Does a Receiver make a big difference in sound quality?

DriedMangoes

DriedMangoes

We The North 🦖🍁
Sep 12, 2013
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Right now I have my systems connected to TV and TV connected to my speakers.

Just wondering if a Receiver would make a significant difference in audio quality for those in the know?

Thanks!
 
Yes.

Even for stereo listening you will get a better quality sound using a dedicated amplifier/receiver not to mention headphone listening as well.

TV's just don't have the type of amplifying ability and DAC's to compare. Also a receiver will have room correction and the ability to set distances, crossover etc. and a modern receiver should be able to process high def sound like DTS HD eg.

Wait, how are you connecting your speakers to your TV? Are they computer type speakers?

I have a home theatre room in my basement with really nice speakers and a Yamaha RXV1075 ($800), and in my room a stereo set up with some vintage speakers and the bottom end RXV375 ($250)and they both sound great. The low end Yamaha actually surprised me how good it sounds.

Basically any modern receiver will sound pretty much the same as the next despite price differences assuming you don't need tons of power to drive monster speakers at high SPL. I'd highly recommend just getting any entry level amp that has the features you need (eg. my RXV375 doesn't have networking abilities because I don't need that having a PC hooked up in that system, otherwise I would have gone with the next one up the 475)
 
YES. Another advantage besides the audio quality is having all of your components hooked up to the receiver. My Onkyo receiver has 6 HDMI inputs. Get a Harmony remote and you have a setup that you can power on with the touch of a button.
 
DriedMangoes said:
Right now I have my systems connected to TV and TV connected to my speakers.

Just wondering if a Receiver would make a significant difference in audio quality for those in the know?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Yes, and you do not even need an expensive one. These aren't really plug & play though. To get to the most out of them-especially for surround sound- you will have to spend a bit of time tweaking, listening, tweaking some more..etc.
 
Variance said:
Spend a bit of time?

You'll always be tuning. :D
Click to expand...

If you're an Audiophile, yeah.

I was tweaking mine yesterday, namely the speaker height & distance. Seems if you make the settings slightly less than what they are you get a better, more cohesive surround effect
 
Thanks guys. I guess it's time to go hunting for a receiver on sale.

So any entry level receiver should do, I guess? Not sure how to calibrate the speaker distance and stuff though?

Zer0beaT said:
Yes.

Even for stereo listening you will get a better quality sound using a dedicated amplifier/receiver not to mention headphone listening as well.

TV's just don't have the type of amplifying ability and DAC's to compare. Also a receiver will have room correction and the ability to set distances, crossover etc. and a modern receiver should be able to process high def sound like DTS HD eg.

Wait, how are you connecting your speakers to your TV? Are they computer type speakers?

I have a home theatre room in my basement with really nice speakers and a Yamaha RXV1075 ($800), and in my room a stereo set up with some vintage speakers and the bottom end RXV375 ($250)and they both sound great. The low end Yamaha actually surprised me how good it sounds.

Basically any modern receiver will sound pretty much the same as the next despite price differences assuming you don't need tons of power to drive monster speakers at high SPL. I'd highly recommend just getting any entry level amp that has the features you need (eg. my RXV375 doesn't have networking abilities because I don't need that having a PC hooked up in that system, otherwise I would have gone with the next one up the 475)
Click to expand...

I have the Spherex xbox 5.1 speaker setup since forever.

http://www.amazon.com/Spherex-51000-6-Piece-Surround-System/dp/B0006PY3DY

I have my systems setup connected to the TV i.e. PS3 and PS4 HDMI for audio into TV, Cable box white / red in to the TV, then my TV has a optical out for audio out and I use that to connect to my Spherex subwoofer, it has an optical in for audio.

IMG_3162.JPG
 
Depends how much you want to spend. I currently have a Sony one and it is very nice. Something like Sony STR-DN1040 which has good Stereo audio and very good surround sound, and has plenty of networking features, or maybe a Denon AVR-X2000 at similar price.

I would suggest doing some research on places like the AV forum.
 
menace-uk- said:
Depends how much you want to spend. I currently have a Sony one and it is very nice. Something like Sony STR-DN1040 which has good Stereo audio and very good surround sound, and has plenty of networking features, or maybe a Denon AVR-X2000 at similar price.

I would suggest doing some research on places like the AV forum.
Click to expand...

Preferably not too much, if possible. What are some decent budget entry level receivers that are good?
 
DriedMangoes said:
Preferably not too much, if possible. What are some decent budget entry level receivers that are good?
Click to expand...

Those Two mentioned are entry level units. Not sure on American prices, but they both retail for around £500 sterling. Other, cheaper entry level units that seem like good buys are, Sony STR-DH820( an older unit from 2011), or Yamaha RX-V375, or even the older but well praised Onkyo TX-NR515. These are all UK model numbers, other countries ma have differing model numbers.

Again, use these suggestions as a place to start researching. A good place to research is http://www.avforums.com/forums/ or http://www.avsforum.com/f/
 
menace-uk- said:
Those Two mentioned are entry level units. Not sure on American prices, but they both retail for around £500 sterling. Other, cheaper entry level units that seem like good buys are, Sony STR-DH820( an older unit from 2011), or Yamaha RX-V375, or even the older but well praised Onkyo TX-NR515. These are all UK model numbers, other countries ma have differing model numbers.

Again, use these suggestions as a place to start researching. A good place to research is http://www.avforums.com/forums/ or http://www.avsforum.com/f/
Click to expand...

What do you think about this one? Onkyo TX-Sr313.

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product...34868dc38871fb0a9d2294den02&SearchPageIndex=1
 
DriedMangoes said:
What do you think about this one? Onkyo TX-Sr313.

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product...34868dc38871fb0a9d2294den02&SearchPageIndex=1
Click to expand...

That ones pretty good, but if you can afford a little more I would recommend this one
http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product...spx?path=668331c3de7dfccc51d0e758029089bfen02

2 more HDMI ports and it comes with the setup mic for audessy, basically you put the mic in 3 listening posistions and it calculates distance and all that stuff.
 
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DriedMangoes said:
Preferably not too much, if possible. What are some decent budget entry level receivers that are good?
Click to expand...
Depends on if you want 5.1 vs 7.1 and your budget too many to choose from. See onkyo, denon, pioneer, marantz, Yamaha...
DriedMangoes said:
What do you think about this one? Onkyo TX-Sr313.

http://www.bestbuy.ca/en-CA/product...34868dc38871fb0a9d2294den02&SearchPageIndex=1
Click to expand...
I bought that exact same one for my brother. He loves it but it doesn't have audessey speaker and room calibration from what I remember if that is important to you? Now I believe the kinect also does a calibration for surround but the mic isn't @ your seating position/ sweet spot.
 
jimmyD said:
Depends on if you want 5.1 vs 7.1 and your budget too many to choose from. See onkyo, denon, pioneer, marantz, Yamaha...

I bought that exact same one for my brother. He loves it but it doesn't have audessey speaker and room calibration from what I remember if that is important to you? Now I believe the kinect also does a calibration for surround but the mic isn't @ your seating position/ sweet spot.
Click to expand...

I have Spherex 5.1 Xbox speaker setup so just need 5.1. I'm really just looking for a $200-300 range decent receiver that gives me the most for my money.
 
4k passthrough isn't present on that 191 or 192 I thought ? Infact I'm pretty sure. No pre-outs, horrible DAC, there's a lot better at that entry range.


Yamaha - Decent Entry Level, Very Good Mid-grade, Excellent High End
Denon - Horrible Entry Level, Excellent Mid-grade, Decent High End
Marantz - Is there a entry level? :D
Harmon Kardon - Horrible Entry Level, Horrible Mid-Grade, Excellent High End
Sony - Horrible Entry Level, Horrible Mid-grade, Decent High End
Onkyo - Decent Entry Level, Excellent Mid-Grade, Decent High End


http://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-RX-V57...qid=1395797764&sr=8-2&keywords=yamaha+rx-v475

Wipes the floor with the 191, 192, that Onkyo and anything Sony offers. If you're going Denon, step up to the 1713 if you can find it. The E300 or E400 series. Which then opens up a bag of worms for Onkyo's "535" / 6 series and Yamaha's 5-6 series. Harmon Kardon is also an option, Pioneer is also an option.

If 200-300 is your budget Jeffy, hold out and save a bit more. You definitely get what you pay for concerning AVR's.

Also.... visit this site and keep your eyes to the deals that pop up.

http://app.audiogon.com/

But at this point of purchase, I'd make sure to have 4K passthrough, pre-outs, multiple sub output or at the very least 1 above 3volts.
 
DriedMangoes said:
Thanks guys. I guess it's time to go hunting for a receiver on sale.

So any entry level receiver should do, I guess? Not sure how to calibrate the speaker distance and stuff though?



I have the Spherex xbox 5.1 speaker setup since forever.

http://www.amazon.com/Spherex-51000-6-Piece-Surround-System/dp/B0006PY3DY

I have my systems setup connected to the TV i.e. PS3 and PS4 HDMI for audio into TV, Cable box white / red in to the TV, then my TV has a optical out for audio out and I use that to connect to my Spherex subwoofer, it has an optical in for audio.

IMG_3162.JPG
Click to expand...

Hold up!

This changes everything.

The subwoofer pictured there is amplifying and decoding the sound that goes to your speakers (it's basically a receiver, just that it's a proprietary thing aka a HTIB home theatre in a box). And it will be hard to use your speakers with a different receiver because your speakers use RCA plugs instead of speaker wire (you could splice one end of the RCA cables and go bare wire to a receiver- center wire to red and shield wire to black), and I don't think you could use that subwoofer with a receiver as it wasn't made with that in mind (since it is the receiver of your speaker system, it doesn't look like it can be used as a conventional stand alone sub) On top of that who knows what those sattelite type speakers can handle as far as wattage and especially what Ohm they are, you could damage those speakers or they might just sound really bad because they can't handle what's being fed to them.

Do you know that your TV passes the 5.1 signal from your xbox/ps from the HDMI out over the optical out?

You might try hooking up your ps3 audio from optical directly to your Spherex's optical in to see if the sound quality improves (you can change the settings to have audio go over optical and still have the video through HDMI)

Otherwise, I wouldn't think about getting an actual stand alone receiver unless you're also willing to get suitable speakers.

So, even though a TV is very weak at audio performance, in your case the TV is not doing the amplifiying or processing, so it's hard to say much beyond that having no experience with your Spherex system. Hope this makes some sense?
 
Variance said:
4k passthrough isn't present on that 191 or 192 I thought ? Infact I'm pretty sure. No pre-outs, horrible DAC, there's a lot better at that entry range.


Yamaha - Decent Entry Level, Very Good Mid-grade, Excellent High End
Denon - Horrible Entry Level, Excellent Mid-grade, Decent High End
Marantz - Is there a entry level? :D
Harmon Kardon - Horrible Entry Level, Horrible Mid-Grade, Excellent High End
Sony - Horrible Entry Level, Horrible Mid-grade, Decent High End
Onkyo - Decent Entry Level, Excellent Mid-Grade, Decent High End
Click to expand...

I have to disagree here. I was a Yamaha fanboy for years ( still high quality) but my last several units have been Sony, and I have been more than satisfied. My only big issue with Sony units are the menus. They can also be more difficult with speaker pairing.
 
Yamaha: isn't to good unless you spend some bucks
Onkyo: Over heat and are usually rather large(but you can find a good low and high priced set)
Pioneer: Usually is good in low and high priced models.
Denon: Same as above
Marantz: Will cost you a bit more but you get what you pay for.
Sony: I dunno if I would buy a Sony AVR
 
Zer0beaT said:
Hold up!

This changes everything.

The subwoofer pictured there is amplifying and decoding the sound that goes to your speakers (it's basically a receiver, just that it's a proprietary thing aka a HTIB home theatre in a box). And it will be hard to use your speakers with a different receiver because your speakers use RCA plugs instead of speaker wire (you could splice one end of the RCA cables and go bare wire to a receiver- center wire to red and shield wire to black), and I don't think you could use that subwoofer with a receiver as it wasn't made with that in mind (since it is the receiver of your speaker system, it doesn't look like it can be used as a conventional stand alone sub) On top of that who knows what those sattelite type speakers can handle as far as wattage and especially what Ohm they are, you could damage those speakers or they might just sound really bad because they can't handle what's being fed to them.

Do you know that your TV passes the 5.1 signal from your xbox/ps from the HDMI out over the optical out?

You might try hooking up your ps3 audio from optical directly to your Spherex's optical in to see if the sound quality improves (you can change the settings to have audio go over optical and still have the video through HDMI)

Otherwise, I wouldn't think about getting an actual stand alone receiver unless you're also willing to get suitable speakers.

So, even though a TV is very weak at audio performance, in your case the TV is not doing the amplifiying or processing, so it's hard to say much beyond that having no experience with your Spherex system. Hope this makes some sense?
Click to expand...

Ah, I see. Yes, these are the only speakers I have and was planning to hook it up to the receiver but going by what you said, it won't work.

I'm not sure if the TV is passing the 5.1 signal over through optical out to the speakers. How do I check? I have the LG 60PN6500 TV.

Hooking up the audio out through optical in PS3/PS4 and my cable box is pretty troublesome especially if I want to switch back and forth frequently so I just hook everything up to TV and then TV optical out to my speakers.

So I guess I'm stuck with no receiver for the time being unless I get new speakers?
 
Variance said:
Oh damn I overlooked that, you just want an AVR Jeffy?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I was planning on getting just an AVR to see if there was any increase in sound quality but it seems like my Spherex speakers won't be able to hook up to it so I'm out of luck unless I also invest in new speakers. Darn.
 
DriedMangoes said:
Ah, I see. Yes, these are the only speakers I have and was planning to hook it up to the receiver but going by what you said, it won't work.

I'm not sure if the TV is passing the 5.1 signal over through optical out to the speakers. How do I check? I have the LG 60PN6500 TV.

Hooking up the audio out through optical in PS3/PS4 and my cable box is pretty troublesome especially if I want to switch back and forth frequently so I just hook everything up to TV and then TV optical out to my speakers.

So I guess I'm stuck with no receiver for the time being unless I get new speakers?
Click to expand...

May want to go with a HTIB
http://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-HT-S350...1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395865934&sr=8-1&keywords=HTIB

http://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-YHT-49...6?ie=UTF8&qid=1395865934&sr=8-6&keywords=HTIB
 
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