Advice For Amp/reciever Under 400, Under 500 At Max

[angelus512]

Ok I live in an apartment so I was just going to go the HT in a box. But decided why not just buy an amp and a set of speakers but keep the quality of both on the medium/low side. In other words get a sound system thats better than HT in a box but not so great you'd write home cos I don't exactly want to piss off the people that live in my apartment block with a kick ass HT systems i'll never get to fully take advantage of.

Anywho I'm certain i'm going to get a few sniggers for this one but I was wondering if anybody had some suggestions for a decent reciever/amp or whatever its called thats worth around the 400 dollar mark, 500 would be fine but there'd have to be a reason for it other than *its just a shade better*.

Also if anyvbody has in mind a simple speaker+woofer setup that could be purchased for around the 300 dollar range too that'd be great.

Now not sure I should be posting these "what price and where" queries here but i'm a bit out of my depth in this area.

Bout to pickup a 42PX600A panasonic for 2200 tomorrow and I figure i should pair it with at least a "passable" sound system until i can save some money later down the track to get a proper setup.

I had a peek at Ebay to get an idea but in my experience if you know what price you can get on a specific item for you can EASILY get it cheaper in the stores than on ebay.

For example my TV goes on Ebay for like 2800-2900 or something a good 600-700 bucks more expensive than i bought it for in store.

In advance thanks for helping out a somewhat clueless individual.

Its 2:30AM and i can't appear to sleep....work in like 5 hours.

[Gutty]

For an amp, one of the lower end yamaha/sony etc is what you'll be looking at. The Yamaha RX-V359 for example can be had for around $350. Just don't expect too much from anything at this price point.

Speakers, hmmmm..... i'd personally be looking at a pair of bookshelf speakers(others might have recommendations as per brand/model) or if you must have a full set including sub ebay jobs such as accusound etc are going to be your best bet.

Do a search, one very helpful chap(spoco2 ??) recently made up a web page with lots of good/bad info about all the various ebay speakers. Deffinately be worth your while to have a read.

[angelus512]

Thanks mate, i just need an amp/reciever (i say both because i'm not sure if they are the same term or not) that when put with a cheapish speaker set will still sound better than a HT in a box solution where you end up paying 100-200 bucks for a DVD player i don't or would ever use.

[Gutty]

A mate of mine got the Yamaha 459 over christmas, paid like $450-500 for it, and while it doesn't sound like any of the top level amps, i must admit, bang for buck it aint too bad. Has given him Dolby Digital and DTS surround sound, and he loves it.

[50mxe20]

Not what you want to hear but I always reckon you should spend the equivalent or more on the sound as the display.

However, having said that, if you do a topic search on "HTIB" or "1000" you will get a number of hits that discuss both HTIB AND other cheap options that people have looked at. There are probably some really good ideas buried in those threads.

[angelus512]

Thanks Lyle, I fully agree that you probably need to spend MORE on the sound actually but its just that I have to buy a number of things the TV and sound being only 2 items of many and unfortunately the sound is the lesser priority of all for now.

I really just need something to tide me over until i can afford a 2-3K setup in say another 12-24months.

[Gutty]

That being the case, i'd deffiantely go for a decent pair of bookshelf speakers rather than a "set". In a year or 2 when you have some more money too spend(if so inclined) you can upgrade the amp and move the bookshelf speakers to the back and you have a quality set of rear surround speakers and only need to upgrade the fronts, add a sub and centre.

As Lyle suggests, do a search, lots of this type of discussion in your price bracket recently.

[justin504]

I do like my surround sound, even if its not coming from high quality components, and in my opinion a cheap amp and speaker combo is many times better than HTIB. I have friends with both types of systems and the difference is incomparable.

I have three mates with Dream HiFi speakers, the ones that go for about $250, two of them running kenwood 5.1 amps from Harvey Norman that can be picked up on special for $350 - $400. I also have one of these amps. I don't know how these compare to other low end amps, sony etc., but they work, and to my ear sound pretty good. The speakers are pretty good for the price as well.

Another friend has Accusound speakers, which are a little more than the Dreams, but the difference is not noticable. If I were in your position, I would get a cheap amp on special from somewhere, get some Dreams from ebay, and a cheap sub to go with. One mate has the Dream SW300 which is sufficiently powerful to shake his whole apartment.

Hope this helps. Justin.

[quijibo]

If you are near a JB hifi, just go in and buy whatever amp they have for $300. They always have a bottom end sony or sherwood amp that will do the job you need on special at around that price.

If you are going to upgrade later on its not worth paying any more than that.

You will be able to sell it on ebay for around $200 in a year or two anyway, so its not much of a loss.

[wheelz]

I would go for one of the cheaper yamaha amps (rx-v457/459),you can find them at jb for the $400-500 mark(abit of haggling) and they will be alot better than the cheap sony/sherwood amps.

[50mxe20]

I would go for one of the cheaper yamaha amps (rx-v457/459),you can find them at jb for the $400-500 mark(abit of haggling) and they will be alot better than the cheap sony/sherwood amps.

I agree.

[ejm]

Speaking of cheap AVR's, I was just at HN and they have a Sony one which RRP is $1599 for only $448. I would have picked one up but it does not have video switching.

[spurxiii]

I got my Yamaha RX-V557 for $480 from JB last year in October during one of their clearances. I'd imagine you can get it a little cheaper now. It works well enough to drive my B&W 602s and LCR60 in an entry level type HT system at reasonable volumes. I reckon it was a steal at $480.