Pioneer LX-50 preouts failed. Help me choose a new reciever upto £550

[bemaniac]

Hi everyone, I'm looking for some advice on what to get for around £500-550 to replace my pioneer lx-50 which cost me around that price originally. I'm temporarily on a budget £99 pioneer vsx323 and the loss of muscle power is very apparent as you would expect.

I'd like to buy something that can at least equal my old pioneer lx50 for power and grunt. My requirements are 5 hdmi in 1 out and just 5.1 as a minimum but don't mind much higher specs but not at the expense of THD% and power to the front channels as I like my vinyl and currently run 2.1 from my pc/xbox one/ps4/wii u/ps3/xbox 360 so having a nice stereo sound is useful but of course I don't want a stereo amp due to all those hdmis needed.

I use KEF q500s and svs pb2000 subwoofer.

ideas so far:
buy a second hand lx53 off ebay circa £300 as I thought stereo on the lx50 was great
get onkyos new 636 but worried about stereo £500
Yamaha do a nice slim 600D with DAB+ and are said to have good stereo performance but worried about lack of grunt £550
and.............yeah help me out folks! 7 days til payday

 

[Leeps]

If you check Richer Sounds in-store clearance range, two receivers stand out:

Pioneer SC-2023 £449

Onkyo TX-NR818 £499

Similarly, Sevenoaks In Store Clearance has this offer at their Southampton branch

Marantz SR-6008 £499

Whether these in-store clearances will last till pay day is another thing, but it can at least give you some ideas. The Pioneer is the newer version of my receiver, which I'm extremely pleased with for music & movies alike. The Onkyo '818 has some very loyal forum members (who use it for music) & I picked the Marantz for its musical reputation as much as anything.

The Pioneer has an 'extended stereo' option, which plays 2-channel sources through all speakers, which to my ears sounds great with most musical genres, providing you alter the balance slightly in favour of the front speakers. I wouldn't recommend this setting for 2-channel TV viewing though.

With a £500 budget, you ought to be able to purchase a receiver that was originally around the £800 mark, which in my opinion offers a significant step up in quality from receivers at the same price point new.

 

[bemaniac]

I've taken your advice and gone along the theme of those older but higher rrp recievers and found a Yamaha £999 1073 for £499 and ordered it to my local store to have a good test of. I like the credentials it has for music and also the power eclipses others in that price range due to the rrp more than anything else. It's similar to the avantage which is still £900 except no 5th foot in the middle and that's about it.

 

[f1only]

I've taken your advice and gone along the theme of those older but higher rrp recievers and found a Yamaha £999 1073 for £499 and ordered it to my local store to have a good test of. I like the credentials it has for music and also the power eclipses others in that price range due to the rrp more than anything else. It's similar to the avantage which is still £900 except no 5th foot in the middle and that's about it.

I recently purchased the Yamaha RX-V1073 as a replacement for my Yamaha RX-V767 big improvement. It definately improves the quality sound from my speakers with the extra drive. I got mine from Peter Tyson for £460 so is a good buy IMO + free P&P & 3 year warranty too, delivered next day, happy days

 

[Series1boy]

Please update us in your thoughts of the Yamaha. I was going to go for the denon x4000 from the 2113 and them saw this thread and I'm now not sure. I've just started a new thread asking for peoples advice on the 2 Ive just mentioned...