Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Whats the best for $500?

I have a pair of 80's the rest of the stuff fro Axiom for my home theater. Need a new receiver but cannot spend more than $500.00
What are the suggestions?
Thanks for all your help!

I'm guessing you're looking for an HT receiver. First thing to do, start thinking refurb--you'll get a better reciever that way. One to look for would be the H/K 435. You could also look for recent models, such as the Yamaha 1400, the H/K 430 or 525, etc.

For the 80's you want something that will be able to drive a 4-ohm speaker. Denon's and HK will have no problem. For that price range you might be able to get a Denon 2105, which is basically like my 2805 but with a few less bells and whistles. HK also has some affordable stuff. I bought my 2805 at American Electronics when they had an employee pricing day. I picked it up for a little under $700, so the 2105 might be in reach.

good luck

ps So you bought the speakers before you had a receiver to drive them?

Paul, any of the receivers of the major manufacturers in that price range should be adequate for your M80s unless you're going to be listening at extremely high volume in a very large room. Some examples would be the Denon 2105(2106 coming next month), HK435, Pioneer 1015 and Yamaha 1500. Get the features that you want at a price within your budget.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5789915610&category=39794&rd=1

Directly from harman kardon with warranty. Go for it!

Oh hell yeah! That's the one to do, if you can nab it for less than $500.

Definately.

I got their HK3480 stereo receiver - 23 lbs, 120x2 @ 8 ohms for about $190 after shipping and taxes on ebay.

harmanaudio on ebay > harmanaudio on harmanaudio.com. they sell the same refurbs for cheaper on ebay - good thing I noticed, or I'd have gotten the lower model 3380 for the same price as I just got the 3480!

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You could also look for recent models, such as the Yamaha 1400

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Probably a bad idea. The 2500 from yamaha is newer and a model above the 1*00 series, and it is horrible into 4 ohm loads. See here - the fact that the damping factor goes down to SET tubeish levels at that impedance says a lot for how the 2500(probably much worse for the 1400) can handle a 4 ohm load.

Yeah, I forgot about the 4 ohm thing when I wrote that. Ignore me!

So you bought the speakers before you had a receiver to drive them?

Well the story is long but the short of it is this, I bought smaller axioms for the liveing room ( REALLY FOR THE WIFE) and built a sound room in basement. I thought I use an old denon 2500 for the room trying to keep the expense of my "play room" down. But when I hooked it up it does not sound good at all in surround sound. So I had to budjet in for a new ht reciever. When I figue out how to add picks I will post them.

If you know anyone on the west coast they may be able to get you good deals on Hk from Fry's. I have heard that Frys sells some HK receivers, new, at remanufactured prices.....

Thanks for the input- tried Ebay today but got out bid- price to close to new.
Found Denon AVR 785S A/V Receiver in Costco for $380.00Not to shabby guys what do you think?
It is supposed to be like the 1905.

Yes Paul, the 785 is identical to the 1905. If you want to keep it down to $400 rather than $500, you should give serious consideration to the Pioneer 1015.

Well for anyone still following this post I have narrowed it down to two:
HK335 or Denon 785.
Any thoughts or experience with the either?

Ubid has a 885 for $389 plus 1 cent shipping. Bought my 3805 on ubid.

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you should give serious consideration to the Pioneer 1015.

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I agree! I just finished putting together a system for someone and the 1015 was the receiver I went with. Very, very nice receiver. The 1015 although not rated for 4 ohms is running a 4 ohm center with zero problems.

I would take a long look at this one. It blew me away. I was actually going to post more on it at a later date. Several months back I played with the 1014 and it looks like everything that was wrong with the 1014 (There wasn't much!) Pioneer looked after on the 1015.

H/K 525
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5790345000&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

the last ones went for $380 and $390

1015 looks interesting-tell me more-please

Pioneer

I got to tell you I have driven myself nuts here- I have found stuff on fourm that dog everthing I like.
On some forums- pioneer 1015- does not do this or that so they would never buy one
H/K stuff- everytime you change souces it goes back to 5.1 instead of staying in 7.1
Denon- even with this brand some pros & cons.
I have an outlaw 1050- I wish these guys would make a 7.1 version of this AVR. I like everthing about it!
So now what?

Pick out the one with the options you like and go for it.Piss on what everyone else has to say about it,you are the one that has to be happy with your purchase.

Thanks Wid I needed that!

You're welcome

You can go crazy trying to figure it out. Too much to choose from. $500.00 now, ebay it in a year or two and upgrade.

.........and keep in mind that a lot of the people who are running around saying that something is junk, have never owned it or have very limited experience with it!

I spent a fair bit of time with the Pioneer 1014 and it was a nice receiver. It was fantastic in stereo!

I didn't spend as much time with the 1015 but my experience left me with nothing bad to say about it.

I think one of the key questions is why do you want to upgrade? What features do you want that you currently don't have and what don't you like about your current receiver? Answers to those may go a long way in helping you decide what is the best fit.

I would be careful about "believing" everything that you read on ANY forum. People have good experiences with all models and, unfortunately even with the best brands, people have bad experiences. Just comes with the territory. And, some people like to complain as well as brag about everything.

At $500, I think that you will find a great number of "good" choices, but not a GREAT choice.

That's why I asked about the features you want or dislike. There may be another way to "skin" the cat.

I am currently using a 1015 as the HK 7300 I was waiting for didn't work out. It is an excellent receiver. A great processor with a good amount of power. It doesn't do the funky 7.1 to 5.1 switches that the HK's do so I am probably going to keep it and get a separate power amp or amps. The auto setup for the 1015 also works surprisingly well. The best I've heard for auto setup actually. For the money I think you would be very happy with the 1015.

Paul, you asked for more info on the 1015, but there doesn't appear to be a detailed test of the unit available yet. Many have concerns about power ratings which are generally unnecessary, since clean power is cheap and plentiful these days, but for info on that point you might check the test of the essentially identical 52TX . There's more than enough power for anything but a huge room at very high volume.

Outlaw is in the process of makeing a 7.1 version but it will be about $1000 im trying to hold out for that or something else.

Well the 1015 is looking pretty good- just checking now for some good prices. If you see some send them my way, thanks

Paul, as to prices, the usual suspects appear, although many don't have it in stock. Although not the very lowest price shown, maybe the best combination of price($450 with free shipping), reliable seller and in stock would be Vann's.

Bummer- I just got this message from Pioneer-
Thank you for contacting Pioneer Electronics, Inc.

The VSX1015TX is rated at 8 and 6 ohms only, and is not recommended for speakers that require a 4 ohm impedance.

Thank you

Back to the drawing board-

The VSX-1015TX that I'm sitting on is about to get hooked up to a 4ohm center so we will see how it works out. I expect no problems of any kind. I have run a few 4ohm systems off of a receiver or amp that wasn't speced for a 4ohm load with no problems of any kind.

Paul, my suggestion would be to disregard the message from Pioneer. For reasons that are primarily legal rather than technological receiver manufacturers can't officially "recommend" the use of 4 ohm speakers if their units haven't passed the lengthy testing period into 4 ohms without overheating required by Underwriters Laboratory for a UL listing at 4 ohms. Sometimes when speaking to company repesentatives they'll nevertheless "unofficially" say that 4 ohm speakers should be okay.

Note the high power actually delivered into 4 ohms in the test that I linked. Also, this is THX certified, and one of the requirements involved in that certification is operation into a 3.6 ohm load. In the real world you should have no problem despite the legally required form reply that you got from Pioneer.

Thanks John- that does make allot of sense.
Abes of maine will have in a few weeks- I might wait till they get it in- 409.00 with shipping. Nice price.
Also while I was dismayed at pioneers reponse I looked around some more and found this interesting review of an H/K 330
HK330