Cheap A/V Receiver with A/B speaker outs AND phono

Justin:

The Onkyo 474/484/494 are all latter day descendants of the 434. The 555 was in vogue when the 434 was, so it probably is AC-3 and not 5.1. Onkyo USA is located in Ramsey, New Jersey. You can probably call them and ask for information. (If you live in NY or NJ, Shortline buses go right by Onkyo.) Also, the existence of an A/B switch on a HT receiver, does not guarantee that you can run them both at the same time. Research that as well as model numbers. Good luck.

Thanks for that tip. I just assumed that A or B or A+B was always the options. That's not to say that I'd be listening to surround sound with A as well as B in stereo mode at the same time. Instead, I'd like to just have A+B running at the same time in stereo-only mode. I'll be sure to look into that.

Well, I looked into running A/B at the same time. Most of the Onkyo's do not offer this feature. However, the 555 is a little different than the new ones: it has multi-room capability. I know that this allows me to play two different sources in the two rooms (even without a separate AMP!), however that's not really what I'm looking for. I'd like to be playing the same source on both A+B at the same time. I'm not sure if that's an option on the multi-room feature. Also, the manual describes the connectivity to have remote control in the remote room, which requires additional equipment, but its not clear if this setup is required to use the multi-room feature. Anyone?

Anyway, I researched the Yamaha's and they have a lot of models (old-present) that offer phono and simultaneous A+B. So, I'm gonna start looking that way.

Thanks again for the tip, Rarl.

The multi-room capability will give you the amp side of the equation. You then supply an additional pre-amp; source; & speakers. Denon & SONY offered this feature on both their stereo and HT receivers. The situation that I was describing comes up (used to come up) with HT receivers a lot, because the "B" line would be the same line used for the rear & center channel speakers. So, you would wind up running 5 speakers at the same time on the same line and the line resistance could go down to 1 ohm and you would have the protection circuitry kick-in.

yamaha is a good sound choice ... good with movies & music ...

Actually some models like the Onkyo SR500 does have A/B or A+B. Some do not. On my receiver (which won't do A+B), A is all the surround speakers, not just the fronts. B is only the extra 2 speakers. B will only work in 2 channel, not all surround speakers.