Ok....I was comparing the new Pioneer receivers and I noticed some of the lesser models had Pre-Out and the others had Speaker Assign.

Can someone break this down for me?

Here is a link that shows a chart of the Pioneer receivers.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...pf_rd_i=507846

I have never heard of a "speaker assign" feature. I guess a Pioneer owner will have to tell you about that one.

The "Pre-Outs" are for connecting an external amp for more power, possibly for driving 4 ohm speakers. You can connect powered speakers there too, such as the Mackie 824 studio monitors. They are not for regular speaker connections.

I think Speaker Assign refers to the Dolby Pro Logic IIz mode choice. The 8th and 9th channels can either be Wides or Front Heights.

emoxley discussed preouts. The 2 are unrelated in specifics, really, but are both part of getting speakers set up.

Thanks...I'm possibly looking to get a new receiver to simplify my setup. I would rather have one HDMI cable coming from my receiver rather than running HDMI to my TV for video and optical to my current receiver for audio.

It does make things simpler.............

So, anyone want to suggets a 3D receiver for me? Basically, I will be connecting cable box, PS3, 360 and possibly a Wii to my Samsung 55C7000 HDTV

I like Onkyo receivers, so I'd suggest a TX-SR608 or the TX-NR708. If you have the money, go for one of the higher end ones.

Honestly, what would I benefit from a higher end receiver? Better video processing? I'm not driving any major speakers, as it is a family room setup....not a home theatre room. I have 2 kids, so I don't really play movies too loud anymore.

Depends on the receiver. If you go up to the TX-NR3008, then yes, better video processing with the HQV Reon VX chip. More power will also sound cleaner and clearer at low volumes, to me anyway. But from what you say, you probably don't need these.

A few features like the better video processing. But mostly you get better amps, and it is not just more power. That is a little harder to quantify, and some people can't hear improvements (or see them, re: the video processor), anyway.

Thanks....I suppose the other downside to having everything ran through one receiver is basically you are using one input on the receiver and you would basically have to create different color settings possibly for Cable/PS3/360.

Still kicking around the idea of the Onkyo, Sony, Pioneer or Samsung receiver. The Samsung one got bad reviews though....I like the look of it though.