First I'll tell you my current home theater setup.

Receiver: Yamaha HTR-5150
TV:Panasonic 53" widescreen + Progressive Scan DVD
Front Speakers: JBL Northridge Series N38
Middle Speaker: Paradigm CC70
Back Speakers: Boston VRS
Sub: Yamaha SW60

I use my reciever about 70% time for movies and about 30% for video games. I really don't listen to music.

I bought the Yamaha 4 years ago, and it has served me well. However, I don't have experience with other brands to compare it to.

The 1050 interests me, but it seems a little dated and doesn't include any more surround formats than my current receiver, other than the 6.1. Has anyone used a yamaha receiver the same or similar to mine? How does it compare to the 1050? Is the sound quality any better? Would it be worth my money to upgrade, or should I stay with what I have?

Any advice would be appreciated.

I have a good friend who uses a Yamaha receiver just like yours and he enjoys it. I tend to think my 1050 sounds a bit more on the "warmer" side, but we still haven't done a head to head comparison. It would, however, give you better sound quality, a little more power, more inputs, the 6th channel decoding, and preamp outputs. Those things are nice to have especially if you're in the upgrade mood. Honestly, I love my 1050, but I don't think it would upgrade your system as much as you may like.

What is your budget? If you have the money to do it, the 950/7-series combo may work better for you. That to me would be a good case for an upgrade. It would give you more power, more options, and just more overall flexibility. It sounds like from the size of your TV that you have a larger room. The extra power of that combo may work perfectly for that. Of course, you do need that money stuff to do it.

So to conclude this rambling post, the 1050 is a nicer receiver, IMHO, than the Yamaha. In your case, however, another option may work better. Good luck!

Thanks for the input. I hadn't put much thought into the 950. I guess I am just kind of confused about amps/preamps. Do I have to have an amplifier to use the 950? There is no way I could afford the combo, but I might be able to afford the 950 by itself.

[This message has been edited by gerdals (edited June 27, 2003).]

In all honesty, there have been some problems decoding some DVDs in 5.1 mode (see the Harry Potter Thread). Since these problems do not occur in the 6.1 mode with 6 speakers, this should not present an issue if you are willing to commit to adding the additional speaker(s) at the same time. If you are not I would consider this more carefully.

FWIW, if you are going because of 6.1 you may want to consider going directly to 7.1. The decoding is the same, the only difference is the addition of a 2nd speaker and the additional channel of amplification.

I am not familiar with your specific Yamaha model. In my case, I upgraded to a 1050 from an older Yamaha that lacked Dolby 5.1 processing capabilities, otherwise, I am not sure that the 1050 provided a solid improvement. It certainly lacks a lot of the flexibility that my older Yamaha provided. I would carefully compare your model against the 1050's manual (available online) and determine if you will lose any features you use now.

Having said this, I should point out that I was feeding my old Yamaha's front outputs into a separate power amp (and am still doing this with the 1050). I would strongly suggest reviewing whether your model has preamp outs and determining whether a more powerful amp might prove beneficial. For example if your fronts speakers are seriously underpowered, 2 monoblocks may be just the ticket to improve your sound. More than likely something like the 7100 might even be better especially if you are considering going to 6.1 or 7.1 at some point in the future. Then you could upgrade to a 950 at some future point when your buget allows for it.

[This message has been edited by 73Bruin (edited June 29, 2003).]

gerdals,

Yes, the 950 is a processor only. You would need a separate amplifier, such as Outlaw's 7100 or 770, and a set of interconnect cables to connect each output of the processor to its corresponding input on the amplifier.

My $.02: if you were choosing between the 5150 and the 1050 for initial purchase, I'd definitely suggest auditioning the Outlaw and seeing if you prefer the (slight) differences in features and sound quality that differentiate the two. But it wouldn't be a particularly good bang-for-buck upgrade.

-avi

[This message has been edited by Avi (edited July 03, 2003).]

I moved my Yamaha 5250 into the bedroom when I bought my 1050. To me, the 1050 was a noticeable improvement. The channel separation was distintly better, and the center channel/dialogue was much clearer.

The absense of DPL II and other sound modes has been debated in other threads. Frankly, I like DPL I better than II, and I don't miss (because I didn't use them) the 20+ modes the Yamaha offered the 1050 doesn't.

I really like 6.1 over 5.1, and I'm not convinced I will ever need or want additional channels.

One real benefit of the 1050 is the ability to use it as a pre-amp as an intermediary step to separates. I am doing this. My model of Yamaha does not have pre-amp outs.

Overall, although the 2 receivers were about equal in original price, I think the 1050 is a real step up, and I wouldn't trade it for anything (except maybe a 950!).

[This message has been edited by michaelstano (edited July 03, 2003).]