Looking for some advice on an av receiver. I've narrowed my list down to the HK 330, Yamaha 750 and Denon 1804. I'm basically trying to find the best av receiver for under $600. I plan on hooking it up to a Polk Audio 6700 surround sound system with the psw303 subwoofer. The room it will be in is 11x19 (basment). The receiver will primarily be used for tv watching/listening but I also plan on running my cd player through it as well. Any advice you can offer would be great. Thanks.
Kevin, You should also include the Marantz 5400 on your list. This is a very fine receiver for the money and has excellent power in surround mode. The Marantz also is a better match with Polk than Yamaha and Denon and at least as good as the H/K. For $599 list it's pretty hard to beat.
I'd say the H/K and Marantz are best choices out of those, they're more musical and give you more power than the rather brigth sounding Yamaha and Denon. The Marantz is more detailed than the H/K, but it's maybe not as full sounding. You should try them out to see wich you like the most.
I've got an HK 325 & it sounds great. Loud, clean & plenty of set-up options (zone 2, assignable rear amps, auto-calibration, etc.), but it's downfall is the lack of inputs. It has 4 s-video inputs, 2 optical inputs & 2 coaxial inputs on the rear. I've got 4 components with s-video (dvd, computer, satellite & vcr [signals converted with cheap Radio Shack converters]). The dvd has optical out, & the computer has either optical or coaxial out. That leaves zero s-video inputs & 2 digital audio inputs on the rear. I'll want to plug in my xbox, but it has s-video & either optical or coaxial out, & I don't know what to do. I guess I'll unplug my computer. I guess if I make a dedicated htpc or get a tivo, I'll have to get a new receiver. The Denon 1804 is nice, but you should be able to get a 2803 cheap. My friend has a Marantz 6200 & I really like the sound. It's not as featureful as my 325, though.
dvd player going straight to tv for video, component out (red yellow blue) best possable quality.
I've got 3 components with s-video (computer, satellite & vcr)
The dvd & the computer has either optical or coaxial out. That leaves one s-video input & 2 digital audio inputs on the rear.
now when i hook up my xbox i got the component video cable so i can go directly to the tv "second input" or into the reciever which has 2 component inputs. then the optical out goes to the reciever.
so it still leaves me 1 svideo in and 1 coax in plus 1 more component in if i put the xbox their.
so if you could utilize the component type cables on your dvd player and xbox it should solve all your problems and give you a better picture.
Kegger, My current tv's an analogue rptv without component inputs, but thanks for the suggestions. Sooner or later (probably later), I'll get a front projector. I'd like to make my xbox a permanent resident of my component rack since I use it to play avi's & mp3's off my computer. I guess I don't really need my computer hooked up, though.