Weapon X

Man, am I confused...went through 5 recievers..all had to be cranked to 70% for DVD's...unacceptable for my new HT to sound worse than my TV.

I just don't 'get' this watts thing. This Aiwa claimed 120 watts per channel, but had to be turned to 26 out of 30 to get comfy..

Then I tried a Yamaha today(Way more expensive), and almost blew myself back at one quarter of the volume control..but it is only listed as 70 watts.

Physics thing? Drivers?

For an open opinion call, I am stuck with $600 right now. I can get the Denon HTIaB for that at Sears, but they didn't have a display.

Or, I can get the Yamaha DTS 70 watt unit for $300, The Sony Sub-Woofer for $130, and a...well...I need two large speakers for Right and Left channels ,and a decent center.
My surrounds are RCA, and they sound okay..unless anyone knows of a good speaker package deal that runs about $200.

Is it a good idea to forego better speakers now, and start my HT with a better reciever and SW?

Would this be a good HT Sound Set-Up?

Yamaha DTS reciever
Yamaha Speakers all around(The two floor standers at Sears, and the better Center and surrounds)
The Sony Sub-Woofer

My goal is to have a 'respectable' system that sounds good, but not unrealistically so(In other words, I don't expect it to sound like a sweet $2000 system)

Any random ideas would be helpful.

Cardiff Giant11

Weapon X, see my reply in your other thread. Also, it looks like the Denon HTIAB has only DD decoding in the reciever and not DTS. I could be wrong but judging from the info on sears.com they don't list DTS.

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Dave My DVDs My Humble Home Theatre
"I'm a firm believer in the philosophy of a ruling class. Especially since I rule"-Randal Graves

Ezra

If you decide to get something at sears, make sure that you price match from somewhere like xtremeshopper.com. They're prices are the lowest I could find and sears.com will price match if you call they're 800 number.

KnightLerxst

Dude if you want a good reciever with great sound at a good price go for the Sony STR-DE-845. DD and DTS, s video switching, a ton of inputs, outputs and options.

I have my Dreamcast, VCR, DVD, LD, and CD player all hooked up to this bad boy and the sound is wonderful.

I highly recommend this reciever, there have been a few web sites that sell it for 300, thats about 100 less than the B and M price.

Cardiff Giant11

While the sony that was mentioned seems like a good reciever, I think if you're willing to pay more to get a Denon, Onkyo, or Yamaha you're better off getting one of those brands. The low end sony recievers aren't the greatest(but they aren't bad by any means) and they don't have high current amps. Here is a description of the High Current Amp I found on another forum dedicated to home theater
"Watts are only one measure of the power that a receiver makes. Onkyo makes high current stuff, 70W from Onkyo is somethingk like 120W from Sony or Pioneer when you bring the high current into play. Onkyo used to have a great description of this on their web site not sure if it's still there or not.
The simplistic way they explained it was to compare a 12 volt rechargable phone battery with a 12v car battery. The difference between the two is the current though the volts are the same."-Phillip Hamm

So basically, don't let wattage fool you.
Here's the description from Onkyo's Web Site"TX-DS484 has Onkyo’s exclusive Wide Range Amplifier Technology (WRAT) - meaning you’ll get a flat response up to 100 kHz, which is necessary for accurate reproduction of DVD-Audio and SACD. WRAT also provides clearer dynamics and reduced noise and distortion from your regular CDs and DVDs. " Again, Denon, Onkyo, Yamaha, and the higher end Sony(ES) and Pioneer(Elite) all have high current amps. Anyhow goodluck and don't let the wattage fool ya!

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Dave My DVDs My Humble Home Theatre
"I'm a firm believer in the philosophy of a ruling class. Especially since I rule"-Randal Graves

Knives

Watts dont matter to much, its how the receiver distributes the sound. That yamaha 70 watt you are talking about, is a fantastic receiver. Check www.audioreview.com for the best information on recievers, speakers, and everything else.

stingo

NAD is known for that - putting out receivers whose wattage seems low but produce really great sound.

Andy Kim

Don't put too much into the watts...
A crap receiver might claim to be 100 watts per channel but it will actually be lower.

Better to get a good receiver that outputs 70 clean watts per channel than a receiver that claim to put out 100 WPC but really doesn't.

chess

sounds like we've got the watts thing covered.

don't skimp on speakers to get a "better" receiver. speakers last a LONG time. you'll want a new receiver in 5 years or less.

a few receivers i am fond of for the $$$.

Kenwood VR-something09 (sounds solid and has s-video switching)
Pioneer VSX-D509S (great sound and an awesome remote)
Onkyo 575x

for $600, i'm thinking my receiver ($250) the sony sub ($150) and a set of energy take 5s ($280ish)

alright, more than $600, but you can skip a few meals for your home theater, right?

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chess' DVDs chess' Web Site
chess' modest home theater:
TV: 61" Sony KP-61S75, DVD: Panasonic A-120U, Rec: Pioneer VSX-D509S, Front & Rear: Energy e:XL-16 (birch), Center: Energy e:XL-C, Sub: Sony SA-WM40, Total: $2696

Gonnosuke

Yes, starving yourself (and your loved ones) is an acceptable way to improve your home theatre.

-Gonnosuke

Weapon X

I got the Yamaha reciever and loved it.
Kind of stuck with the Sears card, and a bit of luck, so managed to get two of the 3 way Yamaha slimline floor standers for only $130..(PAIR).VERY replaceable when I can get the Energy or Paradigm speakers.

The Yamaha sounds SWEET and I can't turn up the volume past half...too loud..which is odd, because the AIWA is rated at 50 more watts per channel, yet had to be cranked to 27/30 for any sound.



The speakers also sound great, and I can't wait for the sub to arrive.

Yamaha Reciever-$299.00
Sony Center-(Free)Reg. $99
Sony Sub-$130
Yamaha Pair-$140
Yamaha Sattelites-Free

Total for HT system:580 and tax.

I don't feel i got a bad deal.