Thread: In the market for a new Receiver

Originally Posted by empire

Whats bad about them????

no highs, no lows, must be bose


they're overpriced and underperform. There are so many better speaker brands. I'd suggest Paradigm (my personal favorite)

I love my b&ws

Bang & Olufsens....do it. lol

Originally Posted by lath19

I'm in the market for a new home theater system and figured I'd piggy back on this thread. I just bought a new home and the living room is approximately 15' x 19'. I already have an Onkyo 7.1 HTIB that I purchased about 5 years ago which I've been very happy with. My 7.1 system is going to go in the master bedroom (a giant 16' x 25') and I want a 5.1 system for the living room. I'm not an audiophile by any means so I'm not looking for high end stuff. I'd like the speakers to be smaller than what came with my 7.1 system (center/front are 17" wide/tall, surrounds are 11" tall).

Seeing as I liked my 7.1 system so much my first thought was to go with an Onkyo 5.1 HTIB. I came across the S3300 which can be had for less than $300 on Amazon. I'm not thrilled with a passive sub but the reviews are encouraging.
Onkyo HT-S3300 - 5.1-Channel Home Theater Package | Model Information | Onkyo USA Home Theater Products

I fully expect to get flamed for looking at an HTIB which is why I'm looking for your input. HDMI on the reciever isn't that important to me as I prefer to run HDMI to directly to the TV for video. I like having the ability to separate the video and audio at times (e.g. watching a game while listening to music from my modded xbox). I'm really just looking for a clean, compact system that doesn't break the bank.

I'm willing to spend a bit more than $300 if necessary to put together a system. I really can't spend much more than that as I just purchased my first home and need to redo the kitchen along with refinishing the hardwood floors.

So, any recommendations?

So I got this system last March and it put out even better sound than I expected. With the raised foundation and hardwood floors the passive sub really puts out a nice bass. More than loud enough for my living room.

I decided that I wanted exterior speakers and bought a solid pair of Yamaha's on Amazon. Hooked everything up on Sunday and the outdoor speakers sound great. Unfortunately I should have read my AVR manual first. Apparently when using Speaker/Zone B it downgrades the interior speakers to 2.1. I guess with it being a 5.1 system I just assumed the two rear outputs would be diverted for Speaker B and my interior system would be 3.1 (similar to how a 7.1 system will switch to a 5.1 setup). I really do not dig the 2.1 sound inside.

So, what are my options? The AVR doesn't have a preamp output so I don't think a second amp dedicated for the outdoor speakers will work. Am I SOL? At this point I don't think it would be worth buying a new AVR just to have an interior 5.1/exterior 2.0 setup so I'm hoping there is another option. I have an old 7.1 AVR that I'm using upstairs but can't switch the two as it doesn't have the HDMI inputs that the 5.1 AVR does.

Originally Posted by nayagamj

no highs, no lows, must be bose


they're overpriced and underperform. There are so many better speaker brands. I'd suggest Paradigm (my personal favorite)

Bose is excellent....at marketing, and that is all they're good at.

Thought my 30 year old receiver finally died and started looking around on a budget and found this deal.
Pioneer VSX-521K 5.1-Channel A/V Receiver - Black | P. C. Richard & Son
I figured out the problem on mine, and fixed a work around so for now I'm staying put but I thought I'd pass this along.

Why choose a 7.1 over a 5.1 system?

if you ultimately want 7 speakers? center, two front, two side, two rear + sub

Most content is 5.1 correct?
Can an average listener even tell the difference?