiver's amps might clip, causing distorted sounds and possibly damaging the tweeters in the speakers.

 

[Marc0000]

I'm a newbie too. So my opinion doesn't count for much but I'll tell you what my research has shown me.


Once you hit the $500 price point (street prices) the good options listed above have all the features you need.


Multiple HDMI inputs are essential, with pass through (no processing to the signal going to the TV). If you're using legacy equipment maybe all the various connections are important (e.g 7.1 analog input) but otherwise 90% of the connections on the back are irrelevant now because you'll be using HDMI.


At $500 they all have the important codecs. Out of the alphabet soup of standards I'm told the only two that really count now are DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD. (I'm assuming you'll be using a Blu-ray with HDMI and a matching TV).


Power will be important for your large room. Paying a little more will get you a better amp. I'm surprised the FTC allows game-playing on rating amps. I thought those games went away 20 years ago, but I guess they're back. Home Theater Mag says the Pioneer 1019 only puts out 30 watts per channel continuous into five channels. This sounds like a ripoff given the rating of 120 watts for 7 channels but I guess all the $500 receivers do the same game. I understand the Pioneer VSX-21 puts out much closer to its 110 w/ch rating. Big difference for not a lot of extra street price.


Plugging an iPod into the receiver is important to me, and some have an expensive dock. Hey Denon, $299 for a wireless iPod dock? Get real. Even $129 for the wired dock is ridiculous. Street prices are about 1/3 less, but even so, that is not a turnip truck in my driveway.


Most receivers at that price point can setup for more than one sound zone, which might be helpful to you. I'm looking at the Pioneer VSX-23 because it has lots of power and three zones for me: media room, living room and kitchen.


Good luck. No wonder consumers get confused; it is as if the manufacturers try to make it hard.

 

[bmw7a]

great, thanks for the info guys

 

[rnatalli]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Marc0000 /forum/post/18230467


This sounds like a ripoff given the rating of 120 watts for 7 channels but I guess all the $500 receivers do the same game.

Not all; HK rates their receivers honestly.


One way to tell what kind of power a receiver will have is by looking at the back of it and seeing the power consumption. Multiply that by 50% and divide by the number of channels (5 or 7). That gets you a rough idea of how much power to expect.