Hi everyone: I am looking to buy a new receiver to upgrade my home theater using HDMI inputs/outputs. I have budget of $ 1000. I am looking at the following options: SONY ES-STRDA3300ES, ONKYO TX-SR805 and YAMAHA RX-V861VL; which of those receivers do you think is the best overall option and why?? What other receive do you think I should consider for under $ 1000?? I will upgrade most of my other equipment in the near future (except the speakers which cost me US$ 4,000 for a complete Definitive Technologies 5.1 set), but my first step is to choose a best possible receiver for my budget. Thanks in advance for your kind help.
For movies I like the Yamaha RX V series. Not really honest power specs but considerably more reliable (service) than NAD, Marantz and Denon. Onkyo used to be awful but I understand they have made some changes.
Thanks a lot to everybody for your comments and recomendations. Yes, receiver must be a multichannel and I will be buying a blu ray player that is why I am upgrading my old receiver that does not have HDMI inputs. Can you recommend especific brand and model numbers so I can check them out?
Easy enough to use a search engine to look up brands and find the models. Then check on prices the same way. You had models already listed...start with those.
I have played a lot with the Onkyo TX-SR605 and a bit with the TX-SR875. The 875 uses the same DSP chipsets as the 805 but has a better video processing and an extra HDMI input.
These are very good receivers offering very good value for money (even better in the US). They are as future-proof as it gets at the moment, offering all the codecs required to support Blu-ray. The only limitation is downscaling. I do not believe they can take a 1080p HDMI input and downscale to component or s-video for example, but the passthrough works very well, giving us spectacular results using a PS3 into a Panasonic PTAE2000E projector onto a 7' screen.
Incidentally, at the moment, the PS3 looks like the best Blu-ray player value for money. The Panasonic BD30 is meant to be a royally good player too although I'm not sure if it has the networking capability of the PS3, which guarantees future upgrades.
Hi to everyone and thank you for all your comments. After doing an extensive research I think I will choose the DENON AVR-2808CI which is being sold by Amazon at US$ 999. Do you think I am making a good decision???
I prefer Yamaha to Denon and believe that Onkyo is now superior to Denon. Denon's user interface has always been clumsy and I have no resaon to believe that has changed...spoke with an installer last week who confirmed that. However since you're going to be using it it's important that you like it.
Thanks for your comments. Previously I was considering an Onkyo but I have read in several blogs that there are some serious quality issues with regards to the latest Onkyo models. Why do you prefer Yamaha??? Better sound that the Denon or it is more features??
I like the Yamaha user interface and the RX-V model that I have (657 from a couple of years ago I think...too tired to go and look, you can check my profile it's there) is actually quite good for movies. I don't listen to music with it...but it's actually very good for movies and concert video's. Keep in mind that I mean for a mass market receiver it has done very well for me. In fact it's the component with the longest lfe in my home at the present (primarily because I don't wan't to spend alot of money on HT gear).