I'm not an audiophile and certainly a newbie at this so wanted your expert opinion. I'm thinking of buying an AVR around $1000. Main goal is to run a 5.1 home theatre and a separate zone for another TV and stereo speakers. Looking for 4K support. Should I go with an AVR or should I look for separate components like an amp and receiver? Seems like there's alway new stuff coming out. Thinking that an amp is an amp. If I want to upgrade to a 7.2 setup or add another zone, it would be better to go with separate unit rather than an integrated AVR. Can you please recommend options? Thank you!
AVR or Another Option?
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1 - 11 of 11 Posts
Since you're calling yourself a "newbie", why spend a 1000 bucks on a receiver?
I bet you would be more than pleased with a receiver in the $500-$600 range.
Check out Accessories4Less. Great bang for your buck (purchased the extra warranty if you're concerned).
Save your money for better speakers, a more powerful subwoofer or (and!) acoustic treatments.
Browse this forum and you'll find gobs of information.
I bet you would be more than pleased with a receiver in the $500-$600 range.
Check out Accessories4Less. Great bang for your buck (purchased the extra warranty if you're concerned).
Save your money for better speakers, a more powerful subwoofer or (and!) acoustic treatments.
Browse this forum and you'll find gobs of information.
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8 Posts
I just bought a refurb denon x1100w from accessories4less for $250 that I've been very happy with. If you prefer new, I've noticed fry's has onkyo and yamaha receiver promos in that price range pretty much all the time. Newegg and Amazon have promos occasionally also. No need for a noobie to go with separates, imo. You could even get two receivers and forget about dealing with zone2 limitations for the cost of a pre/pro by itself.
How soon do you need something? If you really want 4K compatibility make sure whatever you buy supports HDMI 2.0 AND HDCP 2.2 or else you may get into issues later when true 4K source devices and content are released. If it were me and I needed something immediately I would consider the least expensive option to get my by until all the 4K requirements are ironed out and products with full support are released and tested. Just some food for thought.
If you're just wanting something that has 4K support for possible future proofing and don't absolutely need it then most mid level AVRs can do what you want for 5.1 + a second zone. 7.2 + second zone is also possible, but you'll have to go higher up the food chain and possibly get an external amp.
The only caveat is your requirement for a second TV. Do you mean to have two separate outputs to your two TVs? As in playing a Blu-ray movie on TV1 and different Blu-ray movie or other HDMI source to TV2 simultaneously or the same source to both TVs? If it's the first option then your choices are not as many. I don't know of any AVRs that can output separate HDMI sources to separate HDMI outputs simultaneously. IIRC the Denon AVR-4520 might be able to do it, but it's above your budget.
If you're just wanting something that has 4K support for possible future proofing and don't absolutely need it then most mid level AVRs can do what you want for 5.1 + a second zone. 7.2 + second zone is also possible, but you'll have to go higher up the food chain and possibly get an external amp.
The only caveat is your requirement for a second TV. Do you mean to have two separate outputs to your two TVs? As in playing a Blu-ray movie on TV1 and different Blu-ray movie or other HDMI source to TV2 simultaneously or the same source to both TVs? If it's the first option then your choices are not as many. I don't know of any AVRs that can output separate HDMI sources to separate HDMI outputs simultaneously. IIRC the Denon AVR-4520 might be able to do it, but it's above your budget.
I started to browse more of threads on the forums and you're quite right, there is a lot of info here. And I just found out about A4L. Thank you for your suggestions. At first, I couldn't believe the prices and realized that it's refurbished, which I'm not sure what to think because I've never bought anything refurbished before. Now that I'm enlightened somewhat, I'm even more confused. I'm still not sure what to do since there's so much info.
I started to think about that too. Getting two lower end models. Thanks for your advice.
This is exactly what I've been struggling with. Thank you. I'm torn between waiting for all the 4K "stuff" gets sorted out or getting a higher end and trying to future-proof. I would ideally like to be able to have two fully separate HDMI sources outputting to 2 different TVs (both 4K). I would like to be able to do video and audio separately on one zone too, where I can do a slideshow and play music from another source.
Thank you for your advice.
Now that I've discovered Accessories4Less, I'm thinking about giving refurbished a try. This way, maybe I can spend $600-$800 and get a higher end model. I'm looking at the following:
ONKYO TX-NR838
DENON AVR-X4100W (or X3100W)
MARANTZ SR6009
YAMAHA RX-V777BT (or A1040?)
Any thoughts? I realize how subjective and personal all this is. Is there some place I can go and listen to these? Is Best Buy my only option?
ONKYO TX-NR838
DENON AVR-X4100W (or X3100W)
MARANTZ SR6009
YAMAHA RX-V777BT (or A1040?)
Any thoughts? I realize how subjective and personal all this is. Is there some place I can go and listen to these? Is Best Buy my only option?
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2,152 Posts
Best Buy is a option,
but make sure the avr's you listen to arent set to a Demo Mode! Id try to see if theres a better place to demo the units you like, such as a higher end dealer. Although, they may/maynot have the units you desire!1 - 11 of 11 Posts
