2. home-theater
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New HT Receiver

Building a dedicated 7.1 ht room and need advice on a quality receiver. Will have separate 2 channel system so this is really JUST HT. will likely be using focal speakers all monitors but haven't decided for sure. I want it to have all the newest formats. 2 hdmi outputs for a secondary tv in another room. Marantz, integra, anthem? Might add multichannel amp in future but not at first. Room 25x16x9. Thx
jamesw20
austinbob
235 posts
 
I have an 5 year old Onkyo that works well as well as a Yamaha--both mid-level $800 receivers (list) that I paid about $500 for. Personally, I'm just not that concerned about "audiophile" home theater--I just want to hear clear dialogue and some thump when things blow up. Maybe the Emotiva gear? Seems likes it's well priced. I like REL subs too, btw, and they can be used with the front speakers AND to feed the LFE output of 7.1 Just my 2 cents...
martykl
3,578 posts
 
My rule of thumb is to spring for Audyssey xt 32 pro. It's really outstanding room correction/subwoofer integration software. XT 32 is also only found in upper end models, so you get all the other bells n whistles as well as reasonably robust power output. I think that the SQ on most of these units (I auditioned a half dozen models last year) with appropriate speakers and subs will be a pleasant surprise if you're in the camp that believes all Japanese main stream brands sound lousy

The Onkyo 1009 is the least expensive such unit Ive seen and IMHO it's very good deal at +/- $1k
paraneer's avatar
paraneer
818 posts
 
Perhaps I was not clear when I said AVR's with pre-outs are nolonger available at $500. They are - at the 50% discount that I alluded to in my above post when last years models get blown out.

At list price they are around $1000. OK, maybe $900 - I was just using round numbers. The point I was making is AVR's with pre-outs now start a lot higher up the model line than ten years ago when entry to mid priced models had them. And the entry to mid priced models are the units that would benefit the most from an external amp.

As a pre/pro I use a 2011 Pioneer Elite VSX 52 that listed at $900 when introduced new. I bought it a year later in 2012 for $499 brand new. It has a full set of pre-outs so I can couple it to a Parasound 5125 5 channel amp. And I personally like Pioneers Advanced MCACC room correction. This combo works well for me fulfills all my HT requirements. When the technology in the AVR becomes obsolete, I'll get another at a close out price but the Parasound amp will always be ready.
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