HK AVR745 Replacement Help

[strevellick]

New guy on the block here looking for some advice.

I have an old Harman Kardon AVR745 unit. I want to get a replacement for it but not sure what would be good. Here are some point that may narrow down my search:

1. Budget ~$1,000
2. Mostly DTS movies / concerts (streamed from WDTV Live)
3. Paradigm center and fronts, bose rear, 1-10" sub, 1-15" sub.
4. Multi-room would be nice, but not required.
5. Air-Play (stream music from iPad)

I have looked into Marantz, Denon, Onkyo, and Yamaha. So many units to review. Decided to come here after three days on and off of reading.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Shawn

 

[Lulimet]

I am guessing you are looking for the newer features that today's receivers have?
The AVR745 is really loved by the HK fans.

Anything from the brands you mentioned would do fine but if it were me, I would probably choose a Yamaha simply because their failure rate seems to be lower than the others.
Also, I may be wrong, but I don't think Onkyo receivers have Airplay capability.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Call Electronics Expo on the phone, talk to a live person, and see if he can sell you a new Denon X4000 for $950 shipped. They also have a "open box LIKE-NEW" X4000 for $900. But ask for brand new for $950.

The new Denon X4100 model will be coming out later this year, so prices on the X4000 may drop even more.

 

[strevellick]

@Lulimet: For me, the HK has been an incredible unit. Definitely no complaints. I have had it for a long time and it still works well. I want to take advantage of some newer technology, you are correct.

@AcuDefTechGuy: I will give that a go. I will look into the Yamaha and Denon's more closely.

Thanks for the feedback guys!

 

[strevellick]

@AcuDefTechGuy: Regarding the Denon's, I found both the x3000 and x4000. The two systems seem to vary mostly by a bit of power and more connections. I found the x3000 for only $599. Is there a bonus in your opinion for getting the x4000 for the extra $$$? I do not need all the extra zones or monitor outs it offers. I am not sure if there is an internal hardware difference I may have missed.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

@AcuDefTechGuy: Regarding the Denon's, I found both the x3000 and x4000. The two systems seem to vary mostly by a bit of power and more connections. I found the x3000 for only $599. Is there a bonus in your opinion for getting the x4000 for the extra $$$? I do not need all the extra zones or monitor outs it offers. I am not sure if there is an internal hardware difference I may have missed.

The X4000 gives you a lot more potential and versatility.

For one thing, it has Audyssey XT32 + dual Sub EQ + DEQ.

I have a Denon AVP-A1HDCI and AVR-5308. Both are awesome, but only have Audyssey XT + single Sub EQ (not XT32 + dual Sub EQ). If I wanted to upgrade to these features, I would have to pay Denon about $1,200 alone. So the fact that you could get the X4000 from Electronics Expo for probably $950 (or less in a few months when the X4100 comes out) is a great deal IMO.

The X4000 can also be used as a pre-pro (using external amps) if you need the extra power in the future.

So to me (owning the Denon AVP-A1HDCI & AVR-5308CI), the X4000 is worth the money over the X3000.

But perhaps to some people, the it is not worth the money.

 

[Adam]

Welcome to the forum!

Personally, I'm a Pioneer fan because I like their MCACC auto calibration better than Audyssey - almost exclusively because it can store more than one configuration (and I have three distinctly different listening positions).

I haven't used a modern Yamaha (my only one was a unit that I bought in 1997), so I can't speak to their new offerings. I did audition some last year from Denon (AVR-E400), Onkyo (TX-NR626), and Marantz (NR1504 and NR1604). The best bang-for-the-buck out of all of those was the Onkyo. Great power, more connections, better remote - just a good overall receiver. Those Marantz models have an outstanding form factor with the shorter chassis, but they don't have the power of the other two.

All of those receivers use the same Audyssey system, which isn't as advanced as the systems in the X3000 and X4000. That's one potentially big difference between the X3000 and the X4000 - the 4000 has Audyssey SubEQ for subwoofer equalization, and a more advanced Audyssey system overall. (EDIT - ADTG already posted that while I was typing. )

One reason to look at this year's offerings is HDMI 2.0, but that's only important if you are going to be passing 4K video through your receiver. The models that you're looking at from last year can pass 4K video, but not at as fast of a frame rate. For a lot of folks, that change won't be worth the extra money and they can save some cash buying last year's models.

 

[strevellick]

@AcuDefTechGuy: Again, excellent information. This is exactly why I came here.

@Adam: Thanks Adam. I looked at those models as well and originally was looking at the Marantz 5008 model. After reading several reviews, I simply got lost. There is a good chance I will go with the x4000, but I am still open to other opinions. I will not buy for another two weeks in order to give me more time to read and review. So far this has been a great start.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

@AcuDefTechGuy: Again, excellent information. This is exactly why I came here.

@Adam: Thanks Adam. I looked at those models as well and originally was looking at the Marantz 5008 model. After reading several reviews, I simply got lost. There is a good chance I will go with the x4000, but I am still open to other opinions. I will not buy for another two weeks in order to give me more time to read and review. So far this has been a great start.

I also wanted to add that Onkyo used to have the least expensive unit with Audyssey XT32. I'm not sure if the Onkyo has dual Sub EQ or single. But now Onkyo has eliminated Audyssey altogether (which I think is a cataclysmic mistake ). Well, actually, I would never buy Onkyo to begin with.

So the Denon X4000 is now the least expensive unit with Audyssey XT32 + dual Subwoofer EQ, especially if you can get it for $950 or less.

You might also read about Audyssey. Big advanced expensive systems from IMAX movie theaters and Phase Technology DARTs speaker systems also use Audyssey.

 

[strevellick]

@AcuDefTechGuy In a moment of weakness I ended up buying a Marantz SR7007 from Future Shop. I got a demo there for $800. They did not have any Denon x4000 in stock. I am going to try this out for a while and see how it goes. I have 30 days to return it.Thanks for all your help.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

@AcuDefTechGuy In a moment of weakness I ended up buying a Marantz SR7007 from Future Shop. I got a demo there for $800. They did not have any Denon x4000 in stock. I am going to try this out for a while and see how it goes. I have 30 days to return it.Thanks for all your help.

Amazon has the SR7007 brand new for $999.

It should be very good, but probably more comparable to the older Denon 3313 because it has Audyssey XT + single sub EQ, whereas the X4000 has Audyssey XT32 + dual sub EQ.

 

[GIEGAR]

@AcuDefTechGuy In a moment of weakness I ended up buying a Marantz SR7007 from Future Shop. I got a demo there for $800. They did not have any Denon x4000 in stock. I am going to try this out for a while and see how it goes. I have 30 days to return it.Thanks for all your help.

The Marantz will be good but the Denon X4000 will be better, especially for two subs.

The consensus of users that have experienced both Audyssey XT and Audyssey XT32 (with SubEQ HT) is that XT32 does a significantly better job of providing an auto EQ solution. This is due to it's greater filter resolution for subs and "satellites". Also, SubEQ HT also does a much better job of setting up two subs by doing the additional step of "pinging" and measuring them simultaneously and calculating EQ filters based on the combined response. This is particularly important when you have disparate &/or asymmetrically placed subs.

Flavors of MultEQ | Audyssey

Perhaps you can source a Denon X4000 within the 30 day return period and directly compare the two? The loser is sent packing!

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

The Marantz will be good but the Denon X4000 will be better, especially for two subs.

The consensus of users that have experienced both Audyssey XT and Audyssey XT32 (with SubEQ HT) is that XT32 does a significantly better job of providing an auto EQ solution. This is due to it's greater filter resolution for subs and "satellites". Also, SubEQ HT also does a much better job of setting up two subs by doing the additional step of "pinging" and measuring them simultaneously and calculating EQ filters based on the combined response. This is particularly important when you have disparate &/or asymmetrically placed subs.

Flavors of MultEQ | Audyssey

Perhaps you can source a Denon X4000 within the 30 day return period and directly compare the two? The loser is sent packing!

Yeah, I would get the X4000 for sure for XT32 + dual Sub EQ HT.

But I think we have emphasized that.