[dschock]

I am making the transition right now from an infinity home theater in-a-box with a 9 year old HK 225 receiver to building my own speaker setup. I have been reading up on reviews in my price range and settled on the following speakers:


Fronts: Polk Monitor 60s

Center: Polk CS2

Surrounds: Polk Monitor 40s

Sub: none yet, but am looking to stay in the ~$200 range


I also recently bought a Yamaha RX A-800 receiver from Fry's for $414 out the door. It was sort of an impulse buy as the salesman was telling me it was a great receiver. I decided to buy it and try it out since I have about 3 more weeks to return it if I don't like it.


I was just wondering if this is a good buy in terms of being a good for my setup. I was also looking at the Onkyo HT-RC360 which is roughly $340 out the door. Also, are there any other receivers worth looking at in the $300-$400 range? Obviously, I'm a newbie and would appreciate all the help/advice I can get. Thanks!

 

[rnatalli]

The 800 is the better receiver IMO and that is a great price for it.

 

[dschock]

Thanks. Yeah, so far the sound has been good, but I don't have a lot to compare it to. I like the feature of multi room since I have pre-wired speakers out to the patio. Is there anything major that this receiver does not have? I realize it does not have networking capabilities... how important is that to you all out there?

 

[mjpearce023]

Networking is nice because you can update firmware. I don't know if the A800 had any important updates but you can check the owners thread to see. Streaming music can be done with plenty of other devices. I have apple TV so I don't use my receiver to stream music. The IPhone remote app is cool but I really don't use it much. The Yamaha 800 is a well built receiver and you got a good price on it. For subwoofers, look at BIC. You can buy them online for around 200 and they pack a bigger punch then the Polk Subwoofers. The F12 is pretty popular around here.

 

[afrogt]

In that price range the Yamaha RX-v867 is comparable. It adds networking so you can stream internet radio, Pandora, etc.


Right now Newegg has a special on the 867 so that the price is $399 w/free shipping using promo code EMCKBJD65.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16882115284


Everything else is essentially the same as your Aventage 800 except the A800 has a 3 year warranty instead of 2 years.


I'd rather have the network connection over the extra year of warranty.

 

[dschock]



Quote:
Originally Posted by afrogt /forum/post/20838736


In that price range the Yamaha RX-v867 is comparable. It adds networking so you can stream internet radio, Pandora, etc.


Right now Newegg has a special on the 867 so that the price is $399 w/free shipping using promo code EMCKBJD65.


Everything else is essentially the same as your Aventage 800 except the A800 has a 3 year warranty instead of 2 years.


I'd rather have the network connection over the extra year of warranty.

Thanks that 867 deal might be enough to return the 800... assuming the quality of the receivers are the same. I know that the 800 has the "5th peg" in the center of the receiver to improve stability. Is this much of a big deal...?

 

[dschock]



Quote:
Originally Posted by mjpearce023 /forum/post/20838640


Networking is nice because you can update firmware. I don't know if the A800 had any important updates but you can check the owners thread to see. Streaming music can be done with plenty of other devices. I have apple TV so I don't use my receiver to stream music. The IPhone remote app is cool but I really don't use it much. The Yamaha 800 is a well built receiver and you got a good price on it. For subwoofers, look at BIC. You can buy them online for around 200 and they pack a bigger punch then the Polk Subwoofers. The F12 is pretty popular around here.

I have had my eye on the BIC F12 for a couple days. $183 from amazon seems like a good price. What would be your preference of the F12 vs the Polk psw505? Thanks

 

[mjpearce023]



Quote:
Originally Posted by dschock /forum/post/20838849


I have had my eye on the BIC F12 for a couple days. $183 from amazon seems like a good price. What would be your preference of the F12 vs the Polk psw505? Thanks

F12 for sure. They are highly recomended around here for 200. I've had a polk subwoofer for a week and it was terrible. They are probably the worst brand of subwoofer that I know of. I was close to ordering 2 F12s till I found a sweet deal on 2 JBL subs from craigslist.