You know back in the day I remember my older brother had a Pioneer avr. Me and my younger brother liked it. One day we got bored and decided to hook up some bazooka tubes that he had laying around. It actually sounded pretty good for about 10-15 minutes. Then, all of a sudden no sound. To make matters worse, smoke was coming from the Pioneer avr. Of course, my older brother was NOT a happy camper.
Skip several years and I bought me an Onkyo avr. It was a refurbished one at that. Gave less than $150 for it and loved it. Later, I owned a much better and more expensive Onkyo. But, it was always so darn hot even playing at low to moderate volume levels. Scared me so I took it back. Ended up with a Pioneer 1015. Even to this very day that is one of the, if not the, best avrs, that I ever owned. Had the Ascend 340 SE's across the front and the 170 SE's in the rear. Sounded very good for the most part. Also, owned a set of Paradigm Studio 20 v.3's. Loved them even more but the tweeter was so fatiguing and the low end was so hot that I sold them off. So, for a while I was happy with the Pioneer 1015 and the 340's/170's.
Went through several Yamaha avr's and liked them for the most part. But, one day I ordered me a Denon. It cost me $600 shipped back in 2003 I think. My first experience with Audyssey. After using MCACC and YPAO all measured from a single point at the MLP, Audyssey sounded much better to my ears. Time goes by and I exited the hobby for various reasons.
Got back in about 3-years ago only to exit it yet again. About a year ago I started slowly, but surely getting back into this hobby. At first just opted for some Polk speakers that I had owned in the past. Honestly thought they would suffice. However, that was not the case. Next thing you know I am all in. Decided to go all out as I am certainly not getting any younger. Ended up with a Marantz for the first time and was wowed for sure. However, I later owned a Denon with MultiEQ XT32 w/Sub EQ HT. Once again I was wowed. Audyssey seems to work for me very well. Measuring from (8) positions seems to work wonders as opposed to only (1). That being said, that is why I am so interested in these different or shall I say newer calibration systems.
Not too long ago I went in a different direction due to some personal issues/setbacks. All of my gear was dismantled. Bought a set of Studio Monitors and bam thought that would be a great decision. However, the Studio Monitors that I purchased did not get the job done. So, back they went. So, in some ways I am back to where I started but with many more limitations per se. In other words, I am NOT going to go into debt again like I was. Many things have changed now and the dust has settled. I am in the need for an avr. I would love to own a Denon AVR x4200 or a Marantz SR6010. However, both are out of my budget. As such, I am looking for the best alternative. Hence, that is why I am trying to cover all of my bases in the hope to get as best of an avr as I can within my budget. Honestly, the Pioneer 1130-K looks real good to me having MCACC Pro. It is supposed to EQ (2) subs. When things change for the better I hope to have a sub or two again. Just not like before due to my budget limitations. One may just do the trick who knows.
Anyways, the newer Pioneer 1131-k does NOT look near as good as the 1130-K to me. The Elites are certainly out of my price range. The Yamahas are looking good to me. But, to get one with Multi-Point YPAO would be nice. I am also hoping to have a 4K avr that is HDCP 2.2 compliant. I am very well aware of Yamaha's reliability reputation. I can also get a super deal on an Onkyo. But, not too sure about the AccuEQ. And, the last time I owned an Onkyo it was always so hot that I thought it was going to catch on fire. That kind of scares me. So, anyone here that has taken the time to read this post/thread have any ideas/suggestions, then by all means please let me know. Even if in a PM. Any and all help will be most appreciated. Thanks for taking the time to reading my post.
Cheers,
Phil
