Marantz, Onkyo or H-K?

[rebuy]

I'm looking at the H-K 50 wpc

And the Onkyo 80 wpc

and a Marantz 5003 with 90 wpc

Which would you guys go for?

It will be running my rti 4's.

Which one will sound the best?

[Glowrdr]

Gonna need the models to help you. I know that H/K actually rates their stuff accurately, sometimes even a little low.

Blindly, I would ASSUME they would rank this way: Marantz > H/K > Onkyo, but again - all watts are not equal.

[cnh]

What Onkyo is 80 watts? The 50X series?

I'd go with at least the 60X series for those speakers (I use that myself). And if you can afford it, why not go one model up so you have have pre-outs in your future (70X)?

I've heard Rti-4s on my HK 3490 and believe it or not (and this surprised me too), I preferred them on the Onkyo! Go figure, because the HK sounded better with a number of 'other' speakers!

cnh

[engtaz]

Marantz great sound
Onkyo better bells and whistles.
HK not had one in my house yet.

[Marty913]

Any one of them should have enough power to drive the RTi4's. The watts however have nothing to do with "which one will sound the best". Only you can decide that. Model numbers might help (especially with features) and cnh sounds like he has some experience with the RTi4's. Other than that you will probably just get a lot of generic brand preference opinions. I think you're going to have to go listen to a couple of them. The Marantz & HK will probably sound somewhat similar to one another, the Onkyo will be different.

[Erik Tracy]

Marantz gets my vote of these choices.

[ctank]

H/K,Onkyo, or Marantz...Three good choice's..H/K's have (warm)..sound.All three are all high current.. anyone of these would do you well.As much as i like my H/K's because i just like the way H/K's sound..my vote would be for the Marantz with RTi4's..The post here are stop on about any of these.

[B Run]

Really depends on the model, i've had all three this month and like the Onkyo the best. Try to get your ears on some so you can compare before you buy if it's at all possible.

[gudnoyez]

I would go Marantz also.

[ctank]

H/K,Onkyo, or Marantz...Three good choice's..H/K's have (warm)..sound.All three are all high current.. anyone of these would do you well.As much as i like my H/K's because i just like the way H/K's sound..my vote would be for the Marantz with RTi4's..The post here are spot on about any of these.

[rebuy]

Thanks for all the input. After looking and pondering for awhile, I went ahead and bought the Onkyo TX-SR608. Since It was available for 213 to my door I thought it was my best option. Now I have to buy the rest of the speakers for the system.

[seeclear]

I think you will like the oinker. I have onkyo in the bedroom 5.0 rig, and HK in the home theater, 'cause I could get a good deal on it with HDMI and preouts. Never really impressed by the HK in the theater. I know you shouldn't notice the surround content that much, but I never get the feel that I am enveloped in the action/sound, as the surround content it puts out seems very weak; while I do get that feeling with just 5.0 in the bedroom. I even went in and turned up the volume on the surround speaks, and still little to nothing. Also, and this may be part of the problem, it doesn't seem to pick up the Dolby D content from the Directv receiver, which the oinker does. But I do notice the surround content weak even on DVD which does show up as Dolby D on the display. Oh well, good luck.

[engtaz]

I see the bells and whistles win out. Onkyo is not bad at all.

[rebuy]

Yes, I did go for the bells and whistles but I figure the Onkyo was plenty of power for rti4's.
Since I do not have up-grade fever, I think for bookshelves will be fine with this receiver.

I have been running the 4's through a Kenwood VR-615 that a friend loaned me a month ago and it is so weak, 100 WPC, yeah right! Running amps this lame will give you upgradeitus. At least when I get the Onkyo my 4's will be closer to be broken in since I have used them for over a month.

The sound from this Kenwood is Dismal.

[engtaz]

Congrats