Expensive, but where is the difference?

[solidcrowd 10+ year member]

1.) Maybe it's because I have no money but I noticed recievers are soo expensive. I know this has a lot to do with brand, but is there a great difference between a $200 one compared to one that's like $600? Or At what different price ranges can you tell the difference in?

2.) I know a guy whose selling this receiver Yamaha HTR-5960

http://www.yamaha.com/yec/products/productdetail.html?CNTID=200502&CTID=5000400&ATRID=1020&DETYP=ATTRIBUTE

-Complete in original box with manual, packaging, cables (microphone), remote, and a 4 year Best Buy Service plan that expires in January of 2011

250$

Would this be a good price, I can probably get him down, what would you pay for this? (if you would)

3) I also found this on the forum too from another guy, Carver m200t home amplifier: rated at 200 x 2 for $200. Good deal. I can prolly get him a little lower.

4) If I bought that Carver, whould that be good for 2.1 or 7.1? I still am torn between having a 7.1 and 2.1. I always change my mind, Please help me out, few home audio guys that are out there. lol

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[mlstrass 5,000+ posts]

Do you want to listen to music or do HT? That will decide which receiver to get. A 2 channel amp won't work for 5.1/7.1 obviously.

Yamaha makes decent stuff, so does Pioneer, Denon, Sony, Onkyo, etc... Lots of choices so shop around for the features you want at a price you can afford.

 

[solidcrowd 10+ year member]

http://buffalo.craigslist.org/ele/529065191.html

I would like to know if these are good also. Thanks. And if not would it be worth if to put 2 edhqs12's in there if those in already are crap?

 

[solidcrowd 10+ year member]

Yea i'm going to go with 2.1 now that I think about it. Movies can probably sound fine on a good setup.

 

[Se7en 10+ year member]

I'll aplogize in advance for the rant.

In my opinion (being much more audio centric) you don't get a whole lot more with these higher priced recievers, in fact in many cases I feel you get less.

If you're looking for a great audio processor on the cheap and do not care about the latest DTS/Dolby support but want multichannel, with XO and TA, I'd look into the older Lexicon MC1 and DC1 units. These were awesome! The MC1 takes digital in and would be my preference of the two. Keep in mind that you'll need to run external amplification, but that carver could be a great choice.

For video, if you want an upscaler but don't need to do it through the Reciever, you might check out the Oppo DVD players. They have the Faroudja upscaling chip found in a number of th mega$$ Recievers and they can be bought new for around $200.

As for processing, if it were me, I'd evaluate the best that the market has to offer (even though the prices are kind of out there) and see what features they're promoting and see what features mean the most to you. This at least gives you a basis for feature elimination and might let you steer through some of the marketing BS so common these days.

-For HT audio digital processing and multi channel room correction and amplification, I'd look at the Tact Audio TCS system.

-For video processing and upscaling I'd look at the Anthem Statement D2

-For all around best in class I'd look at Theta.

Generally speaking with these mass market HT Procs you only get updated video and sound processing features designed to accomodate what the movie studios are selling that particular month, a mid grade class D on board amp, and maybe a half ***'d room tuning algorithm and a $10 mic.

For example, if you're only running one HD device to your HD tv, and you have the option of just running directly to your TV and not using the reciever to process the video, great!. If you have 5 video HD sources you'll pay an arm and a leg to be able to route and switch them all through your reciever and then to your TV. Obviously what you lose is the convenience of have complete source switching with one remote (and any potential upscaling features of the recever), then again you can buy a universal remote.

For me, and this is just me speaking, the most important thing to me in a reciever or pre-amp is signal path (less is more). Most of these big combo recievers just make a mess of the signal.

Also, digital to analog conversion (a good DAC doesn't cost much but these big companies usually skimp here and/or charge an arm or a leg). A good example of is the AKM DAC found in the Berhinger DCX 24/96. This unit has 6 onboard dacs, takes a digital in, sounds great and only cost $250-300 retail. Problem is that being pro gear, has no volume control and is not designed for any 5.1 decoding. I'm only using this as an example though.

Anyway best of luck, sorry for rant.

 

[Flipx99 5,000+ posts]

How much are those things?

I am pretty ignorant, but the Onkyo Sr605 does everything I need for $400.

What am I missing that those things will provide for let's say $800?

 

[shortyg83 10+ year member]

How much are those things?
I am pretty ignorant, but the Onkyo Sr605 does everything I need for $400.

What am I missing that those things will provide for let's say $800?

I am pretty sure I have that same onkyo reciever. I love it.

Harmon Kardon makes great recievers too.

 

[Qbenjamin 10+ year member]

How much are those things?
I am pretty ignorant, but the Onkyo Sr605 does everything I need for $400.

What am I missing that those things will provide for let's say $800?

not much in the higher lines except a few more watts per channel and thx 2....blah blah.

I personally would not buy a receiver now if it didn't have any hdmi slots. the whole purpose of the receiver is to basically combine all of your audio/video sources into one central unit. A receiver with no upconversion or hdmi slots is pretty much worthless to most people buying hdtv's..

 

[Se7en 10+ year member]

How much are those things?
I am pretty ignorant, but the Onkyo Sr605 does everything I need for $400.

What am I missing that those things will provide for let's say $800?

I guess that it comes down to what you need. Chances are the gap between 400 and 800 doesn't get you very much, maybe an additional set of video inputs or input types, additional pre-outs, a few addition processing features, maybe the latest THX mode, etc.

I guess my point was that what gaps the difference between $400 reciever and a$5000 is the most important. I,e. DACS, signal purity, high end upscaling, and the majority of those features can be purchased ala cart. The Oppo DVD with Faroudja upscaling and 5.1 decoding $200, a Behrenger DCX 24/96 XO with decent dacs T/A Phase control and room correction $200 (used), multiple (5 input) HDMI/DVI switcher $250 (used), used 2 channel amps and a powered sub (pay as you go), etc. I would argue that let's say for under or around a grand if you assemble at the component level, you can build a system that rivals a $5K rig (with a 500% mark up).

Just my .02

-7

 

[lilmaniac2 5,000+ posts]

Harmon Kardon unit is serving me well

 

[Flipx99 5,000+ posts]

I guess that it comes down to what you need. Chances are the gap between 400 and 800 doesn't get you very much, maybe an additional set of video inputs or input types, additional pre-outs, a few addition processing features, maybe the latest THX mode, etc.
I guess my point was that what gaps the difference between $400 reciever and a$5000 is the most important. I,e. DACS, signal purity, high end upscaling, and the majority of those features can be purchased ala cart. The Oppo DVD with Faroudja upscaling and 5.1 decoding $200, a Behrenger DCX 24/96 XO with decent dacs T/A Phase control and room correction $200 (used), multiple (5 input) HDMI/DVI switcher $250 (used), used 2 channel amps and a powered sub (pay as you go), etc. I would argue that let's say for under or around a grand if you assemble at the component level, you can build a system that rivals a $5K rig (with a 500% mark up).

Just my .02

-7

I see. I know it may sound off, but from what I have seen on this forum, more people will spend $1,000 on an SPL amp before a home audio rig. When I think about it, I spent more on my amps for my truck than I did on my TV....

 

[Se7en 10+ year member]

I see. I know it may sound off, but from what I have seen on this forum, more people will spend $1,000 on an SPL amp before a home audio rig. When I think about it, I spent more on my amps for my truck than I did on my TV....

I don't question that at all. This is a car audio forum not home audio. When I first got into car audio, I didn't have a place to put a home rig so all of my extra $$ went into the car. I ended up getting into home audio because even though home gear generally costs more money on a per piece basis, I always ended spending more money in the long run on car audio. I'd say that today I have only invested about 1/2 as much into my home system as I did into my last car (especially if you factor in installation).

At the end of the day, I'm just an audiophile-hobbiest and a music lover. Whichever avenue (home/car) keeps me learning about sound and ultimately brings me closer to musical bliss (if such a thing exist) I will follow it.

-7

 

[IamDeMan 5,000+ posts]

If you're looking at Yamaha at least go into the 6xxx series. They have HDMI inputs. Unless you never plan to use it. I have a 6090 and love it.

 

[BrianChia 10+ year member]

Go 2.1 and don't look back //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif!

 

[solidcrowd 10+ year member]

haha alright brian that's what I'll do.

So what receiver has great sound and build quality, can hook up an xbox360 and have hdmi imputs, and has a decent amount of power. What's the cheapest one in price wise that has all of this? Max is $250 but that is the very max. Used or new doesn't matter.

If I get that carver amp. Can I run 2 edhqs 12's along with 4 mid's and 2 tweets.

Hook me up with a plan for this. I have a sonotube for the 12's so I'm already set on that. Give me ideas on the mid's and tweets. Or would I need more tweets or more mids?