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[gofreak]

I'm in the market for a cheap, but decent quality, A/V receiver, mostly for movies and games. I was looking at a Denon AVR-1705 (http://www.usa.denon.com/catalog/pdfs/AVR1705.pdf), which looks very good, but would cost me about €316. To be honest, that's still a little rich for my blood, so I'm wondering if there's anything comparable out there at a lower price. I would love to come in at around €200 or less. Support for a 6.1 setup is desireable, although not entirely necessary if someone comes up with a really kickass 5.1 system. 6.1 would be really nice though. At least one optical-in is necessary - I'll really 3, but I can get a switch to save money. Component-in is necessary too, as is svideo-in. Dolby Prologic II or IIx is required (for my GC). To boot, I'm in Ireland, so I'm possibly limited by what's available in Europe.

Any suggestions...?

 

[Shompola]

Yamaha X50 series no doubt. They support everything you mentioned.
Check out the yamaha RX-V450 model wich is the entry model.

 

[gofreak]

Thanks, I've looked it up, but the cheapest I can get it is at €380, which would be well over my budget. I'm guessing it's a lot cheaper in the US..

The RX-V350 is also there, would cost €277, which is cheaper than the Denon 1705. Does the quality of the X50 line extend all the way down to the 350?

 

[Shompola]

the 450 is 380 euro?
I got my 650(wich is a huge step above 450) for 400 euro when it just recenlty came out.

edit/ I personally thought the 450 would be 250 euro or so. I don't know much about the 350.
But I do know that the difference between 450 and 550 is small, and difference between 550 and 650 isn't so small. That denon seems like a better deal I guess if the Yamaha's are so expensive.

Buying from some other EU country, is that also an option for you? In that case I recommend
www.technikdirekt.de
20 euro flat shipping for most merchandize including heavy A/V receivers. I have bought from them in the past and they are really good. Take also in consideration that there is something called EU warranty or something like that. That basicly means that if you buy merchandize in EU and the merchandize has EU warranty, you can return it to any service place within EU. If your A/V receiver goes bad, you can repair/replace it in Ireland. I am not sure if Yamaha has such warranty. But I can check that. Yup it seems that Yamaha honours the Europe Warranty Also 24 months of warranty seems to be standard. 257 euro for the rx-v450 at technikdirekt.de btw.

 

[gofreak]

I've just been looking at british retailers, so I guess that's where the higher prices are coming from! As long as they accept credit cards, I can buy from anywhere in the EU, so that german site might be right up my alley..thanks so much

edit - anything I should be aware of with technikdirekt.de? Some of these places have funky billing requirements, like having to fax them your card or confirm things over the phone etc. It'd be cool if it was just nice an simple, order over the web, no hassle.

 

[Shompola]

I have heard stories about that some people had to fax in CC and ID to them. I however did not do that and it worked just fine.

And all prices are of course including VAT on technikdirekt.de

 

[gofreak]

Cool...they seem to have a good range! This Pioneer has also caught my eye:

http://www.pioneer.co.uk/uk/product_detail.jsp?product_id=8431&taxonomy_id=62-98

€312

This is also in the same kind of price range:

http://www.onkyo.net/uk/cms/products/home/av_rec/TX-SR502E/

I know I'm stepping up a little here in terms of price, but I'm wondering if it'd be worth it? The pioneer especially looks interesting...it's frequency response range seems larger than any others I've looked at, and it has a 48-bit DSP if that matters (most seem to have 32-bit). It has all the other features I'm looking for too. Would it be worth an extra €60 over the Denon 1705?

 

[Shompola]

If you want the best DSP in the industry then it's definitely Yamaha. Not one brand is close to Yamaha in that regard. Infact the Yamaha DSP's are almost overkill with the ridiculous amount of stuff you can do with them. Pioneer is great, and so is Onkyo.
Another thing, don't blindly check the specs. A lot of specs actually don't tell you the whole truth. A Harmon Kardon is according to specs on paper a weak receiver, yet it bitch slaps more or less any receiver when it comes to current and power. It has more or less has the most powerful PSU's in the market among the big brands. Yamaha is definitely weaker, and Denon is well known to be the WEAK one in this category. There is also a new SONY receiver out that is regarded one of the coolest midrange receivers out there. It has lots of sweet functionality and great current amount for the size. I can't remember the exact name but I believe it's something 930. It's a bit too expensive for you though.

But in the end I would still go for the Yamaha, there is a reason why they allways steal the best product trophy in most Hi-Fi magazines

But I think best is to read some serious reviews on the internet. And if possible try them out in stores. And last but not least, a Home Theatre receiver is definitely weaker when it comes to current than a stereo receiver in the price range. So expect to get somewhat dissapointed in that regard no matter what receiver you get unless it's a Harmon Kardon

 

[gofreak]

Thanks, looks like I've a bit more research to do. Although I may well hold myself back from the Pioneer 814s and Yamaha 550s of this world, and bring things back under €300 with models down from that.

This isn't the Sony you were thinking of, is it?

http://www.sony.co.uk/ShowProduct.do?site=odw_en_GB&category=HFC+Receiver&product=STR-DB790

 

[Shompola]

the yamaha 550 is waste of money IMO. thr 450 is definitely a better buy, and if you want better then it's the 650.

Yah I think it was the sony 790 I believe, a great receiver.

 

[gofreak]

OK..I think I've narrowed it down to the Yamaha 450 or Denon 1705. Feature-wise they both have their ups and downs, but in terms of sound performance you'd go with the Yammy, right?

The yammy is also slightly cheaper

 

[Shompola]

Sound performance it's hard to say. But Yamaha usually delivers more when they are equally priced as Denon merchandize are slightly overpriced when it comes to their budget line.
But be aware that Yamaha and Denon don't deliver that much current compared to other brands, this is especially true for Denon. So anyway how big is the room you're going to install the speakers in and what kind of speakers do you have?

 

[Marty Chinn]

Also look at the Pioneer 914k