Complete newbie and confused - need coaching on AVR + stereo receiver + integrated

[lovinthehd]

We do not use the Audessy or anything else.
Just pure direct sound out of the box. Each on its own merits.
They do NOT sound the same. Denon is much more musical.
I myself have a Denon 6200.

How so? What makes Denon musical compared to Yamaha? Heck, just what is "musical" anyways? This goes for every model? You say this difference is noticeable primarily on those particular ML speakers....how do other speakers fare? Why just use pure direct for demos? Do you only demo 2ch music?

 

[everettT]

Since the horse is already beaten to death, most will agree that unless any amplifier, integrated or avr is not capable of driving a speaker without clipping into distortion that differences heard are either a not scientificaly compared or one truly wants to believe there is a difference. Until the OP changes his source material to a lossless format it may all sound just so so.

 

[Don Grabski]

I was just saying what happens when I do an A/B demo.................99% of my customers choose the Denon.

 

[everettT]

I was just saying what happens when I do an A/B demo.................99% of my customers choose the Denon.

Well doing an ab demo without the units being level matched isnt much use. Since your older as you described I'm sure that you can appreciate human perception is extremely foulable . AB demos are hard enough to do with speakers, let alone with electronics.

 

[herbu]

I was just saying what happens when I do an A/B demo.................99% of my customers choose the Denon.

I appreciate your observation. It's interesting. Do you have any theories on why that happens?

99% is an overwhelming response. I don't think it can be attributed to any personal preference. Even a Salesman Of The Century couldn't convince 99% of people. There is clearly something going on that makes the Denon system sound better.

Audio "experts" mostly agree the difference isn't inherent in the design of Yamaha vs Denon. Though some "experts" say they also can hear a difference, they are a minority, not 99%. The consensus is that in Direct/Pure Direct, properly matched for volume, the systems sound the same.

So I'm wondering what you think? Do you believe the difference is in the design?

 

[artemasad]

Hello all.

Just a quick update, I did end up going with Denon AVR-X3300W to pair with my Triton Three+, and bought a pair of Sewell Silverback wires.

Tested out Nora Jones music through WiFi @ 24-bit/192 kHz. At first I was worried that my AVR will far less impressive than what I had heard in the showroom with a more expensive Integrated Amp. I'm glad to report that I honestly could not tell the quality differences between the two. The music sounded great as I remember. Even the Japanese pop song @ 44.1 kHz WAV file sounded fantastic!

Thank you so much for everything guys. I'm glad I listened and dropped $530 into this receiver instead of $1000+ on integrated amp that can't do WiFi, plus another $50 - $100 just for the Bluetooth adapter! (btw, Bluetooth from my phone, even at 320kbps, sounded terrible!)