Sound on Denon 1912 vs. Yamaha RX V761

[bdub15]

Hello all,

I'm looking to replace my sturdy Yamaha RX V659 with something that has HDMI inputs and networking capabilities. My budget is in the $500 range, and my speaker setup is:

Focal Sib XL (C,L,R)
Polk PSW 110 Sub
Cambridge Soundworks Ensemble IV for rear

I've narrowed it down to the Denon 1912 or the Yamaha RX V761, and I've done quite a bit of reading on them, and both seem to be very similar in features, etc. However, there doesn't seem to be a lot of opinion on sound differences between the two and I was wondering if anyone has any insights into whether the Denon or the Yamaha would sound better? I tend to prefer a brighter sound profile (I have an Arcam Diva CD player) over the warmer sound profiles.

I tend to listen to 50% music (a lot of classical) and 50% movies/TV on my system.

Any thoughts or suggestions would be immensely helpful! Thanks so much.

 

[adk highlander]

Welcome to the forum.

I would doubt there would be very much difference in sound between these two if the source was connected the same way (analog, hdmi, etc.) and level matched.

I would lean toward the Denon for the Audyssey room correction over the YPAO from Yamaha.

 

[Knucklehead90]

Welcome to the forum.

I would doubt there would be very much difference in sound between these two if the source was connected the same way (analog, hdmi, etc.) and level matched.

I would lean toward the Denon for the Audyssey room correction over the YPAO from Yamaha.

+1
Audyssey is the proven winner when it comes to room correction equalization.

 

[bdub15]

Thanks for the input from the both of you. I'll definitely take that into consideration.

 

[3db]

Listen to both receivers to see if Auddessy is better than YPAO. If you can't tell, then choose the cheapest one of the two. I have a Yammy with YPAO and I'm more than satisifeid with its performance.

 

[agarwalro]

Focal Sib XL (C,L,R)
Polk PSW 110 Sub
Cambridge Soundworks Ensemble IV for rear

Since music makes up a majority of your listending, I would recommend not getting the Polk sub or Cambridge Rear speakers at this time. Instead, get only L and R fronts at this time and over time add speakers in this order, sub - center - sub #2 - rears. By staggering your purchase you can get the a better system without breaking the bank trying to achieve it in one shot.

Also, I believe the subs and rears while cost effective will not keep up with the Focals. You should reconsider them. If your music is mostly stereo listening, the rears are a non-issue. If you do any multichannel listening, it would be prudent to get rear speakers that are timber matched to the fronts.

 

[bdub15]

Since music makes up a majority of your listending, I would recommend not getting the Polk sub or Cambridge Rear speakers at this time. Instead, get only L and R fronts at this time and over time add speakers in this order, sub - center - sub #2 - rears. By staggering your purchase you can get the a better system without breaking the bank trying to achieve it in one shot.

Also, I believe the subs and rears while cost effective will not keep up with the Focals. You should reconsider them. If your music is mostly stereo listening, the rears are a non-issue. If you do any multichannel listening, it would be prudent to get rear speakers that are timber matched to the fronts.

Thanks for the advice. I actually have these speakers already - I know it's a bit of a patchwork system, but the speakers are artifacts of different phases in my life when I had less cash to throw at my sound system (started out with the Cambridge Soundworks Ensemble III's in my high school days, then was given the Polk subwoofer, then wound up going for the Focals when I was single and had some cash to spare). As I do mostly listen to music, I moved my Cambridge SW speakers to the rear and haven't bothered to upgrade them at this point.

I do however have a pair of Polk RM7's that I recently came into, and wasn't quite sure whether or not I should switch out the Cambridge SW with the Polks, or whether they'd make a difference.

Since you're being so gracious with your advice, which speakers would you suggest to match the Focals, out of curiosity?

Thanks again!

 

[agarwalro]

No reason to not use a mix-match set especially if you already have them.

which speakers would you suggest to match the Focals

It appears that there is no surround speaker made to go with the Sib XL. So, you will just need to get the same for surround duty, as shown in this package system...

http://lenwallisaudio.com/products/speakers/sub-sat-system/sibxl-cub2

 

[garage_logician]

Listen to both receivers to see if Auddessy is better than YPAO. If you can't tell, then choose the cheapest one of the two. I have a Yammy with YPAO and I'm more than satisifeid with its performance.

Me too, I have the 871 and love it.

 

[timoteo]

The argument that Audessey is the "best" auto calibration to be included into a receiver doesnt hold any water to me. I have owned 4 receivers in the last 3 years & each one had a different calibration system. I have owned & used: Audessey, MCACC, YPAO & HK's version (something like EZEQ)

in real world use they all did great & all sounded really good. I actually like my current setup the most (which most people do, so take that with a grain of salt) & it happens to be YPAO. A lot of people choose AVRs because of Audessey but i recommend looking at the overall feature set that is most important to you & then of course price. The auto cal setups will do pretty much the same exact thing. Even the new top of the line Audessey XT32 doesnt draw me in because ive heard it & it didnt sound any different than the previous Audessey systems.

Im not saying Audessey is bad or less in ANY way. I just dont think its really any better than the competition.

FYI: i think im spelling audessey wrong so forgive me :-o

 

[3db]

FYI: i think im spelling audessey wrong so forgive me :-o

NO WAY !!

 

[agarwalro]

Audessy is a company dedicated to audio processing. So, they create the technology/product and provide it to manufacturers to have included in electronics. The only reason to give Audessy auto-eq a "+1" over others is that, potentially their technology/product will have more research and design behind it than the competition. Whether this can be converted into measurable real world differences is a completely different aspect.

 

[PENG]

By my own experience, Denon AVRs all sound pretty much the same in pure direct but the entry levels have little power so depending on how much power you can get by with, the 1912 may or may not be a good bet for sound quality. Overall I prefer the Yamaha because it has preouts and that becomes useful should you ever need to add a power amp to your system in order to drive the potentially power hungry speakers you may want to upgrade to.

 

[bdub15]

By my own experience, Denon AVRs all sound pretty much the same in pure direct but the entry levels have little power so depending on how much power you can get by with, the 1912 may or may not be a good bet for sound quality. Overall I prefer the Yamaha because it has preouts and that becomes useful should you ever need to add a power amp to your system in order to drive the potentially power hungry speakers you may want to upgrade to.

Unfortunately, at this price point, the Yamaha does not have a preout. Actually, not sure that any receiver at this price point has preouts. Given the fact that I've got a baby on the way, I'm thinking that I may want to postpone the expensive upgrade to a power amp system as I'm sure at some point my kid will be curious about what the heck all those wires are in back of the TV are...

At some point though (perhaps in 16 years?), I'll probably finally build my dream system...

Thanks for the advice, all!

 

[Jeckler]

Did you mean to write V671?
Why not upgrade to a V871? Costco has them for $489 right now. You should be able to call a local warehouse and they can tell you if they stock it or the closest one that does. You won't find it on Costco's website. Even if you don't have a membership currently, buying one should still be cheaper than a 671, unless you can find it at Newegg for one of their insane $349 deals.
The Costco item number is 600071. I'm loving mine.

 

[Natter]

If you measure sound in AVR-1912 with the Audyssey, we note that this calibration system also has improved compared to older generations. The sound is not as boring and bland, but more immediate and fresh. Very good, but it’s been quite some time Audyssey typical, we like the very well-balanced front-rear balance.