OK, here is my situation.
I have just returned (or will as soon as the M60s show up) a pair of M3's because I found that 2 channel stereo with a sub (returned sub already) just lost its effect with music. I am currently using a Pioneer (very low end) vsx-209 60WPC HT receiver. This combination proved to be nearly deafening (due to the high freq) until I happily received a "fix" from Joe V that has made the M3's listenable. I found myself really wanting a full range speaker and ordered the M60's.
Now I want to upgrade my receiver to something that is:
<$500 US
>60WPC
-Not as bright/harsh as current HT receiver so that I can do without the "fix" (resistors on the tweeters)
-Good FM reception (there is a really good jazz station in DC, about 50 miles away that I can only get clear Mono reception with a roof mounted antenae)

I did a trial with a HK AVR320, which was very warm sounding, but even with the M3's sounded too muddy. The HK, even though a clean 55wpc in stereo seemed to have to be up nearly all the way to drive the M3s.

The room I am using is an all knotty-pine (except for a corner fireplace) club basement measuring @ 10x16 with fairly low ceilings so things tend to get boomy very quickly based on speaker placement.
I listen to alot of jazz: Eric Dolphy, Coltrane, Mingus, etc, as well as more contemporary indie/rock music: Radiohead, Weezer, Bowie, etc...

I understand that most HT recievers do not drive stereo very well and right now this is used for 100% music (the only TV in the room is designated for PONG tournaments only!) so it is not much of an issue to get a stereo only unit. I wouldn't complain if I could have a HT receiver for the future as the Pioneer will go in the living room upstairs.

I still plan on some home trials to see which sound best. Does anyone have recomendations that might get better FM reception and be moderately priced? I am just looking to narrow my search without spending too much time (I have an 8 month old that I'd rather spend it with).

Many Thanks,
John

Give The Onkyo SR600 or SR500 a try also may look into the Marantz 4200, these are all HT recievers for under $500. Good luck.

Kore

Hi Jazzdrummer,
Because your needs are so specific, (Strong FM tuning capabilities), and because of your budget restraints (I feel your pain), you may want to give up on the idea of a one box solution and try seperates. You can purchase some top class used tuners for very little money at pawnshops and sometimes on EBay. You never know what a little digging around will uncover. Also, have you given any consideration to receiving your FM signal via cable? Good luck.

I would have to go with yacmed on this one.
The onkyo receivers are top notch quality and you can find several variations at different price levels.
Although Pioneer makes some good multimedia products, their receivers don't have near the quality build as some other brands in similar price ranges (in my opinion). You can however use them as a double for an egg frying machine. They tend to run pretty hot.
All that aside, the Onkyo i have is sitting in a small concrete basement and with a short antenna that came with the receiver, i can pick up stations that even my car cannot while driving past the radio building in town.The FM reception is superb.

As for the brightness issue, i found that replacing my older cd player with a different, newer one dramatically changed the sound from high frequency to warmer tones (Technics and Panasonic audtioned alongside a Denon and the Denon was nice). I prefer the sharp clarity for home theatre myself.
I don't know how much bass you will be able to tone down with a knotted pine box room.

Good luck.

thanks for the tips. I will check out some Onkyo models for certain. Funny you should mention the seperates, as I was just looking some up on Ebay as well.
Any other recommendations out there?

Question for chesseroo - which model Onkyo are you using?

I ended up buying the DS797, but i was tempted for the SR600 and/or 700 as well. The Denons just didn't have what i wanted in my price range although their 3802 and 4802 were on my short list.
Like i said, i got an amazing deal through a friend on this Onkyo DS797 which saved me nearly $400 Cdn off the price. Prior to my local deal, I had one lined up on ebay for $800 US which is still pretty good.
It made an old pair of Technics speakers i had come to life like never before. It actually made them sound good.

I'd also suggest that you consider a separate tuner because of the generally mediocre quality of tuner sections in present-day receivers. Look at amfmdx.net and associated links for some interesting opinions. EBay is a possibility, but for an excellent new tuner at a reasonable price give strong consideration to the Marantz ST6000P(about $280 from Etronics, for example).

Thanks for all the great recommendations. I think I'll start out giving some on the onkyos a try and look at the Marantz tuner next. Of course, if I do find a nice used tuner that does the trick I may just leave it on the one elusive station and use my regular tuner/receiver for the rest - as long as I don't have to get out of my listening chair!
Thanks again. I'll let everyone know how my search goes, but I don't think I'll get the $ up for a month or so.

Hi Jazzdrummer,

I'd agree that Onkyo receivers usually have somewhat better FM sections than most receivers. I used one (no longer in the line) in Manhattan, one of the worst cities for FM reception because of the tall buildings and multipath problems. With the help of a powered Terk FM Pro antenna (I live in an apartment on the ground floor), I'm able to bring in some low-powered college stations in New Jersey and Manhattan that have excellent programming. But I do have to mostly use mono to avoid distortion, and I sometimes have to move the antenna as well.

By the way, an alternative is a good portable from Grundig. They usually have excellent FM sections, far better than most receivers, and you can use a headphone jack adapter and feed it into an auxiliary input on your amp. I used a Grundig Yacht Boy 400 (it also has a bunch of short wave bands and an excellent AM tuner as well). It cost about $175 but you might find a used one cheap on ebay.

Don't ignore some dumb boombox you might have kicking around. I have a cheesy double-cassette unit with an analog tuner but it has a really good FM section with excellent sensitivity and selectivity. And I can get all the above stations using just its telescoping antenna. It was a freebie given to editors years ago by TDK tape. There's no brand name on it--only the TDK logo.

Regards,

Thanks for the tip. I just looked it up and noticed that you can hook up an external atenna as well. That would work well considering that I am in the basement. Hopefully an Onkyo will do what I need but this Grundig looks like it could be a fun toy all on its own. I haven't listened to SW in 20+ years (when I lived in Nebraska). Are you able to pickup much on SW nowadays or is the amount of interference in a metropolitan area pretty much limit its usefulness?

Hi Jazzdrummer,

It is a fun toy. I got it when I moved from Toronto to Manhattan so I could still listen to CBC Radio International (Canadian news broadcasts) on short wave. The Grundig came with this neat little fishing-reel type antenna that I'd stretch across my apartment window (you wind up the antenna when you don't want it hanging across your room). Most of the time I could pull in CBC SW as well as a surprising number of worldwide stations (England, Australia), but the time of day affected reception a lot, and sometimes I'd have to go outside to the park opposite my building to get decent reception.

Regards,