[GoodOmens]

So I've been thinking of upgrading my receiver and I was wondering what a good general purpose HT receiver would be?  IE Something good for both movies and music.

My budget is about $2000 but anything lower would of course be better, used is also OK.  Right now I have B&W CM7's for mains and will be eventually completing the setup with CM1's and the center.

I'm thinking the Anthem MRX500 - any other good suggestions?

[Bob in St. Louis]

There are so many good recommendations out there for the price you mention.
It's kind of like asking, "Are there any good sedans for less than $30,000".

Yea, there are. Just too many to list.
My first recommendation would be to count the input and outputs you have (and will have), and narrow down your options based on the units that have the amount of HDMI inputs you need, for instance.

Personally, I'm a fanboy of the H/K AVR 645. The MSRP was $1,600 new, but is a few years old so may be discontinued by now. Looks and sound great for audio and video, and works well as my two channel DAC.

Bob

[Mr Peabody]

You could find a used, or new, Marantz AV8003 preamp pretty cheap seeing the newer 7005 came in at $1500.00, a grand cheaper than the 8003 with similar features.  That would leave you with about half your budget for an amp.  The 8003 is loaded with features and received raves for being a good performer at $2500.00.

If room is a consideration there's always the Rotel, NAD and Cambridge Audio which seem to put as much emphasis in sound as HT.  Arcam is another good one but I haven't seen what they have to offer in a while.  I haven't heard it but I'm sure that Anthem piece would be nice too.

[trackball02]

Check out:
http://www.hometheater.com/av-receiver-top-picks

Decent reviews and can give you a good place to start.

[Phil A]

Accessories4less.com has good deals - they are authorized factory (including Marantz) for refurbs too that can be had at around dealer cost with an extended warranty from Warrentech.  I got my receiver for the secondary basement from them and sent a couple of friends their way.  I believe last I looked, they were selling the AV7005 for $1,200

[zybar]

So I've been thinking of upgrading my receiver and I was wondering what a good general purpose HT receiver would be?  IE Something good for both movies and music.

My budget is about $2000 but anything lower would of course be better, used is also OK.  Right now I have B&W CM7's for mains and will be eventually completing the setup with CM1's and the center.

I'm thinking the Anthem MRX500 - any other good suggestions?

What receiver do you currently have?

What are you looking to improve?

Based on my experience, the best way to improve the performance of a HT receiver is to add an external amp(s). 

Instead of changing receivers from an older Denon 3808ci, I added a five channel amp (first an ATI 1506, followed by a Parasound Halo A51).  By having the Denon only drive the side surrounds, the system sounds significantly more powerful, detailed, and refined.

George

[Mr645]

What receiver do you currently have?

What are you looking to improve?

Based on my experience, the best way to improve the performance of a HT receiver is to add an external amp(s). 

Instead of changing receivers from an older Denon 3808ci, I added a five channel amp (first a ATI 1506, followed by a Parasound Halo A51).  By having the Denon only drive the side surrounds, the system sounds significantly more powerful, detailed, and refined.

George

I found the same thing by adding a Parasound HCA-855a to a Pioneer VSX-32.  The 85x5 Parasound is better sounding and far more powerful then the 110x7 Pioneer receiver

[drjjpdc]

Hey I like this one. It is new and has a list of only $1300.

http://www.hometheater.com/content/onkyo-tx-nr1009-92-channel-network-av-receiver

John

[zybar]

Hey I like this one. It is new and has a list of only $1300.

http://www.hometheater.com/content/onkyo-tx-nr1009-92-channel-network-av-receiver

John

I have an Onkyo nr609 and think it is well made, easy to setup, and easy to use.  All the attributes I was looking for in a family room system.

George

[DS-21]

So I've been thinking of upgrading my receiver and I was wondering what a good general purpose HT receiver would be?  IE Something good for both movies and music.

My budget is about $2000 but anything lower would of course be better, used is also OK.  Right now I have B&W CM7's for mains and will be eventually completing the setup with CM1's and the center.

I'm thinking the Anthem MRX500 - any other good suggestions?

Anthem has the best room correction of any current-production AVR, so that makes them IMO the best choice. (These things are all commodity parts. The only area in which they sonically differ is room correction. For an Audyssey box to beat ARC, one needs to spring for the Pro license and calibration kit.)

However, the differences between the three models are so minimal that I see no reason to spring for the 500 or 700 over the 300. External boxes do a better job with the streaming stuff, and cost less than the price difference.

While it's supposed to have some quirks, you might also want to look at the Sherwood R-972's being closed out. Trinnov is a pretty neat room correction suite. Had those deals been available when my Denon 4308 crapped its digital board (with Denon's after-sales support leading me to swear off Denon and Marantz completely), I may have still gone with the MRX 300 but it would've been less obvious a choice.

[Doublej]

What makes Anthem's room correction better than the competition? I would have expected Audyssey to have had the best given that they are seemingly the market leader in this space.

[drjjpdc]

Well,

Kalman Rubison just gave a Rotel piece in the March Stereophile a rave review.

[navin]

My budget is about $2000 but anything lower would of course be better, used is also OK.  Right now I have B&W CM7's for mains and will be eventually completing the setup with CM1's and the center.

I'm thinking the Anthem MRX500 - any other good suggestions?

The MRX 500 is a great option. Others are: Marantz's SR7005, NAD's 757, Rotel's RSX-1550, Yamaha's RX-A3010, Pioneer's SC-57 (Elite), Cambridge's 650R, Integra's DTR-70.3 and the Arcam AVR400. Other than the Arcam, the others all are available for under $2k. Some like Marantz offer Audessey, others like the NAD, Rotel and Arcam allow you to "bi-amp" the front speaker using channels 6 & 7 so it all depends on the feature set you need. Yes some do sound more warm (NAD or Arcam) too.

[electricbear]

Your B&Ws will sound very good on the Rotel, they are kind of voiced to work together although the Rotel can sometimes be a little tempermental. The Integra will work and sound ok with the B&Ws and you can bi-amp your fronts. Take a look at Yamahas Aventage series of receivers. The RX-A2010 runs around $1500 and is a very capable piece. It uses Yamahas proprietry room acoustic software unlike most of the others that use Audyssey. I'm currently using an Integra DTR50.2 on B&W CT7.4s but am seriously considering selling the Integra and going the Yamaha route.

[Mr Peabody]

What's up eBear, think the Yammie would have the same low end punch as Integra?

[Keoma]

Count me in as another Marantz lover. I own the SR-5005, and it is a great unit. I currently use it only as a pre/pro and to power my center and surround channels for Home Theater use (I use a Prima Luna DiaLogue One for my 2 channel listening, and the Marantz is connected to its HT pass-through), but I got very musical, non-fatiguing results when I used it in stereo only, specially when using "pure direct" mode. Also, the front USB input sounds fantastic as well when playing USB sticks. No moving parts, data straight into the DAC and then to the amp. Short signal path. Unbelievably convenient and sounded terrific, too, even with 320 kb/s files.

[JLM]

Late arriving, but I'd vote for the Anthem MRX-500.  It's room correction is easy to set up right and it can be modded by The Upgrade Company within your budget:

http://www.upgradecompany.com/upgrade-company-shop-online/anthem?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage.pbv.v1.tpl&product_id=131&category_id=28

[FireGuy]

I've had great experience with Denon.    This should have all the features you could need and you can pick it up for around $1500.

http://www.digitaltrends.com/receivers-separates-amps-reviews/denon-avr-4311ci-review/

[milford3]

The h/k is in your price range.  My h/k AVR 645 is a brute and has served me well for six years. 

http://www.harmankardon.com/EN-US/Products/Pages/ProductDetails.aspx?PID=AVR 3650

[navin]

Take a look at Yamahas Aventage series of receivers. The RX-A2010 runs around $1500 and is a very capable piece.

I too am considering the Yamahas (actually 2 of them, the 1010 for my living room and the 3010 for the bedroom). Is there a big difference in audio performance between these two? Any idea on how the 3010 compares against the NAD 757?

Initially I was considering the Marantz SR6006 but a friend of mine had failures with 2 SR7005 (the second piece was fixed, the first was not fixable) so I worry about reliability with Marantz. Hence I am now leaning towards the Yamaha 1010 for this application.

some reviews:
http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/receivers