Hardware

[icycalm]

icycalm makes his first post on the subject:

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/lo ... post998606

Can someone give me a hand with picking a receiver for these things? I am a complete novice in this business, upgrading from the $400-to-$500 5.1 all-in-one Logitechs/Creatives/Klipsches for computer systems, so I've never had to think about receivers before. The main thing I am worried about is under- or overpowering the speakers and damaging them. I just spent the last 5 or 6 hours reading up threads and reviews, and I am further away from a decision than I was before I started research, so I would appreciate it if someone knowledgeable could take the decision off my hands so I can get some sleep. My number 1 candidate is the Sony STR-DN1040 because of how well it's been reviewed and its slew of connectivity options (many of which I plan to use). Would that be a good match? (Note that I am getting two sets of the bookshelf speakers for a 7.1 system.) Or what about a cheaper 7.1 option from Pioneer? They have so many models that seem so close together in terms of specifications that I think flipping a coin would be an easier way to reach a decision than to think :(

Thanks in advance for any help you might be able to give me.

The speaker set in question is the Pioneer SP-PK52FS, a 5.1 speaker system with an MSRP of $549 which every audiophile on the internet seems to have been raving about for a number of months. It apparently blows away speakers several times more expensive, and the only way to get something better from it is to spend something like $2,000+.

http://www.digitaltrends.com/speaker-sy ... fs-review/
http://www.audioholics.com/tower-speake ... -sp-pk52fs

By ordering two sets of the bookshelf speakers you can turn the 5.1 system into 7.1, which is what I have done. And that brings us to the receiver, and my post above (in a thread, by the way, in which the person who designed the speakers has also posted. That seems like a really cool site).

So my current receiver of choice, as I mentioned, is the Sony STR-DN1040, currently offered on Amazon.es for 572 euros:

http://www.amazon.es/gp/product/B00CBXPN7Y/

I picked it because it was awarded Product of the Year on this website:

http://www.whathifi.com/review/sony-str-dn1040

SonySTRDN1040main.jpg (15.39 KiB) Viewed 7911 times

So now I am waiting to see what those dudes will say before I pull the trigger on the receiver and call it a fucking day. I stayed up all night reading about this stuff, and I swear I understand less now than I did before.

[icycalm]

Don't let the thread's title deceive you, by the way. I don't give a shit about cinema: this is a gaming setup. "Home Cinema" is simply a label for the next step up from the top range offers by Logitech, Creative, Klipsch, and even Audioengine (I will explain this last claim in a future post -- too tired to go into it right now). It's just that instead of making separate threads for speakers and receivers, I will be using a single thread because these choices are highly related. If you want to discuss Logitech, Creative and co. start a "Speakers" thread with the understanding that you'll be talking about cheap computer products, and all the more expensive stuff can be discussed in here.

P.S. When I talk about "Klipsch" in this post and the one above I mean their computer offerings, obviously, because they also have speakers that cost $2,000 a piece which should be discussed in this thread if anyone here is rich enough to care about them.

[infernovia]

Yeah, I spent quite a lot of time looking at receivers as well, it's very confusing stuff. I bought a Yamaha RX-v675 and a bunch of old speakers that used to go for $2,000 that I managed to snag for $600.

http://www.soundandvision.com/content/e ... ker-system

In retrospect, I didn't need the RX-v675. The stores were all selling RX-v673 at a low cost because the new model had come out. Their new feature was MHL which never really worked for me and something I would have hardly used anyway. It sounds great so far and it's nice to be able to shake the house if I want to.

I read up on the specs for the Sony STR-DN1040, it is a very solid choice and it is highly desirable due to the great sound and built in Wi-Fi. The speakers you linked should be able to handle the power output from the STR-DN1040 (they look to be 100W, and your speakers are around that range), but I don't know enough about wattage/impedance to really comment in depth.