T

Tegguy

Audioholic Intern
Alright everyone I am looking for a new receiver to replace my old Denon that doesn't even have HDMI. I need recommendations please trying to be budget conscious (unless I wait). I am running 2 Monitor 60's and a CS2 for the front and 4 Monitor 40's for the surrounds. I saw newegg had a good deal on a Yamaha today Yamaha RX-V775WA 7.2 CH Home Theater AV Receiver with Wi-Fi - Newegg.com - Newegg.com


Also I'm looking at the Onkyo 818 Newegg.com - Onkyo TXNR818 7.2 Channel Network AV Receiver


What are your thoughts on it I'd like to stay in the $400-$900 range but the cheaper the better. I defiantly want something with network capability.

Thanks
 
R

ReUpRo

Full Audioholic
Unless you can keep the Onkyo in a very open rack, stay away from the 818. It gets very hot and improper ventilation is guaranteed to cause problems. Other than that, I loved it when I had it.

In your budget, my vote goes to the Denon X4000. If you ask nicely, AccuDefTechGuy may hook you up with a great deal.
 
T

Tegguy

Audioholic Intern
Unless you can keep the Onkyo in a very open rack, stay away from the 818. It gets very hot and improper ventilation is guaranteed to cause problems. Other than that, I loved it when I had it.
I have it on a TV stand but I wouldn't really call it open so sounds like the 818 is out.

In your budget, my vote goes to the Denon X4000. If you ask nicely, AccuDefTechGuy may hook you up with a great deal.
I'd love to get the X4000 as I like denon's stuff. I'll see if I can message see and see if he might be able to help me out. It might have to wait a little bit if it's at the top of my price range but I think the X4000 is a good step above the 775 and 818
 
Pyrrho

Pyrrho

Audioholic Ninja
I recommend that you go with the Yamaha that you have selected. If you want a higher model, you could get this:

Yamaha AVENTAGE RX-A1020 7.2-channel home theater receiver with Apple AirPlay® at Crutchfield.com

$700 is a great price, and it is discounted because it is a discontinued model. Or to go above your budget:

Yamaha AVENTAGE RX-A3020 9.2-channel home theater receiver with Apple AirPlay® at Crutchfield.com

$1300 is a great price for that one, again, a discontinued model.


However, if you want the best sound for your money, you probably want to go with the least expensive receiver of a good brand (like Yamaha) that has all of the features you require, and spend the extra money on better speakers (including subwoofer). Speakers matter far, far more than a receiver for how it actually sounds.

Most people really bungle this, if actual sound quality is the goal, as people tend to go way too cheap on speakers and buy a receiver that is better than it needs to be. It is doubly a mistake because, not only do the speakers matter far, far more for actual sound quality, but also when new features come out, it will be the receiver that will be replaced to get them, not the speakers. If you buy great speakers, you will never need to replace them if you take care of them. Great speakers are a much better investment than a great receiver.
 
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AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
I sent you a PM.

I can definitely recommend Denon only because I love what the Audyssey (XT Sub EQ and Audyssey XT Dynamic EQ) does for my system. I bet the XT32 in the X4000 does a better job.

That's really the only thing that separates any of these AVRs. Otherwise, in Direct mode, all these AVR would sound about the same in most cases. For example, the Yamaha would sound just as fabulous if you compare one Direct mode vs. another Direct mode. The separation only comes when you compare what Audyssey can do vs. what the other companies can do.

In case you are not aware, IMAX theaters, Phase Technology DARTs, Wisdom Audio, McIntosh, NAD, Marantz, Cambridge Audio, & Denon use Audyssey. Possibly potent stuff. I say "possibly" because not everyone is a huge fan.

I was not a fan of Audyssey at all until I started using the Audyssey Dynamic EQ feature. Again, YMMV.
 
AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
I have it on a TV stand but I wouldn't really call it open so sounds like the 818 is out.
I wouldn't even touch Onkyo with a 10 Ft poll. :D

I definitely would never recommend Onkyo to anybody I like. :D

In terms of SQ, the higher Onkyo models have Audyssey XT32 so they would sound as great as any AVR or Pre-pro. But their utter lack of customer support and perturbing unreliability history scares most people. :eek:
 
Pyrrho

Pyrrho

Audioholic Ninja
I sent you a PM.

I can definitely recommend Denon only because I love what the Audyssey (XT Sub EQ and Audyssey XT Dynamic EQ) does for my system. I bet the XT32 in the X4000 does a better job.

That's really the only thing that separates any of these AVRs. Otherwise, in Direct mode, all these AVR would sound about the same in most cases. For example, the Yamaha would sound just as fabulous if you compare one Direct mode vs. another Direct mode. The separation only comes when you compare what Audyssey can do vs. what the other companies can do.

In case you are not aware, IMAX theaters, Phase Technology DARTs, Wisdom Audio, McIntosh, NAD, Marantz, Cambridge Audio, & Denon use Audyssey. Possibly potent stuff. I say "possibly" because not everyone is a huge fan.

I was not a fan of Audyssey at all until I started using the Audyssey Dynamic EQ feature. Again, YMMV.

As far as I know, no one has ever done a proper comparison of Audyssey versus YPAO versus any other brand of correction. I have certainly never seen any proper comparison. If you, or anyone else, has a link or other reference to any proper testing of this, I would be very interested in reading about it.

Also, no automatic software is going to make up for substandard speakers, so that is still where one should be putting one's money first.
 
Pyrrho

Pyrrho

Audioholic Ninja
I wouldn't even touch Onkyo with a 10 Ft poll. :D

I definitely would never recommend Onkyo to anybody I like. :D

In terms of SQ, the higher Onkyo models have Audyssey XT32 so they would sound as great as any AVR or Pre-pro. But their utter lack of customer support and perturbing unreliability history scares most people. :eek:

I agree. I would not buy an Onkyo. It is really a shame that they have decided to make garbage. I have a nice old CD player (Integra, actually, but that is just an upscale Onkyo) that I really like, that gets a lot of use and has lasted for many years. I know they can make something that is reliable if they want to do so. But it seems they no longer care about that, and instead depend on giving people lots of features for the money. The thing is, if it does not work, it does not matter what great features it has.
 
3db

3db

Audioholic Slumlord
As far as I know, no one has ever done a proper comparison of Audyssey versus YPAO versus any other brand of correction. I have certainly never seen any proper comparison. If you, or anyone else, has a link or other reference to any proper testing of this, I would be very interested in reading about it.

Also, no automatic software is going to make up for substandard speakers, so that is still where one should be putting one's money first.
I've not seen a study either (and I google this almost daily) that does a comparsion between Audyssey and YPAO. Just theoretical BS but no blind listening tests.
 
crossedover

crossedover

Audioholic Chief
I sent you a PM.

I can definitely recommend Denon only because I love what the Audyssey (XT Sub EQ and Audyssey XT Dynamic EQ) does for my system. I bet the XT32 in the X4000 does a better job.

That's really the only thing that separates any of these AVRs. Otherwise, in Direct mode, all these AVR would sound about the same in most cases. For example, the Yamaha would sound just as fabulous if you compare one Direct mode vs. another Direct mode. The separation only comes when you compare what Audyssey can do vs. what the other companies can do.

In case you are not aware, IMAX theaters, Phase Technology DARTs, Wisdom Audio, McIntosh, NAD, Marantz, Cambridge Audio, & Denon use Audyssey. Possibly potent stuff. I say "possibly" because not everyone is a huge fan.

I was not a fan of Audyssey at all until I started using the Audyssey Dynamic EQ feature. Again, YMMV.
I thought McIntosh used room perfect for their correction system from Lyngdorf
 
Pyrrho

Pyrrho

Audioholic Ninja
I thought McIntosh used room perfect for their correction system from Lyngdorf
They do:

http://www.mcintoshlabs.com/us/Products/pages/ProductDetails.aspx?CatId=hometheaterprocessors&ProductId=MX151

And on another model, Audyssey:

http://www.mcintoshlabs.com/us/Products/pages/ProductDetails.aspx?CatId=hometheaterprocessors&ProductId=MX121

Both are current models.

According to this:

McIntosh Expands Preamp-Processor Line

the more expensive one is the MX151. The MX151 does not use Audyssey. So it would seem that McIntosh regards Audyssey as second-best. That is, second-best among the ones that they are able to license. I don't think Yamaha licenses YPAO to other brands, nor am I aware of Pioneer licensing MCACC or Sony licensing DCAC.
 
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panteragstk

panteragstk

Audioholic Warlord
I would also stay away from Onkyo. I have the previous gen 809 and while it's a nice unit, if I had paid the MSRP $1100 price I would have returned it. I won't go into specifics, but Denon and Yamaha seem to have the best feature set/reliability. I also have a cheapo pioneer 521k that is great, but it is missing quite a few features (bass management) that I do like about my onkyo.

Good luck.
 
AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
Maybe when McIntosh implements Audyssey XT32 + dual Sub EQ into their pre-pro, I may have to buy one. :D

The MX121 only has XT + single Sub EQ.

Of course, the ultimate RC is the Audyssey XT32-Pro, which is what IMAX probably uses. ;)

Gene also uses the XT32-Pro. I am too cheap and lazy at this point. I'm already basking in the XT DEQ sunshine. :D
 
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crossedover

crossedover

Audioholic Chief
Or or you can just buy the standalone unit a get any preprocessor you want :p
 
T

Tegguy

Audioholic Intern
I guess what I was getting at is the 775 such a good price I should jump on it now (limited sale) or should I wait and get something else?

I'm still going to explore the rest of the options also. I want a good unit that will last me for a while. The speakers I listed are brand new so they are going to be the speakers I use for a while. (Limited budget from the wife and bought the best I could for the money)
 
lsiberian

lsiberian

Audioholic Overlord
I use an Onkyo and have had no issues yet. I like the interface much better than my previous HK. I preferred the HK looks though. Same old ugly black is not pretty to me.

Auto EQ is essential these days IMO and it can certainly help with a lot of issues.
 
T

Tegguy

Audioholic Intern
I think for the time being I'm jus going to hold off. I'm liking the Denon X4000 but the price is up there. I think I need to do more research before I buy a receiver it's been too long since I have shopped for them the features have changed. What kind of wattage should I be looking for per channel?
 
rojo

rojo

Audioholic Samurai
You know, Paul Klipsch once said, "What the world needs is a good 5-watt amp." So, look for 5 watts per channel.

Course he was talking about tube amps. For solid state, it depends on the brand. There isn't any real standard of rating. One manufacturer might rate a receiver 100wpc@1khz with 1% THD, while another rates 100wpc from 20Hz to 20khz at 0.1%THD, which the first amp might only be able to accomplish at 70 watts.

I think if you dig the Denon X4000 you should make that your goal, wattage be damned.

Sent from my LG-VS980 using Tapatalk
 
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