Home cinema - AV receiver question

[julianhj]

I'm in the market for a new AV receiver - does anyone have any advice on choices? My budget is £250 max, and I'm tempted by the Sony STRB 795. This is partly because it has good reviews, and partly because I'm a total whore for Sony products.

Anyone got any better suggestions/experience with similar products?

I've been flicking around on flea-bay for the last couple of weeks looking for the elusive bargain, to no avail. Several earlier models have been and gone, normally for around £150 - for models which are up to 5 years old! My search has be specifically for Sony receivers though...

[steviebee]

Posted a similar thread yesterday (I'll go and look for it in a min'!)

Budget - to a point - is key here. The one I'm looking at is an Arcam AV300 which by all accounts is the absolute nuts. But it costs £1,300!

Denon also come close.

The key with these brands is that they appear to be consistently good. Sony gets mixed reviews.

Also, the kit that you will be plumbing into the receiver also has an impact. Take the Arcam AV300. Plug in naff speakers and a supermarket DVD player and all you're going to get is the flaws perfectly apparent.

Pair the Arcam with the Arcam DV79 player, a set of Quad loudspeakers and a decent telly, and you've just kissed goodbye to the best part of £6k......but what you'll get will be better than the cinema!

And as a general rule of thumb, if the shop you buy it from also sells washing machines and computer games, then the chances are the product won't stack up against those sold from a HiFi shop.

[alexkp]

Go to Richer Sounds and buy NAD.

[steviebee]

Here it is: www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=141&t=170044

[scared but happy]

I agree NAD are very good, most of the home entertainment systems tend to muck up the audio by adding fake effects. Ensure your DVD player has DTS out and that the amp can also take this feature.
Ensure you have a GOOD set of speakers and good quality cable, decent SUB and ensure the room is setup correctly.
This thing always reminds me of the Muppets that spend £800 on a car stereo system and yet use cables as thin as a reed and wonder why it drops out on base

Most DVD's now seem to supply the speakers with them now (surround) BUT this only complicates the problem ie 4 for DVD 2 for tuner 2 for TV etc - plus they are of err not very good quality.

Also do NOT use any graphic equalisers or any other stuff between the source and amp - ie TV or tape as this seriously mucks up the stereo/surround image.

Shop about and go for the best you can afford and also ask to hear some of them in a realistic arena

Lastly dont be bowled over in the shop by the latest 99" plasma super thing with nutter surround as when you get home and plug it into your 32" CRT model it does not quite hit the mark

[angusfaldo]

In hindsight if I were buying at this price I'd go and buy a second hand Yamaha from ebay. The Yamahas amps are laden with features and the prices just totally dump when sold on. for 250 quid you'll get the best model they ever made - from last year's range.

I've just run a search in the home cinema section. There's good entry range amps up for sale as low as a tenner. The price doesn't do them justice - although they are at the mass-end of the market the output is still very good value.

[angusfaldo]

If you do go ebay route, make sure the amp comes with a manual and a remote. Some of the features are only (practically) available from the remote and they are almost impossible to set up without the manual.

[julianhj]

angusfaldo said:

If you do go ebay route, make sure the amp comes with a manual and a remote. Some of the features are only (practically) available from the remote and they are almost impossible to set up without the manual.

Any model numbers to look for in particular?

Cheers

[angusfaldo]

Well this looks like a bargain!

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=72406&item=5766685607&rd=1

So long as it is a reaosnably late modelled amp you can't go wrong with Yamaha.

You can check the specs out on their website.

BTW I've no connection with the seller of that ebay item. It just looks like a good deal.

[Zod]

Denon AVR-1905. Denon are the best at that kind of price point. They always win the What Hi-Fi awards and this one is no exception.

[marctwo]

Don't have any complaints about my Marantz and their budget models are usually around this price with good reviews.

[oddman]

angusfaldo said:

Some of the features are only (practically) available from the remote and they are almost impossible to set up without the manual.

Some are practically impossible to set up with the manual.

This is very sound advice. I struggled until 2 in the morning to get mine working. Turned out the amp knew better than me about which input to select.

I've got a Denon 2105 driving Wharfedale Diamonds. Very happy - better than cinema now properly set up. I'm sure the Denon 1705 and 1905 could easily do justice to the diamonds. In retrospect I should have settled for the 1905 but was seduced by the microphone set up feature (thought I'd be using the system in many different rooms but haven't)

Like Hifi it's about compatibility

250 quid new is a budget amp. You buy a 250 quid Denon, Yamaha or Sony and all the rest if the kit is good budget stuff (say 500 for speakers and 150 for DVD) you'll have a good budget system. Factor in cables and speaker stands you're looking best part of a grand.

Speaker cables are very important. If you buy these ready made they'll be very expensive. You need 5 plus one for the SW. The rear leads are likely to be longer than your usual hifi speaker lead (kerching for the shop). If you can wield a soldering iron, then buy some fat cable on a reel from Maplin and suitable connectors and you'll save yourself a fortune.

T

[bga]

angusfaldo said:

So long as it is a reaosnably late modelled amp you can't go wrong with Yamaha. You can check the specs out on their website.

I'm very impressed with my Yamaha amp.