Recommendations for new A/V receiver?

[Quest]

I'm currently using a Pioneer Elite A35R which I got for cheep. Nothing to brag about (because of kids: I have to lock down my tube amps, speakers and turntables and resort to using CD player + solid state amps,etc.) while the sound is warm and soft at times, it lacks a bit of dimension (typical of low to mid-fi solid state amps made by any makers out there). I know what the problem is,just don't have the time to make the appropriate modifications now (working 1.5 jobs to raise my family and pay the bills, etc.)

Higher end Elites are good, IMHO, but again: this is all subjective and those folks who came to know me well knows that I'm a tube amp guy to begin with, so my taste maybe a bit different to many others out there.

Q.

 

[Papa Bear]

I was an electronics tech for 25 yrs (1977-2002). We did factory warranty work for virtually every company. The old units were made to be serviced (parts, manuals, technicians) were readily available. Not so today. Most stuff now is "exchange" warranty and the manufacturers don't supply service info or replacement parts.
The first HiFi Mitsubishi VCR I bought cost $1,000.00 and my last one was $69.00....the $69 worked better than the $1,000 unit but I would NEVER entertain the thought of fixing it.
If I was in the market for a modest receiver today I would get the cheapest one that suited my need. They are so cheap today and are made to be throwaways. Hope this helps you.

I remember when an RCA was made in America, a Sony was made in Japan and a Telefunken was made in Germany. Electronics today is like trying to find out who makes ST oil ... your guess is as good as mine. Brand means nothing.

 

[doitmyself]

Originally Posted By: Papa Bear
If I was in the market for a modest receiver today I would get the cheapest one that suited my need. They are so cheap today and are made to be throwaways. Hope this helps you.


Looks like you share my ideas on balancing value and cost. Thank you. Your reminiscing is indicative of your/our age!. I remember when owning RCA or Zenith was a status symbol.

Going off topic now, I teased my college student employee for showing off his new android phone(extra $30/month on top of regular fees). My thought....students are leaving college with huge loans to pay off, yet they don't blink an eye at spending $1,000/year for phone service. Another sign of our age!!!!

I plant to buy my new receiver when it becomes an "old model" close out.

Take care.

 

[Quest]

@doitmyself:

Your "old" model may not go out if you service it, period.

In my case: I'm still holding onto some 80s stuff that I use everyday, and when things starting to go bad...service time! (partial rebuild and recalibration, etc.)

Q.

Just got my 2nd BlkBerry (a BB Bold) and I luv it..my 1st one is a big fat one (2nd generation) and was clumsy....got it totally free (company paying for it and the plan)

 

[doitmyself]

I'm pretty good at fixing things. I kept some nice, old Realistic speakers (real walnut) going for quite some time. I have done many appliance repairs, usually under $50, to keep things going way longer than most.

The quality and value of my 15 year old receiver does not warrant any investment. However, I do understand and appreciate your level of interest in audio/video. Plus, I need to reserve what little extra cash I have for my "toy" trains....oops, I meant MODEL trains.

 

[Papa Bear]

I'm running a 20 yr old Pioneer VSX-4800 into a couple of Alesis 1 monitors that my son has loaned me. My boss had a Marantz 2500, that was a receiver....

 

[97tbird]

while i have a lot of respect for the old good stuff, and while not being much of a multi channel fan, (my set up is simple 2.1, with just a simple 2-channel integrated amp, CD player, blu ray/dvd player, 2x 2-way monitors and 1x musical sort of sub - all mainly for music, a little for movies), for someone who's looking for multi-channel movie watching etc, his/her choices will be limited to rather new stuff, as only they will have 7.1, 8.1 etc channels and the ability to set levels for various little speakers and subs and be able to process DTS, dolby and all that stuff that today's multi-channel home theater fan looks for.

So the vintage hi-fi recommendations for THIS specific OP is not going to be much help.

 

[Errtt]

I was thinking of messing/changing the AV system a few days ago - thanks to the heavy raining days, but instead got into some older vintage stereo gear. Brings old times back and makes me want to not get new stuff anymore. Although I almost pulled the trigger on a friends Yamaha DSP-A3090 a few days ago.

Mostly played with:
Onkyo M-504 amp
Yamaha M-60 amp (class-A)
Various preamps, tuners, equalizers, CD players etc.
Onkyo, Kenwood, Yamaha, Carver, Harman-Kardon, Sansui, etc.
I couldn't believe how much builds up over the years.
I'm giving the kids most of the receivers since I been using separate component systems for some time now. I'm done with the all-in-one receivers, but will hang on to a few for old times sake. Although I wouldn't mind getting another Kenwood Super Eleven, and maybe another tube valve amp or 2.
Guess I'll have to battle with the wife for the spare room for some gear storage & play.

 

[97tbird]

Onkyo M-504 amp - what a beast!
People just don't care about 2-ch amps anymore

I have an Onkyo M-282 that I've been trying to sell for about 2 yrs now...sigh. (would like to upgrade to a Parasound HCA-1500)

 

[Errtt]

Originally Posted By: 97tbird
Onkyo M-504 amp - what a beast!
People just don't care about 2-ch amps anymore

I have an Onkyo M-282 that I've been trying to sell for about 2 yrs now...sigh. (would like to upgrade to a Parasound HCA-1500)

The M-504 I have (had for some years) is just to nice looking to let go. Not just a beast, but awesome looks. I have the polished cherry wood on mine. And the large meters in that dark emerald green lighting is to die for. But the M-510 is a brutal beast.

I couldn't let go of my Yamaha M-60 either. Kind of nice it still looks and works good. It has the blood red lighting. Very clean sound through the Klipsch LaScala and RF-3 speakers.

I seem to mobile around a variety of components around the home on those rainy days. No matter, I still appreciate the vintage 2-channel component systems. Just not the same as the all out SS/Digital stuff.

One of my sons this weekend is taking my vintage Sansui 6-way speakers, and smaller 4-way SP-3200 set. sniff-sniff I'll keep my Klipsch and a few Polk Audio sets for the garage.
I have a nice tube valve amp I'm moving into the bedroom later this week. Some vintage will always stay with me.

If I had that M-282, I'd hang onto it, just add to your desires. Although it don't have metering, it's a good amp. Some years you may regret it - or at least I'm saying I would. Or don't be in a hurry, at least give it 2nd thoughts.
But everyone has their own needs/wants, so I understand that.
I just need to unload some for more room. So most speakers and a few stacks of receivers, to family & friends.

 

[PW01]

Originally Posted By: 97tbird
Onkyo M-504 amp - what a beast!
People just don't care about 2-ch amps anymore

I have an Onkyo M-282 that I've been trying to sell for about 2 yrs now...sigh. (would like to upgrade to a Parasound HCA-1500)


I hear ya! I just had my Onkyo Integra M-508 and serviced!

 

[onebigunion]

For modest HT listening, with those easy to drive speakers, almost anything will work fine. The last receiver I bought was a Denon AVR-3200 about 15 years ago or so, to go with my NHT Super Ones. (The big deal with that was that it had Dolby Digital but also a 5-channel pass trough to add other decoders, so it was "future-proof" - wow!).

Still though it sounded very good for 2 channel music, signiifcantly better than the Rotel and Parasound separates I bought that I though were an upgrade. It wasn't until I got into Bryston that anything sounded better, and it still wasn't a huge margin.

So I'm partial to Denon, but I have no idea how they compare now to back then. My impression is that there isn't a huge difference among any of them, especially at the low end.