Is it worth it to buy just a cheap reciever?

[Insomniator]

Hey everyone I have an old (like...10 years old) ~600 dollar Sony 5.1 home theater system that I am currently only using the powered sub woofer from (connected directly to my tv's sub out).

Now I'm no audiophile so I think the speakers sounded great if I remember correctly (hell I like my built in tv speakers so yeah...). The satellites and the receiver are just in my attic collecting dust as the receiver has no HDMI.. only pro logic.. etc. I'm not sure what other newer features would be not on a 10 year old low end receiver but I'm guessing its enough to warrant buying a new one.

The thing is it looks like 5.1 setups WITH speakers are like 200 bucks nowadays, would those cheap new speakers be much better than my old ones?

My basic question is would it be worth it to get just a 200 dollar receiver and use my old speakers? I'm guessing a 200 dollar receiver without speakers is of better quality than one that comes with everything..

 

[3chordcharlie]

The new systems may actually have worse speakers, but they're probably the same.

I would make a point of getting your speakers out, and hooking everything up - see what it sounds like - you can buy new features in a receiver, but the quality of the sound has much more to do with the speakers, so if you don't much like the sound now, you won't like it any better with a new receiver.

$200 is also a wee bit low if you want proper hdmi features, but it would buy you a decent set of bookshelf speakers.

 

[Insomniator]

Originally posted by: 3chordcharlie
The new systems may actually have worse speakers, but they're probably the same.

I would make a point of getting your speakers out, and hooking everything up - see what it sounds like - you can buy new features in a receiver, but the quality of the sound has much more to do with the speakers, so if you don't much like the sound now, you won't like it any better with a new receiver.

$200 is also a wee bit low if you want proper hdmi features, but it would buy you a decent set of bookshelf speakers.

Thanks, I think I'll do exactly that.

I know 200 is on the low side... but I was thinking either the Pioneer VSX-519V-K or the Sony STR-DH500 would allow me to to connect my PS3, Cable box and maybe computer to my television. HDMI pass through captures the sound for the system and passes through the video to the tv... doesn't it? Otherwise nevermind to the entire thread...

EDIT

After some more research i now see that hdmi pass through does not at all do what I mentioned. So the sony receiver is out in that case... unless optical cables are practical. The pioneer looks like it does audio over HDMI however...

 

[slag]

It really depends on your receiver. I just bought a yamaha 465 model @ BB for $329.00 with 4 hdmi in that does true passthrough. It strips the audio from the hdmi input and passes video out to the video out.

Many lower end models wont do this, but some midrange and up do. I think many onkyo receivers strip the audio out as do some yamaha ones like the one I got.

 

[kalrith]

So, you want a receiver with HDMI repeater and at least 3 HDMI inputs. You could check out this thread for HDMI receivers in the $200 to $300 range. AFAIK the cheapest new receiver that will do what you want is the Sony STR-DH700 for $200.

 

[kalrith]

Originally posted by: slag
It really depends on your receiver. I just bought a yamaha 465 model @ BB for $329.00 with 4 hdmi in that does true passthrough. It strips the audio from the hdmi input and passes video out to the video out.

Many lower end models wont do this, but some midrange and up do. I think many onkyo receivers strip the audio out as do some yamaha ones like the one I got.

Your receiver does both passthrough and repeating. Passthrough means that it passes the video through to the TV. Sometimes the term switching is used, and it means the same thing as passthrough. HDMI repeating means that it will take the audio from the HDMI cable and repeat that to the speakers.

The confusion comes into play when you have a receiver that mentions both passthrough and repeating. It might say that it does HDMI 1.3 passthrough and HDMI 1.1 repeating. This just means that its video capabilities are up to the HDMI 1.3 spec, and its audio capabilities are up to the HDMI 1.1 spec.

If the receiver only mentions passthrough or switching and not repeating, then you want to steer clear of it.

Edit: I changed some of the wording, as the original was a bit off.

 

[0roo0roo]

we can't say without seeing/knowing the model.
could be nice, could be sh*t. only you know the quality of build of those speakers vs new cheapies.

 

[Insomniator]

They are sony SS-V130 Satellites... I hooked them up to my old receiver and they sound decent. Better than the built in's as I suspected.

However after some more though and given the layout of my bedroom (tv in corner, not ideal for surround)... I'm thinking now maybe I'll just buy a pair of good (to me) bookshelf speakers instead of a receiver and stick to 2.1 for now.

Maybe a pair of r150's...

 

[JTsyo]

For the Sony STR-DH500, what would the sync feature with a Bravia and PS3 mean? With the pass throughs, I can take 3 HDMI in and one HDMI out plus the wires to the speaker?

 

[PM650]

Originally posted by: kalrith
So, you want a receiver with HDMI repeater and at least 3 HDMI inputs. You could check out this thread for HDMI receivers in the $200 to $300 range. AFAIK the cheapest new receiver that will do what you want is the Sony STR-DH700 for $200.

Add the VSX-519V-K to the list, it also decodes LPCM for $169.

 

[Adul]

for speaker's these sounds pretty good especially for the money.

http://www.parts-express.com/p...cfm?Partnumber=300-680

I got a friend who has them.