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OT AV receivers What should I look for

 
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vickyg2003
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Joined: 20 Mar 2004
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 06, 2013 8:14 am    Post subject: OT AV receivers What should I look for Reply with quote

Hi Guys, MY DH wants to upgrade our Audio Receiver and his birthday is right around the corner.

We have always liked Yamaha audio equipment, although I think he's not all that in love with the new black color.

Currently we have speakers in 10 different rooms for the audio, although we only use 4 sets with an sperker craft 4 way speakers switch, and listen to one set at a time, but we probably need something with a little more power if we were going to combine some rooms. IE the kitchen and the greatroom, really both should be on at the same time, since they are essentially the same room divided by a two sided fireplace. You can't see from one to the other, but you can hear pretty much everything.

We absolutely love listening to our TV through the stereo. Then the last tv had that optical output and our stereo only took AV input. We put a bandaid on that with a genfen switch to convert the sound to AV. But the genfen only works when we are watching recorded shows, DVDs, or the HD locals, the rest of our SD cable makes the Dolby little light flicker and the sound flickers in and out too. So this is probably something I need to be able to handle through an AV system as well.

The articles I read this morning, said if you bought your current reciever when Clinton was in office, its time for an upgrade. Lets just say that ours has seen considerably more presidents than this guideline suggests.

So what do I look for? I get to make the purchase and I don't want to blow it. My budget is under $1000, which I consider a huge amount of money, and I need to spend it wisely.
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greenough1



Joined: 30 Jan 2005
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 06, 2013 5:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi Vickie, for $1000 you can get alot of receiver. The biggest improvements over the years have been in video processing chips and audio calibration for your room. you'll also get recommendations from people that reflect their product loyalties (I'm no different Wink ).

A mid line receiver like the onkyo 616 (last years most basic thx certified receiver), or this years 626, can drive up to 3 "zones". there's a catch in that this receiver can only power the second zone speakers, BUT has a lineout for an additional amp to drive a 3rd zone. that'll be the way most of these are in this price range $500-600. the receiver's amp can drive 2 zones with a line out to drive an amp that powers a third zone.

Beyond this you should do some googling (multizone, multisource, etc.). Other places to look is avsforum.com in the receiver subforum..usually there're owners threads for most popular receivers model lines.

Don't you have a sonos system? these days folks just use their wifi networks to stream pandora so that's an option.

my goal when upgrading was to get more power, better video processing AND the audio calibration for the main viewing area. this last one was a huge improvement using the Audyssey hardware/software system. it's very immersive when watching HD or bluray programming.

Best,
jeff
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vickyg2003
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 06, 2013 7:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Jeff, what is a sound system? I googled the term but I got too many strange results to figure out what you are talking about. Chances are I don't have one since I don't know what one is. I'm always way over my head here

The reason I post these kind of questions here is because I trust and value the jp1 regulars. Where over at Avs I seem to attract a lot of people who don't know what they are talking about. And they are the forum experts!
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Remember to provide feedback to let us know how the problem was solved and share your upgrades.

Tip: When creating an upgrade, always include ALL functions from the oem remote, even if you never plan on assigning them to a button. Complete function lists makes an upgrade more helpful to others.
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mathdon
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 07, 2013 6:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm another Onkyo fan, but mine is the earlier 606 which supports only two zones. I have been delighted with it since I got it a few years ago. Its audio outputs are used to capacity, with 7.1 surround speakers in one room and a stereo pair in another. The idea of speakers in 10 rooms is mind-blowing! I definitely suggest that the latest update should be on your short-list.
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vickyg2003
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 07, 2013 12:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

mathdon wrote:
The idea of speakers in 10 rooms is mind-blowing! I definitely suggest that the latest update should be on your short-list.


Well I used "rooms" kind of loosley. Rooms includes the garage, the basement and the back patio. But yeah, I thought 8 was a lot when we moved in. There is a zone in the bathroom! Sheesh. We added the basement, and will be adding the 10th zone in my husband's office, in the rewiring project.
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greenough1



Joined: 30 Jan 2005
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 08, 2013 11:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi vickie,
were you referring to my mention of "sonos"? if so then its a wireless audio distribution system http://www.sonos.com/search/wireless_speakers?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=sonos&utm_campaign=us-branded-search&gclid=CLaVopW5vbkCFUPl7Aodn3cAlQ
I really only mentioned it because I thought I remembered you having one - guess not.

I have the 609, which is last years model and like mathdon says it powers a second zone. Using a single receiver to power more than two different listening areas is not really practical. But what people do is your the speaker selector switch like you do and distribute the sound using the second zone. on my receiver and the newer 2 or 3 zone ones, the second or 3rd zone can play something different than you are in zone 1. e.g. bluray on zone 1, pandora on zone 2.

Oh i forgot to mention the new receivers are network ready so you can stream music or control your receiver via android or iphone apps on the local network.

But since you already have the speakers and have run the wire and can control it all with a 4 way switch, you can still do what you do now with the new receiver connected through zone 2. But all the zones fed through the switch have to listen to the same thing.

Best,
jeff
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vickyg2003
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PostPosted: Mon Sep 09, 2013 6:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

greenough1 wrote:
Hi vickie,
were you referring to my mention of "sonos"? if so then its a wireless audio distribution system http://www.sonos.com/search/wireless_speakers?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=sonos&utm_campaign=us-branded-search&gclid=CLaVopW5vbkCFUPl7Aodn3cAlQ
I really only mentioned it because I thought I remembered you having one - guess not.

No, maybe someone mentioned it when to me when I was talking about adding cables. I prefer to have as much of my stuff wired as I can, hence the cat5e project that needs to be finished, and is part of the reason I'm looking at receivers.



Quote:

I have the 609, which is last years model and like mathdon says it powers a second zone. Using a single receiver to power more than two different listening areas is not really practical. But what people do is your the speaker selector switch like you do and distribute the sound using the second zone. on my receiver and the newer 2 or 3 zone ones, the second or 3rd zone can play something different than you are in zone 1. e.g. bluray on zone 1, pandora on zone 2.

Yes, I'm just coming to understand now why they don't call them A/B speakers now. I'm seriously last century.

Quote:

Oh i forgot to mention the new receivers are network ready so you can stream music or control your receiver via android or iphone apps on the local network.

Yes I'm looking forward to using the remote control apps. My android has one on there, and it made me very curious.

Quote:



But since you already have the speakers and have run the wire and can control it all with a 4 way switch, you can still do what you do now with the new receiver connected through zone 2. But all the zones fed through the switch have to listen to the same thing.

Best,
jeff


Again, until you mentioned that I was thinking of this as an A/B speaker system.

This is really funny. I've been wanting to do the Cat5e project to save money. And I'm instead hemoraging it. But if my cable company decided to encrypt instead of sending clear QAM, I'd need to rent all those boxes. At the rate now, it would be an additional 40 per month, or give up the convenience of having TV in the kitchen, TV in the bedrooms, TV in the basement, TV in my JP1 room........ I don't even watch much TV, probably 1 hour a day, but I like being able to watch it where I want!!!!
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