Best AV receiver in 350-450$ range?

Question

I am planning to buy a AV receiver. Could you suggest the best one in the price range. Also it would be of great help if you could highlight
a. the key specifications to look for in a receiver
b. Is the Auto-setup feature ( Ex: YPAO in yamaha) really use full and effective in these systems
c. How much sense does it make to go for a 7.1 system instead of 5.1
d. Some input on HD i/p or output will be of great help since i have no idea on this.

Answer 1

Look to Onkyo and Yamaha
for the highest performance
in home theater for this price.

I prefer the conveniece of a 5.1 home theater over a 6.1 or a 7.1
because unless you have a large room it's not really worth the
slightly added surround for the added speakers and wiring
needed. Focus on quality over quantity -and voila!

H a p p y
H o m e
T h e a t e r i n g !

Answer 2

first of all there are too many to choose from. i recently bought mine (denon 2106) for under 400 refurbished with an extended warranty. it retails for about 800 new. www.secondact.biz has a lot of good deals on refurbished items, they are better than factory fresh because they have been meticulously looked over to make sure they are 100%. denon has a nice auto setup feature which uses a mic that you plug in and place where you sit (hold at ear level) and it will play test tones and calibrate you entire setup for you. most receivers like mine are capable of 7.1 and you shouldnt pay much more for that right now. there is no real 7.1 format as of now i believe it only goes up to 6.1. 5.1 is prefectly fine for now but experiment and see what looks best. if youare in that budget id recommend getting better speakers and only 5 of them rather than splitting the price among 7. the hd i/p (interlaced/progressive) has to do with your tv and the way it refreshes the image on your screen. you a/v receiver shouldnt do anything with the video signal, its just a mediator. some receivers have hdmi cables which are nice but not necessary component video cables should be just fine. (Red Green Blue connectors NOT red white yellow)

Answer 3

When selecting speakers, you should demo them with your own source of music and only listen to one song on each speaker you are interested in. Pioneer and Onkyo does make good speakers, while Yamaha is not as good. Denon are not know for making speakers. Those complete package from the same company are usually not a good system. Though Pioneer and Onkyo are the exception. I recommend you go online to Home Theater Magazine and read the reviews on all products for the home theater. Hope this will help you out.

Answer 4

Lots to choose from really. Go with the 7.1 and if you are building a home theater system make sure it has at least two HDMI inputs. Here's some links for research and good luck!

Answer 5

There is a web site www.alwaysbelowretail.com that has alot of A.V receivers plus 50,000 other quality brand name products of every kind at approx 50% below retail prices.The best feature though is that they offer a full description of all the capabilities of every one. Great for finding out what they offer and compare it to what you need.

Answer 6

Home entertainment gets a powerful boost with this Pioneer® 7.1 channel A/V receiver. High-quality audio and video comes with ultra-convenient connectivity. The receiver’s six digital inputs includes two HDMI inputs (and one HDMI output) with 1080p compatibility for the very best in high-definition video. The all-digital HDMI interface eliminates the hassle and mess of wires, with one-cable connections and super-fast transfers of uncompressed — and uncompromised — high-res video content from source to screen. With three HD capable component video inputs, you can connect a progressive scan DVD-player/recorder, an HD gaming console, and an HD cable or satellite set-top box to your receiver and access them with the touch of a button. Add in the ability to receive content in XM-HD Surround powered by Neural Audio*, connect to an iPod® player via an optional IDK-01 dock (sold separately), and decode WMA-9 Pro files, and you can also enjoy multi-channel digital satellite radio, iPod player content and PC audio files played through your home theater system. In glorious surround sound. Pioneer's patent pending Sound Retriever technology even enhances compressed audio formats to give them more dynamic range and acoustic impact.

Sonic boom

Don't just experience your home entertainment. Immerse yourself in it, with 110 watts across up to seven speakers, THX Select2™-certified surround sound, and eight advanced concert and cinema surround modes including Dolby® Digital EX, DTS® ES, and DTS 96/24. All optimized by Pioneer's Digital Core Engine powered by dual 48-bit Freescale® DSP processing LSIs. Go ahead, and turn it up. Pioneer's ultra-efficient Advanced Direct Energy Amplifier design results in extremely low energy loss, so you can play it loud and still enjoy superior sound quality..

Fine-tune your audio performance.

Recreate the studio engineer's original intent, in your home. In any room. Instantly — thanks to the first automatic Multi-Channel AcoustiC Calibration System (MCACC). Using the supplied microphone. MCACC makes your initial set-up easy and accurate by automatically measuring your room's acoustic environment, then fine tuning the sonic performance of your system. The result is truly accurate multi-channel audio reproduction.It is a good invesment at unbelievable price

Answer 7

Hi,
I shop a lot and I always use cheapest prices search engine for all they offer. Almost every regular store and online merchants is listed there, lots of consumer reviews and a lot of other ways to save time and money.
I hope I helped you and good luck to you.

p.s. check out the consumer written reviews, they should really help you!

Answer 8

A marantz 4500 is what i have. i paid $400 for it. it works awsome, its a 7.1. try to get your hands on anything from Marantz or Pioneer Elite.