Need an AV receiver for my consoles

[elslasho]

Just got a new Sharp LED Tv, but the problem is I enjoy my retro consoles being played with s-video, and this new TV doesnt have a single S-video input

Been looking for a cheap AV receiver that outputs HDMI and will accept S-video and a bunch of composite cables too

Any recommendations?

[Jamisonia]

You're out of luck. Many AV receivers no longer support s-video either, and even if they did they wouldn't convert it to HDMI. There are a few higher end receivers that do have video converters, meaning that everything thats plugged into them go out HDMI, but most of them have composite in composite out, component in component out, HDMI in HDMI out. I know of no receiver that has A. accepts S-video input and B. will convert it to HDMI, and C. cheap You're best bet is to keep that old CRT for legacy consoles, everything prior to the GCN, DC, Xbox, PS2 gen will look better on it anyway.

These new HDTVs only have composite inputs for legacy reasons. S-video never caught on as the standard for connecting analog devices. Honestly we're lucky that HDTVs even support composite, because they'd much rather you forget about your old analog devices and buy new digital devices. S-video is totally dead. If you really insist on connecting your old consoles to your new TV you will have to look into tapping RGB out of them (whcih may require mods), then converting that to YCbCr (American component inputs).

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

Umm sorry Jamisonia, but what?

Any good AV receiver will have an S-Video Jack and convert it to HDMI with internal upscaling. If you're buying an AV reciever look for something in the $600 $1200 range not the bargain basement garbage. Pioneer, Onkyo and Marantz have S-Video on all their hi-fi models and can be surprisingly affordable, especially when best buy has them on sale.

Hit up some HI-Fi stores that have Home Theater caves and you'll see all the true recievers that you can buy with S-Video support and more. Never EVER buy the junk out on the main sales floor by the regular TV's. Those are disposable models and aren't built very well in addition to a lack of inputs.

[Jamisonia]

Have you looked at current AVRs? I was just at Best Buy yesterday looking at the newest generation, none of them had s-video.

I just checked pioneer's website their highest model in the Elite series, SC-37, MSRP $2200, does not support s-video.

Also checked Marantz and they also do not have s-video. Onkyo does in there very highest above $2000 models.

The poster was asking for a cheap receiver that took s-video, and he needs the receiver to convert to HDMI something he can use.

[Hatta]

Any good AV receiver will have S-video by definition. If you find one that does not have S-video, it is not a good AV receiver. The fact that they want over $2000 for it is irrelevant.

[Mod_Man_Extreme]

Have you looked at current AVRs? I was just at Best Buy yesterday looking at the newest generation, none of them had s-video. Possibly the Elite's might, but I think that's out of the poster's price range.

Yeah, they've all still got at least one input on the front or several on the rear. The POS ones you'll find on the main sales floor next to the DVD and Blu-Ray players are junk and should be avoided like the plague. I've never had a single good experience with one of those pieces of garbage.

When it comes to picking a brand new receiver go for something that can be seen as a 10-15 year investment. Pioneer, Onkyo, Marantz, McIntosh & Yamaha are all some of my favorite companies making modestly priced entry level videophile receivers and they're worth every penny.

My two main receivers are a Yamaha-Natural Sound-Cinema Series from 2005 and a Pioneer VSX-7300 from 1987. Both work excellently and are a complete pleasure to listen to. The Yamaha handles my video & audio and converts all incoming inputs to 720p via component which is something I haven't seen with any other receiver since the advent of HDMI and all the HDCP BS. The Pioneer I use for audio and everything else, my CD's, vinyl, cassettes, radio, etc... all go through it and still sounds wonderful over 20 years after my dad bought it.

[Jamisonia]

Any good AV receiver will have S-video by definition. If you find one that does not have S-video, it is not a good AV receiver. The fact that they want over $2000 for it is irrelevant.

By definition? So by your definition neither Marantz nor Pioneer make good receivers. S-video is simply no longer a supported standard.

[noiseredux]

Have you looked at current AVRs? I was just at Best Buy yesterday looking at the newest generation, none of them had s-video. Possibly the Elite's might, but I think that's out of the poster's price range.

Yeah, they've all still got at least one input on the front or several on the rear. The POS ones you'll find on the main sales floor next to the DVD and Blu-Ray players are junk and should be avoided like the plague. I've never had a single good experience with one of those pieces of garbage.

When it comes to picking a brand new receiver go for something that can be seen as a 10-15 year investment. Pioneer, Onkyo, Marantz, McIntosh & Yamaha are all some of my favorite companies making modestly priced entry level videophile receivers and they're worth every penny.

My two main receivers are a Yamaha-Natural Sound-Cinema Series from 2005 and a Pioneer VSX-7300 from 1987. Both work excellently and are a complete pleasure to listen to. The Yamaha handles my video & audio and converts all incoming inputs to 720p via component which is something I haven't seen with any other receiver since the advent of HDMI and all the HDCP BS. The Pioneer I use for audio and everything else, my CD's, vinyl, cassettes, radio, etc... all go through it and still sounds wonderful over 20 years after my dad bought it.

but the OP is asking for a cheap solution to his problem.

[Jamisonia]

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/ ... vers/SC-37

S-Video input/output N/A

[MrPopo]

Personally I'd recommend an XRGB-3. It takes in composite and s-video and outputs a PC VGA signal. It also has a nice, fast upscaler. The nice thing about the VGA signal is that it makes your TV act like a computer monitor, so it skips all the post processing that many TVs have.