A/V Receiver Advice

[nate]

My last two A/V receivers have been Harman Kardon and I have liked them but the reviews on the newest batch indicates that they leave a lot to be desired.  I always enjoyed the minimal design and my last one (HK AVR 254) lasted 7 years.

 

I was looking at the HK AVR 1610S it seems to have everything I need.  My speakers are a really nice set of Infinity satellites and subwoofer.  I only have 5.1 and have no reason to get 7.1.  http://www.amazon.com/Harman-Kardon-AVR1610S-Receiver-Bluetooth/dp/B016A6IDY2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1451240202&sr=8-1&keywords=1610S

 

The reviews I read said to go Yamaha but they look so cheap that I don't really care to get them.

 

The other option would be Pioneer Elite.  They make the VSX-45 which is $450 and 5.1 or the VSX-90 which is 700.  The only difference that I can tell is the 90 is 7.1 and can do Dolby Atmos.  Where the 45 can only do 5.1 and no Atmos.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-VSX-90-Channel-Receiver-Black/dp/B00V84S2AW/ref=sr_1_1?s=tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1451239763&sr=1-1&keywords=vsx-90

http://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-VSX-45-5-2-Channel-Receiver-Bluetooth/dp/B00V84S2F2/ref=sr_1_1?s=tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1451240408&sr=1-1&keywords=vsx-45

 

Quality if sound is obviously the most important part for an av receiver and the ones I lised have good marks on that.  Higher wattage doesn't really matter much to me because my living room is only like 10'x15' so I won't be blasting the sound that much and thus reviews of the audio at high volumes doesn't mean much to me.

 

I am leaning toward the VSX-45 since I don't need 7.1 and Atmos isn't that important to me.  Curious if any of you have experience with Pioneer A/V receivers or any suggestions.  I won't go with Onkyo or any of the other bargain brands so don't bother suggestion.  I know Denon is a good brand but I have had a bad experience with them so I probably wouldn't go that route either.  Want to stick with the $400-800 price range but closer to $400 would be nice.

 

Minimum I need is 4x HDMI inputs, Bluetooth with AirPlay, Internet (ethernet is fine) and 4k support since my next TV will be 4k.

Would like to have 5-6 HDMI inputs.

Edited December 27, 2015 by nate

[Thomas]

Onkyo a bargain brand? Boy how times have changed. Honestly yeah they are all rather mediocre now.  I have a Denon in your price range but with the issues I've had with it I'd probably go with the Yamaha next time.

[nate]

They have always been mediocre.  They are packed with features but they are not quality made.

 

Yamaha definitely gets high marks.  I should add them to the list.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-RX-V479BL-5-1-Channel-MusicCast-Bluetooth/dp/B00VIRG40O/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1451322719&sr=8-2&keywords=yamaha+av+receiver

Edited December 28, 2015 by nate

[Tank]

i was always partial to kenwood. good equipment and fair prices. harmon-kardon was always above my pay grade, but their reputation was excellent.

 

i miss having my stereo set up in my house. don't have room for it, and with the proliferation of music on iPads and iPhones, we haven't found much need for a home stereo, sadly.

 

good luck with whatever you choose. it'll make watching all those disney shows just a little bit better.

[red321]

I have a Pioneer vsx-822 paired with NHT speakers (the NHT speakers are awesome, but geared more towards music). Sounds fantastic. The only complaint I would have is the HDMI connectors are spotty, I've had two of them fail on me. Luckily it comes with 7 of them so I can just reconfigure how things are connected...but it is annoying.

[Jay]

If you're planning to upgrade your TV to 4K you might want to make sure your AVR supports HDCP 2.2.

 

I would get something that offers multichannel room correction, acoustic calibration etc., e.g. Audyssey, Pioneer MCACC or similar.

[nate]

Jay, thanks for the feedback.  I definitely made sure on both of those.

 

I have pretty much decided to get the Pioneer Elite VSX-45.  Has all the features I want and Pioneer AV products seem to last forever.

 

Only thing it doesn't have is Dolby Atmos - which requires speaker upgrades anyway, and it doesn't do 7.1 which I have no interest in getting.

[Jay]

Also keep in mind on the VSX-45 you only have HDCP 2.2 (and 4K 60p/4:4:4) on two of the HDMI inputs.  This is probably fine.

 

Seems like a pretty solid choice.

 

[nate]

Yeah I figure Bluray player (most likely gaming console) and satellite receiver will be all I need.

[mrwicked]

i always go with pioneer elite - you just can't go wrong with them.

while you're out shopping get a sonos connect for it as well - much better than using bluetooth/airplay IMO. but you can always add this later.

be ready though... sonos can be addictive (and expensive).

Edited January 5, 2016 by mrwicked

[nate]

I have a Sonos connect and pretty much never use it.  Same goes for my Apple TV.

[Jay]

Want to sell your Sonos connect?

[nate]

Uh, as long as the boss (wife) doesn't care then yea, she is the only one that ever uses it and that is pretty much never.  Probably would want $200 for it.  Paid 350 or 400 for it a year ago.

[Jay]

ok let me know.

[Tank]

i'd be interested in your apple tv in case you want to sell it.

[nate]

Ha, I should rename this Nate's Bazaar.  I am going to hold onto the Apple TV.  I use it on my 40 inch tv that isn't internet connected, just not very often.

 

Jay, the wife seemed ok selling the Sonos once we get the new receiver since it will have all the same features.  We should get the new receiver in the next couple weeks then I will hit you up.  If I have time this weekend I plan on driving to Milwaukee to pick one up in person from Best Buy... don't like having heavy complex electronics shipped online.

[mrwicked]

The new apple tv is bomb ass.

It's worth it for siri alone.

[nate]

Got the new receiver yesterday.  Tried to buy it online so it would be ready for pickup at the Best Buy store when I got there but the payment failed twice saying their sales tax engine was broken so I just drove down there to pick it up and when I got there I was pleasantly surprised to see it on sale for $250.  Wasn't advertised anywhere including on the website where I was trying to buy it for $450... score.

 

On the bad side, hooking my sub woofer up to it, after the sub hadn't been used in years because the pre-out went bad on my old receiver, the rubber holding the speaker together ripped itself to shreds the first time it kicked on... So I had to order a new Infinity sub speaker to put in the cabinet.

 

As far as the receiver it is awesome.  Everything works well and it was really easy to setup.  The MCACC works way better than the HK version.

 

My wife has been complaining about the Airplay and Pandora integration though so no luck on selling the Sonos, sorry Jay.

 

My only critique would be that the HDMI inputs are really close together so if you have a wider cable they won't fit.  I have some Monster HDMI cables that I bought at an estate sale a couple years ago and they were the grips on either side of the connectors were too fat.  No big deal since Monster cables are overkill.  Just swapped them out for normal HDMI cables.

Edited January 16, 2016 by nate

[Jay]

No worries on the Sonos. Glad you got a good deal on the AVR.

It's funny how things come full-circle. I had this really fancy Yamaha AVR with nice Klipsch speakers for a 5.1 system. It's an older unit, pre-HDMI but a higher-end unit with AC-3, DTS decoders, etc. For some reason I never liked the way it sounded. I would always remember how great my old 2-channel systems sounded with the big speakers. I paid probably 5x more for that Yamaha setup and I didn't like the way it sounded. Anyway I wasn't really sure if it was the amp, or the speakers, or what. But I suffered with it thinking maybe my ears are shot (they are) so I can't tell if it sounds good or bad.

So when we moved to our new house, I set it up in our family room, minus the surrounds, so I had 3.1. It still sounded like crap to me, especially for music listening.

I went on eBay and found a 20-year old NAD integrated amp. No frills, just like the old days. I think I paid $120 for it, shipping included. Yesterday I finally got around to setting it up, just to see if the sound is better, worse, whatever. It sounds friggin' great! What a joke. Not home theater or anything, just two channels with my RB-5 speakers. Bass, treble, volume. No remote, and NO DSP.

In the other room I have a 65" plasma with a really nice Definitive soundbar. It's ok but I might look into that Pioneer if it's only $250.

[nate]

Check out Magnolia.  The more I read it is an amazing AVR even at $450.  To get better you have to spend over $1k.  They still aren't advertising the sale which is kinda weird.

 

It was so easy to setup, crazy how far they have come.

 

I also don't see what the problem is with the airplay and Pandora but my wife doesn't like to change her routine so I get it.

[red321]

I just checked locally. They don't have it at Best Buy for that price, only the Magnolia High Fidelity locations inside of Best Buy. They have it for $299. Considering purchasing it, price is good through the 20th or so...the model is being discontinued in 5-6 weeks. 

[nate]

The VSX45 just came out in Oct

[red321]

hmm...that's odd...maybe they are only going to carry it for a few more weeks. He knew what I was talking about immediately, didn't even need to look it up...though maybe he should have

Edited January 18, 2016 by red321

[nate]

I mean maybe they are doing another product refresh that soon... I don't know.  Either way it is a good deal.  Still $450 online everywhere, amazon, bb, etc.  Maybe BB is just going to stop carrying it in store like you said.

 

The more I have used it the more I like it.  Of course with the subwoofer fixed it makes a big difference.

 

Just watched the 2009 Star Trek on bluray and damn the sound was amazing.