[bicknell]

I refuse to believe I am the only person who finds they don't need 99% of the features on many receivers, but seems to have no choice but to purchase them. I'm turning to the forums for help, hoping I am wrong, but fearing I am right.


I'm putting together some old components for a second room, and I can almost do it right. I have a TV with HDMI in, but only a single port. I have three devices that can do HDMI out (AppleTV, PS3, HD Cable Box). Right now I'm using a $29 3 port HDMI switch to get them all in the TV.


But, you guessed it, all I have is 2 channel stereo sound coming out of the TV, the little, poor quality TV speakers.


I have extra speakers, enough for a full 5.1 setup in fact. What I don't have is a receiver.


So what I want is a receiver that has 4xHDMI in (one extra for expansion), 1xHDMI out, 5.1 speaker connections, and NOTHING else.


In particular I have absolutely zero use for:

• AM Tuner
• FM Tuner
• Satellite Tuner
• Component Inputs
• Composite Inputs
• Optical Inputs
• Coax Inputs
• Second Room Audio
• Third Room Audio
• RS-232 control.
• Fancy remotes.
• 7.1, 7.2, 11.1, 11.2 or any other audio format.

However, every receiver I can find with 4xHDMI and the necessary decoding circuitry has a TON of legacy baggage with it. I refuse to believe I'm the only one who has a room where I don't need all of this other junk, and it's just running up the price and making the unit far bigger than it needs to be.


Am I crazy? Does something stripped down like this exist?

 

[Tulpa]

I don't know if there are any stripped down HDMI only receivers out there.


I suspect the manufacturers want to market to as broad a consumer group as possible, and since we all have different configurations, the legacy stuff is kind of needed to account for those configurations, and even then they can't please everyone. :shrug: Personally, I'd rather have them and not need them than need them and not have them.

 

[Aaron Gilbert]

One person's 'legacy baggage' is another person's mandatory equipment, as Tulpa notes. I have absolutely zero use for HDMI, having no display capable of accepting it. But even if I did, I doubt I would use it, because the picture is not better for non-HD sources, the switching time is horrendous, and the amount of minor glitches and problems is still far too high. Thanks HDMI, for requiring me to update not only my displays, but my DVD player, AND my extensive movie collection to be of any use. But I digress. I absolutely need component video, for my projector, and 7.1 processing, for my 7.1 speaker array. I also need as many optical and coaxial digital inputs as I can get, as I have a minimum of five devices which use them.

 

[JohnAV]



Quote:
Originally Posted by bicknell /forum/post/15521666


I refuse to believe I am the only person who finds they don't need 99% of the features on many receivers, but seems to have no choice but to purchase them. I'm turning to the forums for help, hoping I am wrong, but fearing I am right.


I'm putting together some old components for a second room, and I can almost do it right. I have a TV with HDMI in, but only a single port. I have three devices that can do HDMI out (AppleTV, PS3, HD Cable Box). Right now I'm using a $29 3 port HDMI switch to get them all in the TV.


But, you guessed it, all I have is 2 channel stereo sound coming out of the TV, the little, poor quality TV speakers.


I have extra speakers, enough for a full 5.1 setup in fact. What I don't have is a receiver.


So what I want is a receiver that has 4xHDMI in (one extra for expansion), 1xHDMI out, 5.1 speaker connections, and NOTHING else.


In particular I have absolutely zero use for:

• AM Tuner
• FM Tuner
• Satellite Tuner
• Component Inputs
• Composite Inputs
• Optical Inputs
• Coax Inputs
• Second Room Audio
• Third Room Audio
• RS-232 control.
• Fancy remotes.
• 7.1, 7.2, 11.1, 11.2 or any other audio format.

However, every receiver I can find with 4xHDMI and the necessary decoding circuitry has a TON of legacy baggage with it. I refuse to believe I'm the only one who has a room where I don't need all of this other junk, and it's just running up the price and making the unit far bigger than it needs to be.


Am I crazy? Does something stripped down like this exist?

Nope, pick a receiver that has 4 HDMI inputs and go on with life. Your being silly to think that all you need is just 4XHDMI and necessary decoding circuitry. I hear this same request concerning Blu-Ray players, with people just wanting HDMI output only. The problem is too many people need those other connectors for their setups, and so AV receiver vendors create products that offer customers flexibility rather then create a bare bones unit that doesn't make them any money, so you just have to live with that fact.

 

[Danielson99]

I guess it's a bit like someone in Arizona complaining to a car dealer about his new ride coming with windshield wipers and a heater etc. Fact is, you're such a miniscule percentage of the buyers that it makes no sense for companies to remove such 'amenities'. Personally I'd just grab a bottom of the barrel Yamaha 6130 or 6140 HTR for a couple hundred and use your $29 3 port HDMI switch with it.

 

[audiovideogeek]

It's also worth mentioning that a lot of the features you don't want/need are available even on the cheapest of receivers. My old Sony DG800 receiver has all of those inputs!


Why would a manufacturer make a low end product with all those features and then on a high end product, skimp on practically every input but include the expensive decoders? Also worth mentioning that tons of people including a lot of custom installers still use component connections over HDMI. I understand why you would want a receiver with just 4 HDMI ins and speaker connections but you represent a very small portion of the market and besides, its not like you are going to be inspecting the rear of your A/V receiver on an everyday basis. Just plug in the HDMI devices, speakers and nothing else

.

Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnAV /forum/post/15522808


I hear this same request concerning Blu-Ray players, with people just wanting HDMI output only. The problem is too many people need those other connectors for their setups, and so AV receiver vendors create products that offer customers flexibility rather then create a bare bones unit that doesn't make them any money, so you just have to live with that fact.

You could always tell them to buy the 2500-BTCI for $899! YAY!

 

[Delvo]

If they made separate receivers for every imaginable type of setup to have only the jacks it needs and no more, then not only would people find themselves needing a new one whenever they changed anything else anywhere in their systems, but every single receiver out there would cost MORE, not less, than they do now with everything included.


Why? Because price is a matter of not just how much hardware is included in the receiver and which kinds, but also economics, as in production & distribution efficiency. Making larger numbers of fewer separate product lines is simply more efficient than making a vast array of different products lines in tiny numbers, even if the former actually uses more raw materials per unit. And shipping larger numbers of fewer types of items to retailers is simply more efficient than making so many separate items that they can't possibly be stocked at retailers. And for customers, seeing what you're considering buying in person, then taking it home immediately, is more efficient than (as well as emotionally preferred over) putting in a custom order for an item you don't see yet and then returning later to pick it up whenever the retailer receives it from the manufacturer.


So no, you're not paying extra for the extra parts; if they weren't there, you'd be paying extra for that extra work and inefficiency which are needed to avoid having the extra parts.

 

[Danielson99]

Having a receiver is alot like having a woman. Sure...I don't need those 53 pairs of shoes in the closet, I don't need every drawer in the house to be full leaving me almost no space for my stuff. Hell, I don't need pads under the bathroom sink either...but it just comes with the package and I'm happy with that. There is never going to be a 'perfect' receiver or woman for you..custom made to order but there is going to be a receiver and a woman out there that fits your needs and makes you feel right with this world

We live every day dealing with things we don't need in our lives...it's not about trying to be perfect...it's about being happy with what you have. That's how I think anyway...so I hope you can come to terms with your receiver being an overachiever full of neat things you won't use. Personally I've had many worse problems to deal with

 

[bicknell]

I guess I'm a bit surprised because there is a market for small, people who want small components because of the space they have available. Going single connector (HDMI) is a great way to get small, there's no reason a box like I describe couldn't be 8" wide, 2" tall and 6" deep.


This is also why I'm surprised "integrated" systems don't go this route. Plenty of people sell "home theater in a box", the receiver and speakers comboed; often these days using semi-proprietary HDMI tricks to allow the matching screen to control the receiver, and vice versa. Many of these go for the small demographic, and with Blu-Ray built in (for example) the only external component for 99% of the people in the world is the HDMI cable box, and maybe one more HDMI input for a video game console. Heck, throw in component and S-Video for both as well, we're still talking much, much smaller than any existing receiver.


Perhaps this will start to exist more as people want 5.1 in a second room. In my main living room I may want all the bells and whistles (including AM/FM, Sat, etc). In the kids media room, where I want their video game to work in 5.1 as cheap and easily as possible, something much more stripped down would be welcome.

 

[tundrSQ]

I agree totally with the OP i would love to buy an hdmi/processor/amp only.

 

[Denophile]

cambridge and adcom receivers (see audioadvisor.com) come the closest. dont know if they do multichannel lpcm though (which you need for tthe ps3 if you want dtsmahd and truehd.


the arcam avp700 prepro had hdmi passthrough/switching..

 

[Tulpa]



Quote:
Originally Posted by bicknell /forum/post/15528505


Perhaps this will start to exist more as people want 5.1 in a second room. In my main living room I may want all the bells and whistles (including AM/FM, Sat, etc). In the kids media room, where I want their video game to work in 5.1 as cheap and easily as possible, something much more stripped down would be welcome.

I would think if there is a market for such receivers, they would already have made them. The big companies aren't that dumb. If it would turn a profit, they'd enter it.


Most of the people who just want small, self-contained units don't really give a hoot about speaker quality and buy the HTIB, whereas those who do want quality speakers would probably want legacy inputs/outputs, or want the beefier receivers that tend to have those.


The market for small, stripped down standalone receivers is probably too small for any manufacturer to bother. Otherwise, I think they would have SOMETHING on the market by now.


If they are truly blind to this burgeoning market, then someone should write them a letter. If enough people do it, they'll probably produce something. But they're not going to do it unless they sense it will be worth their time and money.

 

[B&W700guy]

I think that many of the DSP's and other chips have a laundry list of features built into them. I don't think that it costs that much for most of the features that are embedded into these chips. You only want a few feature sets, well which ones?? It s cheaper to fulfill the complete catalog then the ones YOU want.

 

[EndUser]

I want the legacy-free AVR too! I agree, simple and small. Where can I buy one?

 

[Tulpa]

No idea. Never seen one, short of a low-end HTIB.

 

[rabident]



Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnAV /forum/post/15522808


The problem is too many people need those other connectors for their setups, and so AV receiver vendors create products that offer customers flexibility rather then create a bare bones unit that doesn't make them any money, so you just have to live with that fact.

I could believe that if vendors had one model each, but each vendor typically has 6 or more different models at different price points with incrementally better features... but all of them carry a ton of legacy baggage. They should have at least one legacy free model.

 

[Tulpa]

But again, would it sell enough units?


I can't help but think they've already looked at this potential market and have already arrived at an answer.

 

[audiovideogeek]



Quote:
Originally Posted by EndUser /forum/post/15529935


I want the legacy-free AVR too! I agree, simple and small. Where can I buy one?

I don't know if it could be THAT much smaller because if you want it to have a nice beefy transformer to power all those speakers, its going to be relatively big and heavy. That is unless you are just looking for a pre-amp...