Receiver upgrade from accessories4less, any opinions?

[mezball]

Summary, looking to replace an older Denon AVR-3805 receiver (it replaced a Marantz AV9000 when it died) that has been use mainly for a pre-amp, powering the surrounds. While an Marantz MM9000 5-channel amp powers the center, and bi-amps the fronts.

Been searching for an more modern receiver (want to stay with a receiver to power surrounds, and backup power source if amp fails) for HDMI connection.
I searched for what I think I might want, but within my budget (Don't want to spend a lot).

Found I want to go back to Marantz, and found a couple of refurb models I'm interested in are the SR5006, and SR5005 from: www.accessories4less.com
Both come with 1 year warranty, with the option to buy extended for cheap.

Does anybody have experience with this company accessories4less , and/or with the above mentioned units?

[givmedew]

That company is fine I would recommend Amazon (direct only not 3rd party) because they cover return shipping.

But can I please stop you! Some of the things you said are a lil over the top of this Forum for example the bi-amping and pre-amping. Your questions would best be answered at avforums.com

That being said what I really wanted to STOP you over is this. If you have the YEARN for high quality sound so much that you actually BI-Amped your speakers and thought that using another receiver as an amp instead of a different receiver would provide better sound then you HAVE to do yourself a huge favor and make a very smart investment.

Buy some separate amplifiers you can buy used high current modified amplifiers for around $200 for a 2CH. Now the WATTS may be misleading since WATTS on their own mean nothing at all you can not compare watts on one receiver to watts on another receiver because it must be accompanied by WATTS@XXX%THD Simply increasing that THD number allows them to increase that WATTS number EXPONENTIALLY.

So please don't worry if you see a $200 used receiver that says its only 65 watts because I assure you this 65 would be more like 200-300 in sony watts LOL. Also high current amps can hit lower OHM loads so if you have 6 or 8 ohm speakers most sub $1000 receivers can not handle these loads. Also BI-Amping may cause the same issue as increased ohm load on some receivers for example on the back of a $2000 high current yamaha it says 2ohm stable unless bi-amp or 2 sets of mains then only 4ohm stable.

Also something you should be aware of in a $500 receiver is this. The chasis costs X, the box costs X, the remote costs X, the upconverion cost X, the decoder costs X so where is the money left over for the amps? Well its not left over... This is why a used $200 seperate amp weighs more than a $500 receiver because at $500 all the money has been spent on the other things.


Also the last thing I just ask is WHAT does a new receiver do that your current one does not? I had to buy a new receiver because the Hitachi Director Series TV I bought is actually a Monitor and only has a single input. So I needed a receiver that could convert composite and component into HDMI and that could handle 4OHM (Vienna Acoustics).

Well turns out that for Pioneer and Yamaha (my brands of choice) the 4OHM requirement didn't start until $1500-2000 and my budget was $800-1200. So I choose to get the least expensive Pioneer Elite and 3 2CH Amplifier which I ran all 3 as Monoblocks and ran the rears off the Pioneer.

Next time I buy a receiver if EVER I will get to keep my Seperate amplifiers. Also I can upgrade these amps at NO LOSS and I will do that in the future as I plan to buy 3 true monoblocks that are of a slightly higher quality. (Specifically B+K)

Also if you do go the separate route: If you are a music mostly person then money goes into the 2 fronts. If you are a movie person then either the money goes equally into the fronts and the center or they go center first fronts next. Never invest money into the rears unless you have already significantly upgraded the fronts. Very lil goes through the rears and usually at a much higher compressed rate anyways (depending on the source). I even run my rears off my pioneer even though the pioneer is only rated at 8ohms for the rear and the rears are 6ohms. No issues though as like I said very little goes on with the rears.

Music is the biggest challenge be it an actual song or music in a movie and this is usually kept in the front speakers. Explosions and gun shots and voice is often center heavy. It is said that 70% of all sound in a movie comes directly from the center channel which is why the center is the largest speaker in THIB packages and in most companies the center costs more than half what a pair of fronts cost. For example Vienna fronts for just over $2000 and a single center at $1400.

Any questions about separates let me know if you are interested in going this route I can find you some links for decent amps.

Also a route I like quite a bit is Kenwood made an amazing multi channel separate amp that was sold with a surround sound processor this amp is 10yrs old and now can be found for cheap. On its own it will out do any sub $1000 receiver but paired with a decent 2CH separate for your fronts if your a music man and you will be in heaven.

[mezball]

Thanks for the response, givmedew. But to be honest I was only asking if anybody has had any experience with the the company: www.accessories4less.com or either of the HT Receivers I mentioned in my original post. I am all to familiar with home audio, and was not asking for any other advice

Although, there are others members here who have knowledge in other subjects, not just computer related.