Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Reciever Advice

I am down to deciding on my last piece of equipment to complete my home theater. I have been looking on recievers, but don't really trust my local stores to give honest advice on their products.

I think I have narrowed it down to 4 recievers based on internet reviews:
1) Denon 2106 @ $895 +tax
2) Yamaha rxv-659 @ $659 +tax
3) Yamaha rxv-1600 @ ~$1100 + tax
4) Pioneer VSX-72TXV @ ~$1100 + tax

I am really leaning toward the RXV-659 based only on price. All I am looking for in a reciever is decent setup controls (ie cross over and levels), video upconversion to component (not High def, just 480P), and enough power to run M60, VP150, and QS8's.

The denon and the RXV659 have very similar specs, but the denon is much more expensive. The bigger Yamaha and the Pioneer have more features, but I don't think I would ever use them. I don't have anything HDMI, no iPod, no multi zone, etc.

Would I be doing myself a disservice to buy the small yamaha RXV659?

bflat

I think the speakers you have selected will be easily driven by any of those AVR's. If you look around, you can usualy get the Denon's cheaper than MSRP. When I bought my 2805 it listed for $900, but I waited until American Electronics had a weekend employee cost sale. I picked it up for around $740.

Denon AVR-2106

Yamaha RXV-659

Yamaha RXV-1600

Pioneer VSX-72TXV

Google is your friend.

Those are canadian prices as I am in canada. Most online retailers do not sell to canada, and when they do, we usually lose the manufactures warantee since they are not authorized canadian resellers. We get screwed and pay more for electronics here in Canada, except for Axiom speakers. Anyway, prices are below MSRP already. For example the Denon MSRP is $1010.

It is good to hear that I won't be needing/wanting more wattage to run my speakers. Personally I believe that a properly designed amp (ie. most) sound nearly identical. So I am just shopping for features, of which I don't need many.

bflat

bflat,

The only reservation I have is that most Yamahas except the 4600 will not drive 4-ohm loads, which may not concern you if you don't ever expect to get 4-ohm speakers.

All the Denons and the recent Pioneer 815, 1015 series will drive 4-ohm loads.

That is very good to hear, the lack of reservations that is.
As I mentioned, I am planning on buying the epic 60-500 system, so I should be clear from 4 Ohm loads. If I ever do upgrade the speakers to something 4 Ohm, I won't feel as bad at replacing a $600 reciever than a $1200.

bflat

Yeah, but there are other things that are legal to do in Canada, we can't do unless we want to get arrested.

Now that I have narrowed the expensive units down, I just found another contender. I think my choice is between:
1) Pioneer VSX-1015 $499
2) Yamaha RXV-659 $650

The pioneer has more power and THX select certification, yet is quite a bit cheaper again. Since I keep downselling myself (after up selling on the speakers ) I am starting to worry that the Pioneer is too cheap to do my theater justice. But I can't really say why...

bflat

As one of the Pioneer fans, I noticed that the 72TXV is in your list. I have it's older brother the 54TX and love it. The 72TXV was highly rated and reviewed when it first came out. WIth all that said, I will just repeat what I always do. As long as you have the features you want (need), including Ohm ratings, then any of these should work well for you. Obviously, some will have a few more bells and whistles than others, but they should all be pretty good.

Heck, my Pioneer 54TX fits your bill pretty well. However, I doubt that you will find one for sale anywhere. You could look at the VSX-80TXV, but it may be around $885 CDN.

EDIT:
The Pioneer VSX-1015 is a good, and popular, Pioneer receiver, but it has been around a little while meaning that it won't have all of the features of slightly newer models, but it seems to be the Pioneer recever a lot of people have. Of course, a lot of people look to Pioneer for for lewer cost options over other manufacturers.

Matt, the reason that you can't say why you hesitate to get the 1015 is that there's no good reason. There's very little if any correlation between price and sound quality in audio and the 1015 is a fine unit at a very good price. If you like its features and it fits your budget better, go with it.