Best stereo recievers under $500

 

Bert Mingea
Unregistered guest
My Yamaha reciever was attacked by lightening recently and after having scoured the web for a bit i'm tired of looking at recievers with the latest and greatest new gadgets that drive a zillion different speakers all over the room. All I'm looking for is great sounding music; i don't want my house to sound like a theater...i'd rather it sounded like a concert. I don't really know were to start so any help would be appreciated. BTW, I don't mind buying used if i can get a little more bang for my buck. Any suggestions?

Bert
 

Silver Member
Username: Geekboy

Newport, RI United States

Post Number: 305
Registered: Dec-03
For what you can get Mail Order, the Harman Kardon AVR-230 is a pretty nice unit. You can pick up older AVR-X25 units at the same pricepoint. The AVR-525 would be sweet under $500.00 if you can find it.

If you're looking for stereo only receivers (don't want AVR capabilities), the H/K stereo line is awesome with lots of power. I think the Marantz line may be a good fit too. What kind of speakers do you have???
 

Bert Mingea
Unregistered guest
Thanks for the advice...i'll check those out. I'm not opposed to AVR unless i have to sacrifice audio quality for those features which, since i don't own a ton of speakers don't really do me a whole lot of good right now.

Right now i've got fairly cheap speakers; a pair of yamahas that i believe were around $150. They're pretty simple 8 inch bookshelf speakers. They don't sound bad but they are a little bright for my taste...or maybe it was the reciever? I'm looking for something larger and warmer sounding and intend on getting new speakers that will work well with whatever reciever i decide on.

If it matters i prefer listening to jazz and blues/blues rock recordings. I love how alot of these recordings reflect the sound of the room the recording was made in and i'd like to hear that detail more on my home stereo in the same way that i do on an expensive car stereo.
 

Silver Member
Username: Goldenarrow

Post Number: 125
Registered: Jun-04
Warm sounding receivers might be HK, Marantz, NAD, and Pioneer Elite line not necessarily in that order.
 

Ramses
Unregistered guest
Bert,

You can try NAD C740 or a Rotel RX 1050 which is more expensive but maybe you can try to find a used one.

Onkyo 8511 is a good option. Not as good as NAD or Rotel but retails for less than $300.00.

Peace !
 

Bronze Member
Username: Bleustar

Pensacola, Florida

Post Number: 18
Registered: Jul-04
Bert,

I own a Harman Kardon HK3480 Stereo Receiver. It works great for music as well as movies. It has a subwoofer output which is a nice feature.

120wpc of clean power and a decent remote that is easy to use.

There many other choices if you want surround capability, but for stereo only it is a great receiver. I bought mine new online for $300 including shipping. The list price is $449.
 

Bert Mingea
Unregistered guest
I just started looking into integrated amplifiers. Am i correct in assuming that these are just recievers without the tuner? If so, i'd be happy with one of these as well since i never listen to the radio. Any suggestions.

Also, I've noticed that amps like the NAD are pretty low wattage. How will a 35w per channel NAD compare to the Rotel or HK at 100w and better.
 

Bronze Member
Username: Drumsuck

St. johns, Newfoundland Canada

Post Number: 45
Registered: May-04
if you're into the integrated amp idea try the Cambridge Audio Azur 640A.

as well as NAD
 

Anon
Unregistered guest
If you are into integrateds try these two: nad c352 or NAD 372

http://www.yawaonline.com/nadc3stinam.html

http://www.yawaonline.com/nadc3stinam1.html

Do not be discouraged for NAD wattage specs. They are really a lot more powerful than what the numbers show and they have a rich warm sound. NAD are well known for their amplifiers.

Good luck
 

New member
Username: Jlwalw

Post Number: 1
Registered: Aug-04
I just bought the Definitive procinema 60 (5.1 HTS)and now I need expert advice on which receiver I should use with my speakers that will bring out the best in procinema 60. The speakers will be used mostly for movies. Thanks for the help.
 

Unregistered guest
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=50596&item=5715474431&rd= 1
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=50592&item=5715478856&rd= 1

I know there old, but i think they sound better than what is available today, unless you want to spend over 500.
 

Bronze Member
Username: Falp

Post Number: 61
Registered: Mar-04
Marantz SR5400!
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