Slim Receivers for Home Theater System5

[CircuitsMan]

I did my research since http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1520749 and found a bunch of slim stand-alone receivers that will fit in my TV stand, however only a few of them might support CEC and almost none of them can be had for under $500 unless on sale. Here's the list I came up with.

Cambridge Audio 340R
Cambridge Audio 540R
Jamo DMR 70
JVC RX D702B (refurb)
Marantz NR1501
Sherwood RD-6504
Sherwood R-904N
Yamaha YMC-500
Yamaha YMC-700

Only the Marantz receiver's manual said it would support CEC, however I suspect the Yamaha's will support it too because their manuals mention HDMI 1.3.

Here is what I've decided. I'm actually torn between the two ideas... Either I get the latest Sony HTIB, the HT-SF470(not released yet) and hope it sounds fairly good, or I wait until this winter for the big sales to start and hope to get the YMC-500 and several Yamaha Speakers (225 series?) for less than $1000. I looked on CamelCamelCamel and every 225 speaker was half-price back in December. I'd prefer to get the Yamaha speakers as they look better and will certainly sound better, but I'll have to wait 6-7 months to possibly get them at the price I'd like. Or I can settle for Sony's cheap HTIB and have it as soon as Sony releases it.


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How did that 5 get in the title? Can someone delete it?

 

[CircuitsMan]

I still haven't bought speakers yet, so I thought I'd revisit an old problem. This time around I came across a Cambridge Audio Sonata AR30 receiver which looks slim, but sadly it only does 2.1 for the same price as the ones mentioned before. I also found this unusual Onkyo system, HTX-22HDX, which incorporates the receiver into the subwoofer. It doesn't looks like it's available yet, so who knows what the price will be, but it's something I'll keep my eye on.

I almost forgot to mention (although I doubt too many reading this will care) the Sony HTiB I was looking at appears to be available online for varying prices, but close to around $400.

 

[CircuitsMan]

I also just noticed the new Marantz NR1601. I haven't seen much else that doesn't come in a HTIB. Anyone else know of any slim receivers I haven't seen yet? Preferably ones still available?