Help needed!!

You have to look for an A/V receiver which has main preout at the back.
This will help your Pulz to retain the duty of 2 channel stereo as well as driving the front 2 channels of home theatre.

I strongly suggest denon1404 at 20k and Onkyo 502 6.1 before you finalise.

hey neckie,
like Myriad says, go for a receiver with 6.1 preout and not just the sub presout(which is all u get in the 440 and 450). better to go a step up to the 550 or the marantz 4400. i don't think the denon 1404 has 6.1 preouts. neither the onkyo 502. u may have to go a step up to get that feature. i may be wrong about the denon and onkyo. maybe the others ac set things straight.
Cheers,
Benks

Hi benka so far as I know Onkyo 501 didin't have this feature but 502 has,marantz 4400 is 6.1 priced at 33k is , but I know a guy who can get 4500 7.1 at 28k and anyday a better buy .Available in black too. Marantz looks too good in black. 4400 and 5400 is available only in silver and gold I guess.

Another addition here :

maratz 4500 - 80 watts into 7 channels & power consumption is 360 watts.

Onkyo 602 - 80 watts into 7 channels & power consumption is 680 watts.

Thus theoritically the second one has greater reserve power if not what's claimed in spec sheet.

Hi benks whats power consumption of yam models 450 and 550.

sub,
the onkyo 602 would be my choice if iwere to choose between the marantz and onkyo.
the power consumption of the yamaha 450 is about 360 watts. don't know abt the 550.
go for the 602 if u have the resources. pit it against the H/K 230 and see which suits u best. but the H/K 230 is only 6.1 and the onkyo is 7.1(better to go for 7.1 if u plan to keep the receiver for atleast 5 years. else go for the 6.1 receivers.
Benks

and not mention the 602 priced competetively

Ok, 6.1 or 7.1 is matter of discussion because if the room size is large, say around 20 * 14 then a 7.1 would do justice otherwise its 6.1 which will give you better seperation and greater HT experience.
As far as reciever is concerned, what is the budget Neckie are you looking at.....I would vote for HK AVR 230, great and GENUINE sound (both for HT and Stereo as well). I know Stereo is not your concern here because already have Pulz but then its the speciality of AVR 230.....BTW what is your room size Neckie ??

Abhi,

602 comes with auto mic set up so no worries about room size.

hey abhi,
my room is the same size as that u have mentioned.
and the 450 doesits job pretty well. i would like to have a it more power. however if u are having high sensitivity speakers the 450 hor any other similar receiver should be enough.
Benks

Sub,

What is the new price for the Onkyo 602?

I have seen the model but remember that it did not have the pre-outs for all the channels.Only for the sub-woofer.

But I might be wrong, after all you are more the "Onkyo_boss" than "Sub_boss"

yah, but then, 7 surrounds in a medium sized room would be too congested in my opinion, instead a 6.1 would have enough space to breathe and reproduce different channel discretely and audible to us.....moreover there is a good amount of difference between HK and Onkyo in sound quality front....

I own a Onkyo 702 THX , and Onkyo's are action friendly AVR's. HK's lacked the depth and are very very timid yes very good at stereo, but since I had a stereo set up,I narrowed down to Onkyo because I wanted room rumbling effects and only denon and Onkyo are capable at this price level, Since denons are little pricey and THX ones are bomb expensive I chose onkyo and very happy. My room is 10 by 14 and it rocks no probs with 7 surrounds and planning to add another sub ( to rock the old and feeble neighbours)

yes benks thats what I am saying, a 7.1 is preferred only in few cases, either if the room size is huge or if you have a THX certified reciever and you are planning to buy a THX certified speaker package....they have the capability of giving you the best HT experince and the 7 surrounds do a marvellous job there......otherwise its good to have 5.1 or 6.1 (6.1 preferred) for medium sized rooms...

But my advice would be consult a qualified person or your room will end up in a mess.buy a 7.1 receiver and use it in 5.1 or 6.1 format coz you don't want your AVR to be outdated
after 2-3 years and add on surrounds as you plan to move to a bigger room.

As far as my experience with HK goes, especially the HK AVR 130 and AVR230, they were no way timid, infact they were very much action friendly and could produce the slightest detail with refined clarity and punch as well.....Onkyo to my ears (the 501 and 601 that I had auditioned long back) sounded harsh and exceptionally upfront.....Denons seemed are much better to me. HK was the best experience I had, a great combo of power as well as refinity. As it is well known that HK are very conservative with their power ratings (even onkyos are), a 75w per channel (as given on AVR230) is enough to bring down the wall clock of your neighbours..... but without causing earache to the person who bought them....so loyal is HK....

Yes, its very much necessary that you know or atleast anticipate your future plans...atleast 3 years ahead...After that even a 7.1 would be obsolete enough to get rid of....

i have to agree with anhi on this regard.among the enrty level receivers the H/K are without doubt the best. the denon/yamaha follow and then the others(onkyo Marantz). my personl experience of the receivers i have heard. IMHO , u would'nt go wrong by buying a H/K.
Benks

Guys I'm not biased coz I own Onkyo, no doubt i liked Onkyo for it's forwardness in sound and thats my prefernce and in no way makes HK an inferior stuff, but features wise i prefer yam or onkyo or denon in that price range.

depends on your speakers.. the Amp-Speaker synergy is important in HT too.

dont think you can get into "this amp is best" discussions especially at the entry level !

Arj is true most sound the same and maybe HK is better coz they use good speakers compared crap Onkyo stuff and as far as i know it's the speakers which make most of your system they give u music or noise. I remember my friend uses RX750 with Mordaunt short and man it's an entirely diff feeling compared to harsh and shouting yam speakers with RX750 in another guys place, of course the room characteristics are diffrent.

Gentlemen,

There are so many variables here, it is simply not possible, and even unfair, to decide what equipment is "best".

The first and most important variable being one's own perception of the quality of sound...

Hey Big buddy you said the most unkept secret in Audiophile community - subjective to individual taste

Thanks for all your comments guys! really appreciate it. i'm sure i'll end up buying the HK230 as i felt it had a very cool sound..quite literally. also like arj pointed out, the whole setup shld gel as a tight team..and i was fortunate enuff to check out my exact setup with different models, tht includes marantz, yamaha and HK. the Hk complemented my current setup exceptionally well. Guys...thanks again for all your tips!

man i really eny u . i had actually made up my mind to buy the H/K 230 (and very very adamant about my choice if i might add). i had two people who said that they would bring it from the US for me. but at the last moment they said they could'nt. its a great receiver and i'm sure u'll have a lot of fun with it. might i add that it is probably one of the best looking A/V receivers out there.

Benks

Benks, then why didnt you get it from India ? Whats the price difference BTW?

its more than double here.

benka and the US market enjoys greater discounts from some dealers and that would leave a 250-300% price diff for some models.............