Seperates or Receiver on a Budget

You're getting good advice. I bought a receiver and now I'm out looking for new amps, and wishing I had started with separates to begin with. Interesting thing about multi channels, some of them do not use individual power supplies for each channel. I don't know if that matters or not, maybe somebody has some experience with these arrangements.

I put together a modest system for under 1,500, buying mostly used and/or closeout. My speakers/sub are NHT, and the receiver is a Technics SADA10, that is not bad considering it is made by Panasonic. The dvd is the venerable Sony 7000, and I am completely happy with the results. Certainly not perfect, but see no need to change anything at this time. good luck
Cody

Well, I'll be the devil's advocate for this thread.

With the importance of wire (interconnects specifically) I think your budget would be spread pretty thin if you bought separates. I don't think you should so easily dismiss a good receiver (Marantz, Denon, Yamaha) and as money becomes available, buy a separate amp to use with your receiver (your receiver in effect becomes a preamp). I think the separates you will be able to afford with $2500 (not including wire) won't be dramatically better than a quality receiver, plus you stated you are more into HT than music; I don't feel you will get that much more umpf from separates just watching movies. Also consider that once you make an investment of that kind, you want to protect it with a decent surge suppressor / line conditioner that won’t interfere with the dynamics of your gear. That will be at least a $500 purchase used.

Now start thinking about good interconnects and speaker wire to get the most out of your gear. That will run you another $500 on the used market.

I started out as you did, and I bought a decent integrated amp and then a separate amp for my mains (I was into HT as well). Now I’ve dumped my HT gear and own complete separates, 2 channel only. Basically what I am trying to say is you are on a budget and cannot afford to buy EVERYTHING you need with seperates, so don’t. Look at this as a long term hobby and upgrade yourself as money allows. With that mentality, take your $2500 initial buy-in and get everything you need to get your project off the ground: speaker wire ($300-400 for all 5 channels), interconnects (remember you will need AT LEAST 5 ICs to run your HT, $300-500), a good receiver ($1000) and a good line conditioner ($300-500). We haven’t even thought about power cords yet. All the prices I listed are assuming you buy used.

My plan gets you up and running with very good sound, and also allows you to upgrade yourself as you can.

m-

Don't waste your money on a receiver if you think you will be using an outboard amp. Try outlawaudio.com
Personally, I would pick up an Anthem AVM-2 for about $900 and an Anthem 5 channel amp for about the same.
Not a receiver made that can touch it.

Be aware of subjective terms and phrases. It’s your money and you should spend it wisely. Find a local hi-fi shop and go listen to high end separates and some high end receivers. I think you'll agree phrases like "this blows that away" are bogus in 90% of the cases you read about. Yes, a $5000 preamp with a $5000 amp will blow away a $200 receiver. But I have been through this and can say with all honesty when you compare apples to apples, you'll find you may like the green apples better than the red apples but that don't make them better. This logic I feel especially applies to home theater as explosions and booms are less distinguishable than the subtle notes of an orchestra, or a complex musical recording.

Don't take my word for it; go do some listening of your own and you decide.