Receiver: Denon, Yamaha or Onkyo?

[marzetta]

Hello Guys,
I have been on the website for nearly a month now. I am ready to start my new home theater system. I have seen some of your sysyem on SYSTEM Showcase. I am posing a question, Which receiver is best. Denon Yamaha or Onkyo? I am spending about 500.00 on the receiver. Fellas take me seriously. I'm about to hook it up.

[scottvamp]

marzetta, New Hometheater - bet your excited to get it going. I would go with Denon or Onkyo. Neither are a bad chose and here are the two in your price range from an awesome company. So close you can flip a coin on them. I'm partial to Onkyo myself. I can also get you a small discount with this aruthorized dealer..

*sidenote at all (strange how most new recievers keep adding OPTICAL inputs but when I was just out shopping for DVD players the new models are doing away with Optical in way of COAXAL.)
I could not even buy a couple cheap models I found because ALL my cables are optical.*

Hey buddy welcome to the forum and HomeTheater world. And if you can utilize the 6(.1) channel it is well worth it. You'll getting the most out of your $ and equipment. ;)Here ya go!!!

And your getting alot for you money now-days. I paid $500 for my first Digital reciever and it was completly stipped to the bone. Onkyo 555

[marzetta]

thanks Scottvamp, I was looking at the Onkyo also.
I was unable to pull up your attachment though:(

[marzetta]

okay Scottvamp, I see. Both are almost identical.

[audiobliss]

I have a Yamaha receiver (RX-V1400) and I love it. I was also looking at Onkyo and Denon recievers when I was getting into this. I decided I like the Yamaha because of the cool orange display (well, that was just a bonus), the ease of switching sources, the rugged look/feel of construction (the Onkyos just didn't feel well-built), and the price/performance ratio. There's a lot of folks who talk about the Yammys being 'cold' and 'harsh'; though I'm definitely no audiophile and don't have any other good equipment to really test the sound of the receiver, I've heard nothing harsh or bright. I love it!! Here's Yamaha's homepage for their recievers: Yamaha Receivers

I imagine that in that price range, whichever brand you go with, you won't be disappointed. Denon, Onkyo, and Yamaha all make some great equipment.

Just my 2 cents.

[AsSiMiLaTeD]

Have you listened to the three? They each have their own sound...I'd listen to each of them before deciding or doing anything.

Also, if you're willing to buy used gear, you can get a whole lot more for your money...

[F1nut]

Marzette,

Welcome to the forum.

Whatever you end up with we hope you'll post a review of your findings.

F1

[hamzahsh]

Listen all three and may be more. Include some other brands as well.

Yamaha
Denon
Onkyo
Marantz
NAD
Pioneer Elite

Now you've 6 brands to choose from, first decide yourself. Do you really want to have a 7.1 setup or not. Do you care about tons of features. How about automatic speaker calibration feature. The biggest and most important is the AMP section of the receivers. What type of speakers do you run? How big is you listening area? How loud you want to listen?

Don't spend too much on the receiver because soon you'll come to believe that separates are the best. Invest more money in the good quality AMP later. All receivers have a really solid pre/pro section I would say better than some of the entry level pre/pros in the today's market but receivers are weak in their AMP section. 7 x 100w or 7 x 120w are more like 7 x 40-50w when all channels driven continuously unless you buy the expensive flagship A/V receiver, the power rating is true here because you're paying high price for the both pre/pro and amp for all in one performance, but still the AMPs in the receiver are nothing compare to a Separte AMP. AMP makes the sound lot better due to high current keep it warm and transparent at higher peaks. The sound gets fuller and bigger. The receiver AMP will try hard but the sound will become more ear-piercing and harsh at higher volumes.

If I were you I would definitely look into OUTLAW 950/7100 deal at www.outlawaudio.com Also check out the gallery of 7100 AMP you'll be amazed how it looks like, yes this is a true 7 x 100watts per channel continuous RMS AMP like many others with huge torriodal tranformer with separate 7 AMPs in it. This is a beauty of an AMP.

If not then get a quality receiver and later add external AMP.

Anyways listen to all the receivers before you buy. BTW my Yamaha RX-V1400 is the best pre/pro for the money with every single format and feauture I ever needed and my NAD and ADCOM are two solid massive AMPs which drives my all 7 speakers in my HT. My Velodyne CHT-15 subwoofer is another story.

Good luck with your decision!

Visit the following links and learn why separates are better than receivers.

http://www.audioetc.tv/articles/Rece...0separates.htm

http://www.htadvice.com/on_gear/comp...separates.html ;)

[reeltrouble1]

Welcome to the Club you are going to like it here. Each of the three receivers you mentioned compete with each other with similiar products. They may sound a bit different but not necessarily better than each other, many people on this forum have one them in their systems, and enjoy them.

I am most familiar with Onkyo and Denon and am presently using an Onk for my HT pre/pro, I can say whenever I had a question about my present receiver I received very good customer service from Onk. They answered the phone call quickly and gave me accurate information about my receiver. I have been using it for about 2 years without any problems.

Which ever you choose is a personal decision, if you are going through CC they have the thirty day return if you do not like the product, there are others that offer the same deal.

RT1

[kingtut]

I believe that Marzatta stated that he has about $500 budget, so a separate prepro/amp and Outlaw product is going to be much more than $500. I would add Harman Kardon receiver to the mix, very good amp section with very musical and neutral sound, but you do miss 1-2 second for the layer change-over.

[audiobliss]

Another reason I really like my reciever is because it has 110 watts of low distortion, high current power. That's the main reason I didn't look at the Harmon Kardons long; they don't have any power! You can pay over $1000 for one and still only get about 85 watts; I didn't like that.

I'd also look a Marantz; sometimes I wish I had. They seem to have very nice products with great specs and a great sound at a good price. A very respected name.

[rti8's]

i was in a similar situation as you. i got an onkyo 601 for only $299 brand new from jandr.com

they also had a 701 for 499.00

every friday they run a one day sale. if you are patient you can get a good deal and save some money. Their service is great.

good luck. i really enjoy the onkyo and i have listened to all 3 brands. i was leaning toward the yamaha 1400 but couldn't pass on the sale. its all about your needs.

out

[kingtut]

H/K and Nad, among others rated their power w/all channel driven. While the last generation Marantz, Denon, Onkyo and Yamaha rated their power as single/two channel driven. A 100w receiver becomes around 50w x5 when all channels are driven.

[audiobliss]

oh, bummer; that makes sense

[SniperREX]

I love my H/K 7200 :D . I guess is one of the best receiver under 1 grand.
High Instantaneous Current Capability (HCC) : ±75 Amps


Sound&Vision in the lab

One channel driven into 8 ohms: 196 watts

5 channels driven into 8 ohms: 142 watts


I owned a yammy integrated amp (DSP-A592) for about 5 years. I liked that one. It was just a little bit too harsh and cold with music.

[Oldwriter]

I have been going through the "new gear tango" route, and also had a real budget. Auditioned NAD, Onkyo, Harmon-Kardon, Denon and - good grief - even a Krell! (just dreaming)
Finally chose an Onkyo 701 - got it Online from OneCall for $599 including shipping. Nice deal - good service.
Do I love it? YES! But I had a heckuva time getting all parts of the system to sound good. Have Polk RTi6s for mains, and at first they sounded horrible! Soooo. . .
On the budget, remember - went Online to Blue Jeans Cables, and bought some of their 10-gauge speaker wire, and a digital coax cable for DVD-receiver use. Using a mid-line JVC DVD/CD player.
Well, when I changed from 16-gauge Monster to 10-gauge Blue Jeans - tah-dah! Mo Bettah! The digital coax was, pardon the pun "light-years" better than the optical cable - trashed it.
So - now the sound is grand, my wife is still here, and she says the improvements are worth every cent! How 'bout dat? GRIN
Just my humble, non-expert opinion. Courage! Larry R.

[dragon1952]

In your price range I would seriously consider the NAD T742 from www.saturdayaudio.com at $399. This is a last year model close-out for a receiver that listed for $650 originally and was subsequently marked down to $449 and now $399. Click on the 'DEALS' link. I would not be concerned with the 50wpc rating as it is more than likely equal to or better than the 80-100wpc ratings of the others you're looking at, as kingtut has already pointed out.