Replacing only the receiver in a HTIB

[Team Obi Juan]

I have had a standard HTIB + TV setup for 2 years now and am getting the itch to go full HTPC. But the first step is getting a receiver with some HDMI inputs. If I were to add an HTPC right now it would have to be HDMI to my TV's HDMI inputs, then out to my receiver/speakers for sound. This is currently how my xbox 360 is. Sounds good but I bet it's not optimal to have the TV mess with the signal. Current receiver has no HDMI inputs.

So I'm looking into receivers that I can HOPEFULLY use with my HTIB 5.1.

1) My current receiver powers my sub. What's the chances of finding a receiver that can do that?
2) My speakers do not have some proprietary plug at the end of the wires, just regular split speaker wire. Hopefully standalone receivers output to just regular positive and negative speaker wire?
3) I'm worried about ohms and all that stuff (back from my car audio days). Is that going to be a problem?

What receiver do you recommend for at least 2 or 3 HDMI inputs and 1 output? Can it power a sub? Budget between $200 and $300... lower the better.

 

[Demon10000]

The speakers will work, but you will have to worry about the ohms rating. It's my understanding that not matching the Ohms rating of the speakers to the receiver causes unnecessary heat on the receiver and will drastically shorten its life.

As far as the sub -- all of the receivers I've worked with required a powered sub. I'm not sure you're going to find one.

 

[IDversusEGO]

1) Most require powered subs but you can ad an amp to your sub if you really want to. check out partsexpress.com for some amps. you would be best off just getting a new sub though.

2) Yes, a standard receiver has positive and negative speaker posts/clips.

3) Home speakers typically have standard impedance, but you will want to check. Find the rating of your speakers and check the receiver against that. Pretty simple.


For your budget check out the shoponkyo.com store and pick up a refurb.

 

[brownkc]

Ditto on the sub. I haven't seen a receiver with a powered sub out. As for the positive/negative connections, look at the back of any receiver and you will find red (+) and black (-) connections.

As someone who made the move from an HTIB to a better system, I would highly recommend buying upgraded speakers. They don't have to be fancy. I started with some inexpensive Polk bookshelf speakers ($50/pr) and the difference in sound was astounding from the HTIB speakers. I have purchased 2 standalone receivers since then and both improvements were barely, if it all, noticeable in sound quality. By far, the speaker upgrade had the most impact. Remember, the most important speaker in a home theater is the center speaker followed by the front speakers and then the rear speakers. The sub would probably fall in between the front and rear speakers.

Just a heads up. I recently purchased a new Yamaha receiver (RX-V765) so I could reduce the cable clutter by using just HDMI cables. I am now running into a problem with losing the picture after routing all of my devices through the A/V Receiver. My HTPC w/ an ATI 5750 and my Time Warner HD DVR (Scientific Atlanta 8300HD) are having issues with HDCP (digital rights management). The video card has the latest the firmware and the DVR was just updated to a new software interface. When switching between sources, HDMI/HDCP freaks out and kills the video signal which shows up as a green screen from the HTPC and snow from the cable box. I called Yamaha and they claim to have the latest HDMI profile/firmware. They state that the video card manufacturer and cable box manufacturer are behind on HDMI updates. The cable box generally straightens itself it but the HTPC can require a restart in a certain order to get the signal through. I haven't figured out the order yet but I am working on it. Previously, I used an old receiver with digital audio going to it and HDMI video cables going directly to the TV. I had no problems under that system except for too few HDMI inputs on the TV and I couldn't take advantage of the new HD audio feeds on Blurays. Supposedly, the issue is tied to the receiver acting as a repeater and the connected device transmitting the HDMI signal is bothered by the disrupted connection to the Monitor (It can't complete the HDCP handshake to send video).

Good luck with the upgrade and I hope everything goes smoothly.