What kind of receiver should I get?

Question

I want to get an A/V receiver. Does anyone have any recommendations or advice for me? I don't want to spend a fortune, but I do want a decent receiver for the money. I am looking at an Onkyo TX-SR505 or a Denon AVR687. Both seem very similar. Any suggestions? Thanks.

Also, what would be good speakers to pair with your suggested receiver?

Answer 1

The receivers nowdays use so much common circuitry, the differences are minimal, and mostly in the software, which in a receiver is the menu system. Here I feel Denon has the edge over Onkyo.

For pure audio capability Yamaha has a slight edge according to most of the reviews, and they have receivers in that price range.

I think you nailed it with the follow on question: Speakers? The amplifiers (receivers) today are all so good, and produce distortion free sound up to all but the most demanding levels, while speakers color the sound and introduce lots of distortion. As a rule you should put 4x the money into your speakers that you put into the amp.

So budget $1000 for your Front L and R speaker if you're putting $250 into an amp. If this blows the budget, rather get the Insignia receiver at best buy ($129), or the Panasonic SA-XR55 ($169 at Amazon, I have one of these) and push for the best deal on speakers you can afford. You will be MUCH happier with the overall sound. I can recommend Axiom Audio.

http://www.axiomaudio.com/bookshelfspeakers.html

The M3's have no right to produce the sound they do at $330 a pair. I personally selected a pair of KEF XQ1's in the end but they were 3 times the price, and I think if I went back to do over I would select the Axioms and put the money in the bank.

Answer 2

Get the Denon AVR687 if music is your #1 concern.
Gte the Onkyo TX-SR505 for video.

Denon is about 50$ more, but Denon make some high quality sound equipment and hope that some of the high end components trickle down this this one.
You get more wattage and possibly better sound.

Onkyo have the 1080p pass through which is great. But beware of this since there are a lot of HDMI hand shake issues out there.



GL.

Answer 3

Hi. Receivers are all pretty similar. They have to be in their respective price ranges.Receivers suffer in sound quality due to the use of a single power supply for all three sections (PRE-AMP/PROCESSOR, TUNER,POWER AMPLIFIERS)The needs of the Power Amplifiers degrade the Pre-Amp ,which is the heart of the system.It is no use spending a lot of money on speakers if the information from the Receiver is distorted,changed,altered when it travels to the speakers. The speakers cannot improve what they receive .

You really have to listen to them before you buy.It is the only way. If you go by someones recommendation you may be disappointed,even though they mean well.