Yamaha HTR-6150 Receiver($299)

[Verkman]

Saw this while cruising around the Futureshop website. Not a bad entry level receiver for ps3 owners. It does Multichannel PCM over hdmi, and is 7.1 as well. Listed as a web deal only, but there are 142 or some remaining in stock. As is normally the case you can pick it up in-store after ordering.

Not bad for those simply looking for HD audio for a good price, just no internal decoding of HD.

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/pro...&test_cookie=1

The lower model 6140 is available for $226 on Ebay, but I have yet to find a lower price than $299 for the 6150 lately.

[thecroshow]

i was looking at that receiver. i have a ps3 and my crappy 5.1 HTIB just broke down and in the market for a new setup.

will this give me HD audio for all the cool 7.1 movies? guessing i would need a separate cable for HD audio, doesn't pass through HDMI right?

[wanton007]

Originally Posted by thecroshow

i was looking at that receiver. i have a ps3 and my crappy 5.1 HTIB just broke down and in the market for a new setup.

will this give me HD audio for all the cool 7.1 movies? guessing i would need a separate cable for HD audio, doesn't pass through HDMI right?

It does pass audio. I have the 6140 (the 5.1 model) and it's one of the few lower end lines that pass audio and video through HDMI.

Right now I have my BD and XBOX360 hooked up to it through HDMI. Shaw HD PVR goes directly to tv with HDMI but I have composite audio out as well to the receiver. I could never get the optical to work in conjuction between the HD-PVR and reciever....composite is good enough for just normal tv watching though....

[thecroshow]

oh it does?? yeah i have a ps3, xbox 360 elite and shaw hd pvr, if it passes audio, thinking i need to scoop this up and a couple of side speakers and let the construction begin

*edit* looks like i need to hook up the shaw box straight to my TV and audio through the receiver, no biggie!

[Verkman]

Originally Posted by thecroshow

oh it does?? yeah i have a ps3, xbox 360 elite and shaw hd pvr, if it passes audio, thinking i need to scoop this up and a couple of side speakers and let the construction begin

*edit* looks like i need to hook up the shaw box straight to my TV and audio through the receiver, no biggie!

I'm basically in the same school of thought. I'm not in the market for multiple hdmi connections, or a higher end receiver, just simple passing of PCM through HDMI, and this receiver looks rather tempting.

Couple of side speakers would to the trick for me as well, but might pick up a center while I'm at it. Currently have some old Lloyd's tower speakers sitting in the shed. They're ancient, but they might to the trick for a bit. I'm not an audiophile yet, so this receiver will be a good starting point.

You don't see many Canadian deals for receivers that match US prices, but $299 beats many American retailers prices, even Amazon.com.

[vince78]

hmmm should i get this or keep my z5500
oh yeah my setup is in my bedroom

[thecroshow]

Originally Posted by Verkman

I'm basically in the same school of thought. I'm not in the market for multiple hdmi connections, or a higher end receiver, just simple passing of PCM through HDMI, and this receiver looks rather tempting.

Couple of side speakers would to the trick for me as well, but might pick up a center while I'm at it. Currently have some old Lloyd's tower speakers sitting in the shed. They're ancient, but they might to the trick for a bit. I'm not an audiophile yet, so this receiver will be a good starting point.

You don't see many Canadian deals for receivers that match US prices, but $299 beats many American retailers prices, even Amazon.com.

i'm going to slowly build my HT setup. i definitely want to get more into the surround sound game, my parent's system rocks the house and wish i had that.

here is a HTIB i have been checking out but think i'm going to "do it right" this time.

[Johnny Vinyl]

I don't know the specs, but FS has the 6130 for $229...saw it today!

John

[Verkman]

Originally Posted by John72953

I don't know the specs, but FS has the 6130 for $229...saw it today!

John

http://www.yamaha.com/yec/products/p...l?CNTID=567483

Lacks a couple key features(important ones), but is still a very good price.

Great find.


Croshow

I know what you mean by doing it right. There's just too many variables in audio to trust one complete setup. Plus building your own system from the receiver out is a fun experience. You'll learn much more that way than plucking out a HTiB.


And Vince, from the looks of it the 6150 would be an upgrade from your z-5500, but spend weeks in the audio sub-forums and you'll read everything you need to know to make that decision for yourself. I couldn't give you a straight answer because I'm still learning myself.

[wanton007]

If I didn't already have the 6140 I'd get the 6150 if it's the same price. My BD player doesn't even do 7.1 either so no real point yet.

I have my 6140 with Energy C50's all the way around (4), Energy C100 for the front channel and an Energy ESW8 sub-woofer.

We're in a condo so this is pretty much as much as we can go, and even then, I can't crank it to be polite..but it does rattle the walls with music / movies with a lot of bass.

I also had a monoprice HDMI switcher hooked up at one point to feed in the HDPVR, XBOX360 and BD player and it worked fine. Only reason why I don't have that set up now is that the new TV doesn't get the proper handshake through it that way which is why the HDPVR goes HDMI directly to TV with composite audio through the receiver.

For $299, I think this thing is a bargain. There's a Sony in this price range as well that passes PCM audio as well and has 3 HDMI inputs, but I've heard that it's under-powered. The Yammy is the way to go IMO.

[thecroshow]

does this receiver handle all of the lossless formats for BD? i don't really know a lot about these things, that's why i don't want to make another mistake =/

[wanton007]

Originally Posted by thecroshow

does this receiver handle all of the lossless formats for BD? i don't really know a lot about these things, that's why i don't want to make another mistake =/

I'm new to this as well, so I'm probably not qualified to answer that question based just on knowledge. What I do understand is this though - it depends on possibly you BD player. If you BD player decodes that format, then it's sent as PCM to the receiver and therefore it doesn't matter if the receiver supports those formats since it's not doing the 'decoding'. The receiver doesn't have to do any work since the BD player is doing the work.

Here's a link to some more information on the different formats: http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/1064

I have Sony BDP350 and have never had an issue with sound. Everything sounds good to me but then again, I am admittedly not an audiophile....

[thecroshow]

ahhh yes i remember reading about that somewhere. i have a ps3 and from what i've read (CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG) the ps3 converts the signal to HD sound?

[thecroshow]

browsing FS a little more and saw this package, thoughts? i'm going to research it right now before going to bed

Sony 7.1 Channel A/V Receiver (STRDG820) and Polk Audio Home Theatre Speaker System (RM6750)

[thecroshow]

i know we're branching off into the HT Construction stuff but i'm getting more help in here lol

Here is what I have in mind:

Sony 7.1 Channel A/V Receiver (STRDG720)
+
Harman Kardon 5.1 Home Theatre Speaker System (HKTS15)
or
Polk Audio Home Theatre Speaker System (RM6750)

ORRRRR...

Sony 7.1 Channel A/V Receiver and Polk Audio Home Theatre Speaker System

I've studied all night. I have a PS3, Xbox 360 Elite, Shaw HD PVR. The Sony 820 might be overkill because my PS3 does all of the audio conversion, so I will be paying for features I don't really need. I'm leaning toward the 720 because it's cheaper and I can upgrade to the HK speakers, i've seen them in FS and heard them in action, they sounded great.

On the surface the Sony 820+Polk speakers look like my best bet. Any input is appreciated! Sorry if this is in the wrong forum but I think it's relevant on the topic of HOT DEAL receivers @ FS

[the_r]

Originally Posted by John72953

I don't know the specs, but FS has the 6130 for $229...saw it today!

John

You guys don't want this model. The 6130 does NOT handle PCM audio, so it won't accept decoded lossless tracks via PCM sent from the blu-ray player.

[the_r]

Originally Posted by wanton007

I'm new to this as well, so I'm probably not qualified to answer that question based just on knowledge. What I do understand is this though - it depends on possibly you BD player. If you BD player decodes that format, then it's sent as PCM to the receiver and therefore it doesn't matter if the receiver supports those formats since it's not doing the 'decoding'. The receiver doesn't have to do any work since the BD player is doing the work.

Here's a link to some more information on the different formats: http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/1064

I have Sony BDP350 and have never had an issue with sound. Everything sounds good to me but then again, I am admittedly not an audiophile....

Yup you got it. If the blu-ray player does all the decoding, then all the receiver has to do is receive it via PCM, which the 6140 and 6150 can do.

The PS3 will decode all the new lossless formats in Dolby TRUEHD and DTS-HD MA, and send them as PCM to whatever receiver that can handle it.

The Sony 350 only internally decodes TRUEHD, and not DTS-HD MA, so owners of the 350 can only enjoy TRUEHD, unless they have new receivers that can decode the DTS-HD MA bitstream sent from the player.

[the_r]

Originally Posted by thecroshow

i know we're branching off into the HT Construction stuff but i'm getting more help in here lol

Here is what I have in mind:

Sony 7.1 Channel A/V Receiver (STRDG720)
+
Harman Kardon 5.1 Home Theatre Speaker System (HKTS15)
or
Polk Audio Home Theatre Speaker System (RM6750)

ORRRRR...

Sony 7.1 Channel A/V Receiver and Polk Audio Home Theatre Speaker System

I've studied all night. I have a PS3, Xbox 360 Elite, Shaw HD PVR. The Sony 820 might be overkill because my PS3 does all of the audio conversion, so I will be paying for features I don't really need. I'm leaning toward the 720 because it's cheaper and I can upgrade to the HK speakers, i've seen them in FS and heard them in action, they sounded great.

On the surface the Sony 820+Polk speakers look like my best bet. Any input is appreciated! Sorry if this is in the wrong forum but I think it's relevant on the topic of HOT DEAL receivers @ FS

I was gonna write up a whole bit about my own setup, and upgraditis and everything, but I'll save you from my personal reflection.

These specials from FS are actually pretty bad, minus the $299 Yamaha receiver. If you're coming from a computer speaker 5.1 setup like a Logitech Z5500 or 5000, then any of these systems you mentioned will easily sound better. I started my HT days with 5.1 PC speakers as well so I speak from experience.

But... that said... there are better deals to be had from FS and BB, and I'd personally try to stick with a Yamaha receiver if at all possible like the $299 special, and then try to keep an eye out for a cheap set of 5.1 Polk speakers.

That setup should keep you happy for many years, until your bank account grows, or until you find a bigger space.

Hope that helps.

[Salinger]

Hey the_r, thanks so much for your input!

Like some of the other folks here, I'm just learning about this stuff as well. I have a PS3 as my BD player. I have a Pioneer receiver, but didn't realize until after I had it that it doesn't pass audio via HDMI, so I had to use optical for audio.

I think I did okay with my speaker choice: http://www2.kef.com/ca/SurroundSound/KHT/2000 Music sounds great on them (important for me) which I've read, is not necessarily true of all 5.1 speakers.

So, if I replace my Pioneer with this Yamaha from Future Shop, I should be able to finally hear the higher quality audio formats I've not been able to get with my current receiver?

Just one question if you don't mind. I'm sure it's a very basic noob question, but I don't understand the technical specs enough to garner the info from the spec sheets. So, along with my PS3 & Rogers HD PVR, I need to connect another DVD player via component (it's hacked so I can play my collection of PAL and region 2 DVD's from the UK) Can I feed component from this into this Yamaha and it will output via the HDMI to the TV, or do I need to also hook my TV to the receiver with components cables as well? Sorry, did that even make sense?

Thanks again for your help!

[wanton007]

The receiver doesn't output via HDMI for components. So what you'll have to do is this:

DVD player to receiver through component
Receiver to tv through component

I wouldn't go with the Sony either. I've read that it's underpowered etc etc..who knows though. I'm no audiophile so it'd probably just sound the same to me.

As for the Polks - I think I saw them quite a bit cheaper in the US (through Amazon) but given the exchange rate who knows.

You might also check around on Used sites. Over here, there's a site called UsedVictoria.com and someone has the Polks (I think) for $300...