After much research, I have decided to get the m60s. This will eventually lead to the purchase of a sub, and maybe surrounds (depending on how the money lasts). Now that I have decided on the 60s I realize I need to update my 16 year old SAE receiver. Harman Kardon has a reciever DPR 1001 that normally lists for about $1500 that can be had for about $500 right now. Does anyone have opinions about that receiver? The receiver was not something I was originally planning on, but now that I am willing to bite the bullet, $500 is about what I can afford right now. Any other recommendations in that budget? Thanks

i dont have any specific knowledge on that model of HK, but i can tell you that HK's are great receivers in general, and all that have them are very satisfied with them.

if you are looking for other options in the $500 dollar range..

Onkyo 601/701
Denon 2803/3803
Yamaha 400 and 500 series.

good deals on these at macmall.com, dakmart.com, ecost.com

you just gotta look and you can find some awesome deals.

bigjohn

I bought the HK DPR1001 a few weeks ago for $399. I ended up returning it because it was underpowered. I mainly use it for Home theater and I just couldn't get the volume I wanted out of it. I ended up going with the Kenwood VR-7080 for the same price I think it's a deal. My wife also liked it better than the HK. Although the HK is smaller and did run super cool. If you can find the Kenwood in your area I would argue it's one of the best bets for your dollar. From other reviews I read they said that the sound quality isn't very good on the digital harmon kardon, but I thought it sounded great just not loud enough for movies

You might consider the H/K 525. I've found it to be a very good receiver. I've got no problem with the volume it puts out!

thanks for the ideas. I was curious about the hk 1001 because supposedly as an all digital receiver it is smaller and runs with much less heat. I liked those because our current stereo cabinet is pretty packed with a Dish Network PVR, a CD player, VCR etc. I'm not sure I can fit in a bigger receiver than the one I've got now. Njackson, you said it was underpowered for movies. Were you really cranking out the sound or listening at "normal" levels? We don't really listen to movies at theater level because my 9 year old daughter's room is right over that room and because I don't think the neighbors would appreciate it.

Obviously you're a newbie here if you care about the neighbors, and I believe you can get ear plugs for the girl...

Mark

I think you should just try it and see what you think. My local store has a 30 day return policy and I think that is pretty standard. Another minor annoyance is the remote on the HK. It's receiver functions are fine, but as a universal it's pretty annoying. I really like the remote on the Kenwood, it is one of those ones that glow blue with no real buttons. It's kind've funny because all my friends think it is some outrageously expensive receiver just because of the remote. For your cabinet though the HK runs great it never even got warm and it is light enough to stack on other devices if you need to.

Hi Mathdan,

I much prefer analog H/K and Denon receivers to the new digital stuff. The latter technology is too new, it generates some nasty artifacts that I don't like and there is no dynamic headroom whatsoever. It is true that digital amps run very cool and are lightweight--fine for car-audio applications in my judgment-- but I'd stay with analog amplification for the time being. It's proven, sounds excellent, has very low noise (from good brands), at least some dynamic headroom for occasional musical peaks, and doesn't radiate all that RF garbage that digital amplifiers do.

Regards,

Thanks for the advice. Just curious, what is RF garbage?

RF stands for Radio Frequency if I'm not mistaken.