Whats a good and reliable 5.1 home theater reciever?

gargus

gargus

Banned
I need a reciver for a 5.1 sound system for the tv in the living room. The last 2 I have bought both took a shit about a year after owning them and Im not buying that brand anymore. Sadly though I dont know a great deal about home theater stuff.

I dont need alot of fancy stuff or can afford the real high stuff. I just want something that works well and will last me awhile.

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Side question.

Do I need a dvd player that has output for 5.1? The older dvd Im getting rid of had 5.1 outputs on it but I dont see that anymore really on new dvds players.

I just dont know jack about home theater setup really.
 
i've had my $300 yamaha receiver for over 6 yrs. not a single problem. my mom's onkyo died after about 3 yrs.

the newer dvd players and receiver should have hdmi outputs and inputs, respectively. the hdmi connection will carry the audio and video. if you're getting an older dvd player, it should have either an optical out or a coaxial out which your receiver should have inputs for. the video would be carried by component cables likely.
 
I second the Yamaha love. I bought the receiver and speakers from Best Buy about three years ago for around $500 and it's worked great. This appears to be the updated version of what I have:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Yamaha+...stem/9875451.p?id=1218187080690&skuId=9875451

The sub that it comes with is decent. I upgraded my fronts though to some nice KLH floor speakers since I personally felt like the originals didn't push enough sound.

You just need to make sure you have two cables for most things though, since you'll be connecting the audio and video to the receiver, then connecting the receiver to the television. The easiest method I've found though is to just use a separate optical cable to connect the audio, then just go straight from the device to the television for the picture.
 
Onkyo TX-SR607 is a very good low middle-end receiver, and as it's technically a "last year" model with the 608 coming out (adding HMDI 1.4 and 3D support), it's a great all-around receiver. Lots of HDMI ports, Dolby IIz support, does HDMI audio decoding.

You didn't mention pricing, so I'm tossing out the mid-range receiver I recommend when people ask about it.

I have an Onkyo TX-SR876, which is a much higher-end receiver with higher power, though I've been very happy with the sound and power from it. The 607 is that scaled down to a more mid-range point.
 
[quote name='SEH']Yeah, it should have multiple HDMI in's and a single HDMI out that goes to the TV.[/QUOTE]

Yeah if you look at the picture amazon has and zoom in it has like 5 labeled as hdmi and 1 labeled in white that says hdmi out.

If it really is that simple that would be great as I would only need 3 wires.

Were only going to have a dvd player and a cable box hooked up on here along with the hdtv itself.
 
Was also considering this dvd player since it seemed like a good price. I just have no experince with pioneer as a dvd player.

http://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-Dv-42...?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1273254698&sr=8-16


I liked that it was region free.

I liked that it had a usb port and played divx files which I assumed if I downloaded a .avi file on my pc, put it on a flash drive then I could just watch the video right off the flash drive on my tv like I can do with my ps3. Which would be nice for some movies I have on my pc downloaded that I cant find to buy anywhere.

I liked that it did upconverting on dvds since I only own like 3 blu rays and really dont have any intention to be going to them anywhere in the near future.

And the price seemed really nice for those features in dvd player.
 
[quote name='shrike4242']Onkyo TX-SR607 is a very good low middle-end receiver, and as it's technically a "last year" model with the 608 coming out (adding HMDI 1.4 and 3D support), it's a great all-around receiver. Lots of HDMI ports, Dolby IIz support, does HDMI audio decoding.

You didn't mention pricing, so I'm tossing out the mid-range receiver I recommend when people ask about it.

I have an Onkyo TX-SR876, which is a much higher-end receiver with higher power, though I've been very happy with the sound and power from it. The 607 is that scaled down to a more mid-range point.[/QUOTE]

I second the Onkyo TX-SR607. I got it at Christmas and have been loving it. The on-screen menu could be better, but there are plenty of inputs and the sound is crisp and full, especially using my Klipsch speakers. Just make sure you have plenty of air circulation above the receiver as it tends to get pretty warm.
 
I have a refurb Onkyo I bought 3 or so years ago that is still going strong. I bought it for $130 and it came with the 5.1 speakers, receiver, wires, and a 1 year warranty. I couldn't be happier.

Keep an eye out on their outlet page as they have some good deals now and then.

edit: they have the HTS-3200 for $199. Not sure how good a deal it is, but it seems like a good system with 4.5 stars on Amazon.

http://www.shoponkyo.com/detail.cfm?productid=HT-S3200&modelid=62&group_id=1&detail=2
 
id like to know which brand you had two failures with.
i have current personal experience with yamaha and pioneer, and older onkyo equipment.
theyre all good. i have a soft spot for yamaha but my main system is run through a pioneer avr.
id also consider buying denon, marantz, HK, or even sony. if i was looking for lower priced equipment id probably look towards onkyo, as i think at the bottom end they offer a lot for the $.
 
Onkyo TX-SR304 here. Bought it a year or two ago when my Sony one finally gave in and wouldn't do surround sound anymore (probably a single relay went bad). Wasn't very expensive either.
 
[quote name='paz9x']thats a 7.1 speaker system not a htib.[/QUOTE]
What I meant was an already "put-together system". Not specifically choosing your own receiver, speakers, and subwoofer like I did.
 
[quote name='mtxbass1']I have a Denon 3808-CI. Probably a bit out of your price range, but a great receiver.[/QUOTE]

i think most of these companies make very good avr's they all have models that fit most needs, just a matter of your price point, the features you need, and personal preference. I really dont think you can go wrong more or less with any of the big name avr's
 
A question, if I use a reciever that has hdmi inputs for your devices and then one output for the tv will it degrade the picture quality for them?
 
[quote name='Danil ACE']Onkyo makes the good stuff. I have a TX-SR807 and it's great.[/QUOTE]

Yeah they do, I have the TX-SR705. Got it a while back and am still loving it.

If you don't mind buying used, you should really check craigslist. I got my receiver for $300 and all speakers + sub for $70.
 
[quote name='gargus']A question, if I use a reciever that has hdmi inputs for your devices and then one output for the tv will it degrade the picture quality for them?[/QUOTE]

No it doesn't lower the quality if the output is still HDMI.

If the receiver has the HDMI V1.3 compatibility it should actually upconvert the video quality of whatever is connected through HDMI. Check the "tech details" for the receiver you want to buy, it should tell you if it has V1.3 or not. Hope that helps, and good luck.
 
Semi-related question, what are the best movies that showcase surround sound? I finally got around to Transformers 2 this weekend and that gave my system a good workout.
 
From my research it seems most receivers in the $200-$500 range perform about the same and it's really just a matter of what features you are looking for. Onkyo seems to be about the best bang for your buck.

Now is a good time to look too since you might be able to get a deal on older models. Onkyo is releasing some of their newer models this May, and Denon is releasing some of theirs in June. Personally I have a Denon AVR-1910, but I was originally looking at an Onkyo TX-SR507 but choose the Denon over the Onkyo mainly because of MultiEQ vs 2EQ. Just be sure to map out what inputs you have (HDMI/Component/Composite) and choose a receiver that has plenty of inputs for your needs.
 
Bump.  I know this topic is old but I wanted advice on buying a home theater receiver.  I'm looking at a 7.2 with Atmos support along with deep color and the rest.

What I'm concerned with would be the customer service record of each.  Reading about Pioneer and Onkyo when people seemed to have problems with them the customer service was a nightmare so I'm leaning towards Denon; however, if anyone has another company to recommend that has a stellar service record I would bite on that as well as long as it supports 24/192.

24/192 is a must for me as I want to listen to music at studio quality

 
Denon all the way. Buy one and never look back.

Even their budget units are fantastic quality. I was in a pinch at the time of purchase and had a 700 dollar budget for receiver, speakers, and cables 2 years ago. I wound up buying their AVX-X1000 receiver and some Energy Take Classic 5.1's on sale and it was definitely the right choice.

Had features my dad's 450 dollar Sony receiver didn't have.

Customer service is really good but I don't have first hand experience as I haven't had any issues and neither have anyone of my friend's who have a Denon yet.

Just my 2 cents.

 
When something goes wrong, the majority of home theater receiver companies will have the customer ship the receiver to an authorized service center that is often not run by the company itself. Because of how large and heavy, a receiver typically is shipping one way will cost a whopping $30.

I made the mistake of buying a refurbished Onkyo TX-NR-535 from Fry's and am fighting to have them pay return shipping because the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth were not working at all.
After that ordeal went to Best Buy and bought an identical one for a few dollars more and the 2 year Geek Squad for what it would cost to ship one way so I could take it to the store for service. If bought elsewhere, Squaretrade is another good option if bought elsewhere, just be sure it is 'New' because getting coverage for 'Refurbished' is more difficult.

For me, I wanted a receiver with network capabilities so I could stream audio from online sources and control the audio from my phone while having speakers in different rooms.
 
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