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Hate this, I need an AV receiver. Help me choose

Since the manufacturers won't simply put analog audio out jacks on their new TV's, it looks like I will have to buy a crappy AV receiver to get sound to the outboard speakers. TV only has optical digital out which you all know we would never choose between our cherished CD transports and DAC's. It irks me because I have unused amp and preamp that would work just fine for this. I am an old school Tube and 2 channel audiophile. Even though this is only for the TV set up I don't want anything that sounds too crappy. What can you guys recommend for me here that I can find maybe at Best Buy without wasting too many dollars. Any hope in a 5.1 Yamaha for under 300 bucks for example?
hifiharv
realremo
460 posts
 
When i was doing research on this, Yamaha was the cheapest receiver that had multi-channel analog outputs, also they use burr brown DACs, if i'm not mistaken. The multi-channel outputs make it more versitile for future applications, you can feed a power amp with it. My #2 choice in getting a lot of value/features for not much money is Onkyo.
Also consider buying an affordable DAC with an optical input, might be cheaper than a receiver. You should be able to set your TV to output two-channel-only thru the optical.
learsfool
1,215 posts
 
Another great brand was Harmon-Kardon, don't know if they are still making them, though. I used one for many years.
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drubin
3,274 posts
 
Just get a modest DAC with optical input. It will almost certainly equal and probably better the DAC in any low-cost AV receiver you'd get, then you can just use your existing preamp and amp. Toslink's shortcomings are greatly exaggerated. Use a glass cable if you can -- e.g., Wireworld.

BTW, where does your TV content come from -- is it all OTA?
soix
9,456 posts
 
"Using the speakers in the TV as a quasi center channel so to speak." Ugh. If the front L/R speakers are half way decent I'd think using a phantom or no center would be much preferable with proper setup unless you're sitting well off center (and if you are I'd invest in a decent center speaker and a cheap HT receiver from Denon, Pioneer, Onkyo, etc.). Other than that I agree with Drubin, but get a used DAC with optical input since there's no reason to pay full retail for this application or you might as well get a HT receiver. Worrying about optical vs. SPDIF is relatively insignificant in this application I'd think. Best of luck.
slikric3000
638 posts
 
Ok, I looked at two tv's on the web and both had audio out's. Maybe I'm not reading the post correctly.
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