Receiver Question...

[jc_ufl]

I posted on here a little while ago for my first time asking information about a receiver and speaker set-up for my $2000 budget. After listening to a lot of speakers (many outside of my budget that I fell in love with and will aspire to get) I decided on the 5.1 SVS SBS-01 System. Since I watch movies and TV 95% of the time I wanted to pick a system that blended the sub nicely with the matched speaker set, and I believe the SBS-01 with the PB-10 sub did just that.

My problem is deciding on a receiver to drive these speakers. I have looked at all the big names (yamaha, pioneer elite, onkyo, denon) but the simple fact is I don't need a lot of fancy extras to be included in my receiver (but I do want a receiver from one of those brands). After reading the reviews on these speakers, it seems all the reviewers used a receiver in the $1000-1200 range.

Is there a receiver in the $500-700 range that will perform just as good as the more expensive types without the features that drive up the price? What about the $1000-1200 receivers make them better when it comes to powering speakers?

[L.J.]

Hmm...only advantage I can see for AVR's in the 1k price range is hdmi switching and perhaps more inputs/better remote. Maybe better components and circuitry.The rest is bells and whistles. iPod, sat. radio and so on. Do you really need 3 zones? Go with what's gonna fit your budget and offer some flexibility and is easy to use for you.

When shopping for AVR's I looked at the Denon 2805 vs 3805 for awhile and to me the $400 diff wasn't worth it. For some I'm sure it was. You should be able to find some solid units in that $500-700 price range. I would suggest a unit with HDMI capabilities if you have or plan on getting a HDTV and multiple HDMI sources.

[ChrisY]

I posted on here a little while ago for my first time asking information about a receiver and speaker set-up for my $2000 budget. After listening to a lot of speakers (many outside of my budget that I fell in love with and will aspire to get) I decided on the 5.1 SVS SBS-01 System. Since I watch movies and TV 95% of the time I wanted to pick a system that blended the sub nicely with the matched speaker set, and I believe the SBS-01 with the PB-10 sub did just that.

My problem is deciding on a receiver to drive these speakers. I have looked at all the big names (yamaha, pioneer elite, onkyo, denon) but the simple fact is I don't need a lot of fancy extras to be included in my receiver (but I do want a receiver from one of those brands). After reading the reviews on these speakers, it seems all the reviewers used a receiver in the $1000-1200 range.

Is there a receiver in the $500-700 range that will perform just as good as the more expensive types without the features that drive up the price? What about the $1000-1200 receivers make them better when it comes to powering speakers? I dont think you even have to spend $500-700 unless you really want to. Have you checked out Pioneers VSX-815 and the new 816 or Yamaha's RX-V459 and RX-V497 ? Onkyo's also come out with there new models recently and all of these can be bought for under $500 brand new extended warranty and all. Just a thought.

[musicman1999]

That speaker package is not very efficient and would require stout power to drive them properly.In that price range i would stay away from those brands and go for something with stronger power like a Harman Kardon or Cambridge Audio.Either would be much better suited to your needs.

bill

[jc_ufl]

What do I look for to determine which receiver would be more powerful? I know when it says 140 wpc, it doesn't necessarily mean it will deliver that many watts per channel. I also was wondering what you meant by "not very efficient". I heard a lot of speaker systems in $1000 range and they seemed to sound the best. Please remember I know there are a lot better speakers out there for more money, and will eventually upgrade when I get out of grad school, but for now those seemed to suit HT sound very efficiently.

Am I missing something?

[teledynepost]

http://lansingheritage.org/html/jbl/reference/technical/efficiency.htm

For actual ratings you might want to look for reviews where they've done independent measures of the products.

[musicman1999]

What speaker efficiency means is the volumn that 1 watt of power will drive the speaker to measured 1 meter from the speaker expressed in decibles.The svs rating is 85db,average might be 88db to 90db.Does not sound like a big difference i know,but its measured 1 meter from the speaker cone and bear in mind that every 3 decible increase in volumn you need to double your amplifier power.Read reciever review spec pages and look for power listing that say all channels driven,beware if its says 1 or 2 channels only.

bill

[teledynepost]

Haha, I'm about half way through the second page on the link about efficiency I posted. It is from 1961 and the terminology is different and written funnily.

In relation to efficiency at 500 cps, bass will start to droop around 80 cps instead of 50 cps.

It will start to droop around 80 cps!

[kexodusc]

In my opinion the best 2 receivers under $1000 are the Yamaha HTR-5890 (or RX-V1500, same thing) and the Pioneer VSX-1015. I did a short write-up on my experience with the two a few months back.
http://forums.audioreview.com/showthread.php?t=16201&highlight=vsx-1015

They've been replaced by newer models, but you shouldn't have any trouble finding great deals on leftover stock...JandR is always a good place to look.

The newer models may have more in the way of HDMI inputs if you really need them, I'm an advocate of bypassing the receiver altogether if possible when it comes to video, but many can't avoid it. In that case, look at the current models from the same to companies, they're the same for the most part, especially in terms of sound quality. They'll run you a few hundred bucks more though, and won't sound any better.

Try to listen to these at least...throw in the equivalent Denon/Harman Kardon/Onky units. This is the point for a/v receivers where you really have to spend a lot more money to get a minute increase in audio quality. I find you usually just get more features which may or may not be useful. So I'm partial to the value receivers in this approximate price range ($500-$800 street price) offer. Instead of spending an extra $500 for a few more watts and arguable sound quality benefits a more expensive receiver offers, consider adding external amps to these and run them basically as pre-processors. I think you'd be further ahead going this route