Newbee - least confusing receiver line?

E

ebterp

Audioholic Intern
Ok let me clarify. I am looking to put together a new 5.1 system want to spend about 500-700 on a receiver. What i mean by confusing it honestly it will be in a fairly small room (might want to add two speakers to sun room for music) 13X16 and anything at this point will probably blow me away. I want the line of reciever that is going to give me top notch quality but without to many options. Yamaha, Denon, HK, Pioneer, what do you think??

EZ
 
J

JJMP50

Full Audioholic
Receivers

All four of the brands you mentioned have a model that would fit your needs. Personally I would look at a Pioneer 1015 or 9100 or Yamaha 1500.
I'm not that familiar with the HK and Denon lines. I think the Denon in that range would be the 2805(?).
 
M

MDS

Audioholic Spartan
All of the brands offer models that would meet your needs. If you mean you would prefer not to have extraneous features you won't likely use (like dozens of DSP modes) and a simple to use user interface, I would suggest Onkyo.

Because you are considering using a second zone for additional speakers in the sun room, you need to look at the 602 or 702 (or wait a few months and see what the 603/703 will offer).
 
Nomo

Nomo

Audioholic Samurai
I'll second the Onkyo vote for simplicity of use. The Sony line is also very easy to use but it's quality doesn't compare to any of the choices listed above.
 
Takeereasy

Takeereasy

Audioholic General
I'd say Marantz if you can swing a good deal. Keep checking Ubid.com for these receivers to pop up. They are incredibly easy to use and cut away a lot of features I find useless.

A quick note though, simplicity is a tricky subject. For example if you were to buy the Pioneer 1015 (or any of the others) it may be a little more involving to set up initially, but the extra effort could be worth it. If you don't want too many options stay away from Yamaha and Denon. They are jammed packed full of features. You won't know whether that's an instruction manual or a phonebook they come with. Many people are attracted to that, and to be honest the engineering those companies use to jam all that technology into their products and still keep te product in the same price bracket as their contenders baffles me. For the ease of use and the more basic Approach I think it would go Marantz, Harman, Pioneer, then Denon, then Yamaha. I would put Onkyo right after Marantz.
 
N

nm2285

Senior Audioholic
HK offers many of the options, however, you never really have to use them. I feel like their basic setup is quite easy. Check out the 335.

Marantz is another good option in this respect.

NAD is probably your best option. They focus totally on sound quality and neglect some of the advanced features and some video processing. Look for a used one or a T43
 
E

ebterp

Audioholic Intern
How do you guys feel about Onkyo?

All,

Thanks for the replys. Appreciate it. How do you all feel Onkyo stacks up against the other players??

EZ
 
C

claudermilk

Full Audioholic
I went with Marantz myself as a first receiver for the reason that takerereasy mentioned--they drop all the extraneous bells & whistles and concentrate on a simple, powerful setup. I almost got pulled in my Yamaha's raftload of goodies, but had to ask myself, what was I after? A whole bunch of ways to tweak the sound that I'll probably never use after the inital play-with-everything stage, or a nice, clean, easy-to-use unit?

BTW, my technology-challenged wife can use the receive unaided.
 
Takeereasy

Takeereasy

Audioholic General
I like Onkyo. I've seen them get bashed especially the series that end in 02 for video switching problems. Out of all of the receivers listed I've the least experience with Onkyo, but the little I've seen first hand was all good.
 
N

nm2285

Senior Audioholic
I think it depends what you're looking for. NAD, HK, and Marantz all offer robust power supplies (prob in that order). In terms of sound quality, none are slouches. IMO NAD focusing almost entirely on music makes them sound wonderful, HK is warm and dark and inviting, Marantz is a very neutral sound. Of course, the sound of receivers isn't nearly as different as those of speakers.

Onkyo I've never liked very much, just a personal preference. I've always felt they cater more towards movies and home theater than music. They do well with music, but in my opinion, the other 3 do much better.

Go listen, feel them, use them and decide for yourself which you like best!
 
Spiffyfast

Spiffyfast

Audioholic General
Marantz is what I'd go with, I've heard them and they sound amazing and from what I've read they are extremely straight forward to use. Although you'd probably be happy with any of the receivers mentioned here.
 
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