Advice on Home Theater (Receiver)

[sd_semro]

Hi everyone,

This is my first post.

First off I want to say I visit this site daily for various reasons.

A little information about me. I'm 20 years old. I will be a Junior this upcoming fall in college (double major Sports Management / Marketing).

Information on my current home theater -

Vizio VX37L

Onkyo HTiB (HT-SR800)

Panasonic BD-35K

Xbox 360


I'm looking to upgrade my setup slowly. The first major item I was looking to upgrade was my receiver because it is pass through only for the HDMI input. I wasn't sure which receiver I should be looking for in the range of $400 - $600. Any suggestions ?

I also haven't upgraded my speaker wire which is like floss (24 gauge possibly). I was wondering what kind of difference replacing these would make ??

My last question is how big is the difference between lossy and lossless (HD) audio ? Is it noticeable when listening ? Hopefully I'll be able to find out soon.

Thanks for your time and any advice you guys give. Much Appreciated !!

Ron -

Sorry if this isn't in the right forum