Advice, opinions, all greatly needed and greatly appreciated!

[Velocitydreamer]

Hello all, I've been jumping in head first into learning a lot of this. I have to make a decision, but first, let me list my setup. I have a Harman Kardon avr 247 7.1 receiver (lame wattage, seems well featured), 2 x rt2000p fronts, 2 x rt1000p sides, Rti70 rear (will be flipping to buy different rears, suggestions? rt55i?), and a csi1 (flipping, not a good timbre match for 2000p right?), and plan to add a Klipsch sub-12 for the hell of it. I know this is bad, but it's all I can do to have it all running, I'm currently splitting the rca sub-out to the rt2000p's, then out of the 2000p's to the 1000p's. I'm starting to think I need a receiver with 2 sub-outs? But ultimately, here's my question... should I upgrade the receiver to something like an avr 3650 (know that I'm very partial to the styling of the HK receivers, but worst case, will switch for the sake of greatly improved performance only) / if I could afford it, avr 7550, or should I get an/multi external amp(s)? or... both? I'm pretty limited on budget... probably $7-900... I ccouuuulllldd save more, but difficult to do so.I'm already working seperately to get matching timber center ($$$ cs1000p) and rear suggestions accepted, but ultimately, I need to know what to do about the receiver/amp situation. I have NO idea what to look for in amps, and what brands, and the differences between block and... well, whatever else... I'm not too familiar with the terminology... but I imagine the rt2000/1000p's would require external amplification... and know this, I'm considering 1000p's for the rears as well. please, any and all info/advice would be VERY appreciated, as I don't know entirely what I'm doing LoL.

[Velocitydreamer]

Is the Pioneer VSX-1121-K a good receiver to consider? (any better for the 500-700 range, or go amps with cheaper receiver?) Granted, I L O V E the HK's looks, but the pioneer has dual sub outs (good for my 4 towers + Sub setup), 110watt channels (enough to power 4-6 towers?), and the option of the High/Wide 5 speaker front stage for 7.1 + 2 setup, supports Master Audio / HD which would help on the HTPC setup I have that's sending audio via hdmi for blu ray, and plenty of hdmi inputs... my biggest question of all, would this be enough? or for 6 towers, would I need an/multiple external amps? It doesn't have to sound CRAZY, but it would be nice to be able to crank it a lil and not blow the receiver... and would splitting each of the two sub outs be feasible?... and then out of one of the towers to the sub.

[cfrizz]

Buy which ever receiver has all the bells and whistles that you want it to have and make sure it has preouts for a separate amp, then get a 5-7 channel 200wpc @ 8ohms amp and hook it all up, calibrate it and enjoy.

[tonyb]

He'd be hard pressed to do all that Cathy on a 5-700 buck budget.

Velocity,
Slow down man, your all over the place. lol...First off, that Pioneer 1120 is probably only pushing 40-50 watts in 7 channel mode, so running all towers may be a bit of a strain for it. Whatever receiver you get, make sure it has preouts like Cathy suggested so down the road if you need to add an amp, you can. If I was you with that budget, I would look for a used Pioneer elite SC version or a newer Elite, both have ice amps in them and hold their power better in surround mode which in your case would be beneficial.

[Velocitydreamer]

I'm considering two receivers... the Pioneer Elite VSX-92txi vs Pioneer Elite VSX-52... never mind the price between the two, which is better... I'd LOVE to do the front Height setup on the vsx-52, but the 92 seems pretty frikin cool! granted, the 92 is slightly cheaper for me, but once again, I don't care, which is better... audio will be coming from an HTPC via 7.1 audio card for now, but eventually Master Audio / True HD HDMI gfx card. I have the 2x RT2000P's as fronts, 2x RT1000P's as sides, (currently) 2x Rti70's as rears, 2x Klipsch RW-12's as subs (so 2 sub outs would be nice)... and would probably pick up some RT55i's as Front Heights if I go that route... what are the differences? Does the 92 have ICE amps? Does the 52 have Bang & Olfsen amps (heard that at Magnolia)? Some fast, accurate answers would be absolutely awesome right now as I have to jump on the deal..

[Velocitydreamer]

I'm considering two receivers... the Pioneer Elite VSX-92txi vs Pioneer Elite VSX-52... never mind the price between the two, which is better... I'd LOVE to do the front Height setup on the vsx-52, but the 92 seems pretty frikin cool! granted, the 92 is slightly cheaper for me, but once again, I don't care, which is better... audio will be coming from an HTPC via 7.1 audio card for now, but eventually Master Audio / True HD HDMI gfx card. I have the 2x RT2000P's as fronts, 2x RT1000P's as sides, (currently) 2x Rti70's as rears, 2x Klipsch RW-12's as subs (so 2 sub outs would be nice)... and would probably pick up some RT55i's as Front Heights if I go that route... what are the differences? Does the 92 have ICE amps? Does the 52 have Bang & Olfsen amps (heard that at Magnolia)? Some fast, accurate answers would be absolutely awesome right now as I have to jump on the deal..

Nevermind, picking up an Onkyo TX-NR709 tomorrow :)

[ibewbrother]

The Onks have the features...but mine ran hot. I bought a pioneer to replace it. I think the Onkyos have a better deal with the Audessey 32?, but I think the Pioneer is better bang for the buck.

[Velocitydreamer]

The Onks have the features...but mine ran hot. I bought a pioneer to replace it. I think the Onkyos have a better deal with the Audessey 32?, but I think the Pioneer is better bang for the buck.

the TX-NRxx9 receivers were supposed to remedy the heat issue (supposedly confirmed by owners), and I'm getting it new in box for $400