I need an Audio/Video Receiver for Paradigm Speakers

[Pose]

What is the cheapest quality receiver I can buy that I can use on my new Samsung Hdtv and power 2 ten year old Paradigm reference speakers, 2 Paradigm Titan Speakers and a Paradigm center speaker. I am low on cash and I can't afford a Denon 2308 for $850. I am not even sure that will drive them either. Help

 

[ultimatebob]

Originally posted by: Pose
What is the cheapest quality receiver I can buy that I can use on my new Samsung Hdtv and power 2 ten year old Paradigm reference speakers, 2 Paradigm Titan Speakers and a Paradigm center speaker. I am low on cash and I can't afford a Denon 2308 for $850. I am not even sure that will drive them either. Help

I'd recommend going to your local Best Buy, Circuit City, or Tweeter and auditioning some receivers yourself. There are a bunch of 5.1 receivers under $500 that sound OK, but you might get lucky and find a deal on higher end model that's on sale. I just scored an open box Yamaha RX-V2700 for $550 at a Tweeter yesterday, so anything is possible!

 

[destrekor]

Harmon Kardon AVR247. It's a 7.1 receiver (I use it for 5.1, freaking awesome) with HDMI and upconversion for HDMI, as well as a slew of all the other connections. Amazing sound and can really drive speakers, especially if the speakers have a higher sensitivity rating.

+

 

[BornStar]

I've been using a Denon 1906 for the past two or three years to power my Paradigm Studio 40s without an issue. You should be able to save some money by going with a used unit instead of something new. I can't imagine it would be too hard to find a used 1900 series Denon.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/Y...wsDAjello/Welcome2.JPG

Do you have a subwoofer too, or do you need the receiver to drive these speakers fullrange?

Just about anything is going to work. If you run them crossed over to a subwoofer to take the lower frequencies off them, that will take the edge off a lot of the work you ask a receiver to do.

Are you getting a new receiver due to an old one not working... or are you just looking to upgrade or buy your first?

Your example of a 2308 should work just fine with those. You can get a 2308 for $600 by the way.

What's your budget for this?

 

[Pose]

I was using an adcom amp and preamp. I do not have a subwoofer but I will get one down the road. Right now I need a receiver. Where can I get a 2308 for $600? Do Paradigms require lots of power? Two salesmen have told me the same thing.

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: Pose
I was using an adcom amp and preamp. I do not have a subwoofer but I will get one down the road. Right now I need a receiver. Where can I get a 2308 for $600? Do Paradigms require lots of power? Two salesmen have told me the same thing.

Bolded for keyword

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: Pose
I was using an adcom amp and preamp. I do not have a subwoofer but I will get one down the road. Right now I need a receiver. Where can I get a 2308 for $600? Do Paradigms require lots of power? Two salesmen have told me the same thing.

Can you continue using the adcom with this system? I don't know if it's 2 channel or 3+, but hooking it up to the fronts (or as many as possible) and then using the new receiver to just power the other speakers (or none if it's a 5 channel adcom) would take care of all your power concerns.

The sensitivity rating will be a big indicator for what kind of power you'll need. I don't know what they were like 10 years ago, but I doubt they are very hard to drive.

Naturally more power is better, but those salesmen are probably trying to get you to spend as much as you can.

http://www.abesofmaine.com/ite...AVR2308CI&l=PRICEGRABB
http://www.butterflyphoto.com/...c=83&zmap=DENAVR2308CI


http://www.pricegrabber.com/

+

http://www.resellerratings.com/

Can give you a good search for prices and then you can check on the reputability of the places with the second site.

Some of these places are not going to be authorized dealers though.

http://www.av123.com/ This place is an authorized Denon dealer but they don't advertise their pricing on the site since they go below MSRP. You can e-mail them for a price list. I'm not sure what their pricing is on it exactly but I trust the company fully.

 

[Pose]

Thank you for responding. My Adcom is 2 channel but either the pre-amp or the amp has a problem with one of the channels. I can't get sound out of one of the speakers. I swapped speakers and still one side is dead.

Recommend a receiver if you could that you think would be a good for for my Paradigms.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Are you looking to get HDMI audio processing?

Also, could we get an actual dollar amount to shoot for?

 

[Pose]

Yes, I purchased a new Samsung 1080p. My budget around $500 or so.

Thanks

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

So that means you're going to be using an HD-DVD player or Blu-ray player?

 

[Pose]

Yes I will be using a Blu-ray in the future.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: Pose
Yes I will be using a Blu-ray in the future.

Ok, if that wasn't a priority then you could probably get a 38XX or even 48XX denon on that budget for a used unit a couple years old.

Onkyo's 705 is in that range and has pre-outs so you could try to hook up your adcom if you find out it's the pre that's having issues. Otherwise you could use it as a monoblock for the center channel

All the other ones mentioned already would work as well...

 

[Pose]

If I get the Onkyo do I also have to get a Phd at Harvard to make it a "Monoblock". Is a ten year amp something I should be concerned about?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: Pose
If I get the Onkyo do I also have to get a Phd at Harvard to make it a "Monoblock". Is a ten year amp something I should be concerned about?

I'm just saying that if you know one side is dead, you can still use 1 channel of your 2 channel amp.

The center channel speaker gets like ~70% of the audio for a typical DVD, so having good amplification there would be a plus.

 

[Pose]

Do most receivers have inputs for amplifiers? Thanks for the info for center speakers.

This cloud of info is getting clearer. Do you like the Denon 2308, should I try and save up for that receiver or buy a lessor model?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: Pose
Do most receivers have inputs for amplifiers? Thanks for the info for center speakers.

This cloud of info is getting clearer. Do you like the Denon 2308, should I try and save up for that receiver or buy a lessor model?

You'll want to look for "pre-outs" on receivers.

I haven't checked the current model year, but with $400-$500 receivers, a lot of them will not have this feature. With pre-outs, you can essentially use your receiver like just a pre-amp / pre-pro (or use a combination of external amplification and the built-in amps like you will probably end up doing).

Looks like the 2308 does not have pre-outs for external amplification.

You have to move up to the 2808 to get pre-outs. That's a $800-$900 receiver though.

 

[EvilYoda]

This is not the For Sale forum.

Rio Rebel
Senior Moderator

 

[Pose]

Where is a good place to shop for receivers?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: Pose
Where is a good place to shop for receivers?

There are a lot of reputable spots listed here

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...=2171137&enterthread=y

 

[Pose]

What do you know about the Yamaha V663?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

That's another solid $400-ish choice.

I would recommend going to AVSforum and looking up threads on the particular models you're considering to see if there are any problems with the units that are deal breakers for you.

It seems like just about every receiver out there gets something wrong and it varies year to year and model to model which units are going to have an issue that you want to avoid. I don't know off the top of my head if there's anything significant to look out for with the Yamaha V663

EDIT: Oh, and the V663 does have pre-outs, so you would be able to hook up your amp to either the center channel (if half of it is dead) or the front left / front right if it's your pre-amp that has the problem.

 

[Oyeve]

You can get a good deal on fleabay for Denon 2805 or even 2807. I picked up a 2807 for 300 bucks.

 

[Pose]

If I get the yamaha v663 and use my adcom 5300 for the fronts and my adcom gfa 545 for the center will it sound better? Will it make me forget the Denon 2808 that I won't be buying??