Need help chosing a 7.1 or higher receiver

2544 Views 13 Replies 7 Participants Last post by SinCron, Aug 8, 2013

SinCron

Discussion Starter · Aug 3, 2013

Hello all. Been a while since I was on here building subs and I ended up with new towers, new receiver and a tactile transducer since. First off, I'll start with things that I've noticed that I want improvement on.

I mainly do everything through my PC so it always surprises me whenever I somewhere with my CD's to test speakers VS FLAC on my PC sent to the receiver via optical cable. I want to transmit high bit rates for the best quality possible so I need HDMI. My current receiver is a Pioneer VSX-1015 faux 7.1 receiver with only optical and 5.1 analog in so I obviously can't get my computer to send 7.1 audio, let alone a higher quality signal.

There is a "Plus" that I would like to keep and I have no idea if this is only a Pioneer thing but under subwoofer options, you can set it to "Plus" mode which sends low frequencies under the crossover threshold even if you have speakers set to Large (as my main towers can go under 50hz but my sub and transducer can obviously go much lower). It just feels and sounds much better that way.

Proper video throughput. I don't want any signal lag as I also do gaming and having both my video and audio carried through my HDMI, then the video passed on to the TV. I've heard of some issues with older models with HDMI and want to avoid those. 3D capable would be best as I would like to do 3D gaming (no 4K necessary as when I can afford such a projector, the receiver would most likely be obsolete).

Is HDMI audio out superior to those with a dedicated USB in for PC connections like the SC-79?

TLDR version.

Want a 7.1 (or higher) receiver with HDMI 1.4, a plus subwoofer mode that allows low frequencies to be sent to both large speakers AND the subwoofer, straight-forward video throughput, and a bonus would be 5.1/7.1 analog inputs.

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1 - 14 of 14 Posts

tonyvdb

· #2 · Aug 3, 2013

SinCron said:
Want a 7.1 (or higher) receiver with HDMI 1.4, a plus subwoofer mode that allows low frequencies to be sent to both large speakers AND the subwoofer, straight-forward video throughput, and a bonus would be 5.1/7.1 analog inputs.

Thats standard for most mid to high end receivers. Onkyo calls it "double bass"

For a receiver right now the Onkyo 809 is the vest bang for buck out there as it has THX certification, Audyssey MultEQ XT, HQV Vida VHD1900 Video Processor in tandum with the Marvell Qdeo Video Chip for 4K Upscaling and Processing, independant ISF video calibration for each input and much more.

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Tonto

· #3 · Aug 4, 2013 (Edited)

Ditto, vest bang for the buck.

Sorry, couldn't hep it :rofl:!

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tcarcio

· #4 · Aug 4, 2013

I have to agree. I have the 809 and it is great. You can get it at A4L for cheap money as long as you don't mind it being refurbished, which to me just means that it was gone through and works perfectly. :T

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JBrax

· #5 · Aug 4, 2013

I'll jump on the bandwagon and give a enthusiastic thumbs up for the 809. I own one and if I had it to do over again I would most likely choose it again. Denon also make outstanding AVR's and should also be considered.

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dougc

· #6 · Aug 4, 2013

The 818 has XT32 for not much more $$ for new at OneCall. I had quite a learning curve with mine, but I imagined it that way with the endless features and control

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JBrax

· #7 · Aug 4, 2013

dougc said:
The 818 has XT32 for not much more $$ for new at OneCall. I had quite a learning curve with mine, but I imagined it that way with the endless features and control

True, I would pay the extra $125 for XT32.

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tonyvdb

· #8 · Aug 4, 2013

Did they get the bug fixed in the 818 that it would not pass some 1080p 3D video?

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JBrax

· #9 · Aug 5, 2013

tonyvdb said:
Did they get the bug fixed in the 818 that it would not pass some 1080p 3D video?

Didn't realize the 818 had any bugs but that's something easily remedied with a firmware update.

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dougc

· #10 · Aug 5, 2013

They fixed the skipped frame issue with a firmware update. For a while you had to call Onkyo direct for the file, but I think I read somewhere that it is included in the newest update.

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SinCron

Discussion Starter · #11 · Aug 5, 2013

While I love discounted refurbs, I am in Canada and that site wont sell outside the states and I'm not sure about the second one. I never thought anything of Audyssey until I read up on XT32, that is just plain lovely. It will be a while (at least winter) before I get anything new so I'll have to keep my eyes open. How's the audio quality on those?

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sdurani

· #12 · Aug 5, 2013

JBrax said:
I would pay the extra $125 for XT32.

So would I, since XT32 operates very differently from (much more effective than) other versions of Audyssey room correction.

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tonyvdb

· #13 · Aug 5, 2013

SinCron said:
How's the audio quality on those?

I was a die hard Yamaha fanboy till I got my Onkyo and must say I was blown away with the quality. You would not have any issues with it at all.
What is your budget? Here is an on line seller in canada that has the 818 for just under $1000

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SinCron

Discussion Starter · #14 · Aug 8, 2013

Well I have zero for now. I'm currently pre-shopping to figure out what to get in the winter. I see that there are 7.1 receivers that have more than seven sets of speaker terminals and I'm wondering if you can configure them for regular 7.1 or have 5.1 with height channel at some other time (for games and stuff. All audio will be transmitted via HDMI from my PC.

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