Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners It's now a left handed HT

AARRGGH!

Not for sure what's going on but last night I flipped the receiver on and noticed a difference in the sound. Took a step or two back and only the FL channel is working. No Right, no center no surrounds. I immediately thought that the kids maybe changed settings but they all checked out so I then pulled that heavy sucker out of the cabinet to check connections. Unfortunately all were in tact. So I played with it a bit more but no help, it seems that the other channels have just died. I don't know why but it has happened. I had planned on getting a new receiver within the next six months or so but now my timeline seems to have changed.

Life goes on and worse things could happen but I already miss my HT. :-) I am so far behind on receivers these days not sure where to start. Also, my price point has probably dropped a great deal by accelerating the purchase. Just wrote the check this week to the ortho for #1 childs braces - holy crap!!! But I just think of that beautiful smile on that beautiful child . . . OK excuse me, I just fell into that proud Papa mode for a sec :-) Also, I just purchased my new toy. A 1,024 sq in., 70,000 BTU stainless steel behemoth of a BBQ. Man, does my timing stink, or what? But must tell you that the bone in ribeye cooked on the grills rotisserie was a thing of beauty.

Any suggestions on a $400 or so receiver?
cheers

There are many good recievers out now in that price range, what features are you looking for?

Probably the usual suspects 6.1 or 7.1, variable crossover, DD, DTS, DPLIIx. I currently own M22, VP100 and QS8's. The sub is a Vance Dickason design that I built. Also, what about video switching through the receivers now? I looked around a bit today and 100 mhz video switching is now fairly common. I remember the old rule of thumb was not to run the video through the receiver so you didn't degrade the signal. What about HDMI or DVI? See, I really do need help? I read a review today on a Pioneer VSX-1015 that is THX 2 certified. One of the reviewers stated that it was essentially a Pioneer Elite without the faceplate for a whole lot less $$. Don't know about that but the review made it appealing.

I guess there are the usual players in this arena with Onkyo, Denon and Yamaha. I have heard the Onkyo and Denon's at different friends or family members homes with Yamaha being the only one I haven't heard.

I've always used Denons and I have found them very reliable, pretty much most the brands you mentioned build good receivers in that price range. Many on this forum including myself don't bother to worry about the HDMI or DVI switching as we don't run our video through the receiver, unless you have a particular need for it I wouldn't waste the cash on that feature.

Thanks Homedad.

Do you know of any features in particular that I should look for?
BTW, your avatar makes my daughter giggle, she just loves Snoopy. She wants me to change my mobile ring tone to the "Lucy & Linus" song.

Oh, another ?

Is it not uncommon for some of the channels to die while some are left, as is my case. The receiver is older and I know it can't go on forever but am just curious about that. I think that I jinxed my self . . . about a month ago I dropped a message asking if anyone had info regarding Axiom's release their receiver. No real info but they informed me that it was indeed in the works. I said that was NP as I am not in crisis to replace receivers and my old one was running just fine. :-) oh well that's how it goes.

A Yamaha RX-V657 is probably one of the better ~$400 recievers out there. I have the RX-V557 and it fits the bill just great. Sounds awesome. Yamaha's crisp and neutral sound fits very well with the axioms. HK's are a bit more warm I have heard.

I don't use any video with the computer because I'm at a computer. If your TV upconverts the signals well anyways, I don't see a point in getting a receiver that does the exact same thing. I know some receivers have some pretty complex video processing, but prepared to lay down a chunk of change for one of those. Also, some people find it frustrating and confusing to someting as simple as turn on a TV and get the audio working if it goes all through the receiver. If your kids like turning on the TV, that might be an issue.

For me audio quality far surpasses video quality in terms of priorities go, so I may be a little biased.

In reply to:

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Yamaha's crisp and neutral sound fits very well with the axioms. HK's are a bit more warm I have heard.

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I've also heard that Bose makes great subwoofers.

That's funny, I've heard that H/Ks are bright.

....and run very hot