Suggestions? Best Surround Receiver under $200
 

Hey guys and gals,
I am helping a buddy set up a new home theatre and he would like to buy a new receiver. He is only willing to spend around $200. Any suggestions? Any really good values or just good cheap receivers that perform really well?
This guy isn't an audio afficienado or anything so a good, solid receiver that does Dolby Digital, DTS, and Pro Logic will work.
Thanks in advance and my buddy thanks you.

A refurb Onkyo 484 is by far the way to go. I haven't regretted it for a second.
Great sound for movies and music, pretty of power, Dolby Digital, DTS, video switching, and banana plugs.

I have to agree with Skar....if you want a quality receiver for under 200 bucks a refyrb is the only way to go. Check out Ubid for some refurbs on Onkyo and HK which should be very good bargains for the dollar. HK also has a factory outlet online that sells refurbs but probably a bit more expensive then what you could get one for on Ubid.

J

HK?

I think he is referring to Harman Kardon, Jasonr114

I haven't seen any on ubid lately(I hate their new "reserve prices"), but onecall has a refurbished 484 for $198: http://ww2.onecall.com/PID_12585.htm

Here's a 484 review:http://cheaphometheater.com/onkyo-tx-ds484.htm

Here's an Onkyo 494 on Ubid:

http://www.ubid.com/actn/opn/getpage...tionId=6067480

It has a reserve though.

Ubid just posted some 484s:http://www.ubid.com/actn/opn/getpage...tionId=6083834

However, the reserve price is $169. No more $144 like Skar got a while ago.

Or like I got a while ago...I think the economy crunch is getting to ubid, or their new owners are realizing they are losing money.

I have a Onkyo 494 that I bought new for $299. It's a great receiver if you have efficient speakers (the receiver is rated 55wpc). If you can spare the additional $100 (a few DVDs) you can enjoy surround music in ProLogic II with 494.

Both receivers are great.

Beeeil

That rating is conservative. I believe the Onkyo 484/494 has as much or more power than any receiver in it's price range. I would recommend it for any speakers. But yes, efficient speakers are nice.

It plays the PSB Alphas very well...hehe

Chalk up another vote for the 494. Onkyo is a great, solid brand receiver that doesn't do much advertising and thus gets less attention than the yamahas and harmon/kardons of the world. I have had 3 Onkyos and every single one has been outstanding. They're comparatively inexpensive and because they use high current amps they don't clip the sine wave like many "consumer-grade" receivers do. Anybody in the know will tell you that a 50Watt high current amp will outperform a 100Watt regular amp any day of the week. Yamaha also makes high current amps but not at as low a cost as Onkyo and in my opinion not as solidly built. If you don't have the $25,000 for that Marantz tube receiver then I think Onkyo is gonna be your best bet :)

Well, we went for the Onkyo and was able to find a 494 for a reasonable price. I had to talk him into the decision (via his wife) but I think he made the right choice. I can also vouch for Onkyo because I have the 787 (and it is SWEET!).
Thanks for all of the help and I'll let you know how it sounds when we get it hooked up.

I would like to recommend the Kenwood VR-507. You can find it online easily for ~225. It has 100w x 5ch, Circle Surround 5.1 and DPL II. While it is not quite in the same league as Onkyo/Denon, it is a class apart from the Sony/Pioneer/Jvc's. You get a lot of features and clean, powerful sound. Hometheatermag had a review sometime back in which it was declared the overall winner amongst budget recievers, even beating out Yamaha.
Another thing I'd like to mention is that the Onkyo 494 does not support tailoring the DPL II parameters. While this is a minor detail, for those who like to tweak, adjusting things like center width etc is quite fun :) and yields very different sounding results.
Definitely get a receiver with DPL II though - it will take music and tv/vcr shows to a whole new level.

/edit - forgot a couple points - the 494 remote is god awful :( and it has a dumbed down front panel - won't let you select front/rear speaker settings independently etc. I realize this may be of no significance in this instance though.