Thoughts on receivers for a budget?

[Aarmin]

Bot the Yamaha RX-V363BL and Sony STRDG520 cost about the same ($210/200 or so).

Yes, I realize that they are just pass throughs, but what if I connected my DVD player (maybe just a Xbox 360) video output directly to my TV connection? Would not this simply give my a High-Definition display?

On another note, I just picked up my high-end tower speakers, but my current receiver (has yet to arrive from my over-seas move) is a cheapy; comes from a home-theater-in-a-box, 40watts a channel 10% THD (that's not a misprint!).

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

What speakers are they? Do they have any specifications on them that would make them harder to drive? (4-ohm impedence, low sensitivity, etc.) If they really are "high-end", maybe it would be better to spend a bit more on the amplification to get the most out of them.

You could connect your video sources directly to your TV if you wanted to. Passthrough from the Yamaha or Sony shouldn't screw things up though hopefully unless you're trying to pass a signal that the receiver's cannot do passthrough for (I don't know if they can both do 1080p passthrough off hand without looking it up... they probably do).

A benefit to going through the receiver is that it might be easier to switch your inputs with a single remote. If it's not a problem to switch the video input on the TV and the audio input on the receiver, then go ahead and hook video right up to the TV.

 

[Aarmin]

I don't mind manually configuring both the TV and DVD player. Better than dealing with my laptop and Windows Media Center (firewal pops up - computer freezes); ha, I suppose I could buy a new laptop.

I do not believe they are hard to drive, but I have a feeling I may miss out on a lot with 40watts (possibly overated?). They are the new Paradigm Monitor 7 towers.

 

[Aarmin]

I would have to read up on this amplification. Is this not a bit costly?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

It depends on how loud you want to get how much 40 watts is going to limit you. If it's from a crappy HTIB set though, yeah... you're going to want to get something better.

Are you just going to stick with a 2.0 setup, or is this going to eventually turn into a surround sound system? If it's strictly 2.0 or 2.1, you might want to buy a stereo receiver rather than a surround sound receiver.

By better amplification I meant either a receiver or integrated amp with better amplification, not necessarily a dedicated amplifier.

 

[Aarmin]

Down the road, a 5.1+ setup is my goal; for now, I will be very happy with my two towers (being I come from just TV speakers).

I'm now leaning towards Panasonic's SA XR55/XR57 digital-amp receivers. You can't find them for sale anywhere, but they are below $200 on eBay.