Budget A/V Receiver

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I'm planning to purchase an A/V receiver for my home entertainment
system. I would like to know if there are any good receivers in the
market that cost less than $300? I'm not really knowledgeable about the
technical aspects, so some of the specs below may not sound
important/relevant to the gurus:

1. Output Wattage (does it matter): at least 100W/channel
2. THD: less than 0.5%
3. On-Screen Display (OSD)
4. all possible output audio signal types (DTS, Dolby Digital, NEO,
etc.)
5. all possible output video signal types (component, composite,
s-video, etc.)
6. (optional, but desired) automatic self-configuration for acoustics
using an in-built microphone (or equivalent technology)

Thanks,
Swaroop

[ric]

wrote:

> I'm planning to purchase an A/V receiver for my home entertainment
> system. I would like to know if there are any good receivers in the
> market that cost less than $300? I'm not really knowledgeable about the
> technical aspects, so some of the specs below may not sound
> important/relevant to the gurus:
>
> 1. Output Wattage (does it matter): at least 100W/channel
> 2. THD: less than 0.5%
> 3. On-Screen Display (OSD)
> 4. all possible output audio signal types (DTS, Dolby Digital, NEO,
> etc.)
> 5. all possible output video signal types (component, composite,
> s-video, etc.)
> 6. (optional, but desired) automatic self-configuration for acoustics
> using an in-built microphone (or equivalent technology)

I assume you're looking for a 6.1/7.1 receiver? With or without a
phono input?

I would consider either a) dropping some of your desired features, or
b) raising your $300 figure, or c) both.

[Joseph Oberlander]

wrote:

> I'm planning to purchase an A/V receiver for my home entertainment
> system. I would like to know if there are any good receivers in the
> market that cost less than $300? I'm not really knowledgeable about the
> technical aspects, so some of the specs below may not sound
> important/relevant to the gurus:
>
> 1. Output Wattage (does it matter): at least 100W/channel
> 2. THD: less than 0.5%
> 3. On-Screen Display (OSD)
> 4. all possible output audio signal types (DTS, Dolby Digital, NEO,
> etc.)
> 5. all possible output video signal types (component, composite,
> s-video, etc.)
> 6. (optional, but desired) automatic self-configuration for acoustics
> using an in-built microphone (or equivalent technology)

Denon is the best. Thier low-end model is only 70-80wpc, but
that's indistinguishable from 100wpc unless you put the volume
of both at their maximum(which is a silly thing to do)

[ric]

Joseph Oberlander wrote:

> Denon is the best. Thier low-end model is only 70-80wpc, but
> that's indistinguishable from 100wpc unless you put the volume
> of both at their maximum(which is a silly thing to do)

Careful though. Their cheap models have NO phono input (of which the
OP still hasn't clarified the necessity.) One must go at least to the
$650 (retail) AVR 2105 if he needs a phono input. Good comparison chart:

http://www.usa.denon.com/catalog/pdfs/AVR%20Web%20Chart%2083004v3.pdf