Im currently looking to upgrade my receiver from this:
http://electrified.com/Catalog/Items...e&ItemID=28250

im looking for something with HDMI switching built in. I would like do get something equal to or better quality on a reasonable budget; a $1000 receiver just isnt feasible, especially with the mediocre $250 Onkyo speaker setup that i have at the moment.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

The new Yamaha'* have all of the new codecs in, as well as the Onkyo'* above 605.

Either of those will be able to decode the new lossless audio formats onboard, as opposed to in the player.

I'd look at Onkyo, Yamaha, Denon, Marantz, Sony ES (not normal stuff) and likewise Pioneer Elite. Harmon Kardons have always been great, and they sound fantastic, however they're not as reliable as others.

What is your realistic budget?

4-600 is the budget

this is quoted from another forum:


1. right now; 7.1 but i dont mind going back to 6.1 or 5.1
2. yes, 150w 8"
3. 10'x15'
4. 12' from screen to couch
5. not SUPER loud, i'm in an apartment, but i want good crisp quality

Lots of good stuff with that budget. Anything in this range will work fine with your setup now, and if you move to better front end you'll definitely have a huge improvement.

Yamaha V663 - Prob the #1 ~$500 or so receiver.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1201913281190

Onkyo 605 $429 on sale now on par with the V663, just about 8 months old at this point.
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Onkyo...oductDetail.do

Harmon Kardon 247
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1170289629684
Sounds great, seem to break more than average. Decent deal, but does NOT do the lossless audio decoding like DTS-MA, Dolby TrueHD, etc..

However, if you can put up with a silver unit, and can swing $699 I would get the Onkyo 805S (silver). I have the black one, and paid more than $800 for mine, no one really wants a silver unit these days, so they're priced down A LOT.
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Onkyo...oductDetail.do
What you'll get over all of these? Great Burr Brown D/A converters, HUGE power amps, (130wx7), all the THX certification you could ever need. It'* built with all of the major pieces seperated, Pre-amp, amplifiers, powersupply are all in their own area, not on the same boards. The only real issue that'* been common with them, is the fact they seem to have a bit of audio lag in them no matter where you set the A/V sync. I would go this route if you plan on moving to a nicer speaker setup than what you have later on.

This is essentially the knockout Onkyo put out last year, it'* MSRP is something like $999, and most $1500 receivers can't touch it, the nearest ones with the same THX certs are usually $2k. They really blew the market for higher end receivers wide open with it.