Hey guys. I'm in the market for an AV receiver to use with my 5.1 setup (may eventually bump up to 7.1). Although I'm not a hardcore "audiophile", I do like to often go the route of better quality as opposed to the most features. With an Oppo BDP-103, I don't really need my receiver to upscale any content as the Oppo will handle that quite well. I have all of my video game systems running through an XRGB Mini/Framemeister which outputs HDMI. At the moment, those two devices occupy the only two HDMI inputs on my Samsung F5300.

I'm also looking into getting a CLD-R7G soon, but that presents a little bit of a problem. Its best output seems to come via S-video, which none of the latest receivers have anyway. My Framemeister does, but it's not really recommended for LD content.

I'm definitely a newb when it comes to home theater setups so I'd like some ideas on how I should set this all up. I thought of buying an older AV receiver (maybe one that had been fairly high end) to get hopefully the best sound quality. An older AV receiver may also accept S-video, and perhaps output via component or something that the TV can take. I dunno. As I said, any advice would be greatly appreciated. Certainly I want great sound quality but I'd also like to get the best picture from the LDP as possible. Let me know what you think!

If you search long enough you can find a quality AVR with HDMI and S-Video, for example. Should also have quality sound.

I would suggest looking into one of the receivers that has a built in ac-3 decoder. Pioneer made some wonderful and feature packed receivers that can be had for very little know adays.

Under the AC3RF sub forum there is a sticky with a list of receivers that have built in decoders, all of these will have S-video hookups.

the 1990 PIONEER TOTL VSX-D1S is a beautifully-built powerhouse in two-channel that has yet to let me down;

Couple of things here...

-A good amp 20 years ago is still a good amp today. Matter of fact in most cases " they dont make em like they used to" applies here.
-An avr or avp from 10-20 years ago is a fraction of what they used to cost.

Also...

-todays lossless formats are only available tru hdmi. And oh boy they are worth it.
-you can feed 8ch analog into an older avr. Your oppo can decode such lossless soundtracks.

I recommend Denon avr-58xx line.

Very beautiful piece of AV Equipment. I lucked out and found a VSX d3s, unfortunately one of the logic board was fried. It wasn't nearly as good looking as your D1S, mine was a little more rounded and the face was muted. The square, brushed aluminum look just says quality AV equipment to me.

If you can score a sony ta e9000es on the cheap, this is my recommendation. Its far and above what most people want or need, but it has hook ups for Toslink, Coaxial, and AC-3. Only downside is you need separate amps.

Hey guys, I actually bought a Denon AVR-3805, which should show up here pretty soon. Hopefully it works for my intended purposes well enough:

Good choice. It was the best AVR in 2003-2004. AVR5805 was better but way more expensive, only few could afford it. Its got 7.1 input so you can get lossless surround from your oppo bdp-103.

What he said, , and silver too.

Very nice and glad you found something. when you get it, take a couple of pics. Would love to see what it looks like in natural settings.

yeah, the D3S came along in 1995, the undisputed all-time low point for PIONEER, IMHO. build quality and overall design was beyond abysmal.
if there was any period when one would have thought the company was sure to be going under, it surely would have been then,
judging by pretty much everything outside of their best ELITE products of the time, anyway. hell, even those were kind of at an all-time nadir.
in any case, the company was really coasting along on fumes at that time. just have a look at this crap for a moment;










ALSO, the VSX-D2S was also a thing, for a very short period in 1994 or so.
it's definitely much better made and designed than the D3S, but still a definite harbinger of the imminent atrocities to have come;















hey, always better to have more than you need than less, IMHO...

Unfortunately I'm going to have to search for a replacement; the receiver I bought was damaged in shipment and is broken. Dammit!

Thats a shame, any chance of fixing it?

If not, you may have luck on craigslist. At anytime I can search for pioneer vsx and find several high end types. If you use the list on the AC3RF page you will be able to find a good receiver. look for recievers with AC3RF, 95% of the ones that came with it where higher end units.

If you can find a Sony TA E9000ES, I think you will be more than happy. All Nichicon fine gold capacitors, everything is layed out wonderfully. Has way more options than most people will ever need or use. Only thing it doesn't have is HDMI or Component level connections.





(Not my photo, Hifidatabase.com's photo)