[JLM]

Carlman asked this a couple of months ago, but things change and I didn't feel that the responses addressed his need very well.

I'm looking for a reasonably well built very basic HT receiver for under $300.  HT is a low priority for the entire family, but I'm tired of looking at two speaker with stands and wires hanging out of the back wall of the new 14 ft x 17 ft family room that are all doing nothing. 

Currently we use a 27 inch TV with analog satellite service, but would like to upgrade both someday.  I have an 11 year old VCR and a $150 universal carousel player.  Speakers are Ascend Acoustics with a Hsu VTF-2 sub (purchased for an audio/HT system).  I've done reconditioned, but it (a HK) crapped out after a couple of years and two service calls, so I'm not interested in the used or reconditioned route. 

To repeat: ease of setup, expected long life, and low price is all I'm after.

thanks

[Tubo]

Panasonic XR57 $299.

[Russell Dawkins]

with a Philips DVP642 DivX Certified Progressive Scan DVD player - the most impressive mouthful in the world of $39 electronics.
Plays anything - NTSC, PAL/SECAM - even certain Dutch beer coasters.
See the rest of the story:

http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=20465

They also make a killer HT receiver in Europe that may or may not be imported to the states - the DFR 9000 - for €300-400 that has 6 channels of UcD amplification

[bubba966]

The Panasonic XR series of receivers are quite good. And they do fulfill most of the requirements that you're looking for.

But they fail in the ease of use category.

A receiver that does fit these criteria

ease of setup, expected long life, and low price is all I'm after.

would be something like a Pioneer VSX-816K/S, or a VSX-1016TXV, or possibly a VSX-915/914 (I forget the exact last model # of the 900 series) if you can still find one.

As long as you make sure that a Pioneer receiver gets the ventilation it should have (which should be true of any receiver) there's no reason it won't last a good long time.

I've had more than a couple of Pioneers, and have known quite a few people that have had various Pioneers. Only problem they've ever had was from it being stuck in a tight enclosed space for too long and having somthing come de-soldered after a few years of being cooked.

Don't cook it and it'll be fine.

And the Pioneer's of the last few years have had an auto-setup feature. How easy is that? Just put the microphone in your listening position and strat the setup program. The 816 I mentioned has auto-setup/calibration/EQ.

Not to mention they're quite easy to use. I just had someone over this weekend commenting on how he's been loving his 912 because it sounds great, functions great, and is very easy to use.

The Pioneer I've got now I've been using for just over 6 years. And although I've not given it the ventilation the manual says you should (it says 8"+ of space on the top, I've got about 2") and have used it insanely heavily (probably well over 5,000 hours of use in the last 6 years) I've never once had a single problem with it. And every other Pioneer receiver I've ever seen in use has no problem lasting 5+ years (as long as the owner didn't cook it).

I see BestBuy has the VSX-816K for $250, and the 1016TXV for $399. I'd bet you could find better prices on those and wouldn't be surprised if you could find a 1016 for $300. The 816 would work well for you, but if you can find a 1016 for $300 then definitely go for that one.

[ooheadsoo]

with a Philips DVP642 DivX Certified Progressive Scan DVD player - the most impressive mouthful in the world of $39 electronics.
Plays anything - NTSC, PAL/SECAM - even certain Dutch beer coasters.
See the rest of the story:

http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=20465

They also make a killer HT receiver in Europe that may or may not be imported to the states - the DFR 9000 - for €300-400 that has 6 channels of UcD amplification

Don't get the philips for the divx playback - depending on what kind of downloaded programming you watch, chances are it won't work, and even when it does, seeking is dodgy.  From personal experience having owned it for the past 2 years or so.  Other than the fact that divx support - or rather the community's support of encoding things in straight up unmodified divx/xvid - is lackluster, it's a fine budget player.  But are you looking for a dvdp?  I hadn't realized that from the OP.

[JLM]

Thanks for the leads, especially bubba. 

No, I'm not looking for a player.  ACer's are better than most for staying on topic (a peeve of mine).

Over the past couple of years I've read about the smaller JVC and Panny digital receivers (a fellow ACer even let me home trial a JVC) but build quality is more important to me (the JVC was just too cheaply built for me).  I'll have to look into the Pioneers (owned one in the 70's, man am I aging myself or what ).

What are the remotes that come with cheap receivers like?  Do they easily/automatically learn the other components?  Do they lose memory every time the power goes out or the batteries get changed?  Usually I just end up using the individual remotes.  Last year when I bought my $160 27 inch TV at Best Buys they had a discount offer for remotes.  When I asked about it, the salesman sheepishly showed me the remotes.  They all cost more than the TV and had enough buttons to land the space shuttle.   

[bubba966]

Over the past couple of years I've read about the smaller JVC and Panny digital receivers (a fellow ACer even let me home trial a JVC) but build quality is more important to me (the JVC was just too cheaply built for me).  I'll have to look into the Pioneers.

The Pioneers are pretty good build-wise. Of the above 2 models I mentioned the 1016 is a good bit better build-wise than the 816. But the 816 is no slouch...

Oh, and a good thing about Pioneer stuff is that they keep stock on spare parts for a machine a minimum of 10 years after the model is discontinued. Which makes it really nice should you ever have to buy any spare parts or have anything fixed. I know that they still have in stock more than a few key parts for a LD player that was built in 1978!

What are the remotes that come with cheap receivers like?  Do they easily/automatically learn the other components?  Do they lose memory every time the power goes out or the batteries get changed?  Usually I just end up using the individual remotes.  Last year when I bought my $160 27 inch TV at Best Buys they had a discount offer for remotes.  When I asked about it, the salesman sheepishly showed me the remotes.  They all cost more than the TV and had enough buttons to land the space shuttle.

The remotes for the Pioneers are universal remotes that are pretty easy to get to run other stuff. Infact when I got my current receiver the remote was the first thing to get pulled from the box and I had it programed to run everything else in my setup before I ever pulled the manual or receiver out of the box. I was a bit excited at having such a nice remote...

Go look at the current Pioneers and see if you can find yourself a 1016 for $300. I'm sure someone somewhere has one for sale at that price.

[TIC]

Jeff,

The Pioneer 1016 is really nice for the price. It looks good and I think it is also rebadged as an entry level Elite w/ gold RCAs as the only difference I can see. I owned the predecessor and it was nice.

Speaking of ease of use: The 1016 has Pioneer's MCACC auto setup. Just place the mic in you primary listening spot and select auto setup. Boom, two minutes and several goofy sounds later and it's done.

I really like the Pioneer. It looks like a more expensive unit, it sounds good and it is very easy to set up. I think they are going for a couple of bucks over $300 last time I checked....

Enjoy,

TIC

[TIC]

Jeff,

One correction, I had the 1014 and above I was referring to the 1015. I see that the new 1016 has dropped the nice closeout panel on the front and has added some functionality. I'm guessing that the 1016 simply builds on the 1014 and 1015, but I'm not absolutely sure of that. I can tell you that the 1014 I owned and the 1015 that replace it, are very good for the price. I'm guessing the 1016 is an extension of that heritage.

TIC

[JLM]

Thanks for the help guys, but I didn't want a big receiver (like the Pioneers) so I just picked up a little Sony 6.1 with auto-calibration for $200.

[F-100]

You can get a Panasonic SA-XR55 for $170 w/free shipping for Amazon. I have this receiver in my HT system and very happy with it performance. Check rave reviews from AVS forum.