Got a new AVR

[Raduque]

Picked up a Yamaha V375 AVR for my birthday to replace an aging RCA HTIB reciever that was having issues. I absolutely love this thing. Real volume level indications (db from Reference vs an arbritary 0-42 scale), HDMI switching, OSD, (supposed) ARC support for my Samsung smart TV and most important of all: SOUND QUALITY! I can actually listen to movies at a high volume and not hear distortion. The only thing it's not is networked, which is fine for me.

It also pairs well with the Sony 10" subwoofer I bought last month. The LFE effects are really nice and subtle compared to the old RCA which just made everything boomy and muddy. YPAO set the crossover at 80hz, but I have small sats currently, so I think I will bump it to 120 or so. There's no way those 3.5" drivers can play that low.

Now I just need to get a good set of speakers and a center channel...

 

[RKS]

For just over $200 the Monoprice 5.1 option gets decent reviews.

 

[boomhower]

You got a good one. I have the 473 and it's a great receiver. What kind of budget are you looking at for speakers? I used to recommend the Take 5's for cheap surround but the Monoprice set RKS linked has replaced that standard recommendation. If your up for spending more the Polk Monitor series at newegg is a good bargain. Caught on sale you can get a 5.0 set of 60's/30's/CS1 for $400. You don't know what your missing in the sub realm, it's my favorite place to play but gets expensive quickly.

 

[Raduque]

Right now, I have no budget. I'm not really going to upgrade the speakers yet (I don't even have my surrounds hooked up!) because I'm in a small apartment and the Onkyo sats sound at least 7 times better than they did with my old HTIB reciever.