Multi room receiver recommendations?

[maleonardphi]

I'm looking for a 3 zone receiver for my parents. Currently their setup is a Denon 1707 with 2 zone capability. Technically they have three zones: Zone 1-Living room, Zone 2-bedroom, Zone 3-speakers throughout the house. Right now I have it set up where the s-video monitor out goes to the main tv with audio only through their home theater speakers. Composite video out and tape out go to the bedroom, and the rest of the house is driven by the Zone 2 amp.

So, what would be nice is to buy a used receiver to save them some money that will do component switching, and have 2 component video outputs; one for the living room, and one for the bedroom, then have zone 3 been the audio only zone. It seems like all the new models are around $1200 and up that offer this. But they all have HDMI switching, and many other features my parents won't use.

Can anyone recommend a receiver, maybe a year or 2 old I could keep an eye out for on ebay or craigslist? Also, right now, the guy who set the system up maybe 15 years ago used coax cable with adapters for composite connectors to get to the bedroom. I found Rapid Run cables, but what do people recommend for running component, or composite cables ~75ft to another room?

Thanks in advance for you help.

Matt

[pixelthis]

YOU NEED hdmi.
Not only does it kick the pants off component in performance (and is only one cable to worry about) but component is being phased out, a lot of players these days dont even have it.
And there is something else you need to consider, a simple 2 channel receiver in the bedroom with a dvd player would better serve your parents needs than a
multiroom system, and is more controllable than one.
Multiroom systems are from a time when receivers were very expensive, they allow you to use a receiver in several places.
Today they are just a headache.
REMEMBER those "home " computers that would control every aspect of a house?
TALKED ABOUT THAT A LOT IN THE SEVENTIES, Ray Bradbury wrote a story on one.
Well, they didn't materialize, when people envisioned these type computers they never dreamed that computer chips would get so cheap that instead of ONE controlling all of your functions, (making coffee at a certain time, etc) all of your stuff would have chips and do things independently.
Same with "multiroom" systems, things are so cheap nowadays, if you already have a "main" system then why not just keep it and supply the bedroom with its own thing?
Save a lot of trouble.
If your system is 15 yrs old BYW there is probably stuff that needs replacing, wiring,
splitters that dont have enough bandwidth, etc
I would do an inventory of the entire system.
You dont know where you're going if you dont know where you start :1:

[maleonardphi]

Thanks Pixelthis. The system isn't 15 years old anymore, I've slowly upgraded it over the years. The cables to the bedroom are probably the last remnants of the original system. And I totally agree with you about having a separate system, thats what we did in the 2nd living room. But in their bedroom, all they ever want to do is put something on for 20 minutes and fall asleep. This is either satellite, dvd, or vhs. So to add all of those things in the bedroom would just take up too much space. And as for HDMI, I will agree with you. "I" need HDMI, my parents, not so much ;-) They aren't upgrading their entire system anytime soon, so no need for HDMI.

The other reason for upgrading receivers, the remote for the 1707 is a piece of garbage. But the receiver was sort of an impulse buy since their 5 year old low end pioneer receiver went out.

[pixelthis]

I had some remote extenders from RCA that allowed me to put my gear in the next room.
THIRTY bucks a pair, other companies make them also.
If you dont have any check into it.
Also a universal remote is really nessesary these days, simplifies things greatly.
As for receivers, onkyo has a nice one for around five C notes, but I am biased, I have basically an Onkyo and it runs great.
I think basically people will talk about what they have, eventually its a combination of features, price, and performance.
The stuff they pack into 500$ receivers these days is amazing to say the least :1: