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Stubies
16-09-2013, 22:21
Looking at A/V receivers, mainly just to see what is out there new - never had one (until now, just purchased a surround sound set from an AOS member - waiting for arrival to try it )

Here is what i found:

Lots of ebay 'good deals', that are infact not. They miss enough (or any) HDMI ports and upscaling - many have poor video menus (or none!) and many have defective hdmi boards (Onkyos and Denons mostly - but some home fixing seems to work) or other known defects. these not-so-good deals range from 80 GBP to 250.

But, Richersounds has 2 (or more) models on crazy discount markdown right now - that have enough hdmi and probably good menus, both are 150 gbp.

http://www.richersounds.com/product/av-receivers/sony/strdh820/sony-strdh820
http://www.richersounds.com/product/av-receivers/yamaha/rxv373/yama-rxv373-blk
http://www.richersounds.com/product/av-receivers/onkyo/txnr414/onky-txnr414-blk

seems new are better deals than used just now...


Any thoughts?

Macca
17-09-2013, 07:50
I'd buy a new one - as you say they are very competatively priced and eBay prices are unrealisticly high. AV receivers soon go out of date. Personally I have never run video through them, I don't see the point of all the extra hassle just so the sound changes automatically when you change source. I use the analogue 5.1 inputs and so all the settings in the player rather than the amp.

Also try using a 4.1 set up i.e without the centre speaker. A lot of people complain it is hard to hear dialogue in 5.1, for me that is down to the centre speaker and good ones are stupidly expensive. Dial it out and run the sound through the two front speakers and dialogue is much clearer and you avoid listening to 1 channel mono through a crap speaker.

Stubies
17-09-2013, 08:55
I'd buy a new one - as you say they are very competatively priced and eBay prices are unrealisticly high. AV receivers soon go out of date. Personally I have never run video through them, I don't see the point of all the extra hassle just so the sound changes automatically when you change source. I use the analogue 5.1 inputs and so all the settings in the player rather than the amp.

Also try using a 4.1 set up i.e without the centre speaker. A lot of people complain it is hard to hear dialogue in 5.1, for me that is down to the centre speaker and good ones are stupidly expensive. Dial it out and run the sound through the two front speakers and dialogue is much clearer and you avoid listening to 1 channel mono through a crap speaker.

Thanks for your advice martin - as this is my first go, i really dont know what to expect - your points will be helpful. I didnt realize dialogue comes from the centre speaker.

Now that you point it out - that is the problem. AV receivers have a short use-by date! Is it planned obsolescence? Good for the manufacturer though...:acid:

Ingo Bingo
16-09-2014, 10:14
Also try using a 4.1 set up i.e without the centre speaker. A lot of people complain it is hard to hear dialogue in 5.1, for me that is down to the centre speaker and good ones are stupidly expensive. Dial it out and run the sound through the two front speakers and dialogue is much clearer and you avoid listening to 1 channel mono through a crap speaker.

Probably the worst advice for AV i have ever seen.

As long as the speakers match then they will all perform the same once setup. Therefore if you have a crap centre your fronts will be too!!!!

The centre and fronts should all match, the rears can be different. Make sure you set them up properly, most new amps will have a decent setup program, if not get a sound meter for £20 from maplins and sit where you will watch and set each channel to balance!!!!!!!!!!!!

Poor centre sound means they are not set correctly, i guess the same avice for stereo should be listen in mono, as the balance is permanently set to favour one speaker so stereo is rubbish.............GGrrrrrr

struth
16-09-2014, 10:33
I'll stick to my Yamaha sound projector. Used to have a big Kenwood multi channel with sub which sounded good but was a hassle with cables all over the shop, as said they are always changing models which makes your one obsolete and worthless. Think the Kenwood cost over 400 and sold a few years later mint for 30.

Ingo Bingo
16-09-2014, 10:38
I have been a member on AV forums for nearly 10 years and i sompletely disagree, there is a vibrant second hand market.

http://www.avforums.com/forums/home-cinema-hi-fi-classifieds.62/

Check it out

Pete

Marco
16-09-2014, 11:03
Probably the worst advice for AV i have ever seen.

As long as the speakers match then they will all perform the same once setup. Therefore if you have a crap centre your fronts will be too!!!!

The centre and fronts should all match, the rears can be different. Make sure you set them up properly, most new amps will have a decent setup program, if not get a sound meter for £20 from maplins and sit where you will watch and set each channel to balance!!!!!!!!!!!!

Poor centre sound means they are not set correctly, i guess the same avice for stereo should be listen in mono, as the balance is permanently set to favour one speaker so stereo is rubbish.............GGrrrrrr

Hi Pete,

The emboldened text above has been highlighted because it's unacceptably aggressive and confrontational, and simply not how we address each other on AoS. We are a friendly forum, and so at all times treat each other with politeness and respect. Therefore, kindly bear that in mind in future, by moderating your responses to others accordingly.

Cheers!

Marco.

Macca
16-09-2014, 11:34
That's okay Marco, my advice is controversial in the world of A/V but I am not the only person to have dispensed with the centre speaker and found it to make a huge improvement particularly when playing a film that has a lot of action mixed with dialogue or when playing music videos.

I did make the point that good centre speakers are very expensive and perhaps by spending the extra you could overcoem the inherent problems but frankly I don't see the point. I also disagree that the centres and front speakers need to be the same type/brand or it will cause problems. I doubt that if demonstrated blind anyone would be able to tell if the centre was the same model or a different model. There is a lot of cobblers talked about A/V and it is mainly aimed at selling more boxes.