A/V Receiver Recommendation for a newby.


Hi folks. I'll be the first to admit I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to home theater systems.  I know the basics . I recently bought a  pair of Bowers and Wilkins 702 s2 speakers along with the htm 71 s2 center  channel. I have a pair of PSB GB1 book shelf for the rear speakers.  I currently have an Onkyo TX-NR676 a/v receiver.  I've been told by multiple people that this receiver isn't powerful enough to drive the B&W speakers and am looking to upgrade. I do have a limited budget after shelling out $6000 in speakers. I was wondering if anyone has experience with the Onkyo  TX NR 797 or Denon avr 2600h or recommendations My max budget is $1000.
Thanks in advance. 
elwayfan
Whoever told you its not powerful enough is full of it. Those are 90dB speakers. They will be just fine with as little as 20 watts. Your receiver has a lot more than that. 

Power however is one thing. Quality is another matter altogether. Your speakers will sound a whole lot better with a good 20 watt stereo amp than they ever will with any AVR. 

Quality also is a lot more than speakers and amp. Interconnects and speaker cables make a big difference as well. 

Before looking around you need to decide what exactly it is that you want. If you want all those channels then you are doing just fine. Your AVR has all the power and channels you will ever need. If you want quality though then you will want to look elsewhere. No AVR ever made has good sound quality. So it all depends on what it is that you want.


My 12 year old Onkyo HT receiver has better "SQ" than any movie theater I've ever been to. Alas, I've just learned that isn't good enough.
I would say ht is  about 70% of my usage and 2 channel music listening the other  30%. Thanks.