What is a good home stereo receiver to get at a decent price?
Ryan D asked:
I am looking for a new receiver for my living room. I have a pretty basic sony str-de685 receiver now and looking for something a little better. I want some hdmi inputs, preferably 2 and have some decent sound. My front speakers are the JBL ND310 II, a JBL PB12 subwoofer, I have a bose center speaker and bose rear speakers. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Oh, my budget is something under $400. Thanks.
I am looking for a new receiver for my living room. I have a pretty basic sony str-de685 receiver now and looking for something a little better. I want some hdmi inputs, preferably 2 and have some decent sound. My front speakers are the JBL ND310 II, a JBL PB12 subwoofer, I have a bose center speaker and bose rear speakers. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Oh, my budget is something under $400. Thanks.
BestBuy has/had a 7.1 receiver with 2in/1out HDMI for like 300 bucks last time I was there. They don’t list components on their site anymore, but it might be worth a look. Sony makes the best bang-for-buck receiver pretty much anywhere. I prefer Onkyo systems personally, but am not too impressed with their lower end speakers.
You’ll want to make the jump to 7.1, even if you only use 5.1, just so that you have expandability in the future.
You don’t just want HDMI inputs, you need to make sure the receiver is an HDMI switcher too. If it’s pass-through all it will do is forward on your video. It won’t process any audio sent via HDMI and you can’t send decoded audio (PCM) any other way without reducing it to two channels.
In my opinion the best HDMI-switching a/v receiver is the Onkyo TX-SR606. It’s about $397 on Amazon (free shipping). That’s what I’ve had for over a year now and I wouldn’t want anything else. Yamaha makes a good HDMI switcher too if you’re looking for other options, but I don’t know the model number.
For under 400 clams, you should find a decent Magnavox
at Wally World (wal-mart) with all the frills & thingies, on it.
(Just kidding!) Really, though, Marantz has a decent model.
Finding a Multiplex Unit without Speakers will not be very
easy. If you could talk to a salesperson at Circuit City, or
someplace similar, you might be able to get a deal on a
floor model, and an even lower price, since you already
have the speakers. I wish you luck and many hours of
listening enjoyment! (Who knows? They might throw in the
speakers, anyway!)
Yamaha HTR6130
With the speaker you have you need more than just a tereo receiver. Anyway Onkyo TX-S06 retails for $499 at 90 watts in 7.1 or a Pioneer VSX-918 retails for $349 at 95 watts in 5.1 are the best in the entry level receivers (Home theater magazine). Also you should match your speaker special the two front and centerr speakers. You can go on line and read the review of both receivers from Home Theater Magazine.
Good listening.