Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Receivers in the $500-$600 range

One of my friends is wanting to put together a sound system, and right now he's looking at receivers. He's also looking at speakers, too, and in fact asked me if Axiom Audio was anything. He couldn't remember if they were what I had or not (he lives out of town). Anyway, there's a chance he could end up an Axiom owner, but first he wanted suggestions for a receiver.

$500-$600 was what he was willing to spend. I haven't kept up on much, so what would be the best options on that price range? He has a PS3, which he uses as his Blu-ray player, and he said it's his only HDMI device right now. Number of HDMI inputs isn't critical right now, but of course he wants to have flexibility in the future. He's going for bookshelf speakers, it sounds like. He was looking at Yamaha for receivers, and he was also interested in Harman Kardon. I haven't heard anything about Harman Kardon's newer stuff. He also mentioned Denon, and I said they seemed to be rock-solid, and a popular brand on this board. Still, I didn't know about the models in his price range.

Any suggestions?

I also got another out-of-town friend to buy some M3s. He was on a stricter budget, so I didn't know if he'd ever be getting a subwoofer. I didn't hear from him for a while. Apparently, his computer died, but he finally contacted me again and said the speakers were pretty darn awesome, and he couldn't imagine wanting a subwoofer. That made me feel better.

Here's hoping I can bring another person over to Axiom. I'll let you all know what his speaker budget turns out to be.

The Onkyo TX-SR706 seems to be getting good reviews.

Charles, of course your friend's first priority should be speakers and he could handle the less significant receiver matter later. Be that as it may, the outstanding buy in that price range at this time does appear to be the Onkyo 706 which received an excellent review and lab test from S&V and is available as a factory refurb from Accessories4less for about $500.

Thanks, guys. It looks like a nice one.

I paid $599 for my Denon 2309.

The Yamaha 663 is in the $500 range too.

Pioneer VSX 1018..its in that range with some nice features not found on others..

He could also consider buyign used. Although there may bot be a lot out there that have hdmi 1.3

Yeah, I even know where he could buy a used Denon 3805 if he doesn't need HDMI...

If you add refurbished units to your list of options, you can go higher end for your price range.

Lots of choices in that price range. Even moreso because he has a PS3 and therefore does not need lossless decoding in the receiver.

Really good prices on the Marantz lines at accessories4less:
- refurb sr5002, $300
- brand new sr5001, $350
- brand new sr6001, $500
- refurb sr7001, $550
- brand new sr5003, $550

HK 254 or 354

Isn't it wonderful that we could reach such a helpful consensus so quickly?

He did say he was just looking for suggestions and we are certainly good for that.

I emailed him with the first several suggestions and asked him to sift through the features and ask any questions he may come up with. It should be easier to make a recommendation when he decides what's important to him. Thanks for all of the feedback, guys.

Oh, and just use the recipe on the back of the Nestle Toll House morsels bag.

YEAH! You guys are great at spending other people's money!

No forum does it any better!!!

If anyone is still looking I got a Pioneer Elite for $600 shipped from Hi-Fi Heaven in Green bay, Wisconsin (920-494-8999). They shipped UPS ground on Monday and it was delivered on Wednesday. And they are also Authorized dealers so you get the 2 year warranty. The price keeps edging back up to the $1000 msrp every day though...