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Good choice for basic home-theater receiver?

Last post 06-30-2008, 8:43 PM by douglasvb. 11 replies.
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  •  02-19-2008, 11:59 AM 244690

    Good choice for basic home-theater receiver?

    I've got an HP media center, a 46-inch LCD, an Xbox 360, and a Blu-ray player. The TV's speakers suck, so I'm looking for a better audio solution.

    Any recommendations? I'm assuming I need a receiver that can handle connections from some/all of my gear. What should I look for? How much should I expect to spend? Really hoping to find something around $100.

    TIA!
    Magic Rick
  •  02-19-2008, 12:13 PM 244694 in reply to 244690

    Re: Good choice for basic home-theater receiver?

    do you have speakers already?

    if you shop around, you should be able to find a low end pioneer receiver for around 200ish bucks that has 2 or 3 spdif inputs
  •  02-19-2008, 3:03 PM 244759 in reply to 244694

    Re: Good choice for basic home-theater receiver?

    I love my logitech z5500's though not 100 of your dollars I'd imagine.

    http://www.spore.com/view/profile/Vengence_IRL
  •  02-20-2008, 8:43 AM 244958 in reply to 244759

    Re: Good choice for basic home-theater receiver?

    2 of my friends have the z5500's and they are indeed very nice
  •  02-20-2008, 8:57 AM 244964 in reply to 244690

    Re: Good choice for basic home-theater receiver?

    I'm in the same boat. I've been looking at the Sony STR-DG810 and the Onkyo TX-SR605. They both have 1080p hdmi switching and video up-conversion. Still looking and comparing though.
  •  02-20-2008, 9:00 AM 244966 in reply to 244958

    Re: Good choice for basic home-theater receiver?

    Tikker:
    2 of my friends have the z5500's and they are indeed very nice


    Thanks, but, um, those are speakers -- I'm looking for a receiver. :)
  •  02-20-2008, 9:17 AM 244972 in reply to 244690

    Re: Good choice for basic home-theater receiver?

    magicrick:
    How much should I expect to spend? Really hoping to find something around $100.

    I don't mean to burst your bubble, but realistically you probably won't get a very good system for this little $. Sad [:(]  Esp. if you are looking for surround sound.

    If you want the best sound, you should have a seperate A/V receiver and speakers, not just self powered computer speakers (there's nothing wrong with speakers like this, but they are really meant for a smaller room/much closer listening environment - they are designed to be listened to at a desk, not from accross the room).

    What you really want is an A/V receiver, speakers (usually 5), and a sub woofer.  A deceient receiver will cost at least $100, so will a decent sub.  So if you really want a good solution for what you are doing I would suggest keeping the TV speakers, saving up a bit more, then buying a better system.

    If you just can't wait, and must get something better (but may not be ideal) right now, take a look at the Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 system - they are very good sounding speakers.  Here's a link to them on Amazon, currently $106 - http://www.amazon.com/Klipsch-ProMedia-Certified-Computer-Speaker/dp/B000062VUO/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1203527547&sr=8-1.

    Only other thing to be aware of with these is you would need to have everything hooked up to your TV, and then you would need to go from your TV to the speakers.  Hopefully your TV has variable audio out - as this will let you use the TV remote to control the volume on self powered speakers like these.

     


    Just my $0.02.
  •  02-20-2008, 10:12 AM 244995 in reply to 244972

    Re: Good choice for basic home-theater receiver?

    Yes & no, they're thx certified powered 5.1 speakers with optical & coaxial digital inputs and an assortment of analog inputs. They certainly pack a punch & are a nice basic setup for a new home theatre.
    http://www.spore.com/view/profile/Vengence_IRL
  •  02-20-2008, 2:13 PM 245051 in reply to 244966

    Re: Good choice for basic home-theater receiver?

    magicrick:
    Tikker:
    2 of my friends have the z5500's and they are indeed very nice


    Thanks, but, um, those are speakers -- I'm looking for a receiver. :)


    no, it's an all in one

    it has a bunch of inputs, and does the decoding

    it's a different looking receiver attached to speakers

    but for $100 I'm not sure you'll find something that's not from a garage sale
  •  06-30-2008, 4:00 AM 270898 in reply to 245051

    Re: Good choice for basic home-theater receiver?

    The definition of a receiver is an amplifier with built in radio tuner, now I didnt think the logitechs had a tuner to be classified as a receiver.
    Beer <b>HTPC - LC17+Nexusx3/e6300/XP120+Scythe/Asus P5B/Asus 9600GT/Corsair 2G DDR2/NeoHE 550/WD5000KS/Asus DVDRW/DigitalNow dual hybridS2/MX5000 KB&M/Vista Ultimate/Sony KDL40X3100
  •  06-30-2008, 7:47 PM 271044 in reply to 270898

    Re: Good choice for basic home-theater receiver?

    I also have the z5500 Logitech RECEIVER/speaker set. I love it!
  •  06-30-2008, 8:43 PM 271054 in reply to 244690

    Re: Good choice for basic home-theater receiver?

    Don't be fooled by "up-conversion" The least expensive reciever that I have had any luck taking all composite, svideo, component, and hdmi inputs, and output on a single hdmi cable out to the TV, is the Denon AVR-2808ci. This thing is awesome! It does DTS-HD, and Dolby True HD too! It's $1,200 :( It does a nice job managing all a/v in's and out's though. HDMI 1.3a/b certified. You may run short on HDMI inputs, it only has 2. I use my media center on 1, and xbox on the other. my 1080p mitsubishi HC-4900 projector only has one HDMI input, so the high end reciever was a must.


    Doug Vanden Berg www.vandenbergstereo.com
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