Onkyo vs Pioneer

[outofsi29]

Ok guys I am looking for some straight forward answer wt opinion. I am looking to purchase a new av unit. i am running a yamaha v1900 with polk audio rti a9, rti a6 and polk surrounds. I really really wanted the pioneer sc-37 it posted the best overall performance in 7.1 for an av unit. holding watts per channel ect... the newer pioneer units seem to have lost some power when doing multiple channels. the sc-68 at 7.1 seems to drop to 100 x 7 rms power when its rated at 140 x 7 in reviews. The onkyo tx-nr5010 huge beast of equipment 145 x 9 can't find any reviews, i am assuming very close to tx-nr5009. They both give the option later to add an emotiva amp. they both come with room correction so which one would be the best?

 

[j_garcia]

If you are looking at that level of power, you should just get slightly lower level AVR and an amp now rather than spend top dollar on a receiver that won't be as powerful as an external amp. At that price range, I wouldn't be looking at either Pioneer or Onkyo personally.

 

[lsiberian]

I've had good experiences with both brands. But 100 to 140 is not a big enough difference in spl to be a decision maker. I recommend getting a receiver at least with pre-outs so you can add external amping later.

If you get an Onkyo be sure to have excellent ventilation.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I would get the Denon 3312 open box from Amazon for $505 shipped. 3yr Denon factory warranty for Amazon open box.

Denon AVR-3312CI A/V Receiver HT Labs Measures | Home Theater

1%THD 8ohm: 143wpc x 2ch, 103wpc x 5ch, 97wpc x 7ch.
1% THD 4ohm: 225wpc x 2ch.

http://usa.denon.com/us/product/pages/productdetail.aspx?catid=avreceivers(denonna)&pid=avr3312ci(denonna)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B004Z50L6E/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used

 

[j_garcia]

I've had good experiences with both brands. But 100 to 140 is not a big enough difference in spl to be a decision maker. I recommend getting a receiver at least with pre-outs so you can add external amping later.

40W in a receiver is potentially a lot, if the power supply is actually up to the task. I went from a 105W to 120W both Marantz, and the difference was easily noticeable (there was an almost 10lb difference in weight, much larger power supply), but it was just adding a small amount of headroom, not a 3dB increase in output for sure.

 

[avengineer]

40W in a receiver is potentially a lot, if the power supply is actually up to the task. I went from a 105W to 120W both Marantz, and the difference was easily noticeable (there was an almost 10lb difference in weight, much larger power supply), but it was just adding a small amount of headroom, not a 3dB increase in output for sure.

105W > 120W is about a half dB change in SPL, no matter how you slice it.

Just for reference, 120w > 140w is just over a half dB change. It's not just about power at these levels. There are far bigger differences in speaker efficiency to worry about.