So I went surfing on the net looking at different A/V receivers and I have composed a list of receivers that are in my price range and I believe theses are all good receivers. I just don't know which is the best. So here is the list.

Yamaha: RX-V1200

Onkyo: TX-DS595, TX-DS696

Harmon Kardon: AVR-320, AVR-520

Kenwood: VR-510

Outlaw Audio: 1050

Denon: AVR-2802, AVR-981

Marantz: SR-5200, SR-7200

Pioneer: VSX-D810S

JVC: RX-9010VBK

Sony: STR-DE1075, STR-DB1070

So which receiver do you think is the best? I will use the receiver for 35% Home Theater and 65% music. If you choose a receiver please tell me why you chose the receiver and what makes you think it is the best receiver out of the list.

Thinks for the help,

Chris

Come on guys will someone help me out here? Look odds are I'm going to buy the Outlaw 1050 but I also want to know what strengths it has over these other receivers. And what strengths the other receivers have over it. I put this post also on audioreview a while back and I got a lot of responses, so why does anyone not want to help me here?

PS If you are ever in the audioreview message board check out the general section, odds I will be in their and my name in there is the same as it is here. Except it is spelled the Not so new guy.

Chris

Since you can check the specs and features for yourself, I'm assuming you want real world feedback from people who've heard these various pieces in action. I haven't so I can't offer you anything. The same may be true for many others around here. If we don't know, we generally don't respond.

I guess then the only thing I can do now is narrow my list as far down as I can then just audition the rest.

What the heck am I saying? I'm getting my post mixed up. You see odds are I'm going with the Outlaw anyway so their really is no need for this post.

I can't speak about the particular receivers you listed (other than the 1050) but can say that from other high end products that friends have, here are some thoughts:

Yamaha: Strong, robust, but can be over driven. The particular friend has taken his in for service 3 times for blown channels in just under a year. He got a new one due to the 'no lemon' policy and it has been OK for at least 6 months. He drives 4 ohm speakers. Maybe the first one really just was a lemon.

HK: I own an old Prologic receiver which is used in my bedroom. It is not in the same league as the 1050 with 2 channel material or in Prologic, even though it was referred to as a high current receiver 4 years ago when I bought it. If you're going to buy from Circuit City or somebody like that, HK may be the best they have, but the 1050, to me, would be a much stronger value. The HK amp section in that receiver just doesn't hold up the same. Maybe things are different today.

Pioneer: Had an old Pioneer right before I bought the HK. It was in the same price bracket with similar specs and features, but was completely unacceptable. If the HK's amp section is weak, then the Pioneer's didn't even exist. It could have been a bad piece, but one week told me to take it back. I assume that Pioneer is much stronger now than they were then, or they wouldn't hold a chance.

Sony: A friend bought a Sony (can't remember the model. . .100wx5, DD, DTS etc) for around $300 about 2 years ago. I am still amazed by this little thing. It's not heavy (i.e. small transformer/little heat sinking), it has about a thousand features and it sounds 'pretty' clean. The bass management wasn't too good, but otherwise, it is a good receiver for the casual home theater player. This was actually the receiver that made me get out of Prologic and into digital. But I still chose the 1050 at more than double the money (at the time) and am glad I did.

So that's what I have. Not really very helpful. I guess it shows more of a gut feeling than an actual info.


S.