Looking for new receiver - questions

[siberian]

Hi all, doing a remodel and, as always, its a system of compromises.

What I am looking for is a receiver that can accomplish the following:

1) 2 room support (living room and backyard)
2) Ability to use the surround speakers as stereo speakers automatically.
3) 6.1 or 7.1 surround

Thats it really, should be pretty easy but the thing I can never confirm on a receiver is item (2) which is of critical importance. I have this old Kenwood beast that forces me to bridge (gasp!) my speakers so that they 'automatically' pick up for stereo mode.

Thanks for any tips, budget is up to $699 or so and I am not an audiophile.

John-

[Andrew Pratt]

What exactly do you mean by #2? Is it that the rear speakers will play a copy of the fronts at the same time as the main speakers or only the rears playing? I've never heard of a unit that would allow you to only play the back speakers...at least not without using a second zone trick but that wouldn't be automatic and likely bothersome to switch to. If you simply want the surround speakers to play a copy of the fronts you'd be looking for something that has a 5 or 7 channel stereo mode which most receivers will have these days.

[Shane Martin]

Though I'm not sure about your #2, the HK 635 would be the receiver to beat. You may have to stretch your budget up a bit(maybe $100) or take a risk with an unauthorized dealer or Ubid with refurbished ones. The 635 is the best receiver IMHO under $1,000.

The things it has which seperate it from the others:
1. Auto EQ that even EQ's your subwoofer. This is a room eq and not just a typical auto setup routine
2. Logic 7 which you can layer over DTS and DD.
3. Firmware upgradable.

Don't be fooled by the power ratings.

[Snap]

Shane what about a 2 zone AV Reciever? Like 2105 or something. Or he could go poor mans way and use spkrs "a" for home and "spkr "B" for outside. Most of the your new stuff will do 5 chan stereo. The Denon 485 and the Yamaha 450 does for sure and they are cheap! Just a thought got to run!

[siberian]

When in stereo mode surround should play copy of fronts.

The problem with my Kenwood is that the surrounds go silent in stereo mode, its totally lame. I have to bridge the speakers to my 'B' channel to get them to go into Stereo mode. Yes, its a piece of crap

Thanks for the 5 and 7 tip, that sounds like what i am looking for.

What exactly do you mean by #2? Is it that the rear speakers will play a copy of the fronts at the same time as the main speakers or only the rears playing? I've never heard of a unit that would allow you to only play the back speakers...at least not without using a second zone trick but that wouldn't be automatic and likely bothersome to switch to. If you simply want the surround speakers to play a copy of the fronts you'd be looking for something that has a 5 or 7 channel stereo mode which most receivers will have these days.

[siberian]

How about the Denon 2805/3805?

Yea, just upscaled my budget if I look in this range, any thoughts on these two? Reviews are good and feature set seems promising.

[Andrew Pratt]

The Denon's are feature packed and popular choices...though IMO not always the best sounding at their price points. The HK would likely be better sounding and has many useful featuers but I'm not sure room EQ does more good then harm from what I've read...though I have no real world experience with the automatic EQ's.

[Shane Martin]

Yea, just upscaled my budget if I look in this range, any thoughts on these two? Reviews are good and feature set seems promising.

The HK beats them both hands down.

but I'm not sure room EQ does more good then harm from what I've read...though I have no real world experience with the automatic EQ's.

They are huge in my experience if implemented correctly. The EZ set eq and the one in the Pioneer models are the 2 best with the HK being better because it can eq the sub. I have not heard/seen what the Odyssey EQ in the 4806 and 5805 can do yet. Supposedly it's pretty incredible.

Shane what about a 2 zone AV Reciever?

The HK has a 2nd zone output. The only negative is that you can't go 7.1 in your main theater unless you buy an external amp to do the 2nd zone part. Siberian does have a receiver he is using now that he could use to power his 2nd zone(I think).

Logic 7 and multichannel stereo or PLIIX would take care of the #2 issue.

FWIW J&R and Onecall both have the 635 for $800. It has a few quirks but they do plan to fix those via an upcoming software update.

[Snap]

I have the 3805 and I love it. Great Machine.

[spyboy]

I think Shane meant $700 for the HK 635. And because J&R is temporarily out of stock, they are offering free shipping. It is a shame that HK does not do enough beta testing of its receivers. They consistently release buggy receivers. People should not have to wait a year for a software upgrade. HK has also been known to promise fixes that do not materialize.

If you are willing to put up with the issues, now is a good time to jump for $700 delivered from J&R.

[Shane Martin]

Spyboy,
I didn't know they dropped the price down to $700.

[siberian]

Thanks everyone, I'll give the HK635 a deeper look. The 2805/3805 have the same 'when 2nd zone enabled you get no 7.1' problem as the Denon so thats just a fact of life in this range I think.

John-