For around $400 go with the Pioneer $816. Its had good reviews. If you can find the Pioneer 1016 for $550-$600 go that way.
Spend the rest of the money on better speakers.
Don't bother with the HK 140.

I like what you are saying about the Pioneers, but why do you dislike the HK?
I'm thinking that the hdmi switching in the reciever is not worth the money for me. I will still run my sat rec. straight to my tv via component, I am currently happy with the picture that way, HD looks great and alot of our tv watching won't always have the surround sound on. I'm planning on going straight to the tv with hdmi from the dvd player. So the reciever will be used for the surround sound speakers and sub, I was planning on running optical audio to the reciever from the sat rec. and dvd.

APA

The HK 140 is the bargain basement model without the bargain basement price. The reputation of HK has been tarnished lately with complaints about the quality. These are easily googled. Too bad... I did like the old HK stuff

There are reviews of the older Pioneer 815 and the current lower model 516 on audioholics.com.

You may also want to include some Yamaha models as well. Yamaha & Pioneer currently give the best bang for the $, IMO.

As I mentioned before, the biggest impact on the sound of your system will be the speakers and will likely outlast 2-3 receivers. Room treatments are also a big one.

You should start hearing from other members on this topic. This Forum is also full of this type of info. Just repeat after me..."The "Search" option is my friend".

Pioneer 1016 gets my vote, available for $550.

Also, no need to post in three different forums to get all of the answers you are looking for in building your home theatre. Just post one in the Newcomers Forum and we'll point you in the right direction. ;)

Just purchased the 1016 for $550. Great reciver, tons of features! The MCACC setup is awsome, (though I'm sure other recivers have this type of feture). I can barely turn it up to -13db without worrying about the neibours.

VERY clear and detailed with my Infinity speakers.

Thanks for the replies, keep em coming I am trying to be open and learn as much as I can. elapsed it's funny that you said to post 1 thread instead of 3 as that is what I originally did in this forum, but Hugh said I would have better luck seperating them, anyway thanks for the input.

APA

once the a/v question is resolved, suggest you look at Energy speakers. They sound great.

FYI, the Pioneer 816 can be had for under $300 with some searching...I purchased mine for $289 before Xmas (+ GST of course). No regrets...excellent sound & ample power/connections for my needs.

HTH,

Jack

IF you need HDMI splitter, go with 1016. If you dont need that, go with the 816, almost the same unit excepted you get the HDMI input and output on the 1016 model.

i've had the 1015 for 11 months now and love it. The only thing is i could now use the hdmi switch.

I'm not sure the hdmi is worth it for me, can others weigh in on this one. My tv has 2 hdmi inputs, none of which i'm currently using. I know it is supposed to be more convenient than component, but I'm not sure if it will give superior picture, and as far as audio I think optical will give me the best sound, is this correct? I'm thinking that I'll go straight to the tv with both my sat reciever video and dvd video one component and hdmi respectively, then run their audio to the reciever. I don't want to have to run the avr all the time just to watch the news etc. and I don't think my wife will want to run the avr all the time(ease of use). So if I get the 1016 am I spending money unnecessarily, or is it a wise investment for the future?

APA

The main disadvantage of not buying an HDMI enabled receiver (and sending the HDMI signal directly to the screen), is that you will probably not be able to taste the lossless PCM tracks on high-def DVDs such as read on a future PS3. Only regular DTS/DD is available through Toslink. There IS a big audio difference on most high-def movies.

I was under the impression that not all receivers with HDMI are capable of handling multi-channel LPCM over HDMI.

If that's the case, don't assume HDMI means lossless audio.

Many receivers will not decode audio over HDMI.. Rotel RSX-1057 and Arcam AVR350 come to mind. Both are HDMI 1.1, and are only capable of audio passthrough over HDMI.

The Pioneer 1016 also falls into that category - it will not decode any audio passed over HDMI. It acts as a simple pass-though switch only.

One advantage of the switch in the reciver is if your component stand is far from your TV, only 1 15" long, (and expensive), HDMI cable is needed.

Yes you have to watch, just because it has HDMI dosen't mean the reciver can actually use it. The 1016 can't even display the OSD over hdmi, you need a component cable. (or composite/svideo)

rikee,
I know you don't need a reason to upgrade, but I'm looking at buying a new reciever myself and was wondering if you had any problems concerns with your 816. It is on my list as one of the recievers I'm considering.

APA

Advice needed on 4 ohm receiver, no HDMI necessary, at least 5.1 setup, under $1000?
Getting pair of Axiom M80 in few weeks.
Thanks for your input.

I don't have any advice but I do have a question. Why do you need a 4 ohm specific receiver? You can use a receiver rated for 8 ohms to power speakers rated for 4 ohms, and vice versa.

There are some receivers that have a 4 ohm switch on the back, however, this switch usually simply limits the power of the AVR when invoked. Since AVRs will work fine with 4 ohm speakers as indicated above, any adequate receiver will do the trick.

The only concern about impedence is if you are thinking of hooking up a "B" set of speakers that you wish to run at the same time as the "A" speakers, then you must comply with the impedence recommendations of the AVR - which MAY preclude running A & B at the same time depending on the impledences of the various speakers.

Remember also that impedence (although often listed as a single number) varies with frequency.