newbie recommendations for ascend 170's

[lenny]

I will be purchasing a pair of the ascend 170's shortly to start off with. I need some recommendations for one, a very good reciever to pair with these speakers. I really don't want to spend over $500. Also, what type of subwoofer? I hear that hsu goes good with these. How about Velodyne? Would like to stay under 400 for sub. Will probably stick with "10 woofer

I listen to rock music, and will use for movies as well. I plan on eventually moving to multi-channel(No more than 6 channel), when I can afford a nice center speaker w/rears. I would say my living room is mid-sized, but going to move to a bigger place in a couple of years.

[Johnal]

I will be purchasing a pair of the ascend 170's shortly to start off with. I need some recommendations for one, a very good reciever to pair with these speakers. I really don't want to spend over $500. Also, what type of subwoofer? I hear that hsu goes good with these. How about Velodyne?

We'll probably need a little more information about your future setup before any advice can be offered. Size of room, listening habbits (music vs movies), future speaker plans (sticking with stereo or will eventually have 5.1 or more?), and budget for subwoofer.

[kinggimp82]

not sure about receiver but id recommend the hsu stf-2 with the 170. i own the combo myself and its great. the stf-2 can be bought and shipped to you for under $400 total. in your price range its the best route.

[dpristin]

First, you need to decide about the features you are looking for in the receiver. Are you going to pass your video through the receiver? Do you need HDMI or not? If you do, then do you need HDMI switching vs. upconversion? What about auto-calibration? How many inputs and of what kind you expect to use? Luckily, you can buy a lot of receiver for $500 these days. There are a couple of decent Yamahas, Onkyos etc. in this price range; plus, you can always find a factory reconditioned one with manufacturer's warranty at accessories4less. Just narrow down the features :)

[lenny]

Since I'm pretty new, I'm not quite sure of all of those questions. I am starting off small but would like something that would give me options down the road if I need them. I probably will never have blue-ray or hd-dvd so I'm not sure if that would rule out hdmi. I do know that I will not be using anything more than 5.1, so should I not get 6.1 or 7.1? I was looking at onkyos and yamahas already. Which ones would you recommend?

[dpristin]

I think in your price range the choices are Yamaha RX-V661, Onkyo SR 605 and HK AVR 247. Each has its pluses and minuses.

HK and Onkyo will transcode your analog video sources to HDMI (so you can connect all of your video sources to the receiver and your receiver to the TV via a single cable - if your TV has an HDMI input), Yamaha doesn't, but it still has HDMI switching and audio processing (so the difference is that you'll need to connect, say, component cable to the TV as well - probably not a big deal).

All of them have auto-setup with supplied microphone (which helps in the beginning). Yamaha is considered to be a very reliable one; according to the numerous reports, HK has some quality control problems; the Onkyo is just starting to sell this weekend, so no reviews are available yet (it does have the latest HDMI incarnation thought - 1.3a, which is absolutely shouldn't be considered must have :) ). Despite the different numbers, they will produce similar power ratings.

Some owners are very vocal about how great the "HK sound" is; I'm not a believer in a difference between sound quality of the similarly priced budget receivers designed by competent engineers, but I'm not an audio expert either. In any case, you might want to go to a local store (like Tweeter), select a better pair of speakers and try switching between different receivers to see if you can discern any significant difference. If you can't, then buy the one that has the best features and reliability reputation (currently looks like the Onkyo, unless something goes terribly wrong with 605, so wait for the reviews in the next few weeks). But in the (unlikely :)) case you fall in love with the sound of a particular receiver, your choice will be even easier.

I'm not sure if this rant helps :)

[lenny]

Yea, thank you. You mentioned that the new onkyo reciever just came out. I was looking at what looks like the version before the Onkyo 605. It is the Onkyo TX-SR604. For less, would you consider this an alright choice?

[dpristin]

Since I'm pretty new, I'm not quite sure of all of those questions. I am starting off small but would like something that would give me options down the road if I need them. I probably will never have blue-ray or hd-dvd so I'm not sure if that would rule out hdmi. I do know that I will not be using anything more than 5.1, so should I not get 6.1 or 7.1? I was looking at onkyos and yamahas already. Which ones would you recommend?
Never say never. The prices on blue ray and hd-dvd players are going down quickly; plus using HDMI has other benefits (single cable connection - if your TV accepts HDMI input; I think Oppo now has a universal DVD player that outputs SACD and DVD-A via HDMI, etc.). But in the case it's not a factor, then something like Yamaha RX-V659 can be had for well below your budget (hint - check uBid), and it had very positive reviews.

[dpristin]

Yea, thank you. You mentioned that the new onkyo reciever just came out. I was looking at what looks like the version before the Onkyo 605. It is the Onkyo TX-SR604. For less, would you consider this an alright choice?

Sure. It actually has HDMI switching (Yamaha RX-V659 doesn't), and I think it can process audio over HDMI, but I'm not sure about that. Basically, you might want to have this feature in order to take advantage of the audio formats provided by blue ray and hd-dvd - for future proof. Even if the receiver doesn't process the TrueHD (or whatever it's called) etc. audio formats natively, it's nice if it can accept the uncompressed PCM decoded by the HD player, and I think SR604 can, but I'd verify that.

I still think that the safest way is to have a listening session at a store (even if only to avoid buyer's remorse); if you see that the differences are negligible, then you just go for the best features / price / reliability combination.

[lenny]

Ok, thanks for the help. If you have any other suggestions, let me know.

[dpristin]

604 has had very good reviews. If it can process audio over HDMI (I think it can accept 5.1 PCM over hdmi), then it should be sufficiently future-proof (even though it won't be able to accept more than 5.1 over HDMI from the hd players, it still can accept 7.1 via SPDIF). You will still need additional connection for your non-HDMI sources, but it's more a matter of aesthetics than anything else (you'll have additional wires going into your TV). I'd still give it a listen though - just as a confidence-boosting measure :) . But sure, it's a good choice. How big is your room?