I got ?the KLH 4906 speaker system for Christmas and I now need to buy a receiver for it. This will be my first surround system, and I want to be able to listen to both DD 5.1 and DTS. I was in Best Buy looking at receivers, and I found the ?Pioneer VSX-D411 and the ?Kenwood VR-605. They're both within my receiver budget ($200), and they seem to be nearly identical. I'm leaning towards the Kenwood, as it seems to have 'more' going by BestBuy.com spec sheets, yet I don't know what half of what the things mentioned are. Anyway, I was hoping someone knowledgable would be kind enough to offer some advice or even recommend a different receiver than the ones I found. Thanks in advance.

Also, where is a good place for deals on home theater equipment

A budget of $200 is going to limit your choices. Two brands that always get great from users are Yamaha and Onkyo.

Pioneer Reviews @ Audioreview.com

Kenwood Reviews @ Audioreview.com

Still, I do agree with the previous poster: $200 is limiting; even the $300 range has some considerably better units, such as the Panasonic SAHE100 (which some people have for $250ish) or the Pioneer 811.

As for the two you were chosing, I haven't heard either, but looking at the stats, the Kenwood does have more digital inputs and lower Total Harmonic Distortion.

I'd still recommend looking at the recievers at least one step up beyond the $200 ones.

Thanks for the reply. I really want the Pioneer 811, but after a little research, I saw the 812 is coming in March. I assume that the 812 will be a 811 plus some extra features and a retail price $25 cheaper than the 811. This that correct? If so, I have no problem waiting another 2 months for this purchase (I'll have my tax return by then).

Edit:
Here is the press release containing information on the 812. The SRP is actually $110 lower than the 811 ($365 vs. $475), but I can't tell any difference between the two, except the 812 has muli-channel accoustic calibration and I think some other extras. Am I missing something, or would it make no sense to buy the 811 when the 812 is available in two months?

I have a VSX-D409 and I love it. After 2+ years of uses here's what I think sucks about it:

#1) No Video Switching. The D411 might have it. I just bought a seperate switcher.

#2) The connections at the back for speaker wire suck ass. I re-ran all of the speaker wire so that there was no chance of pull.


Other then that it runs my Polk Audios and Sony SA-WM40 sub nicely.

I love my 811 and if you can find it cheap in the next few months, go for it. Seems VERY similar to the 812 from what I can see.

Alfer