1 more time - HT Receivers under $1000.00

My HK635 has been flaking out big time as of late. After playing sound from my OPPO, Disk or stream, the sound cuts out and the unit becomes unresponsive. I have to do a Hard Power Down and then back on to get use of remote or front controls, then it cuts out again. Also sends a loud crack or pop thru the speakers now and then.

I doubt that it is worth fixing and since it has no HDMI, I'm looking for a new unit. I would rather have better build quality and current/power than too many bells and whistles. I don't need 10 HDMI connections or a piddly pod dock.

Name me a few HT Receivers under 1K worth looking into please.

Are the Cambridge and NAD units any good? Audio Advisor always has a good sale on those.

TIA!

How about the Marantz models at accessories4less?

http://www.accessories4less.com/make...eceiver/1.html

I have been a fan of Onkyo since I've gotten into the hobby. The above model is the lowest on the food chain that has the Reon processing, which as I'm sure you've read is a step up from the Faroudja. It has more bells and whistles than one would normally be expected to use in a lifetime and the Onkyo "house sound" has always been one I prefer.

I have no real life experience with Cambridge HT receivers. The one product I have, a dvd player, functions admirably but slowly. NAD has never been my cup of tea.

Personally, I've always felt that boutique brands tend to not be on the cusp of technological innovation.

http://www.accessories4less.com/make...eceiver/1.html

I have been a fan of Onkyo since I've gotten into the hobby. The above model is the lowest on the food chain that has the Reon processing, which as I'm sure you've read is a step up from the Faroudja. It has more bells and whistles than one would normally be expected to use in a lifetime and the Onkyo "house sound" has always been one I prefer.

I have no real life experience with Cambridge HT receivers. The one product I have, a dvd player, functions admirably but slowly. NAD has never been my cup of tea.

Personally, I've always felt that boutique brands tend to not be on the cusp of technological innovation.

how about this one:
Yamaha RX-V867

I like their current line up, actually...
for slightly more than 1000, you could get an Aventage RX-A1000

Thanks for the hints.

I was looking at the Marantz and Onkyos, had not perused the Yamies.

In the mean time, I swapped out the Digital cables, 1meter XLO out and a .5 meter Cardas in, and I switched the input on the HK from COAX1 to COAX2.

Everything I threw at it played briefly so I may have bought myself a little time. It has not flaked out once switching thru all audio modes as it was doing or just in the middle of a sentence..

I have read that the Yamaha units are back on track and perhaps on top.

The RX V667 has been getting good reviews and is $599 as compared to the $899 of the 867. $300 can buy a very good power amp on the used market that will very likely better the sound for 2 channel listening. Yamaha is one of the few if only budget receiver makers to offer preouts for all 7 channels. That to me would be a big deal. http://usa.yamaha.com/products/audio...product_lineup

Here is a review from What Hi-fi http://www.whathifi.com/Review/Yamaha-RX-V667/

The 867 may have critical features you can't live without - but if the only real difference is a better power amp section then in my opinion it would be better to buy the cheaper receiver and buy an external power amp or two. Second hand Rotel, Arcam etc can be had for $200-$350.

I'm back in the hunt. 45 minutes into The Way Back, out went the sound with a pop.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hyfi

I'm back in the hunt. 45 minutes into The Way Back, out went the sound with a pop.

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INTEGRA, the slightly upscale Onkyo, is the brand to buy.
Made for HT installers, they are easily adaptable to pre-pro work,
with 12v triggers, pre outs, and a phono stage, so they are
a way to upgrade your system when you are ready.
AND they have the Onkyo amps that everybody raves about,
and quality build. AND A THREE year warranty.
I HAD a 7.4, now a 6,9. THEY recently upscaled their lineup,
but still a bargain, and they look smoother and better than Onkyo,
IMHO.:1:

Yamaha Aventage RXA-1000
http://www.onecall.com/product/Yamah...ver/_/R-105935

I recently replaced my Outlaw pre/pro with one of these and I'm very impressed with it.

I went through every Onkyo, Marantz, and Denon model and all of them were robbed of features that immediately crossed them off my list (none of them quality related, all of them are fine in that respect). The Yamaha was the only one that had all the features I needed.

Some of those features may be trivial to you, but they boggled my mind as to why these companies stripped these features from their new receivers. I'll run down the list, and you can see if these matter:

Onkyo: No longer has a 12v trigger to turn on an amp or screen.
Denon: No longer has multi-channel analog inputs for SACD.
Marantz: No longer has dual HDMI outputs for running dual displays. Top of line receiver which does have dual outputs (but is $1500) only has 5 HDMI inputs.

The Yamaha has all this stuff, and it's a great sounding receiver. Yamaha has really stepped it up.

If you are only using it for HT and not for 2ch music then I would go for a mid priced onkyo since features and formats change every few years. Below is a great review on the Tx-NR609.

http://www.trustedreviews.com/onkyo-...-System_review

It has a lot of features and is a lot of bang for the buck. If you are using it for 2ch music as well then I would go with an NAD, Marantz or Cambridge Audio unit or separates..

It can be had at a huge discount-

http://shopper.us.com/Onkyo-TX-NR609...eiver/?src=adw

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pixelthis

INTEGRA, the slightly upscale Onkyo, is the brand to buy.
Made for HT installers, they are easily adaptable to pre-pro work,
with 12v triggers, pre outs, and a phono stage, so they are
a way to upgrade your system when you are ready.
AND they have the Onkyo amps that everybody raves about,
and quality build. AND A THREE year warranty.
I HAD a 7.4, now a 6,9. THEY recently upscaled their lineup,
but still a bargain, and they look smoother and better than Onkyo,
IMHO.:1:

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That would be great but the 6.9 is $1300 and out of my budget. The other problem is that there is only one dealer in my area that carries Integra.

Looks like I can get the Integra local stores only

DTR20.3 $599
DTR30.3 $799
DTR40.3 $999

I'm looking at the 30.3

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hyfi

I'm back in the hunt. 45 minutes into The Way Back, out went the sound with a pop.

---

Ouch, sorry to hear that. The good news is that there are lots of new AVRs out there at affordable prices that will get the job done. It all boils down to your set up and feature requirements.

Also, if you're not put off by used equipment, consider that you can probably find excellent "legacy model" receivers at great prices. I recently sold my Pioneer Elite SC07 -- a receiver that had a msrp of $2000 and has all of the bells and whistles short of hdmi 1.4a and 3D processing -- for only $400. The guy that I sold it to coveted the SC07 and was happy to have it at a "steal" pricing. I was happy to unload it to a good home. With the $400 I'll start building up my library of blu ray movies. Win-win.

I have been haggling all day with two brick and morters, since you can't buy Integra on line.

I have gotten down to the Integra 30.3 for $699.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hyfi

I have been haggling all day with two brick and morters, since you can't buy Integra on line.

I have gotten down to the Integra 30.3 for $699.

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Not bad.
YES INTEGRA moved their stuff "upscale" a bit, and separated
it more from their regular line by leaving 12v triggers off of ONKYOS(MY 6.9 ON CLOSEOUT WAS 850).
Still going to be your best quality for the price, IMHO.
As for companies leaving features out of newer models
todays striping of features is nothing compared to the last
collapse that happened at the end of the eighties.
AND THERE is going to be even more striping down in the future,
especially after the earthquake.:1:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pixelthis

Not bad.
YES INTEGRA moved their stuff "upscale" a bit, and separated
it more from their regular line by leaving 12v triggers off of ONKYOS(MY 6.9 ON CLOSEOUT WAS 850).
Still going to be your best quality for the price, IMHO.
As for companies leaving features out of newer models
todays striping of features is nothing compared to the last
collapse that happened at the end of the eighties.
AND THERE is going to be even more striping down in the future,
especially after the earthquake.:1:

---

Thanks for the tip. Because only Onkyo came up on google searches, I lost track of the Integra that can only be purchased in a store.

I'm picking it up tomorrow.

I know there are a lot of opinions on here but I would at least try out the Yamaha Aventage line before making a choice. I seems many people have said that their new line is awesome and one I would consider myself if something happened to my theater side right now.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by harley .guy07

I know there are a lot of opinions on here but I would at least try out the Yamaha Aventage line before making a choice. I seems many people have said that their new line is awesome and one I would consider myself if something happened to my theater side right now.

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Both places I talked to sell both Integra and Yamaha. They both said that dollar for dollar, the Integra is the best bet. I also looked at what Yamie is in my price range and although it has the same 3 year warranty and good writeups, it does not have all the bonus features that may or may not come in handy later.

Before I drop the plastic this afternoon, I will look at the Yamahas and further pick the sales guys brain.

Thanks.

EDIT: I emailed the place I am going to this afternoon and posed the question to the manager I am dealing with as to which line he would choose if he were making the purchase.

His reply was this:
No question, the Integra. Built much better, all metal front, bigger power supply (will last longer), better amp section and easier to set up.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hyfi

Thanks for the tip. Because only Onkyo came up on google searches, I lost track of the Integra that can only be purchased in a store.

I'm picking it up tomorrow.

---

congrats.
Don't know if you're old enough to remember, but JAPANESE
products before the economic crash were a true delight, and actually
made in Japan.:1:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by pixelthis

congrats.
Don't know if you're old enough to remember, but JAPANESE
products before the economic crash were a true delight, and actually
made in Japan.:1:

---

I'm old enough to remember when Americans could actually afford to buy American made products...but Unions are another topic for the Steel Cage.

Picked it up yesterday afternoon and got a 1 year minimum payment no interest deal also.

I had been dealing with a manager by email to get the pricing but he was at their other store when I went. The guy that took care of all the paperwork was very surprised to see the price I was paying and said that they usually don't give that kind of deal on the Integra gear.

The unit is about 3/4 the size of the HK and weighs several lbs less. The HK is built like a tank...but failed after 3 years. Hookup was simple and the Auto calibration was much simppler than the HK. Even with my wife walking around the house talking on the phone, it did not error out and my preliminary quick settings are really good.

First thing I noticed is again like with the OPPO, the center channel and all dialog became much clearer and audible. The rest appeared to be perfect and way better than the HK ever did HT. Sound quality is also pretty nice for what it is and just out of the box.

The Tuner is pretty good, MP3s via USB stick seemed somehow much better also. I think there is some circuitry to help process music files. Shame it can't stream a movie from the USB.

Plenty of other features I have to play with. Internet Radio when I get a line hooked up might be cool once in a while. I don't use any 12v trigger gear but it has two.

Overall I am happy with the purchase and recommend this line to anyone looking.

Congrats! I love new toys. I love it better when I get them but I like it when y'all have fun too. Nice pruchase.

Sounds like a win win for you :) you are one of the few that I have read what I said when I purchased my Pioneer Elite VSX 81TX concerning the improvement of compressed audio files sound quality. I had a big argument on the Squeezebox forums with some of the self proclaim compress/lossless file experts. Saying that it was impossible to improve the quality of what is not there. Pioneer calls it sound retriever mode and that technology has made it into their auto headunits also as my wifes HU has that mode too. I don't know how it works, but like you I can hear the difference when listening to my MP3's via my squeezebox from the server. I have done some self testing with different bit rates (BR) of MP3's, and the biggest noticeable improvement is around the 128 BR level. As you rip or d/l higher BR files you don't hear the improvements as much. I try to stay at 192 BR, so that I can use any of the files in my home and my vehicles for most HU can only handle a max BR of 192 as with many portable devices also.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hyfi

I'm old enough to remember when Americans could actually afford to buy American made products...but Unions are another topic for the Steel Cage.

Picked it up yesterday afternoon and got a 1 year minimum payment no interest deal also.

I had been dealing with a manager by email to get the pricing but he was at their other store when I went. The guy that took care of all the paperwork was very surprised to see the price I was paying and said that they usually don't give that kind of deal on the Integra gear.

The unit is about 3/4 the size of the HK and weighs several lbs less. The HK is built like a tank...but failed after 3 years. Hookup was simple and the Auto calibration was much simppler than the HK. Even with my wife walking around the house talking on the phone, it did not error out and my preliminary quick settings are really good.

First thing I noticed is again like with the OPPO, the center channel and all dialog became much clearer and audible. The rest appeared to be perfect and way better than the HK ever did HT. Sound quality is also pretty nice for what it is and just out of the box.

The Tuner is pretty good, MP3s via USB stick seemed somehow much better also. I think there is some circuitry to help process music files. Shame it can't stream a movie from the USB.

Plenty of other features I have to play with. Internet Radio when I get a line hooked up might be cool once in a while. I don't use any 12v trigger gear but it has two.

Overall I am happy with the purchase and recommend this line to anyone looking.

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WHAT did I TELL YA? Anyway, congrats.
ALL NEW GEAR TENDS to be smaller and weigh less, and
is usually cheaper for what you get. PROGRESS.
And of course, as you might be finding out, the best "feature" is
the sound, CADDY ride at CHEVY prices.
The pro logic music is good for multichannel music, btw.
And the pro logic movie makes a stereo soundtrack sound like
DD, CAN'T live without that one.
AGAIN, enjoy.:1:

Am I missing it, or do the Integras NOT have multi-channel analog inputs (for SACD)? :(