$200 to $325 receiver for fluance speakers?

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

I think I'm going to pump my tax refund back into the economy and spend the $650 or so on some speakers.

In my dorm, a guy down the hall asked me 4 months ago about some speakers, and I recommended looking at the fluance speakers here

Anyway, they sound great, so I think I'm going to get these for myself. (they're about $350 shipped with wire)

I'm pretty set on the speakers, but I need a reciever to go with them. I've been doing some reading, and it seems like these are some good options:

Denon AVR-1804 ($299 refurbished at ecost.com)
Onkyo TXSR601 ($250 refurb at ecost, $355 new)
Kenwood VR-7060 ($194 refurb, $272 new)
Kenwood VR-6070 ($196 refurb)

Right now I'm leaning towards the refurbished Kenwoods (I'm not sure which one is better, anyone know?)

Is there anything better that I missed? Which one would you pick and why?

Thanks.

 

[Thegonagle]

I got a refurb'd H/K factory direct on eBay (seller: Harmanaudio) for a killer price last year. Harmanaudio is Harman/Kardon, JBL, and Infinity's factory outlet on eBay. I've used them three times now. Refurbs from Harmanaudio carry the same warranty as new, and if you have any problems, call them up (or email them) for an RMA, and they'll email a pre-paid UPS shipping label, so you don't need to pay return shipping. (I needed to do that once--one of the things about saving $100's on a refurb--sometimes you catch a problem that their testing didn't--but it was worth it considering they take care of all replacement shipping.) Hell, that's even better than NewEgg! (Sort of--they don't ship as fast (24-48 hours instead of Newegg's usual same-day shipping), but other than that, they've been great.)

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Thanks for the tip, I've been looking at what they have to offer.

I know that watts isn't everything, but it looks like a lot of the H/K receivers only output about 50 to 65 watts in multichannel mode, will that be ok for the speakers I've selected? (the mains are 50 to 160 watts).

This one seems pretty awesome for the price (it's only $76 + $30 shipping for the bid now, I don't know if it's going to jump) AVR 430 7.1

Do you think there's a specific model I should be looking at?

edit:
looks like the AVR 230, AVR 325, and if for some reason I can get a 330 or 430 are in my range.

 

[nsafreak]

Believe me they'll have more than enough juice to drive those speakers just fine. Harman Kardon gives true ratings for the output of their receivers. Some manufacturers cheat *cough*Sony*cough* and give what the receiver outputs when not necessarily driving all channels. If for some reason it can't do the job, I strongly doubt it, the unit you're looking at has a set of pre-amp outputs so you can use an amp if necessary.

 

[Thegonagle]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Thanks for the tip, I've been looking at what they have to offer.

I know that watts isn't everything, but it looks like a lot of the H/K receivers only output about 50 to 65 watts in multichannel mode, will that be ok for the speakers I've selected? (the mains are 50 to 160 watts).

This one seems pretty awesome for the price (it's only $76 + $30 shipping for the bid now, I don't know if it's going to jump) AVR 430 7.1

Do you think there's a specific model I should be looking at?

The consensus among H/K fans (at boards such as http://avsforum.com and http://hometheaterforum.com ) and professional reviewers is that H/K rates their wattage more honestly than most other manufacturers, reporting maximum output before the point that distortion makes it unlistenable. In a Consumer Reports test of an H/K receiver, CR actually tested the wattage slightly higher than H/K rated it, while all the others tested lower than the manufacturer's rating.

The price will jump up at eBay, but it will end at a fair price none the less. Switch to the advanced search at eBay and search for auctions that have already ended to get a better idea of what you'll end up paying.

I like using eSnipe's group bidding feature on eBay when more than one of an identical item is available. eSnipe is a third-party site that places bids on eBay for you. Group bidding allows you to place a maximum bid on a set, or group, of auctions, and will keep bidding until you win one of those auctions at the price you want to pay. Once you win one auction in your defined group, it cancels the bidding on the rest of them. (Some people don't like bid snipers and sniping, but I'm telling you, if you didn't already know, that that's how it's done if you want to win and not pay too much.)

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Thanks a lot guys, I was kind of reluctant to check out ebay, but this seems like a great option, and looking at avsforum and hometheaterforum over the past few days, I know the HKs are a good choice in my price range.

 

[Thegonagle]

Originally posted by: YOyoYOhowsDAjello
Thanks a lot guys, I was kind of reluctant to check out ebay, but this seems like a great option, and looking at avsforum and hometheaterforum over the past few days, I know the HKs are a good choice in my price range.

Good. I only recommend the seller Harmanaudio though. Anyone else, and it's not factory direct--you won't get the warranty or the essentially worry-free RMA process.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

I think I might try to get a 230, 325, or 330. Thanks again Thegonagle, I'm definately going with Harmanaudio on ebay if I choose to go this route...

Anyone else have anything I should consider? This deal seems pretty sweet.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I like Harman Kardon's receivers personally. I have an AVR-500 I bought new about 4 years ago and it is pretty sweet. I can go almost to full volume on it with almost no distortion and it is VERY loud. Movies sound great with 5.1 surround setup I have also. I listen to my TV exclusively through the receiver and NEVER use the TV speakers.

 

[BigSmooth]

Just a note on the Kenwood receivers: the brand does not get a lot of respect from some people but if you check out the forums listed above, they actually make very good receivers these days. The VR-6070 which is rated at 100w x 6 channels was tested by Sound & Vision as putting out 92w x 6 channels, which is excellent.