Receiver & Sub Advice

[vinnie97]

Yea, I managed to find one on Ebay a fair bit below that level...can't say I blame you for not wanting to throw that kind of money around right now.

[comixguru]

Yea, I managed to find one on Ebay a fair bit below that level...can't say I blame you for not wanting to throw that kind of money around right now.

First, I have to say, I love deals. I'm a deal hound. I'm all for eBay deals... especially instant Bing Cashback.

That said, you have to be careful with eBay and name-brand electronics like receivers. I see a lot of B-stock on there. Some items become B-stock when not sold out of channels. If I'm buying something for <$200, B-stock isn't a big deal. I'm shelling out $300-400 or more and I'm generally not happy with the risk regardless of savings.

For those not aware, electronics companies like Pioneer, Yamaha, and Onkyo sell products primary through relationships with large retailers and specialized electronics stores. This is A-stock with full warranty. Excess stock, or returns from big retailers of sealed product can sometimes get put out in the market as B-stock. It has half the warranty. Often B-stock has a new sticker or something indicating it is B-stock, but not always. I see a lot of eBay sellers who indicate something is B-stock by saying "1 year warranty" or "180 day warranty" where the full warranty on the product is 2 year or 1 year warranty normally.

The main thing I hate about B-stock is many warranty extensions, say by credit card, do not cover B-stock.

[jahnesta8]

First, I have to say, I love deals. I'm a deal hound. I'm all for eBay deals... especially instant Bing Cashback.

That said, you have to be careful with eBay and name-brand electronics like receivers. I see a lot of B-stock on there. Some items become B-stock when not sold out of channels. If I'm buying something for <$200, B-stock isn't a big deal. I'm shelling out $300-400 or more and I'm generally not happy with the risk regardless of savings.

For those not aware, electronics companies like Pioneer, Yamaha, and Onkyo sell products primary through relationships with large retailers and specialized electronics stores. This is A-stock with full warranty. Excess stock, or returns from big retailers of sealed product can sometimes get put out in the market as B-stock. It has half the warranty. Often B-stock has a new sticker or something indicating it is B-stock, but not always. I see a lot of eBay sellers who indicate something is B-stock by saying "1 year warranty" or "180 day warranty" where the full warranty on the product is 2 year or 1 year warranty normally.

The main thing I hate about B-stock is many warranty extensions, say by credit card, do not cover B-stock.

This is a bit misleading. There are many companies whose b-stock products come with full warranties. You want to check with each company for their specific policies. For instance, Rotel, to the best of my knowledge, provides the same warranty for B-stock as they do A-stock. This is because many B-stock products are unopened, new products and just were never sold. These products are just as good as their A-stock counterparts, retailors may have simply ordered too many products. Be sure to check out what category the B-stock merchandise falls, then contact the company to check their warranty. I would never buy something off of ebay without first cross-checking that product with their respective manufacturer. Just my .02.

[comixguru]

This is a bit misleading. There are many companies whose b-stock products come with full warranties. You want to check with each company for their specific policies. For instance, Rotel, to the best of my knowledge, provides the same warranty for B-stock as they do A-stock. This is because many B-stock products are unopened, new products and just were never sold. These products are just as good as their A-stock counterparts, retailors may have simply ordered too many products. Be sure to check out what category the B-stock merchandise falls, then contact the company to check their warranty. I would never buy something off of ebay without first cross-checking that product with their respective manufacturer. Just my .02.

You're right. Some manufacturers sell B-stock with full warranties.

That said, such units are still considered "not new" for the purposes of warranty extensions from credit cards and other sources. Most list "refurb" or "B-stock" in the actual list of exclusions.

There's some exceptions to this, like SquareTrade for example. If you do plunk down a bunch of money on an item of dubious heritage (gray market, refurb, b-stock, non-dealer, etc) they cover it anyways.

[vinnie97]

Fortunately, the product I bid upon came with the full 2-year warranty and I was even sent a separate receipt by the authorized reseller in the event I needed warranty work done.

[rm082e]

Forgot to post updated info: I caught the V765 on sale at New Egg and while I was there I saw the KSW-10 sub for $200 + $50 gift card. Couldn't resist that price so I picked both up. Got the sub last night and the receiver should be here today.

So since I haven't had a proper sub for HT before, where should I set my crossover? My mains are Athena LS100 & LSC100, which are rated 60 Hz - 20k Hz, 87dB, 120 watts. 80 Hz sound appropriate or should I bump it up to 100 Hz?

Also, what's up with the phase selector? I'm not familiar with this option and the manual is very sketchy on this function.

[Favelle]

Forgot to post updated info: I caught the V765 on sale at New Egg and while I was there I saw the KSW-10 sub for $200 + $50 gift card. Couldn't resist that price so I picked both up. Got the sub last night and the receiver should be here today.

So since I haven't had a proper sub for HT before, where should I set my crossover? My mains are Athena LS100 & LSC100, which are rated 60 Hz - 20k Hz, 87dB, 120 watts. 80 Hz sound appropriate or should I bump it up to 100 Hz?

Also, what's up with the phase selector? I'm not familiar with this option and the manual is very sketchy on this function.

No, definitely keep the crossover at 80hz.

[rm082e]

Got the new gear setup. Wow...just...wow!



The YAPO setup did a pretty good job calibrating the levels but it decided to set all of the speakers to Large and the Crossover to 60Hz. Once I adjusted that stuff I played with the sub a bit. Wide open it rattles the two windows next to it but once I backed it down a few notches it sounds sweet. I popped in Beside You In Time and I'm shocked at how much sound is coming out of my surround speakers now. Before I might catch a little crowd noise on that disc during a quiet song like Hurt, but with the new setup I'm picking up symbols, a little vocals, feedback from the guitars, etc. My previous setup feels like it was really 3.1 after hearing lossless through the new amp.

Very pleased so far. My only gripe is the PS3 and the A-30 both defaulted to lossy tracks on the discs I tried out, even though I have them setup to decode to PCM over HDMI. Is there any way to set these at the OS level to default to the lossless track, or is that a decision that is made at the media level?

[Favelle]

Got the new gear setup. Wow...just...wow!



The YAPO setup did a pretty good job calibrating the levels but it decided to set all of the speakers to Large and the Crossover to 60Hz. Once I adjusted that stuff I played with the sub a bit. Wide open it rattles the two windows next to it but once I backed it down a few notches it sounds sweet. I popped in Beside You In Time and I'm shocked at how much sound is coming out of my surround speakers now. Before I might catch a little crowd noise on that disc during a quiet song like Hurt, but with the new setup I'm picking up symbols, a little vocals, feedback from the guitars, etc. My previous setup feels like it was really 3.1 after hearing lossless through the new amp.

Very pleased so far. My only gripe is the PS3 and the A-30 both defaulted to lossy tracks on the discs I tried out, even though I have them setup to decode to PCM over HDMI. Is there any way to set these at the OS level to default to the lossless track, or is that a decision that is made at the media level?

Its the player that has to be set. But some discs are just like that. Warner is the worst.