Receiver for 5.1 setup [h]elp!

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P!rate

Move Like a MoFo
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Mar 16, 2009
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Hello,
I have 5 speakers that I would like to connect together. I have bought 16 gage wire off of amazon, and now all I need is a receiver.

Speakers are
1x Lcr6 s2 150 w b&w 8u
2x B&W dm603 s2 150w 8u
2 bose 120w

IMG_2089.jpg


Should I buy any old receiver I find on craigslist? I have found

Denon AVR-1906 for 150, which is a bit expensive if I don't need it
Yamaha RX-V200 7 Channel 120 wpc AV Receiver - $199
5.1 phillips receiver for 30

Any advice will be appreciated. Should I be spending a lot on a receiver? Not a lot? Obviously the less I spend the better for me, but I wouldn't want to waste the quality of these speakers.

Thank you!
 
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I've always really enjoyed the Pioneer line of receivers. They aren't top of the line, but they work really well and are affordable.

I think the one killer feature you should be looking for in a receiver is multiple HDMI inputs. Running all your devices through your receiver is the way to go.
 
Thank you for the input Phog. Someone I contacted on craigslist just got back to me and so I will be picking up their JVC RX-6000AV receiver for 20 bucks tonight. If it doesn't sound as good as I want to I will definitely look into the pioneer line.

Cheers
 
Here are some things I would suggest you look at in a receiver.

Multiple HDMI inputs and support for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA.
 
P!rate said:
Thank you for the input Phog. Someone I contacted on craigslist just got back to me and so I will be picking up their JVC RX-6000AV receiver for 20 bucks tonight. If it doesn't sound as good as I want to I will definitely look into the pioneer line.

Cheers
Click to expand...

I wouldn't get the JVC. It is only $20, but I think you should get something better to start with. Those B&W's aren't the easiest speakers to drive. Look for an early 00s Yamaha 5.1/6.1 receiver. Yamaha RX-V1300's (and similar) are cheap and have pre-outs for the front so you can add a power amp later (captainmorgan89 will probably agree with me).
 
What is the resistance on the speakers? Especially the bose they often have a specific amp to go with them.

As for brands, I have personally used Pioneer, Onkyo and Denon, of them I like denon the most. Onkyo tends to have good electronic features and upgrades for the price. Reliability can be hit or miss. Pioneer is OK reliable but their software is low end and lacking sometimes confusing. Denon makes an all around decent receiver but often misses some of the newer features offered by onkyo at similar price points.

We are going to need to know what all sources are going to be passing audio to the receiver though. The 1906 you listed does not have any HDMI ports I don't think.
 
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rudy said:
What is the resistance on the speakers? Especially the bose they often have a specific amp to go with them.

As for brands, I have personally used Pioneer, Onkyo and Denon, of them I like denon the most. Onkyo tends to have good electronic features and upgrades for the price. Reliability can be hit or miss. Pioneer is OK reliable but their software is low end and lacking sometimes confusing. Denon makes an all around decent receiver but often misses some of the newer features offered by onkyo at similar price points.

We are going to need to know what all sources are going to be passing audio to the receiver though. The 1906 you listed does not have any HDMI ports I don't think.
Click to expand...

The B&W are 8 ohms - (P!rate also notes that by saying '8u')
These Bose aren't 901's so there isn't an active equalizer. Any receiver will do.

HDMI isn't really necessary if he's using the TV's HDMI switch since the optical/coax from the TV can be used with the receiver.
 
You have quite nice B&W speakers, I would have bought a fatter gauge wire, at least 14 gauge, preferably 12 gauge or larger.
14 gauge wire is around 2 to 2.5mm square, 16 gauge is around 1.3 to 1.5mm square.
I hope you bought a decent Van Damme cable btw, they are great value for money and good quality.

I'm using Van Damme Hifi 2x 6mm square (9 to 10 gauge) cable per speaker, bi wired. It gives extended bass, brighter treble and more detail compared to 16 gauge (1.5mm) Van Damme blue Series Studio wire.
Extended bass may not matter so much if your subwoofer handles most of the bass.
Brighter treble may not be so noticeable on soft dome tweeters. Metal dome and Ribbon etc will really appreciate this wire.
You should appreciate some extra detail unless your speakers or amp are really cheap.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Van-Damme-6-00mm-speaker-interconnect/dp/B009M3M0YK
Damn cheap for what you get and worth every penny imo.


Regarding the AV amp.
I would get one that has good analogue performance with 5.1 analogue inputs.
This way, you can use your computers soundcard via analogue and get better sound quality from the soundcards DAC.
AV amps dont have good DAC stages unless you pay a lot.
Very cheap AV amps have low quality DAC stages.
This assumes at least a half decent soundcard though, what sound card are you using?

Your computer will decode all HD formats so there is no need to consider if the amp will do High Definition codecs unless you will be plugging in via digital from say an external Blu Ray player etc.
Even then, the Blu Ray player can decode Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA to LPCM which just about any receiver can handle.
I can honestly say I have never found it necessary to make my receiver decode the high def formats, my Blu Ray player and PC both decode to LPCM or send it already decoded as analogue.
There is no quality advantage, all your AV amp needs is the ability to use LPCM if you use a digital connection.
 
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HDMI inputs and Audyssey room correction are the two big main points in budget receivers. It looks like you found a good price on an older one, which is likely a better deal, but if you decide to get something newer and pricier, I personally wouldn't spend any more than $150 on a receiver without those features. Once you have those, going higher mostly just adds higher wattage (which you likely don't really need) and more channels. IMO, getting the least expensive 5.1 receiver with Audyssey and HDMI switching is a good choice. You can usually do it brand new around $250, used in $150+ range. Unless you've got a million devices, really inefficient speakers, or you absolutely need two HDMI outputs, there doesn't seem to be much of a reason to go from a $250 receiver to a $500 receiver.
 
I was just going to be hooking up my iPhone to these speakers, through aux I guess. An older Yamaha receiver does seem like a better idea than just blowing 20 bucks and an hour and a half drive for something I'll need to replace..

Thanks for your help
 
Well can your iPhone even output 5.1?

Make sure which ever receiver you get can do stereo to 5.0 which shouldn't be hard. And I guess you wont be using a TV? I would grab the denon 1906 and ask him to go down to $125 or something. The other option would be to look for a T amp and just stick to 2.0
 
450 said:
HDMI isn't really necessary if he's using the TV's HDMI switch since the optical/coax from the TV can be used with the receiver.
Click to expand...

It is if he wants 5.1. Most TV only output 2.1 And Optical is only capible of 2.1 and compressed 5.1.

The question is he planing on bitstreaming with HDMI?

You need to decide what fetures you want. Then ask HDMI? Switching? quality DAC? Passthrough? If your just using your phone then any older quality receiver will do. They are cheap on CL because people need HDMI and are selling there old receivers
 
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TVs 5.1 is compressed, its never uncompressed.


It seems there is no question if he will use HDMI or can use lossless 5.1, he is using an iphone as a 5.1 source.
It isnt a 5.1 source and doesnt have HDMI, he cant do either.
 
Thank you all for your help. I guess I have figured out that I would like hdmi capabilities on my receiver. To play sound from my computer I would need to use my video card's hdmi output? Do I need a soundcard? Would by motherboard's hdmi output work?

Would any denon/yamaha/pioneer/onkyo receiver that's 5.1 and has hdmi input work for me? I'd like to get a receiver that I won't want to upgrade in a year.

Like this for example http://www.ebay.com/itm/Denon-AVR-5...51486?pt=Receivers_Tuners&hash=item23313598de

http://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-TX-SR31...qid=1382565720&sr=8-3&keywords=onkyo+receiver

Thanks. Sorry for noob.

Nenu said:
You have quite nice B&W speakers, I would have bought a fatter gauge wire, at least 14 gauge, preferably 12 gauge or larger.
14 gauge wire is around 2 to 2.5mm square, 16 gauge is around 1.3 to 1.5mm square.
I hope you bought a decent Van Damme cable btw, they are great value for money and good quality.

I'm using Van Damme Hifi 2x 6mm square (9 to 10 gauge) cable per speaker, bi wired. It gives extended bass, brighter treble and more detail compared to 16 gauge (1.5mm) Van Damme blue Series Studio wire.
Extended bass may not matter so much if your subwoofer handles most of the bass.
Brighter treble may not be so noticeable on soft dome tweeters. Metal dome and Ribbon etc will really appreciate this wire.
You should appreciate some extra detail unless your speakers or amp are really cheap.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Van-Damme-6-00mm-speaker-interconnect/dp/B009M3M0YK
Damn cheap for what you get and worth every penny imo.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, you lost me. Are you suggesting I buy 5 (5 speakers) x 2 (2 cables per speaker) x ~45 dollars worth of cable for my speakers?
 
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Any video card with HDMI should be able to pass audio over HDMI. Just double check with your card and make sure. And any receiver should also accept the audio signal over HDMI.
 
P!rate said:
Would any denon/yamaha/pioneer/onkyo receiver that's 5.1 and has hdmi input work for me?
Click to expand...

No. If you get any receiver there is a chance it will just pass through HDMI video and you'll still need an optical cable to get audio.

IIRC you have a Macbook 13" and a desktop of some sort. The Mac should do fine with a displayport to HDMI adapter but you might need a new card for your desktop.

If you aren't playing Blu-Ray or playing 5.1 games, no need to get HDMI.

Your cables are just fine.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Yamaha-RX-V...42217?pt=Receivers_Tuners&hash=item2330f0ca89

I'd get something like that.
iPhone -> 3.5mm to Stereo RCA (although personally I'd use an Airport Express then use its optical output to the receiver)
PC -> either use the optical output or the 6 channel analog input (use the latter only if you're gaming, for music the optical out is fine)
 
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P!rate said:
Unfortunately, you lost me. Are you suggesting I buy 5 (5 speakers) x 2 (2 cables per speaker) x ~45 dollars worth of cable for my speakers?
Click to expand...

If you buy an amp that is half decent you will appreciate good cabling.
If you buy a cheap amp and/or connect audio to it digitally, its a bit of a waste of your speakers and you probably wont be that bothered about decent cabling.

I told you what I'm using for my front speakers, theres no need to biwire until you know it works for you.
When you get the single wires for all your speakers, you can try biwiring on the front stereo pair by borrowing the rear speaker wires.
 
450 said:
No. If you get any receiver there is a chance it will just pass through HDMI video and you'll still need an optical cable to get audio.

IIRC you have a Macbook 13" and a desktop of some sort. The Mac should do fine with a displayport to HDMI adapter but you might need a new card for your desktop.

If you aren't playing Blu-Ray or playing 5.1 games, no need to get HDMI.

Your cables are just fine.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Yamaha-RX-V...42217?pt=Receivers_Tuners&hash=item2330f0ca89

I'd get something like that.
iPhone -> 3.5mm to Stereo RCA (although personally I'd use an Airport Express then use its optical output to the receiver)
PC -> either use the optical output or the 6 channel analog input (use the latter only if you're gaming, for music the optical out is fine)
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot for the help, 450.

Nenu said:
If you buy an amp that is half decent you will appreciate good cabling.
If you buy a cheap amp and/or connect audio to it digitally, its a bit of a waste of your speakers and you probably wont be that bothered about decent cabling.

I told you what I'm using for my front speakers, theres no need to biwire until you know it works for you.
When you get the single wires for all your speakers, you can try biwiring on the front stereo pair by borrowing the rear speaker wires.
Click to expand...

Given I get something like the RX V2300 450 linked, you'd recommend me to spend more than four times the price of the receiver on wires? Is there no better price to quality option available?
 
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^^ I believe he has speaker wire already, 16 gauge is fine. If he is going to buy something from monoprice . He might as well get banana plugs for his B&W's. Although I'm using different banana plugs, you can achieve the same results using the monoprice plugs. Here I'm using using Belden 1313a with Blue jeans plugs.


image.jpg
 
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Nenu said:
You have quite nice B&W speakers, I would have bought a fatter gauge wire, at least 14 gauge, preferably 12 gauge or larger.
14 gauge wire is around 2 to 2.5mm square, 16 gauge is around 1.3 to 1.5mm square.
I hope you bought a decent Van Damme cable btw, they are great value for money and good quality.

I'm using Van Damme Hifi 2x 6mm square (9 to 10 gauge) cable per speaker, bi wired. It gives extended bass, brighter treble and more detail compared to 16 gauge (1.5mm) Van Damme blue Series Studio wire.
Extended bass may not matter so much if your subwoofer handles most of the bass.
Brighter treble may not be so noticeable on soft dome tweeters. Metal dome and Ribbon etc will really appreciate this wire.
You should appreciate some extra detail unless your speakers or amp are really cheap.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Van-Damme-6-00mm-speaker-interconnect/dp/B009M3M0YK
Damn cheap for what you get and worth every penny imo.


Regarding the AV amp.
I would get one that has good analogue performance with 5.1 analogue inputs.
This way, you can use your computers soundcard via analogue and get better sound quality from the soundcards DAC.
AV amps dont have good DAC stages unless you pay a lot.
Very cheap AV amps have low quality DAC stages.
This assumes at least a half decent soundcard though, what sound card are you using?

Your computer will decode all HD formats so there is no need to consider if the amp will do High Definition codecs unless you will be plugging in via digital from say an external Blu Ray player etc.
Even then, the Blu Ray player can decode Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD MA to LPCM which just about any receiver can handle.
I can honestly say I have never found it necessary to make my receiver decode the high def formats, my Blu Ray player and PC both decode to LPCM or send it already decoded as analogue.
There is no quality advantage, all your AV amp needs is the ability to use LPCM if you use a digital connection.
Click to expand...


Man do you buy snake oil too?
 
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Why take the piss out of people who can appreciate something you cant.
I feel sorry for you mate on 2 counts :p
 
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