[scottonian]

I bought my house a couple of years ago and bought the television to go with it back then. Now I want to fill in my living room with audio. The speakers on my TV are just too weak. The house has four speakers installed in the ceiling of the living room, and they're wired to a plate behind the table where my television sits. The living room is approx. 20' X 20'. I'm planning on buying an AVR, a sub, and a center channel to go with the speakers.


I've been reading some on here, but man there are so many choices from so many companies it's making my head spin. I will only have 5.1 speakers, so I'm not worried about any more than that. I'm not going to by buying a 3D TV any time in the foreseeable future. I've looked at Pioneer, Yamaha, Denon, and Onkyo so far. I don't want to break the bank on my receiver, but I'm worried that the entry-level offerings from these companies will either have terrible build quality or be lacking some feature that I don't even know I need or want. Any recommendations for "must-have" features I should look for? Any recommendations for one company over another?


I'm sure I'll have follow-up questions as I continue down this road, but I appreciate any pointers or comments.

 

[DelJ]

I just went through the same selection process. We all have different needs, here are mine:


1. Small footprint required, shallow depth in particular - I can't believe how big most of the receivers are in this age of thin TV displays


2. Variable lip sync adjustment required - 0-240ms or so


3. HDMI passthrough on standby - we don't always want to turn on the receiver to watch TV as our TV speakers are good enough for many shows


4. Excellent audio performance for stereo music - some AV receivers are surprisingly lousy in this regard


5. Runs cool - some receivers can double as a cooking stove!


6. Top-notch user reviews


7. Priced under $400 ($300 is better)



The following items are fine if they are free, but I don't really need them:


1. House-shaking power. Am looking for quality rather than quantity here.


2. 3D


3. Video upconverting - cable DVR and BluRay player are already HDMI, anything else can be connected directly to TV ports


4. 7.1 (Seriously, like the wife is going to allow all those speakers in the living room!!!)


5. AM/FM radio - why is this still here????



The winner (and expected to be delivered tomorrow!) : Sony STR-DH810



DelJ

Quote:
Originally Posted by scottonian /forum/post/19530081


...I've been reading some on here, but man there are so many choices from so many companies it's making my head spin. I will only have 5.1 speakers, so I'm not worried about any more than that. I'm not going to by buying a 3D TV any time in the foreseeable future. I've looked at Pioneer, Yamaha, Denon, and Onkyo so far. I don't want to break the bank on my receiver, but I'm worried that the entry-level offerings from these companies will either have terrible build quality or be lacking some feature that I don't even know I need or want. Any recommendations for "must-have" features I should look for? Any recommendations for one company over another?...

 

[jdsmoothie]



Quote:
Originally Posted by scottonian /forum/post/19530081


I will only have 5.1 speakers, so I'm not worried about any more than that. I'm not going to by buying a 3D TV any time in the foreseeable future. I've looked at Pioneer, Yamaha, Denon, and Onkyo so far. I don't want to break the bank on my receiver, but I'm worried that the entry-level offerings from these companies will either have terrible build quality or be lacking some feature that I don't even know I need or want. Any recommendations for "must-have" features I should look for? Any recommendations for one company over another?

Check out last year's Denon HDMI 1.3 AVRs 1910 or 2310. The 2310 can be found on clearance at some Best Buy's for $200-$400 so call around and see if you can find one. Both include Audyssey MultEQ speaker calibration which is a key requirement.

 

[dzd9fy]



Quote:
Originally Posted by jdsmoothie /forum/post/19530531


Check out last year's Denon HDMI 1.3 AVRs 1910 or 2310. The 2310 can be found on clearance at some Best Buy's for $200-$400 so call around and see if you can find one.

I am not able to find the 2310 anywhere near this price, and I have family members working at BB that cannot believe this price is possible either, so what are we missing?

 

[phantom52]

You may also want to consider Yamaha's 765/1065. These can be had for excellent prices.

 

[jdsmoothie]



Quote:
Originally Posted by dzd9fy /forum/post/19536197


I am not able to find the 2310 anywhere near this price, and I have family members working at BB that cannot believe this price is possible either, so what are we missing?

These are very real prices as others have purchased at already, however, each BB is pricing them differently. In my city, at one BB the 2310 was priced at $320 and at another at $410.


Edit: One guy just got a new one at his local BB for $179!