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Recomend me a 5.1 A/V Receiver with built-in automatic sound calibration...

post #1 of 17
12/2/09 at 8:49pm
Thread Starter 
... for under $500

... and no Bose equivalent please
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post #2 of 17
12/2/09 at 8:54pm
If you don't want automatic sound calibration (non EQ models) Just pickup a radio shack meter. After all all they do is work out distance, levels and maybe phase. And you can do that yourself. I haven't followed AV amps for a while as I think they're a bit crap sound quality wise, moved to av seperates. You could pickup a older av pre-amp instead but you'll need poweramps as well, unless you just use headphones in which case av pre-amp is wiser purchase.
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post #3 of 17
12/2/09 at 8:55pm
Four New Receivers from Pioneer — Reviews and News from Audioholics
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post #4 of 17
12/2/09 at 9:30pm
Denon w/ Audyssey
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post #5 of 17
12/2/09 at 10:39pm
The Denon AVR-1909 came with the Audyssey mic/calibration and it worked decently well, but I think it was an older version? Anyway, that AVR went back to the store because I was having issues with it resetting randomly (it was an open box..)

Picked up an Onkyo SR-607 as the replacement and it also had the Audyssey stuff and it seemed to do a better job of calibrating than the Denon did. It sounds pretty nice too.
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post #6 of 17
12/2/09 at 11:09pm
Your best choice for your price range is Denon or Onkyo. Both use the Audessy calibration which is excellent. Onkyo's need to be well ventilated because they get hot. Their customer service can be very sucky to. My choice would be the Denon.
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post #7 of 17
12/3/09 at 9:53am
Yamaha RX-V663 is a damn nice amplifier as well. It´s better then the 665. In general many of the newest models are dumbed down both on the amp department but sometimes also feature department. Economic crisis I suspect is part of it.

Think hard about what features you really need first. Then start looking at what receivers will probably suit your speakers and your preferences back.

Yamaha have their own audio calibration system. Certainly worked major lift using that over unequalized. Yamaha have their own DSP modes as well they seem to want to go their own way. Headphone out sucks on it though if you doesn´t already have a headphone amplifier. But it has a really nice silent Cinema feature so if you do have a separate headphone amp you can run a phono-rca cable to your headphone amp. Yamaha does have a really good pure direct mode for shortest possible signal path. Does make a difference.
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post #8 of 17
12/3/09 at 2:33pm
Thread Starter 
oh btw here's my current sub and speakers...

4x Bose 161 front and surrounds
1x Bose VCS 10 center
1x Yamaha YST SW216
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post #9 of 17
12/3/09 at 2:47pm
I hope you're going to replace those Bose, not worth spending $500 on a av amp if you're keeping the Bose
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post #10 of 17
12/3/09 at 3:18pm
Geez man no offense, I agree with iriverdude, the Bose 161's in particular are terrible. I would budget a few hundred out of that 500 for some speakers first.

I find Denons to be slightly overpriced for what they offer, I've always prefered Onkyo receivers in that regard. The newer Yamaha's hold their own as well. But if you are big on auto-cal, I'd get the Onkyo's with Audyssey like ppl above have mentioned.
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post #11 of 17
12/3/09 at 5:17pm
Thread Starter 
161s kinda sound good for their price ($45... thanks ebay)
isnt auto calibration suppose to solve 161's "perceived deficiencies"?

My living room dimension is like 13' L, 14' W, 9' H and is carpeted.
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post #12 of 17
12/3/09 at 5:23pm
sorry to hijack a thread, but are there any other sites other than audioholics that have respectable reviews on speaker equipment?

im trying to start researching a 5.1 setup myself and want to know some sources that both the OP and I can go to! (yay, i didnt completely hijack the thread!)
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post #13 of 17
12/3/09 at 5:24pm
Sorry no, you know what they say can't about polishing. For a room of that size you need bigger speakers. If you do keep those speakers I wouldn't spend more than £200 on a av amp, buy the lowest model in the range.
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post #14 of 17
12/3/09 at 6:26pm
My issue here is not with the speakers as such, I'm a fan of value for money as well and have several budget setups with me. But my issue is with the way you are distributing available funds. If you have 500$ set aside for an audio upgrade, you arent going to really benefit by putting it all down on a good receiver with these sort of speakers.

Ofcourse, if you plan on upgrading the speakers soon anyway, then this will be a good investment that will work better with the new speakers when you choose to get some. But in terms of most bang for buck, right now with your budget, I'd look at getting solid front and center speakers. Bose speakers are very easy to sell and you'll probably make up the money you got them for in the first place since you say you got them cheap.

One suggestion is to retain 2 161's for surround duties and change the LCR where most of the stuff happens anyway. Even budget bookshelf speakers will give you much more bang for buck with your budget. For 300$ you can get a very good receiver with auto calibration and you'll end up with a much better system for the same money.

Two examples from the top of my head are PSB alphas which go for around 200$ a pair, and the Wharfedale Diamonds which go for even less. Matching centers shouldnt cost more than 100$.
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post #15 of 17
12/3/09 at 7:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by uraflit View Post
sorry to hijack a thread, but are there any other sites other than audioholics that have respectable reviews on speaker equipment?

im trying to start researching a 5.1 setup myself and want to know some sources that both the OP and I can go to! (yay, i didnt completely hijack the thread!)
AVS is a pretty good one.
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