Convince me to get a hd receiver

[Poonking]

Been thinking about getting a onkyo 605/606 receiver recently but i don't have the speakers to take advantage of the hd sound. Will i still hear a difference if i have my regular sony speakers?.

[SS316SRV]

If you don't, then the terrorists have won.

You don't want terrorists to win do you?!

[SS316SRV]

Also...

Poonking? Really? Poonking? How old are you, 12?

[jq71586]

Originally Posted by SS316SRV

Also...

Poonking? Really? Poonking? How old are you, 12?

No, then he'd be a poonprince. Too young to be a king.

But on topic, I have crappy Sony speakers myself and you still notice a huge difference. I'm going to upgrade them one at a time. I already have a good subwoofer, and the center speaker will be next.

[Poonking]

I'm 28 .

[SS316SRV]

Originally Posted by Poonking

I'm 28 .

Ok...but Poonking? Really? I understand that our member names are either creative or just silly, but I am not sure how to describe Poonking. I bet it is like one of those situations where the guy talks about all the women he hooks up with.

[kalkin84]

Originally Posted by Poonking

I'm 28 .

28 going on 13... i kid

Anyhow: advantages to getting a surround reciever when running stereo are:
1) you can add speakers as your budget allows, piecing together your system over time
2) you can take advantage of internal switching/signal cross conversion on Composite/S-vid if you have a SD TV, or component/HDMI if you have an HDTV which simplifies your cabling and operation (most of the time) and ties in with point 1).

Disadvantages:
1) for your budget of "$X" you can get a good surround receiver with a lot of cool features and decent sound or you can spend that "$X" on a great stereo amp and get amazing sound but none of the switching/future capability of the surround box.

Question to ask your self: What are my priorities? If you find yourself answering "well, i like nothing better than to watch movies" then hurry up and go get yourself a good surround receiver. If you find yourself answering "well, movies are great and all, but i don't watch many and i REALLY love my music!" then F*** the surround receiver and invest the cash in a better stereo amp and the money you would have dedicated to your other future speaker to a better pair of mains.

example: A new Onkyo 605/606 lists for $599. They sound OK, and have a lot of nice features. A Cambridge 640A retails for about the same and sounds MUCH better, different league of sound entirely, but is only Stereo.

With a surround receiver you then have to buy (eventually) a center, 2 rears and a sub to round out the package, and maybe two more rears if you want 7.1. If you stayed stereo you could take that money for the extra 4-6 speakers and buy two amazing stereo speakers and live in 2-channel bliss.

So where are your priorities? Movies: get on the srruound bandwagon as soon as your budget allows you. Music: forget it, stick to stereo and get some nicer gear with that cash. Both: There are compromise pieces, but they aren't cheap.

Hope that helps.

[CptGreedle]

The one thing I noticed most is the 7.1 surround sound.
I love that surround sound.

This is what I did.
Bought the nice receiver with my crappy speakers. It makes it better but does not take real advantage of the sound. Then I started upgrading my speakers over time. So eventually, all my speakers will be higher quality. This way I don't need to buy everything all at once.
I might buy 1-3 new speakers with my stimulus check, but that remains to be seen.

Either way, it is worth it in the long run.

[gearyt]

yep !!

[brett_day]

Originally Posted by Poonking

Been thinking about getting a onkyo 605/606 receiver recently but i don't have the speakers to take advantage of the hd sound. Will i still hear a difference if i have my regular sony speakers?.

the sound you hear will only be as good as the speakers you have

[prerich]

Originally Posted by brett_day

the sound you hear will only be as good as the speakers you have

+1 Wisdom is speaking.

[Beta Man]

Originally Posted by prerich

+1 Wisdom is speaking.

I love seeing people buying an Onkyo 805 because it's on sale, then asking how they can connect their $200 HTIB speakers to it, to get loss-less audio.....

Many people have 5.1 WITHOUT lossless, that will blow away many 7.1 HD MA systems........

[Canada]

Originally Posted by Poonking

Been thinking about getting a onkyo 605/606 receiver recently but i don't have the speakers to take advantage of the hd sound. Will i still hear a difference if i have my regular sony speakers?.

Since you have a PS3 you only need an HDMI receiver since the PS3 decodes DTS MA and Dolby True HD internally and sends it via PCM to the receiver. The only thing with that is if you don't get a receiver that does DTS MA and Dolby True HD and you upgrade to a Blu Ray player that only bitstreams the information your hooped for getting the new codecs. you will have to buy a new HDMI 1.3 receiver at that point.

You will hear a difference out of your Sony speakers, I sure did.

[Poonking]

Originally Posted by Canada

Since you have a PS3 you only need an HDMI receiver since the PS3 decodes DTS MA and Dolby True HD internally and sends it via PCM to the receiver. The only thing with that is if you don't get a receiver that does DTS MA and Dolby True HD and you upgrade to a Blu Ray player that only bitstreams the information your hooped for getting the new codecs. you will have to buy a new HDMI 1.3 receiver at that point.

You will hear a difference out of your Sony speakers, I sure did.

THANX!!

[A-PHI-A]

I have a ps3 and want to upgrade my receiver.

How do you know if a receiver is able to accept PCM? will it be note on the receiver or box, or just by having a HDMI input will it be able to accept PCM, help please.....

[Marine Mike]

Originally Posted by A-PHI-A

I have a ps3 and want to upgrade my receiver.

How do you know if a receiver is able to accept PCM? will it be note on the receiver or box, or just by having a HDMI input will it be able to accept PCM, help please.....

If its able to accept it?

HDMI input.

[Driver_King]

If the reciever has at least HDMI 1.1 inputs, and is a repeater(not a pass-through), then it'll accept PCM.

[A-PHI-A]

Originally Posted by Driver_King

If the reciever has at least HDMI 1.1 inputs, and is a repeater(not a pass-through), then it'll accept PCM.

ok so how do i know if its a repeater and not pass-through?