Need help choosing av receiver

[minimonster]

Hoping someone can help This will be my 1st purchase of "proper" av equipment and I'm struggling to pick a receiver. Here's what I'm lookin at..

TV: 42" lg sl8000 (already got)

Bluray: PS3 slim (already got)

TV channels: Virgin cable box (ancient box from when it was blueyonder - not sure what O/P's it has) - got a dreambox aswell but that will be in the bin soon.

Speakers: Jamo A102 HCS5 5.1 (on order but can be cancelled..)

Receiver: ???????? - possibly cambridge audio azur 640a v2

I need speakers like the jamo set as space is limited and these are small and get decent reviews. The main struggle for me is getting the receiver in to the tv stand as height is limited to max 180mm - hence the azur 640a as it is only 100mm high which leaves 80mm above for air flow to keep receiver cool.

I just don't know if the azur is matched in any (good) way with the Jamo speakers. I have a budget of ~ £500 for speakers and receiver. Anyone got any suggestions?

 

[Bstard]

Wot's the budget ? as this is a big factor when purchasing ! a trade off between the £££'s and what you need it to do .

 

[minimonster]

budget is ~ £500 for speakers & receiver - just need them to be small in height!


edit: Just noticed the receiver (azur 640a) is more a stereo receiver for music - have to pick something else...

 

[Oily]

Have a look at this Onkyo
Onkyo TXSR577 Black | AV Receiver With HDMI Interface | Richer Sounds

 

[Munkey]

If your budget is £500 for the speakers and AVR I'd consider spending £300 or more on the speakers are £200 or less on your receiver. Or you could spend £300 on the AVR which should get you something that can handle HD audio codecs and £200 on the front 3 speakers. You can always add rear speakers at a later date.

Head on over to Richer Sounds to see what they have

 

[minimonster]

The Jamo speakers are on there way so hopefully they do the job - reviews say they punch well above their weight.....

I'm thinking of this avr - cambridge audio 640R (£350 clearance @ richer sounds):

Azur 640R 7.1 HDMI AV Receiver

All the other avr seem to tall - Onkyo/denon/yamaha...

Anyone got any thoughts on the 640R?

 

[Munkey]

It doesn't support HD audio via HDMI but it does have 7.1 inputs so if your source BR player has 5.1 analogue out's (the PS3 doesn't) you'd be able to still take advantage of HD audio.

For me this wouldn't be a deal breaker as it's the quality of the components inside that counts.

For £350 it seems like a great price and well worth a punt.

 

[zad]

The Jamo speakers are on there way so hopefully they do the job - reviews say they punch well above their weight.....

I'm thinking of this avr - cambridge audio 640R (£350 clearance @ richer sounds):

Azur 640R 7.1 HDMI AV Receiver

All the other avr seem to tall - Onkyo/denon/yamaha...

Anyone got any thoughts on the 640R?

m8 of mine got one when they were £600 and tbh its shit!! he went from a denon to that and he was gutted.. sorry but you did ask for opinions.

 

[Oily]

All the other avr seem to tall - Onkyo/denon/yamaha...

The Onkyo i gave you a link to is only 152mm high giving you 28mm clearence.If your worried about ventilation then consider my situation,i have a Onkyo 606 and it has barely 2mm ventilation on top and it runs perfectly and it's been like this for the past year or so

 

[minimonster]

Thanks for all the replys.

Good to know about the minimum clearance and it's still running OK.

I'll try and get them to demo the Onkyo & CA at richer sounds and see if I can tell the difference :banana: