Hi Guys,

Following the discovery that my Sony STR-DE925 receiver doesn't play nice with my HD-A1's DD+ bitstream, I've come to the grim conclusion that I need to find myself a new receiver. I would have perferred to wait until the HDMI 1.3 eqquiped receivers hit the market, but the performance of my current receiver is dismal with DD+.

I guess some of the major factors at this point are HDMI interface (passing of HD-A1 audio via HDMI), 5.1 analog input (Dolby TruHD from HD-A1). All my video componets are already at 1080i so upconversion isn't a requirement. Component video switching would be nice.

Could somenone please recommend a brand/model that you've had luck with including any that may be on the horizon.

Thanks!

I'm in a similar situation. My 6 year old JVC receiver and the A1 doesn't get along if I try using optical with a HD DVD, so I'm heavily leaning towards an Onkyo from Circuit City. After rebates, the price is $339. It comes with 1 HDMI connector.

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Onkyo...oductDetail.do

EDIT: Actually, I think that receiver doesn't have any HDMI connections. CC's page is wrong. Looks like the SR604 series is the one to get. It's $499, has 2 HDMI inputs and 1 output. I think this is what I'll purchase.

http://www.onkyousa.com/model.cfm?m=...s=Receiver&p=i

Give the Yamaha RX-V2600 a look. HDMI upconversion across the board, 2 hdmi inputs, multichannel, XM Radio, etc.
It is more expensive than $339 though, but the original poster was talking about HDMI 1.3 receivers, and those will probably start at 2 grand when they come out. Still a cycle or two away for most people. The Yamaha above is available for less than $900 online I think. All the best.

Circuit City is going to start selling Denon. My Brother in law can get the $1200 Denon for around $550 with his discount. That may be my new receiver purchase. I like my Onkyo, but would love to have everything hooked up through HDMI instead of the 6 channel analog. I want to wait for HDMI 1.3, but don't know when those receivers will actually show up.

Anybody have any experience with the Onkyo SR604 AVR? I'm seriously leaning towards this one due to price and HDMI/Analog inputs. Thanks Mr. Cinema.

*Spits coffee all over monitor*

What kind of discount is he getting that he's getting over half off the price of the machine?

I actually dont have much experience in the field of recievers but recently aquired one that has left me speechless with how many options and the overall performance the model displays. Its the Sony STR-DA7100ES/B. I was lucky enough to buy this from a buddy of mine who was hard up for some cash and got it for only 500 bucks and less than 2 months old. The brand new price from Crutchfield.com is around 1100 which is a little pricey for a Sony, at least in my experience with Sony. Anyways this is the first Sony reciever I have ever ownder and I am very impressed, as I guess one should be with a 1100.00 reciever.

I am still reading the manual as it has more hookups and more modes than anything else I have ever owned. In the end it soounds much richer than my 600.00 Pioneer reciever did and has ample hook ups to support everything I own and still have enough for future purchases. If 1100 is a price range you can go with and Sony was one of the companies you were looking at then hop over to Crutchfield.com and at least give it a look. Its a damn nice reciever.

PS...

I need to get more info from him, but I know when he got Monster Cables and the center channel for me he used a special website for employees to order the stuff and the discount on those was something like 60% as well. I may go ahead on the Denon. The A1 does all the decoding so HDMI 1.1 will be fine.

Were the Monster cables still overpriced?

The Panasonic SA-XR57 is a pretty good gig. The setup options aren't as flexible as some more expensive receivers, but it has HDMI, 7.1, and analogs. I've had mine for about 2 weeks now and am really liking it. You can get it from Amazon, for about $300.

Yes. I think it takes something like a 99% discount to get those reasonable.

Are any of these HDMI upconverting? Anyone have any good recommendations?

I can answer this. A dealer/salesguy can usually get these at cost for personal use, which is likely 45% off MSRP. That is more a store decision than Denon or other mfgrers. Once a year (not a specific day, just only once) they can often get a larger discount, which Denon will allow. Up to 75% depending on the agreement for that store.

And the only deal I want to hear about for Monster is 100% discount. Otherwise I'll make my own, thanks.

Hey guys,

I picked up the Onkyo SR604 AVR based on Mr. Cinema's advice. Not only did the Receiver fix my DD+ decoding problem that I had with my precious receiver, but it's HDMI connection also fixed the Black Crush issue I was having when connecting HDMI to my DVI only TV!! I haven't fully examined all the features of this receiver, but I truely feel it was $400 well spent!

Glad it's working out. This is one of the models I'm thinking of getting. Did you try out the optical/coaxial connections yet? I'm just curious if using that with the Onkyo also fixed your audio distortion.

I'm going to research a few of these before I buy. I'm not sure I need a HDMI receiver right now. I just want one that offers the best sound under $500. These are the ones I'm thinking of. I hope someone on here owns one:

Onkyo TXSR504
Denon AVR587
Panasonic SAXR57K (AVS owners rave about this one)
Denon AVR687
HK AVR140
Onkyo TXSR604

There's a couple of Sony's as well, but I never hear people mention them that often.

My TV has 1 HDMI and 2 component inputs. I have the Toshiba HD-A1, and Xbox 360, and HD Cable. Those are the only HDMI/component items I have. Also, I keep reading about component video switching being critical. Is that a must have feature?

I had the Panasonic SAXR70, which I think is the model previous to the SAXR57. It was great for watching movies, but if you are planning to use it for music listening, especially vinyl, then forget it. The all-digital make-up, imo, does not make for great music playback.

I sold it and got the Onkyo TX-SR604, which is a beautiful machine.

While I'd like to have a little more control over things than this one offers, the sound is excellent. For someone on a budget, I'd definitely recommend it.

Does it support multi-channel PCM (5.1) over HDMI, or is it limited to 2-channel?

Where did you find it for $400?

I'm picking one of these up pretty soon. I'm sold on the digital units.

This receiver does 5.1 PCM.

Well, I decided to go with the Denon AVR587. Ordered it for $300. Should be arriving Friday. Never have owned a Denon product but I've read nothing but good things.

My roommate used to work @ Best Buy, and he was my source for all my HT gear. He could usually get hardware at about 15-25% off. I'd guess more like 15% for a quality brand like Denon or Onkyo. For software, like DVDs, he got next to nothing. We're talking a buck, if that. For accessories, like Monster Cables, he practically got them for free. They were usually 60-70% off. Those types of items carry the high margins, and they are the only ones with a decent employee discount. I'd check with your brother in law for Circuit City's policy before you start assuming you can get a quality receiver for the same discount as your HDMI cables. You don't want to be disappointed later.

I have the Denon 4806 and it is actually making me forget about the two Yammy flagships I had before. They are good stuff.