Best A/V receiver up to £500?

[tig]

As in the thread title, any suggestions for a AV receiver to go in a garage conversion 4m x 2.5m? Must be able to decode Dolby True HD/ DTS master audio.

Thanks.

 

[davepuma]

The usual suspects from Denon, Yamaha, Marantz, Pioneer, Sony and Onkyo will all decode HD audio (it's a feature that has now filtered down to sub £300 receivers). Unfortunately your main candidiate (Yamaha 863) is out of stock everywhere and will be for a couple of months by the looks of things but you should get out and demo all the £500 to make sure you're happy and preferably with your proposed speaker setup and to ensure it has the right setup and features including inputs for your current and future needs.

 

[boxrick]

The onkyo TXSR806 is impressive sounding for the price... just dropped below £500

 

[tig]

Thanks for the replies.
In terms of speakers we're looking at the Q acoustics 1010i package which is available for £400 online.
After a bit of research the Denon AVR2309 seems like a good match for these speakers(£499 at richersounds). Does anyone have these two working together? We'll probably arrange a demo anyway but any first hand experience would be appreciated.

 

[aspick]

Consider also the Denon 1909 which if you are lucky and can find one, will be £200 cheaper than the 2309 and might be a better match for the Q-Acoustics speakers - of course if you have the money, stick with the more expensive Denon.

I went the other way and bought the 1909 but more expensive speakers (Kef 3005SE) which were roughly twice the price of the Q-Acoustics speakers. Those do seem ok according to the reviews but I wanted a more wife friendly set of speakers hence the purchase of the Kef's which fit into the "style" speaker bracket according to most reviews and magazine articles.

 

[h0l1yw0od]

Consider also the Denon 1909 which if you are lucky and can find one, will be £200 cheaper than the 2309 and might be a better match for the Q-Acoustics speakers - of course if you have the money, stick with the more expensive Denon.

I went the other way and bought the 1909 but more expensive speakers (Kef 3005SE) which were roughly twice the price of the Q-Acoustics speakers. Those do seem ok according to the reviews but I wanted a more wife friendly set of speakers hence the purchase of the Kef's which fit into the "style" speaker bracket according to most reviews and magazine articles.

Hi,

I've got the Kef's and have been told my order for the Yamaha 763 has been delayed until who knows when. So i'm looking for a replacement in the meantime but don't want to waste my money rushing into the wrong thing.

How do you find the Denon with them? I keep seeing ups and downs. I'm interested in it for movies as thats what its for, along with my 360. The PC will be connected but i won't be using it specifically for music.

So is the Denon a good choice or is there a better option (other then the elusive Yamaha!)?

 

[Henryslater]

The onkyo TXSR806 is fantastic vfm. It comes from a class above and sounds fantastic. Much better than the Marantz SR5300 it replaced. Paid £450 at richersounds. Well worth it.