Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Do I need a new receiver?

I need some advice. I currently have a pioneer VSX-108 receiver. It's a Dolby Pro-Logic A/V Receiver. It has a subwoofer pre-out and 50Wx4 channels. It would appear it is designed to be used with 8 ohm speakers.

Is this sufficient to drive the Axiom speakers? If not, what do people recommend to replace it with? I know, everyone is going to ask, what price range? I am not sure yet. But under $500 would be preferred. But if something was much better at $600 I would probably think about it.

I should be just fine driving Axiom speakers, except maybe the M80's which are 4ohm speakers, the rest of them you should have no problem. The biggest thing is that for Home Theater, you'll be missing a lot, not being about to get digital 5.1 or 7.1.

Randy, who aspires to be my sensei, is correct.

I just want to underscore two things here. First, and most importantly, you can get a very satisfying, modern Dolby Digital receiver in that price range, especially if you shop hard (i.e. online rather than retail at a local dealer). I have a lower end Denon and it does everything I need and is plenty loud. People around here also like HK models in that price range.

Second, you won't get the full impact of a home theatre experience with a Dolby Pro-Logic receiver. It does not have the necessary circuitry to decode the 5.1 soundtracks on DVD's.

If you just want to start out with stereo, and then upgrade from there, you don't need to do anything. But you are going to get a much bigger "wow" from new speakers if you can hear some of the more impressive DVD surround scenes in full, modern glory.

Don't worry too much about the impedance (ohms rating) of Axiom speakers; while some models are not rated at 8 ohms, they still present a very benign load and most modern electronics won't even flinch except at excruciatingly high volumes.

You might try shopping at harmanaudio.com or ecost.com for some good deals.

Well.. I looked at some receivers and I am lost. I am too new to this. Can people give me some model numbers to look at? I have read that Denon's are good, but what models? Do most AVR's also have a radio tuner? Or is that seperate?

What about the following:
Onkyo TX-SR303(S) - $199
Onkyo TX-SR503 - $200
Yamaha HTR5830 SL - $199
Denon AVR-485S - $299
Harman Kardon AVR 135 - $279


Or am I wasting my time looking at $200-$300 receivers.

Also, the TV I am going to buy will have a HDMI input. Is that essential to have on the receiver? Are their lip-synch issues otherwise? I am really a novice, so any help would be greatly appreciated.

To help.. I should mention my plan is to buy:
2x QS8
2x M22i
1x VP150
1x HSU VTF-MK 2

I hope others will jump in here. In their absence, you may wish to peruse the forums here and elsewhere for "Receiver" threads.

My opinion is that you would be well served to spend a bit more to upgrade from an entry level receiver. The amplification will likely be more robust and it will certainly be more feature-rich. I was especially happy to have the advantage of on-screen display to help with setup, and dismayed to lack sufficient bass management (which is somewhat better on HK than on Denon). You may also be glad in the future to have a Receiver with pre-outs so that you can add external amplification if the mood strikes you. You can buy a bit of flexibility in the beginning to ward of complete replacement later.

I do not have, and dare not contemplate, HDTV. However, I echo your concerns about the lip-synch issues. While buying a receiver that will solve that problem may seem costly right now, I am of the opinion that "you're never sorry when you buy the good one" and you will certainly get additional features along with that capability.

Receivers combine not only the pre-amp, processor and amplifier sections but also a tuner.

I think you will be very happy with that speaker array.

Here's a checklist to look for: Keep in mind that for most novices like you and I, price and feature set are the most important thin in a receiver.

1. about 100 watts/ch is sufficient. Keep in mind that some brands rate their receivers higher than others. Caveat emptor.

2. Look for Dolby Pro-Logic II or Dolby Pro-Logic IIx decoding. As a bonus, look for Neo:6 or Logic7 decoding. These will let you take stereo signals (liek from regular cable or your cd player) and turn them into room filling surround.

3. Look for plenty of digital audio inputs. These are S/PDIF (Sony/Phillips Digital Interface) connectors, otherwise known as optical connections, and digital audio cable connections. These let your receiver obtain the unmolested digital bitstreams from yoru DVD, CD and Cable boxes. Then, your receiver can decode the DD and DTS signals therein - giving you a truly discrete 5.1 or 6.1 (depending on your set-up) surround sound.

4. Component up-conversion is nice if you're going to use your receiver as a video switcher, too. Since you'll be hooking up your TV using HDMI, that source will not pass through the receiver (hook it directly to the TV). For your other sources, you can have a single connection (Component) to the TV.

5. Look for bass management. You want to be able to set your sub-woofer's cross over internally on your receiver. Also, having separate cross-over points for different inputs (DVD vs. CD, e.g.) is a big bonus, but not essential.

6. Make sure that your receiver has enough inputs for all ofyour components, plus a few - to accoutn for future additions. and upgrades.

7. Some really like Yamaha and Pioneers microphone set-up system, which auto calibrates your system's volume, etc. for you. Some don't like Yamaha's YSP microphone set-up because it fools with the frequency response of the speaker, though. Just note its existence.

8. These days, a lot of receivers are offering an XM radio tuner. Again, just a consideration.

9. Look for an audio delay, up to 200 ms should do fine - just in case some micro-display you buy has problems keeping in synch.

10. Price - I am overwhelmed at the functionaility of my Yamaha RX-V750, which I got for around $350. You can get considerably cheaper deals on comparable equipment these days.

Tastefully done, Adrien.

Yes.. thank you! I am going to have to learn a bit more it seems.

If I have one hdmi input on the tv and two hdmi devices, should I use the receiver as the input to the tv and plug the hdmi devices into the receiver? (And then am I talking $1000 for the Denon 3806 or something.)

Here a couple I would look at if I were in your shoes.
HK AVR335 or Denon985