I have the TV, nothing else...I want 5.1, and looking for a good balance between quality and price. Thoughts on receivers vs. pre-amps?

J

the sound is very different with each. I have M&Ks and found the Sony receivers worked better with the speakers than the high end Marantz I had slotted for it.

I would looke a Dennon receivers and put the most money into the speakers (the weakest point in any system) Test them out together.

Minimal gain in performance for your dollar with a pre-power over receiver unless you have a very well balanced system expertly set-up.

Great speakers make all the difference, but you need a decent receiver to drive them. I'd suggest a look at Denon, NAD, Marantz and Arcam for receivers. Speakers are too subjective. Make sure it's a North American (not Bose or Mirage) or European speaker manufacturer. Listen to as many as you can before buying.

Paradigm, NHT and Monitor Audio make some pretty nice speakers. SVS for a sub. I like denon in the receiver market. I assume this is for mostly Home Theater.

Onkyo 797 thx reciever
M&K 750thx LRC
M&K 55 for rears
M&K 550 tripoles for surround
Totem lightning Sub
Sony 400 disc DVD player
Dish High def
Da-Lite Perm wall high contrast 96 inch screen
12 gauge speaker wire all the way round tried to find 10 gauge but could not.
omni mount 20.0 speaker mounts
Mit. XD300U DLP projector
Ceiling mount
Custom Video cable component to RGA
Lutron IR light control
TERK leapfrog

Furniture extra $3000
Construction in new house to put in theater extra $1500

Wow, really sickening when you add all the pieces together. When I started this reply I thought it was closer to 3K instead of 11K. I tink that I will not tell my wife the real cost.

This is what I have.
Audio
Newcastle AVP 9080 Tuner/Preamp/Processor Retail $1200 Used $400
Newcastle AM 9080 5.1 Channel Power Amp 120WPC Retail $1200 Used $450
NHT VT 2.4 Front L/R Speakers Retail $2000 Used (Actually New B Stock) $750
NHT VS 2.4 Center Channel $450 Used (Actually New B Stock) $150
NHT HDP 2 Dipole Surround Speakers $800 Pair Used $250
CARVER M-400t Magnetic Field Power Amplifier $1000 Used $300
Ah! Njoe Tjoeb 99 CD Player $600 Used $ 320
Video
Toshiba DVD SD3960 Bought New $80
Toshiba 57H83 RPTV Bought New $1700

Probably noticed no Sub woofer. Well The VT 2.4s have 10" Subwoofers in them and I use the Carver cube Amp to drive them separately in a Bi-amped config.

Total I spent not counting cables and power conditioner is $ 4400.

Price if I'd have bought new $9030.

This system kicks ass for movies. Could be better for audio only, but still pretty sweet sounding, NHTs tend to be overly critical and an acquired taste for audio, but I like them. Starting to build an Audio only system anyway so I'm happy with this for home theater. Bought most of the used stuff off of Audiogon, from folks with good reps.YMMV

It's like buying cars. To say that you want a good performance minded car within a reasonable budget is a broad and sweeping question. I think it's a lot easier starting with a budget you're comfortable with, then explore whats available at the low end, middle range, and high end of that budget. Then decide what's important to you, and make a decision.

The elbow in the graph of dimishing returns probably kicks in around $5K (speakers, sub, amp, processor/preamp, DVD).