Need to Purchase New Receiver

[HGlenn]

I am shopping for a relatively low priced receiver to replace my old Pioneer 5700S. Have narrowed it down to either the Yamaha 5630, Yamaha 5640 or the Onkyo SR501. Can anyone make a recommendation or have any experience with any of these three models? I have Bose201 Series 5 for my mainn fronts. I would use it for both listening to CD's and watching movies. Any info is appreciated. Thanks

[woodman]

I am shopping for a relatively low priced receiver to replace my old Pioneer 5700S. Have narrowed it down to either the Yamaha 5630, Yamaha 5640 or the Onkyo SR501. Can anyone make a recommendation or have any experience with any of these three models? I have Bose201 Series 5 for my mainn fronts. I would use it for both listening to CD's and watching movies. Any info is appreciated. Thanks

Are you under budgetary restrictions? If so, what is your ceiling limit?

[HGlenn]

I have set a limit of approx. $350. By the way I failed to mention the size of the room is
15 ' x 15'.

[spacedeckman]

a 5650 or RXV540 sometime in the next 45-60 days. Much better than 5640/440. Has S-Video with upconversion, and more digital ins with a digital output. It is the one to get for that kind of money.

Just my humble opinion, but Woodman will tell you the same thing.

[HGlenn]

Thanks for that heads up. I will wait it out.

[RGA]

Just curious as to why you came to these three? I was looking at the Yamaha 5640 5650 and 5660 as well as Onkyo.

I ended up with several options from Marantz because they're all on closeout while the new 400 line is out. I picked up the 4300 for $320.00 or $239.00US. The equivelant Yamaha price wise seemed very lightweight a smaller power supply section and had far fewer features and had less warranty. The Marantz up here has 3 to everyone elses 1 or 2.

The biggest plus for me was the preouts so you can add on a power amp to all 6.1 channels. Looking over the 5640 it doesn't really do anything more except cost. Marantz and Denon are the same umbrella except that Denon also costs a lot more and has less features.

Maybe I missed something but the point of a receiver is to be a feature box where sound takes a back seat. Since this is the case then why not get one that does a lot, is upgradeable(The comparable Yamaha Denon and Onkyo's are not), has the best warranty. And I seriously doubt most anyone could tell a sound difference between most receivers anyway.

Certainly Yamaha and Onkyo were my other front runners...in fact Marantz only entered my radar because of the upgradability with the preouts...then the price blow out and then when the warranty was an extra year(upgradable to 6years for $40.00Cdn) then it really was an easy choice. The one thing is even this entry 4300 is physically large both in depth and height and weighs 28lbs.

Well something to consider if there are any deals in your area.

[This Guy]

I'm gonna have to completely agree with RGA here. I got the SR-5200 for $300US refurbished and it was the only one, besides other Marantz's in the price range that had pre-outs. I got the 5200 basically cause it was around longer then the 4300 and didn't seem to have any failures or any bad reviews (not that the 4300 does). Also for it's powerful two channel mode, Hi-fi choice measured its output into two channels into 8 ohms at 120 watts a channel (I listen about 80% two channel music), but when all six channels were driven the poer dropped dramtically with all six channels driven at the same time. No doubt it's still plenty loud, not a problem for me cause I'm using its pre-outs for the center chanel and don't use the rear center so right now it's operating at around it's rated output. I'm not sure how the 4300 measures though. And yes these things are huge, it made my previous JVC receiever look like a midget when sitting next to each other. In this price range, the Marantz has more features than anything else in the same price range and is IMO a no brainer.

-Joey

[Worf101]

It's basic and it's easy to run... but it's very, very basic. I also don't think it's powerful enough for all but the smallest and simplest HT layouts. I'd spend a few bucks more and get the 601. You get component ins and out and many other features that the 501 just doesn't have...

Da Worfster