I am in the market for a new receiver with DTS. I would prefer something with 6.1 ES. I only have about $500 to spend on the receiver. I was looking at the Pioneer D709S (I know it's not ES but it does fall withinn my price range). I was also eyeing the Yamaha HTR-5280 (it does have ES). Although it's a bit more than I can spend right now, I'm wondering if you might know where I can get a good deal on it. I think Best Buy had it for about $749.

Also, with regard to DVD players: How's the Toshiba SD1600? I hear horror stories about Toshibas and was wondering if anybody experienced any problems with this player?

Do you think all these places like Best Buy and Circuit City and stuff will have sales after the holidays? (Or should I buy these items before the holiday)

Thanks for any input.

First off you were mis-informed on the HTR-5280. It does not have true ES, it has an ES matrix which is like a virtual 6.1 setup with only 5 speakers. With that said I would recomend the Yamaha over the pioneer. I own the 5280 and it is awesome. Plus Pioneers' low end stuff, anything below their Elite products, are not very good. As for prices check out www.etronics.com this place sells the HTR-5280 for $585.

Hope this helped http://talk.dvdtalk.com/ubb/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by Pnub_31 (edited December 11, 2000).]

The "horror stories" you speak of are largely unfounded. There have been some problems with Toshiba DVD players and their firmware, but these have mostly been fixed with firmware upgrades. Plus, I believe Toshiba has worked out the glitches and its newer production runs have been without problem. Nonetheless, ALL DVD players from all makers are likely to have minor glitches with certain discs or technical things; none are perfect. IMO, Toshiba makes one of the best DVD products on the market -- affordable and super quality. I'd recommend them above anyone else. (I own a Tochiba 2109.)

As far as receivers go, in the $500-$700 price range, I would check out some higher end models like Marantz or Denon. They are considered the best in this price range, or most any price range for that matter. I'd recommend a Marantz 5000 or 7000; both have DTS and are very musical and great for HT.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Pnub_31:
First off you were mis-informed on the HTR-5280. It does not have true ES, it has an ES matrix which is like a virtual 6.1 setup with only 5 speakers. With that said I would recomend the Yamaha over the pioneer. I own the 5280 and it is awesome. Plus Pioneers' low end stuff, anything below their Elite products, are not very good. As for prices check out www.etronics.com this place sells the HTR-5280 for $585.

Hope this helped http://talk.dvdtalk.com/ubb/smile.gif

[This message has been edited by Pnub_31 (edited December 11, 2000).]<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Care to elaborate on the Pioneer slam, or was that another unfounded crtique that seems to be so popular nowadays? I guess what I should say is which Pioneer models have you demoed in your own home on your system?



------------------
DVD-O-Rama.com
DVD Reviews..with an attitude

Miami Dolphins: AFC Champs 2000.

I bought a Toshiba SD1600 and it's a pretty good player. I haven't tried every DVD on it, but the ones I have played worked very well and the fast speeds and zoom are very good. The remote kind of sucks though. But then so does my Sony Wega's. It is very much worth the $143 I paid for it.

I don't know much about the Pioneer equipment - I have only owned an old pro-logic receiver that was Pioneer (and, in fact, very good for its time).

However, the Yamaha receivers are very good. If you want to get a higher-end model, you may want to take a look at some of their RX series. If you don't mind spending a little more, the Denon 3801 is a very nice system. It has 6.1 discrete (and matrix, if you don't have the extra speaker) and will also do 5 and 7 channel stereo. You can pick this up from Etronics for around $800 (pricey, but worth it).

If you do only want to spend the $500 though, I'd keep looking at the Yamaha HTR-5280. Great sounding system.

------------------
"PC Load Letter?!?"

My DVD Collection

I personally just bought a Pioneer Elite VSX-35 with a Pioneer Elite DV-37 DVD player. THX certified so it does have true EX surround sound and the DVD player has progressive scan outputs just in case you ever get a bitchin' tv. I haven't gotten any time with the units, but there's a pretty good deal that can be had at www.brandnamez.com $625 for the DVD player and $675 for the receiver. Retail for both is $1100 each I believe. Also, when bought together you get an additional $100 off the pair through mail-in rebate. If you can wait a week I can give you a full review of the setup.

As far as your choices go I wouldn't go with either. Better equipment can be had for the same amount of money. Yamaha used to make some incredible HT stuff, they've just been going downhill. Right now the brands to look at (in my opinion) are Onkyo, Denon, and Marantz. The Onkyo 787 should have EX surround it's THX certified so it should and I know Denon has models in this category as well. I would add Pioneer Elite to that list but I haven't heard any recently. Last time I did hear Pioneer Elite gear I was very impressed. Powered some big NHT's VERY well...Good luck.

"I haven't gotten any time with the units, but there's a pretty good deal that can be had at www.brandnamez.com $625 for the DVD player and $675 for the receiver. Retail for both is $1100 each I believe."

Sounds a bit "Pricey" to me. I did check out there prices to compare what I paid for the Sony DVPS7700 (for example), and the sell it for over $700 when it's available for about $550. Start with Pricewatch.com and you should save some dough.

Thanks for all the input. I think I'll wait about a month or two before my upgrade. This will give me time to save up a little more cash. Just so that you all know...I currently own a Pioneer and I'm VERY happy with the quality of it. I just want to upgrade to DTS and maybe ES and EX technology.

Sony's usually sell for a lot less than their retail because they're so widely availible. Pioneer Elite is a more scarce product, hell, I don't think retailers are legally allowed to post Elite prices on the web. www.wholesaleconnection.com whose prices are just about always competitive with any one else on the web or anywhere sells the DV-37 for $675 and the VSX-35 for $725 (I believe, I might be off on the VSX-35 Price). Also, the Sony 7700 has been on the market for quite a while now and that also brings prices down. I see used DV-37's going for $500 online! I got my prices off www.dealtime.com, pricewatch.com only listed 4 pioneer elite prodcuts total, and the prices were pathetic. I too thought I could swing a better deal, possibly with some retailer with online coupons or MSN passport, but the next closest retailer I found was wholesaleconnection and they don't offer coupons or discounts.

- As to why the 7700 cost so much more on Brandnamez then where you bought it...I have no idea. Some retailers just have better deals on certain manufacturers than others, and there's 100's more retailers that sell Sony than Pioneer Elite. To this moment I'm 95% certain I got the best deal out there on this gear.

Pricewatch: Pioneer Elite VSX-37 $1295
BrandNamez: Pioneer Elite VSX-37 $1155

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by DVD_O_Rama:
Care to elaborate on the Pioneer slam, or was that another unfounded crtique that seems to be so popular nowadays? I guess what I should say is which Pioneer models have you demoed in your own home on your system?

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


You need to get over this obsession. Everyone knows that the low end stuff by Pioneer isn't that great, same with Sony. However it is more than good enough for the average person. I have a lower end Sony receiver and I am totally happy with it. There is no need to take this kind of stuff personal. If you come to a home theater oriented site, you are going to see consumer level products bashed by geeky audiophiles, you just have to ignore it.


------------------
Josh Hinkle
My DVD's
My CD's

I love poineer pesonally and am getting ready to buy another receiver from them. I looked at the 709, but I think I am going to scrape together about 800 and go all the way up to the elite 36tx. The 709 looks real good, but if you shop smart you can get the 35tx for about the same price it has EX for real as mentioned earlier. THX select need I say more.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by speedyray:
If you shop smart you can get the 35tx for about the same price it has EX for real as mentioned earlier. THX select need I say more.</font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Thanks speedyray! If you find a good deal on the 36tx please let me know.

www.wholesaleconnecton.com no tax in most cases and cheap shipping. Seems like the 36 is well under a grand

[This message has been edited by speedyray (edited December 15, 2000).]

I personally like my SD-1600. I'm not crazy about the remote and my new Toshiba 27" TV remote won't control any DVD player, but it (the DVD player) works fine.

Also, over the summer Pepsi had coupons in their cases good for a $15 rebate on the SD-1600 if bought before 12/30/00.