Receiver advice needed

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wtburnette

2[H]4U
Joined
Jun 24, 2004
Messages
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So, my receiver's HDMI out was blown 2 nights ago from a huge storm we had in the area. Not sure how it happened, since it was attached to a good surge supressor, but the facts speak for themselves. I was using a Onkyo HT-RC160 that I was very happy with. It was reasonably priced and had all the features I needed. I'm not a huge audiophile, so the sound quality was fine. My question is, since no one seems to carry these anymore, what should I replace it with? I can't go over $500, or rather, I don't want to go over $500. I looked at a couple Onkyo receivers on Newegg and Amazon that looked reasonable. TX-NR309, 509, 609 and 709. I also looked at a couple Yamaha receivers, RX-A700 and RX-A800. All I really need is a decent receiver that puts out reasonable sound, has a good tuner and a minimum of 3 HDMI in and 1 HDMI out. So what do you all recommend? I'd like something comparable to the receiver I had, as I really liked it and it did everything I needed. Thanks in advance.
 
Well, just found out there's an authorized repair facility nearby, so they say $150 - $220 might be all that's needed to repair what I have. Since I'm tight on funds, I may go this direction. Still looking to see what would be the best way to go...
 
Wow.....if I had to spend $200 on a repair, I'd get a new receiver. If it were maybe $75, then I'd consider a repair. You can get a low-end receiver with HDMI for 2 bills these days. Several of those you listed would do....I don't feel comfortable recommending a receiver as I only buy one every several years....I would check reviews on CNET. I've seen them offer from recs on decent receivers.
 
Well, hopefully the 609 will work. I'm too impatient to go without my surround sound for long, so I pulled the trigger. :D
 
I hope you got it from amazon. That way, if it turns up defective you can swap it free for a replacement. Good to be a prime member, too.
 
I'll happily do so. To set expectations, I'm not an audiophile by any means, just want something that hopefully compares to what I had. I did find it interesting this thing let's you stream Pandora, spotify and others. I don't know if you need to buy the $40 wireless dongle for that, or if you can get it through your entertainment system. Not sure, but will post my thoughts when I get it setup tomorrow and then more after I've used it a bit.
 
Got the receiver today and got it hooked up in no time. Was an almost exact mirror to what needed to be plugged into my old receiver, with the only real difference being that I had to plug a cable into the ethernet port. Luckily I have a wireless n bridge connecting my HTPC and PS3, so connecting the receiver wasn't an issue. Sound quality is very similar to my old unit. I ran the speaker calibration and it seems to be working pretty well. I've watched a couple movies, some TV and played a couple songs and it seems to have better surround then the old unit. Overall I'm pretty pleased. Going to play around with the built in streaming tomorrow to see what I think and throw a action flick or two at it to see how that goes. Right now, for $400, this seems like one hell of a good receiver.
 
That $400 price is amazing for what you get. Test that baby hard, though.

I'm beginning to wonder about the logic of getting a really high-end receiver these days. They go obsolete so quickly.

What exactly will your unit stream? MKVs or ISOs? Or just music? High-def audio formats?
 
Sorry, the streaming is internet music services like Pandora and Spotify. I haven't checked the whole list yet. Plan to run it through a bit more testing later today...
 
Spotify is pretty cool. It just came to the US, though, so this must be a recent to market receiver? I'm a premium member for now. It's cool to be able to stream your playlist of new music on your mobile device while out and about.
 
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