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Help me decide on a receiver and a bluray player

B

boxleitnerb

Platinum Member
Hi guys,

I need your help please. I originally intended to use a HTPC in my living room but many people discouraged me due to trouble with software bluray players like PowerDVD. Thus I'm considering getting a dedicated bluray player and a receiver instead.

Vitally important is that the player is very quiet/silent during playback. I don't need 4K upscaling or 3D. An added bonus would be that it is not wider than 330 mm, but that is secondary, noise is more important.

As for the receiver:
- very quiet
- connections for NAS, TV, bluray player and a 5.1 system
- streaming of .mkv files from the NAS
- pre-outs (optional)
- remote control via Android App
- no Onkyo (heard bad things about their reliability and customer service)
- 80% movies, 20% music

I currently have an active 2.0 sound system which is pretty good. I will upgrade to 5.1, but only in 2015, possibly 2016. Does having pre-outs make receivers much more expensive? If so, I would have to get rid of my speakers. I'd rather prefer keeping them for the moment.

It is difficult to tell you guys my budget since I have no hifi-experience and I don't know how a more expensive player/receiver is "better". It absolutely doesn't have to be the most expensive equipment, I'm not that audiophile.

What could you recommend? Or do you need more info first?
Thanks!
 
Well, I think any stand-alone Blu-ray player from a decent brand is going to meet your requirements. If you don't need streaming (Netflix/etc), the Samsung H5100 is $65 at Amazon. If you do need that, there are well-rated Sony and LG models around $90.

As far as I know, no receiver is going to play MKVs from a network source. And even if there is one, the interface for using it is probably pretty bad. The rest of your requirements are pretty much standard these days in any $250+ receiver.
 
You probably wanna look for a BRD player that has or supports PLEX, that will take care of your needs. Otherwise, it depends on that type of file you want to play from you NAS, as A5 mentioned, I don't think as player will support mkv playback. But if you have PLEX, that can take care of everything, just install plex on nas and play everything via plex.

As far as AVR and 5.1 speaks and concerned, it all depends on your budget. If you thinking about a AVR with preout then you must be looking at getting an amp down the line? That sounds like a big budget build
 
I have and like Denon receivers. The new ones are out I think have NAS hook ups. The recommendation on the Sam H5100 is good, I picked up one and stream it from my NAS with no problems.
 
DesiPower said:
If you thinking about a AVR with preout then you must be looking at getting an amp down the line? That sounds like a big budget build
Click to expand...

I wondered at this need as well. He indicates it's due to his speakers. Perhaps he has powered monitors he doesn't want to replace? [EDIT: now that I reread, he explicitly indicates he does have active speakers. Therefore, it appears to be just economizing for the time being without necessarily adding an amp down the line] Otherwise, I don't know why he would have to ditch his current speakers due to a lack of pre-outs. But maybe I'm missing something.

Some other comments:

Isn't that 330mm width pretty narrow? You might be able to find some compact BD players that narrow but your selection might be pretty thin [EDIT: no pun intended]. And if the desired width includes the receiver, I think you're out of luck I've never seen any that narrow. Almost all are over 17 inches, although you might be able to find a few in the 16-17 inch range.

Most manufacturers have phased out pre-outs on their lower end models. However, a few relatively affordable units have pre-outs to send a signal to a second sound zone. If you're interested in just 2 channel sound, that could conceivably work for you.

If remote control via android app is really important, look carefully at reviews of the apps. I've been a big Denon fan for years but their android app is total crap. Really embarrassing given the quality of their other products. Random crashes, and often simply doesn't work. There are lots of complaints about it online. Fortunately, there is a pretty good free alternative made by a third party. You still have to do some setup with a TV GUI (such an Pandora or other account-based streaming services) but once that's done, it does a pretty good job. Just be aware that the quality of these apps can really vary and doesn't necessarily track the other characteristics of the brand you're buying into. I wasn't even thinking about this when I bought my Denons since I didn't have a smartphone. When I got one and ran into this issue, I was amazed because Denon is otherwise pretty highly regarded. Maybe the native app works better with the newest models. But even up to the 2013 models, it is bad.
 
Last edited:
Hi guys, thanks for your feedback.
I have ditched the active speakers so pre-outs are no longer necessary.
The 330 mm width are also not an issue anymore since a larger selection of devices is more important to me and modifying the shelf is not a problem.
I'm thinking about the Denon X1000/1100W or the Yamaha 475.

About mkv playback:
I installed Plex on my PC and successfully streamed the files onto my TV. The interface on my Sony 60W605B is crap, though. No thumbnails, only generic small icons and scrolling text. I would much rather have a media center like interface for movie playback.

So no Plex client on the receiver/TV (not possible with Sony atm unfortunately) but on the Bluray Player? An alternative would be to continue using my DIY-NAS with Plex Standalone or XMBC.
 
I don't know a ton about Plex/etc, but you can probably do some research into their apps for various platforms like the Roku or FireTV. I would assume those give you a better interface than your TV did.
 
You can get BD players that support Plex (a fair number do). However, my experience has been that devices like the Roku3 tend to support those 3rd party solutions much better. So the suggestions Childs offered are worth considering. My Panny BD player (BDT230) finds my plex machine just fine. However, it is painfully slow to browse through content. The same thing with netflix. However, both plex and netflix are very snappy on my Roku3. My guess is that this is a combination of underpowered hardware and perhaps poor coding. But whatever the cause, the performance difference can be dramatic. The Roku3 was a godsend.
 
I should have clarified that I mentioned the Roku3 only because that is what I currently have. It works great, is very fast, has a surpisingly nice (if sparse) remote, and I like that it offers wired network connectivity. I generally like to have a wired connection for a device that won't move around at all. However, it does cost more than some other options, including the new Fire stick, as well as a stick offering from Roku. I actually bit on the fire stick (as a prime member, I couldn't really pass it up). But really, there are a fair number of good options out there if you find that the interface on a BD player is just not to your liking.
 
I don't believe having preouts on a receiver is essential.

It's essential if you're an audiophile and you want to ensure you can hit high decibels easily but otherwise not essential at all. I only upgraded to a receiver with preouts after blowing 2 sets of speakers due to running out of juice.

Because I was going to use the preouts, I went with onkyo since the unit wasn't actually powering anything and is only processing or whatever.

So I will second Poofyguy's post. That's probably what you need.

I would NOT spend an excessive amount on your receiver. Too many people spend well over $600 for their receiver and use NONE of the features that make it that expensive. My receiver was $350 refurbished from Onkyo, the TX-NR709 and if I had the top of the line model, it would still do the EXACT same thing I do with my TX-NR709.

That Denon Receiver, Chromebox/FireTV and a Bluray Player (lol Bluray player...) is your best bang for your buck. Anything more and you'll never notice the benefit.

Edit: If you would post your speakers we could give you an indication as to whether to upgrade to a model with preouts or not. I'm biased as I throw POWER at my speakers and I like to throw parties so preouts are a must but I'm trying hard to recommend you what you need and what I would need lol.
 
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