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Opinions on AV receivers

S

sdilley14

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Feb 8, 2007
1,242
201
Mesa, AZ
I am considering replacing my old AV receiver. I'm not a major audiophile and I don't need all of the top-end bells and whistles. Really all I need is an optical audio out, 5.1 channel or more, AirPlay compatability, and I want to cap the price at $300.

I've found these two that fit this criteria...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B981F2O/

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009HB2USI/

I don't really have any brand preference. These both seem to be essentially the same receiver. The one thing I did notice is that the HK is about 5 lbs. lighter than the Yamaha. I don't know if that really matters, but it's been my experience that the more heft/density with audio equipment, often times the better it performs.

Thoughts?
 
Last edited:
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I've got a Pioneer VSX-xxxx I don't recall. Was under $300 on Amazon. Been absolutely thrilled with it. *shrug* another option to consider.
 
Think Yamaha.. I have owned several of them, sounds great no problems.. I currently own the RX3010
 
IMHO Yamaha would be a good choice.
For the same price as the RX-V475 you can get a refurb RX-V575 from accessories4less, the 575 is 7.2 compared to 5.1 and also adds a Zone 2. While you may not use either now, the expansion path is there should you want to.

I have never had an issue with Yamaha, I've had 3 home theater receivers and 2 stereo receivers over the years as well as 2 CD players.
 
I am very happy with my RX-V475. It handles 2 DVD jukeboxes, AirPlay, and an Apple TV with no problems at all. It's lighter and works better than my old Onkyo.
 
DMJG said:
I am very happy with my RX-V475. It handles 2 DVD jukeboxes, AirPlay, and an Apple TV with no problems at all. It's lighter and works better than my old Onkyo.
Click to expand...

This is the one I'm leaning towards. Seems to be a good mix of features, sound quality, price, and strong reviews.
 
sdilley14 said:
I am considering replacing my old AV receiver. I'm not a major audiophile and I don't need all of the top-end bells and whistles. Really all I need is an optical audio out, 5.1 channel or more, AirPlay compatability, and I want to cap the price at $300.

I've found these two that fit this criteria...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B981F2O/

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009HB2USI/

I don't really have any brand preference. These both seem to be essentially the same receiver. The one thing I did notice is that the HK is about 5 lbs. lighter than the Yamaha. I don't know if that really matters, but it's been my experience that the more heft/density with audio equipment, often times the better it performs.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

I just purchased a Denon AVR-e300 for $200 shipped on ebay... Manufacture refurbished.

http://www.amazon.com/Denon-AVR-E30...=UTF8&qid=1395869110&sr=8-1&keywords=Avr-e300

It's a great receiver and the included microphone / calibration software is one of the best out there.

http://www.accessories4less.com/mak...300-5.1-3d-networking-receiver-airplay/1.html

Actually the company I purchased from via their ebay store front
 
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Menel said:
I've got a Pioneer VSX-xxxx I don't recall. Was under $300 on Amazon. Been absolutely thrilled with it. *shrug* another option to consider.
Click to expand...


Second this. I have a Pioneer VSX 823. Has Airplay and I run my Apple tv through it. Was <$300 at BB last summer. Using the Andrew Jones bookshelf speakers $99 (I think) from Newegg. Not sure about the bells and whistles. TBH I've never looked at everything the receiver cn do. Works for me as is. It also has microphone calibration for the speakers.
 
Still leaning towards the Yamaha. I'm looking to keep the purchase on Amazon (0% financing, I'm buying a subwoofer and a few other items as well). The Denon is quite a bit pricier on Amazon. I'm not really interested in buying refurbished (not that I haven't bought refurbished items in the past with great luck, I would just rather buy new in this instance). I looked up some professional reviews comparing the Harmon Kardon and the Yamaha and the Yamaha beats it pretty handily from what I can see.

Thanks for all the input!
 
Just to toss it in there, I've been using Onkyo receivers for the better part of 14 years and have been very happy with them.
 
I ended up going with the Yamaha. I looked at my Amazon store cart today and they lowered the price from $299 to $290. It's a small savings, but I figured it'd be a good time to pull the trigger on the purchase. I feel like it is a good value and a good receiver for $290. This should be a nice step up from my barebones Pioneer receiver I bought like 7 years ago. I'm just hoping this new receiver will last me another 7-10 years! :)

Thanks for the input everyone!
 
troy14 said:
I just purchased a Denon AVR-e300 for $200 shipped on ebay... Manufacture refurbished.

http://www.amazon.com/Denon-AVR-E30...=UTF8&qid=1395869110&sr=8-1&keywords=Avr-e300

It's a great receiver and the included microphone / calibration software is one of the best out there.

http://www.accessories4less.com/mak...300-5.1-3d-networking-receiver-airplay/1.html

Actually the company I purchased from via their ebay store front
Click to expand...

Just got the same one on sale at Best Buy for $200. Great receiver, would definitely recommend it.
 
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
troy14 said:
I just purchased a Denon AVR-e300 for $200 shipped on ebay... Manufacture refurbished.
Click to expand...

Trius said:
Just got the same one on sale at Best Buy for $200. Great receiver, would definitely recommend it.
Click to expand...


If you keep an eye out, Amazon drops the price on the E300 from $280-ish, down to $199 on occasion. It’s sort of random, I just see it with one “saved for later” anytime I hit my cart (which is pretty frequently).

That’s new and sold by Amazon who’s an authorized distributor.

I’ve had Yamaha, Onkyo, Pioneer, HK, and they’ve had pros and cons.

I actually considered the E300 or E400 as an replacement for our current Pioneer VSX-1021, which occasionally throws up an amplifier fault (it’s easily “fixed”, but still a PITA). The E series Denons have nice apps, decent UIs for configuration from what I’ve read. The Pioneer iOS is pretty decent too, I regularly use my phone for volume control, input switching (it’s on our wired network).

We did need 4HDMI inputs, but migrated the XB360 upstairs, so we could use the E300 with 3 inputs (DVR, AppleTV, PS3), but it’s not a bad idea for planning to buy a unit with 1 or 2 extra since you never know what else you might throw on your rack (and dealing with multiple inputs on the TV + AVR, or using an external switcher is a bummer). Also, consider some AVRs do upscaling, and some can take analog inputs like component from an older console and convert that over to HDMI (which makes for a very flexible input switch).

I’ve got a slightly older Yamaha in my office, great build quality, just dated (no HDMI). I think the Pioneer has better build quality than the E300 too TBH, but I think most low-midrange products have kind of cheapened up on the build, but really upped the features.
 
My dad got an Onkyo unit a couple of years ago with a ton of HDMI ports and, importantly, network connectivity. The iOS app is pretty neat so you can spread the number of remotes around for controlling basic stuff. I think it was $350 or $400 at the time. I'd like to replace the one I have with one like that, especially since it takes 10-15 minutes for me to be able to use video connected to it. But unfortunately those models aren't down below $300 yet. Instead, they just throw more bells and whistles onto the same price points. Balls.
 
OmegaRed1723 said:
I have a Denon AVR-X1000 in a secondary room, and it's proven to be a great little unit. Accessories4less has them refurbed for $299.99. It's worth it for the MultiEQ XT calibration alone.
Click to expand...

Agreed. MultiEQ XT works absolute wonders. I've had a Denon and have a Yamaha 473 now. While the Yamaha is a wonderful receiver it's room correction software isn't near as good as Audysee's.
 
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