Please help with receiver decision

[tomb020871]

I am replacing an old Carver HR-895 and am looking at 4 different receivers. They are the OnkyoTX-SR702, Denon avr 2805, and the Harman Kardon AVR435 or AVR635. I have boston acoustic speakers (VR30 front, VR12 Center, Klipsch powered sub, JBL rears. I will be adding sides but I don't know what kind yet). I really don’t know which one would work best or is the best value for the money. I am thoroughly confused on which one to buy. If there is another around that price range that you would recommend instead on one of these my ears are open. I would really appreciate some help on this. I have been looking at these for about 3 months now and still am unsure. Any info would help
This receiver is going to operate a home theater system which is in a room that measures 32' x 18'.
Thank you for your help
tomb020871

 

[Tdekany]

Best would be to listen for yourself, because they do sound different, but if you want me to spend your money I'd go with the Onkyo

BTW, if none of them give you any special festures that you are interested in - all 3 will be a very good purchase. You can't go wrong as far as I can see.

 

[tomb020871]

onkyo vs yamaha

I went and listened to some receivers today and I found that the Onkyo 702 and the Yamaha 1500 were very close in the way that they sounded. I felt that the Yamaha had a little fuller sound but nothing that blew me out of the water. Am I gaining anything by choosing one over the other?

 

[Takeereasy]

Hi Tomb020871. I have a quick question for you. When you auditioned those two receivers did you get to listen to the Denon or Harmon as well? It would be great if you could demo them all one after the other. Pretty much everyone on this site will tell you that all of the receivers you are looking into are strong choices, and that your final decision should be based on a few things:
1. Does this receiver posess the features that I need, ie: power, number/type of inputs and outputs, upgradeablility, etc
2. How does it sound to you?: You are the one that has to live with this receiver in your home, and at the price range all these receivers fall into I would assume that you are planning to have it around for a while. Sound is subjective and when you are the one that has to live with it your opinion is really the only one that matters.
3. Cost benifit ratio. If you can get one receiver way cheaper than the others that may be a deciding factor. All of the receivers you have picked out are excellent buys and loaded with very similar features, so cost will probably be a big factor. However if one of these receivers has a feature that you can not do without, like the Denon's compatability with Creston devices, or the Yamaha's plethora of DSP modes then it may be worth shilling out a little more.
4. Will the neighbors and friends be jealous ? If you have answered no then it may be time to start the search all over again. Just kidding.

For what it's worth I have been doing alot of receiver listening myself lately and have to say that I would go for the Denon. But that is just me, and these are all really good reveivers that represent good value for the money.

Hope it helps.

 

[WoodieB]

They are all excellent receivers, but I'll throw a wrench into the works and say that listening to them in a dealers showroom isn't going to tell you anything. I'ts your speakers in your room that are going to affect the sound the most, and I would bet that if you could somehow switch between the 3 in your home you could not tell the difference in sound. I have the Denon and love it. I had an Onkyo before and was happy with it as well. Ditto for Yamaha. Get the one that has the feature set you like, looks good to you, etc. You won't go wrong with any of the three.

 

[tomb020871]

Listening room

Takeereasy:
First of all I want to thank everyone for their input. It is really helping me out.
I did listen to all of the mentioned receivers except the HK. That one wasn't hooked up. When I went to another store to compare it to the Onkyo (because they didn't have the Yamaha) they could not set it up so that I could hear them on the same set of speakers so it was worthless to me. Of all of them I liked the way the Yamaha 1500 sounded best. It just seemed to have a more full sound to it. So right now I am torn between the Yamaha and the HK and that is only because I didn't compare it to the Yamaha. The only thing I wish is that the Yamaha came in the silver finish because all of my other components are silver, but that isn't going to outway my dicision because to me, sound is number one. The Yamaha seemed to be more expandable than the HK as well. I am only torn because of HK's good reputation. Am I going to gain or loose anything by choosing the Yamaha over the HK when talking about quality components inside the receiver?
Thanks again for everyones help. It is greatly appreciated.
Tom

 

[Takeereasy]

I think you've answered your own question with regards to which receiver to choose. You like the way the Yamaha sounded the best. Some of the people on this site would consider it heresy to question the internal components of the 1500 in such a manner. I would bet dollars to doughnuts that the quality of the components in both receivers are very similar. If it is the Yamaha you are concerned about then I'd look at it this way. There are so many rave reviews about that receiver (both professional and private) that not many problems would be undiscovered at this point. The pro reviewers take these things apart and know what they are looking at. Also this receiver is close to the top of the food chain for Yamaha, they wouldn't skimp on the good stuff, the competition for your dollar is too steep to do so at this price point. If you can live with the black I'd say go for it.

Woodie B is correct in pointing out how different things will sound when you get them home. One idea often suggested around here is to take home both models you are choosing between, demo them for a while and then make an informed decision. This represents the ideal scenario. As for me I couldn't afford to take this route , but if you could swing it then I'd really suggest it as the way to go. Of course you need to find a dealer with a liberal return policy.

Last pieces of advice: Make sure to shop around, big savings can be had by doing so. Another thing to note is that this forum is loaded with Yamaha fanatics, many of whom are very knowledgeable when it comes to their product of choice and most of whom are more than willing to dispense some help if asked. If you have any set up trouble or technical problems you have a great resource at your finger tips in this website. Good luck on your purchase.

 

[tomb020871]

Thank you to everybody who helped me out.

Thank you for your help. I am going to go with the Yamaha. I have been shopping around and researching for about 3 months now and my wife is getting pretty sick of me researching all night long. Yes, I probably have some sort of OCD when it comes to things like this but I just want to make sure I am getting the best bang for the buck.
Thanks again to everybody. This forum has helped me out more in a couple of days than all of my months of shopping around. You guys are great and I hope I can contribute to someone who is stuck on something someday the way you guys did for me
Many Thanks ,
Tom