Ventriloquist - recommended receivers?

[lbholde]

Does Dr. Hsu recommend any particular low-cost HT receivers for use with the Ventriloquist/STF system? My friend has asked for my help in purchasing a modest HT system. He is currently looking at HT in-a-box systems from Denon. They probably wouldn't be a bad choice, but I'd like to present another, probably better-sounding alternative to him.

[cschang]

In their demo room, Hsu uses a $200 Pioneer reciever from Costco.

And the Ventriloquist sounded great.

[Sasha_G]

The receiver should have 50 watts per channel or more, and a crossover that can go down to 80 Hz. Since many receivers claim to have more wattage than they actually have, getting one rated at 100 watts is preferred.

The only other feature on our wish list is less important. It is nice, but not needed, to have a receiver that allows for different subwoofer levels for different sources. So, if you turn to your CD changer, the bass could be lower than the DVD player.

We have a Pioneer receiver here, which we find easy to use and effective.

I would check out the $300 Pioneer VSX-D912K. Here is a review:
http://reviews.cnet.com/Pioneer_VSX_D912K/4505-6466_7-20846629.html?tag=subnav

There is also a $240 Panasonic SA-HE100 receiver that seems to have gotten a good review on Consumers Reports.

So, our Ventriloquist, a STF-1, and a receiver will go for around $800 out the door, with sound designed to challenge much more expensive speaker sets.

[Alpha]

Sasha,

I'm very interested in the new 5.1 system. Do you know what color they will be in? I'm hoping for gray since it will match my home theater setup better. The photo I saw on the other thread looked like it's gray... or are they black? I know the sub is black but that doesn't really matter.

Thanks!

[tdekany]

Sasha - would you say then that brands like NAD will not give better sound then the underpriced Pioneer?
thomas

[Sasha_G]

The system is in a dark grey, as in the previous pictures.

Regarding receivers (this is my opinion now, not the company line): with audio electronics improving, even low priced gear will sound very good with our speakers. With higher priced receivers, you run into what I call diminishing returns. To get the extra that extra bit of performance, you pay a lot more. And the quality of speakers, in general, is more critical than the electronics.

[tdekany]

thanks Sasha - I will order one of the systems as a christmas gift for my girlfriend in the midlle of december.

[arm7]

I called HSU earlier today to confirm the color of the system (I called last week and they told me it is going to be black) The person I spoke with today again told me it is going to be in black. I was hoping that this would be the case because of my other components. When Sean indicated that it is going to be dark gray I was confused because the STF picture showed the sub as black and I thought it would be odd for the surround sound and the sub to be in different colors. Sean if you could shed some light on this subject it would be appreciated.

[Sasha_G]

The surrounds are in a very dark charcoal grey, that in dim light could look black. The subwoofer is in slightly textured black surface, that given very bright lighting can look dark grey. The subwoofer is often hidden in a corner, so matching should not be much of an issue. Stay tuned Wed. night for tons of photos of the STF and Ventriloquist systems.

Correction: the satellites are going to be black, not charcoal. Things were changing at the last second before production began.