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Originally Posted by
gene c353 /t/1522816/best-avr-for-under-500-bucks/0_100#post_24490428
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Originally Posted by jp381242 /t/1522816/best-avr-for-under-500-bucks#post_24490159
Really? Wow. So why do people by such expensive AVRs? Feature wise they seem pretty close once you are at the 4-5 dollar level.
Most people buy more receiver then they actually need but we do that with cars, tools, and other things too. Uh-oh, I think I just put a bulls-eye on my back! I've had many. many receivers over the last few years (I buy them -used- and sell them, mostly for fun) but the one I've kept in my "everyday" room is an Elite vsx-23 (1018). I don't need any of the new internet features and such from the last few years and it's more then powerfull enough. As others have said, you really don't need that much in the first place. Those Polks should be fairly easy to drive.
I am intrigued by the new Pioneer 1124 and VSX-80 with the Sabre Dacs (24 bit though, not 32
) at the $599 and $700 price points. Yamaha's do seem to be very reliable. I heard they own their own manufacturing plant instead of subing out to a jobber but don't "quote" me on that.
If you don't need all the new features of the last year or two then consider a $400-$450 Denon or Yamaha refurb from ac4l.com. the 5 year extended warranty is only another $50. Otherwise, I'd wait (if you can) for a Newegg/Amazon sale on the 1124. Sabre Dacs, sub eq (??), HDMI 2.0. It should be
There is also the fact that one might want some of the features of a high model, without wanting all of them. In order to get the video processing I wanted, I had to go with a model that does many things that I don't need it to do. But even low end units do things that I do not require.
One buys from what is available, and so typically if one gets all of the features one needs and wants, one will also get many extra features as well. The only ways around that would be if one happened to need exactly what a particular model has, no more and no less (which is almost never going to be the case), or one would have a unit custom made, which would be much more expensive than buying a model that has extra features one does not require.
Still, I think you are right that many people simply buy a better receiver than they need. And since many of them then have less to spend on speakers, I think it is usually a bad mistake if one cares about actual sound quality.
