What's Most Important For a Receiver?

[Rob J in WNY]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

I wish they would make a receiver that could support a few hundred speakers. I have more old speakers in my closets than clothes.

If there was only one person on these forums who would ask for such a thing, I would have guessed you first. That statement actually cracked me up.

[got rice]

All equally important
1a. Newest codecs and the ability to upgrade via ethernet.
1b. internal build qualty ie DACS and transformer supply.
1c. Calibration tool and its ability to customize.

2. pre outs
3. # of HDMI IN/OUT
4. Wattage 100/channel minimum.
5. Individual crossover settings
6. Video upconversion non HDMI

[Blu-Raider]

[PIONEER ELITE LOVERS] That it's Pretty! [/PIONEER ELITE LOVERS]

[Rob J in WNY]

Originally Posted by Blu-Raider

[PIONEER ELITE LOVERS] That it's Pretty! [/PIONEER ELITE LOVERS]

[Fors*]

Originally Posted by Rob J in WNY

Forsberg21,

As you may know, I have recently upgraded to a Pioneer Elite SC-05, and I have been falling in love with all my music and movies all over again.

For any upgrade from an Onkyo 605 receiver, generous HDMI inputs are going to be a given, as is lossless decoding and 7.1-channel operation, so here's my top 3.

1. 7-channel pre-outs for flexiblity and future amplifier upgrading.

2. Manual, multi-band, discrete channel sound equalization.

3. Bare minimum 100 watts per channel, rated across 20-20KHz (subject to review). You are looking for the purest sound, with as much headroom, as possible, short of going with separates.

My #3 has been touched on here. Amplifer ratings are subjectivly offered by different manufacturers, and are sometimes skewed to keep within a certain tolerance, but glorified, yet truthful. For instance, power ratings through the 20-20KHz bandwidth are much more credible - not those simply taken from a 1KHz tone burst.

I would consider those three aspects most significant to me.

Other receiver aspects of importance would include HDMI audio/video pass-through when the receiver is off/in standby, so that my BD player can play through TV speakers only, if needed.

Receivers with built-in, comprehensive room-correction programs like MCACC and Audyssey can really be of help, especially if they include acoustics/phase/standing wave analyzing. I have noticed a more robust LFE from my listening position after using MCACC on my Pioneer Elite SC-05 (comparing post MCACC to before MCACC using the same receiver).

I also like a fully usable GUI (graphical user interface - receiver adjustments done on TV screen).

Network access to internet radio and your computer's media library is a nice feature, though not ultimately important. I access internet radio with both 2-channel and THX Neural Surround on my receiver, and it's rather nice. I have not yet set it up for accessing my computer's media files, but I'll do it soon.

Upconversion to 1080p of all source analog video source material (again, this is likely a "given" with an upgrade receiver). This way, your single HDMI cable from your receiver out to your TV will be all you need to utilize.

I like to play vinyl on occasion, so a dedicated phono input is high on my list (although there are good phono pre-amps out there for not a lot of money).

Yes, it's no surprise at all that you'd like a new receiver, given your forays into upgrading everything else. I hope you find what you are looking for because as you know, the choices are many!

Thanks Rob. I've seen a lot of informative posts from you lately, and they are always straight forward and easy to understand, so thank you again for your above reply.

Also, thank you to everyone for adding your 2 cents. As I shop around, I wanted to know what is it I should be looking for and what should be considered the more important things when looking at the features/specs.

I am actually very much interested in a Pioneer Elite, and this is my leading candidate at this time.

I think #1 for me are pre-outs, as I would at least like the option of adding an external amp if I become so inclined. I figure better speakers might be needed when I do cross that bridge, but that will be much further down the road.

I also appreciate you explaining the importance of watts per channel, as I think I would have this as #2 on my list.

Lastly, I figure the # of HDMI inputs/outputs would be included as #3 on my list, just for future flexibility as Big Daddy explained, as I too want to add a projector down the road to go along with my TV.

It seems a lot of the newer receivers have very good audio processing, but I think this area may come down to personal preference, and a good listening to different receivers is needed here.

I just wanted to know what it is I should be looking for when I go test some receivers, and now I feel I have a good plan in place, thanks guys!

[tang7969]

Originally Posted by Rob J in WNY

One more thing I forgot to mention.

The SIZE of your new receiver. An upgrade for you will likely mean a significantly larger chassis. Take note of the dimensions of any receiver candidates to make sure you can accomodate it.

Receivers like the Onkyo 806 and the Pioneer Elite SC-05 are unusually deep and fairly tall in stance (they do look awesome, though).

In my case, I had to relocate my Sony BDP-S350 as it would not fit underneath with my SC-05. It was something I didn't consider. Now, I just have to upgrade my TV stand!


My Sony BD player now sits off to the side, and that's okay for now, but not forever.

Hey Rob....When your ready to upgrade your tv stand come see me at Value City Furniture...we have some really nice stands...Im at the Amherst store. Tim Bethin

[StimpsonJCat]

Originally Posted by forsberg21

I am actually very much interested in a Pioneer Elite, and this is my leading candidate at this time.

You can't go wrong with the Pioneer Elite. I have my old Pioneer Elite in the game room and it still sounds great. I almost bought a Denon back when I got it. I've always been torn between the two brands. I went with a Denon in my last AVR purchase because of the DynamicEQ/Volume features and price. I would rather have an AVR w/ preouts, but didn't need them now. I figured by the time I could fit a decent external amp into my budget I'd want the latest technology on the AVR/pre-amp and upgrade anyways.

I'm really happy with the sound I get from my Denon, but will always highly recommend the Pioneer Elite line (which I may go back to some day).