Been a while since I last posted...so, Hello to all those that I know. Hope your holidays have been pleasant, and will continue to be so, within the next few days.

I have a co-worker (a VP in my company) that is looking for a cheap receiver. He's not into the home theatre scene, and although I TRIED to convince him, to go a better route, that doesn't seem to be his thought process.

So, he's looking for a relatively cheap receiver (in the $200-400 range) which will aid him in helping out his sound, from a TV. He's been looking into Onkyo's, and I told him that they are decent receivers. Just haven't had much experience with them...so, I wanted to ask the source where I know information is wise!!! (shameless plug for Axiom members).

So, what are some of your thoughts? The receiver should be decent...as decent can be, for about $200-400. Even if it's one of those 'home-theatre-in-a-box' deals (**CRINGES**) that would suffice. Again, he's not going to change his mind...but, I am not gonna argue anymore with a VP anymore, either...hehe.

Thanks again, for any responses. I am sure to forward them to him...

You might want to have him look at Denon. They make a great quality product at a great price point. I own 2 and love them. Although, there are other great brands out there. I'm sure others will chime in with opinions.

Good luck.

Cheers,
Kevin

I second the denon suggestion. I run an Epic80 on a low end Denon 1602, and it's great. I will only upgrade once I move into a bigger place, as I will need more power (I run the setup without a sub, for now). But for a regular every day user, Denon at that price cannot be beat IMO.

You can actually get some refurbished ones with a 90 day warranty from www.ecost.com, and they are great deals. I have heard very good things about ecost from audio boards.

I've have owned, and still do own, Onkyo. I like them very much. Denon is fine as well. If he has the peanuts, I can recommend the refurbished TX-SR703. Lots of features; sounds fine.

Manish, forget about "decent", Onkyos are excellent. For the simple use involved here I'd suggest the 504 refurb available from ShopOnkyo for $159(with the $10 credit for registering for "Club Onkyo"). It's very simple to use as receivers go, and note the fine lab results in the Hometheater Magazine test .

I hate Cheap VP's

what is it with "cheap VPs?" I'm an IT guy, and I swear, they drive me nuts. It would seem the more someone makes, the cheaper they get!

I had one call me and ask if IT could supply him with headphones. Headphones?!?! I sent him back an email and said, "I have an extra pair at home I'll bring in for him, and he can have them."

They cost me 8 bucks at an airport when I was in a pinch. Hurt my ears. Get what you pay for. I'd tell him that K-mart is running some specials this weekend, he'd better get over there fast before the supply of Sparkomatics run out!

Actually, it's usually CFOs that I have problems with. They're universally cheap, expect you to work for nothing at all hours, and everything always worked better at their last company.


Also, welcome back, Bilbo! You should come around more often.

thanks, I've been traveling too much... to tired to be on boards. hopefully that will slow down. Glad to see the board has maintained the same level of class it had.

I just saw a Marantz SR 4600 7.1 AVR on a clearance sale for $319. I haven't ever had a Marantz, but was thinking about buying this one for my kids. They also have a pretty good five disk CD changer on clearence worth looking at.
http://www.hipposaudiovideo.com/closeout1.htm

A refurb Onkyo TXSR504, a well-reviewed inexpensive receiver, can be had for $170 from Onkyo or ac4l.com. You could hardly do worse.

Thanks all. I figured I would get the responses that you mentioned. And being cheap, I have no idea why...I mean, the guy wears a Rolex...but when it comes to home audio, apparently, he 'doesn't care' too much about it. How can I recommend something to someone like that????

I gave him a few of the suggestions, and washed my hands of the situation. Let's hope he chooses wisely.

I even told him to come over to my place, and audition the Axioms...he said, "I'd love to, but those are too expensive." Dude...you make 150+ K per year...and 3-5K seems too expensive??? I mean, guy bought a house for well over 6-700K....geez.

Oh well, thanks all. Much appreciated. I will still be enjoying my Axioms, while he's counting his peanuts.