Recommendations

[Lilmo6868]

Hello I'm sure you've seen this question asked too many at times but I can't really find a definitive answer in any of the other threads ..
I'm not going to really consider myself as a newbie I've had a Harman Kardon receiver for over 8 years now and I have 6 Paradigm speakers and two subs..
I recently bought a 4K TV and I'm wanting to upgrade my receiver because I also have the DirecTV 4K box and I just bought a new 4K Samsung DVD player..
The only reason I'm looking to upgrade my receiver is because I have no HDMI on my receiver at all. Now keep in mind I'm not going to be running video through my receiver because I connect everything straight to the TV.. I guess my main question is is there a difference in the audio going through the HDMI versus coax and optic cable.
I guess I'm looking for recommendations on some good receivers preferably Denon Marantz or maybe even Harman Kardon or any other good ones out there that are capable of at least 7.2 or 9..2 or maybe even 11 (no other external amps )with a price range from $500 to $2,000. The Denon AVR 4520 6300 or 7300 or the Marantz 7007, 8 ,9 , 10, and7011 are just a few that I'm currently looking at.
Any and all recommendations pros and cons will be greatly appreciated thank you

 

[Pogre]

That's a pretty big variance on budget. For $2000 you can get a very nice receiver with a full set of preouts for future amplification. I have a Marantz SR6011 I bought from AC4L and it's pretty sweet. You could also look at Denon's X4300H. Lots of features and pretty much anything you need. Either one of those 2 are fantastic receivers. If you want to stretch that budget to the max you can get something that may not need any additional amplification at all.

I'd stay away from Harman. By all accounts I've seen, they're not what they used to be. I would also use HDMI and connect everything to the receiver and let it do your source switching. I only run 1 HDMI to my tv from my receiver. Everything works beautifully.

*Edit: Yamaha makes very good receivers also. I like Denon and Marantz because they use Audyssey for room correction and I like how it works in my room. The SR6011 I linked also comes with a 3 year warranty. That was the big selling point for me. $899 is an excellent price for what it is.

 

[Lilmo6868]

What is the biggest difference between the 6000 series and the 7000 series Marantz receivers.. forgive me for asking these questions but I'm looking over the 6011 and the 7011 and the only difference I see is 15 watts am I correct?

Are Denon and Marantz and onkyo in the same zip code as far as their quality compared to pricing goes are their components really compared to each other closely or do you prefer one over the other?
Onkyo seems a touch less in price with more power..

 

[Pogre]

I'm new to Marantz so this is my first go. Denon and Marantz are the same company, FWIW. They both use Audyssey for their room correction software and it works very well in my room. I'm a fan of their Dynamic EQ too. My last couple of AVR's were Denons and I had no issues with any of them.

The SR6011 is the nicest receiver I've owned. The build quality is better than I'm accustomed to, it's 10 lbs heavier than my previous and has Audyssey MultEQ XT32 and SubEQ. My system sounds better than it ever has (not because of any additional power, XT32 is a step up for me) and I'm super happy with it. The 7011 looks very similar, with a little more power (not enough to be anything noticeable) and it probably has a few more bells and whistles.

After all that, I will say I've owned 1 yamaha receiver and it performed flawlessly and sounded great. Yamaha makes very good receivers. Like I said earlier, I prefer Audyssey over YPAO.

Onkyo has fallen out of favor the last few years due to some faulty units and difficult service. I hear they're making amends, have stepped up the repairs and are issuing longer warranties. YMMV of course and all that, but I'd avoid Onkyo.

*Edit: You need to double your power to gain 3db. If your at 100 watts, you'll need 200 to increase 3 more db, then double that again for 3 more. If power becomes an issue, both have a full set of preouts you can add amplification to it down the road.

 

[Lilmo6868]

Really appreciate the input.. Kinda stuck on the yamaha 2060 ,the 6011 and the 7009

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

there are few more smaller differences between 6011 vs 7011
http://www.us.marantz.com/us/Products/Pages/ProductComparison.aspx?CatId=AVReceivers&ProductId=SR7011|SR6011
Also checkout this avs thread:
http://www.avsforum.com/forum/90-receivers-amps-processors/2450130-official-marantz-2016-nr-1607-sr-5011-6011-7011-owner-s-thread.html

 

[DigitalDawn]

The 12 Series Marantz receivers are on the way as well.

 

[TLS Guy]

Do not connect everything to the TV. Connect all the peripherals to the receiver, and then one HDMI out from receiver to TV.

Smart TVs are a dumb idea. You will not get the best audio quality using the TV as your switching source. If you do that, then your audio will be SPDIF optical out from the TV, or HDMI audio return which is a pain in itself. The bandwidth is not high enough in ether connection to get the best audio quality.

Once your TV is set up the only button you should need on the TV remote is the on off button. The only buttons I use on all my TVs is the on/off button. That is the best set up all round.

 

[Lilmo6868]

Do not connect everything to the TV. Connect all the peripherals to the receiver, and then one HDMI out from receiver to TV.

Smart TVs are a dumb idea. You will not get the best audio quality using the TV as your switching source. If you do that, then your audio will be SPDIF optical out from the TV, or HDMI audio return which is a pain in itself. The bandwidth is not high enough in ether connection to get the best audio quality.

Once your TV is set up the only button you should need on the TV remote is the on off button. The only buttons I use on all my TVs is the on/off button. That is the best set up all round.

Do not connect everything to the TV. Connect all the peripherals to the receiver, and then one HDMI out from receiver to TV.

Smart TVs are a dumb idea. You will not get the best audio quality using the TV as your switching source. If you do that, then your audio will be SPDIF optical out from the TV, or HDMI audio return which is a pain in itself. The bandwidth is not high enough in ether connection to get the best audio quality.

Once your TV is set up the only button you should need on the TV remote is the on off button. The only buttons I use on all my TVs is the on/off button. That is the best set up all round.

Oh no, that's not the way I have it.
Would never run the audio to tv then receiver...same reason kinda why I don't run video thru receiver then to Tv.. I'm old school, lol.. I believe the purest signal is to not interrupt it..... most all decent TVs have at least three HDMI inputs. I run my DirecTV box to one input and I run my DVD player into one input . That way if I don't want to turn the receiver on I can still watch and listen to anything and to me it's just the cleanest signal but like I said I'm on school .lol...
But with that being said I do understand if I get a new receiver with all the HDMI,s. ,I'm going to have to rethink that and more than likely run everything through the receiver and then to the TV

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Oh no, that's not the way I have it.
Would never run the audio to tv then receiver...same reason kinda why I don't run video thru receiver then to Tv.. I'm old school, lol.. I believe the purest signal is to not interrupt it..... most all decent TVs have at least three HDMI inputs. I run my DirecTV box to one input and I run my DVD player into one input . That way if I don't want to turn the receiver on I can still watch and listen to anything and to me it's just the cleanest signal but like I said I'm on school .lol...
But with that being said I do understand if I get a new receiver with all the HDMI,s. ,I'm going to have to rethink that and more than likely run everything through the receiver and then to the TV

TLS Guy is the very definition of old school, yet his words of wisdom are 100% on the money.
Run all of your sources HDMI outputs to AVR and then a single HDMI to TV.
This is the most pure and most capable way to deal with audio. Simple facts: Best Audio quality possible with Blu Ray disks - are DTS HD [& Master Audio] and Dolby HD are ONLY possible using HDMI connection.
HDMI cables carry both audio and video. Your AVR is the best place to switch and process them.

 

[PENG]

That's a pretty big variance on budget. For $2000 you can get a very nice receiver with a full set of preouts for future amplification. I have a Marantz SR6011 I bought from AC4L and it's pretty sweet. You could also look at Denon's X4300H. Lots of features and pretty much anything you need. Either one of those 2 are fantastic receivers. If you want to stretch that budget to the max you can get something that may not need any additional amplification at all.

I'd stay away from Harman. By all accounts I've seen, they're not what they used to be. I would also use HDMI and connect everything to the receiver and let it do your source switching. I only run 1 HDMI to my tv from my receiver. Everything works beautifully.

*Edit: Yamaha makes very good receivers also. I like Denon and Marantz because they use Audyssey for room correction and I like how it works in my room. The SR6011 I linked also comes with a 3 year warranty. That was the big selling point for me. $899 is an excellent price for what it is.

Agree, but the Denon X4300H has my vote if it cost just a little more. If the OP doesn't believe in Audyssey then the RX-A2060 is the way to go.

 

[TLS Guy]

Oh no, that's not the way I have it.
Would never run the audio to tv then receiver...same reason kinda why I don't run video thru receiver then to Tv.. I'm old school, lol.. I believe the purest signal is to not interrupt it..... most all decent TVs have at least three HDMI inputs. I run my DirecTV box to one input and I run my DVD player into one input . That way if I don't want to turn the receiver on I can still watch and listen to anything and to me it's just the cleanest signal but like I said I'm on school .lol...
But with that being said I do understand if I get a new receiver with all the HDMI,s. ,I'm going to have to rethink that and more than likely run everything through the receiver and then to the TV

Well you have to rethink old school in the digital age. You have to think bandwidth and the right place to process.

Back in the old days, I had to make a copy of my reel to reel live recordings, so I could razor blade edit and not worry about a bad mistake. However there is loss with every transfer in analog.

Now on my digital audio workstation, I can make as many copies as I want without degradation. I can have total confidence the quality of the copy I master is the same quality as the original.

Old school thinking would not be much good in this situation and get me precisely wrong, as it is with your set up.

 

[Lilmo6868]

Update
Went with the denon 6300 and i can honestly say so far it was money well spent...
My Harman Kardon AVR 85 was a beast , so I thought , but it is just simply amazing of what I was missing with the new formats and HDMIs.
In the midst of installing for overhead Atmos speakers as we speak.
Thanks everybody for the opinions in this thread and the other ones that I made

 

[Pogre]

Update
Went with the denon 6300 and i can honestly say so far it was money well spent...
My Harman Kardon AVR 85 was a beast , so I thought , but it is just simply amazing of what I was missing with the new formats and HDMIs.
In the midst of installing for overhead Atmos speakers as we speak.
Thanks everybody for the opinions in this thread and the other ones that I made

Got the big dog! Congratulations man. That's a serious receiver.

 

[Lilmo6868]

I'm sure it will take a few weeks to learn everything this thing will do. LOL

 

[Pogre]

I'm sure it will take a few weeks to learn everything this thing will do. LOL

Best thing you can do (after running setup), just dive into the menus with the manual handy so you can look stuff up and understand what it does before you change anything. We can help you here too, if you have questions. You'll have to experiment too. Not everyone likes the same settings.

Welcome to the rabbit hole!

 

[Lilmo6868]

Right now my main question is why does audyssey turn the subs so far down.?
Do people like Dynamic EQ in audyssey?
Audysee is just a helpful set up to and kind of like a EQ? Dolby Digital and everything else just uses the audyssey settings? Correct?

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Audyssey is going for a flat response. In this pic, the frequency response line is fairly flat(scale notwithstanding)
For most of us that means anemic sounding bass. Most of us just bump the subs 3-5db after calibration. I run mine 5db higher than audyssey and don't use dynamicEq.

 

[lovinthehd]

Right now my main question is why does audyssey turn the subs so far down.?
Do people like Dynamic EQ in audyssey?
Audysee is just a helpful set up to and kind of like a EQ? Dolby Digital and everything else just uses the audyssey settings? Correct?

What do you mean it turned the subs down? What level did you end up with? You started with the suggested 75dB level in the beginning? Or do you just normally have them turned "up"? Many of us just bump sub level up a few dB, I use from 2-4 dB depending....

I use DynamicEQ frequently (be sure to use it in conjunction with the Reference Level Offset (RLO) for music; for movies the default of 0 is fine, but for music -5 to -15 is suggested. Try this https://audyssey.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/212347383-Dynamic-EQ-and-Reference-Level

It is combined with a setup feature in most avrs to set basic levels and delays (distance) and will setup several eq curves, which you can turn on or off (Audyssey or Movie setting has a bit of roll-off at the high end, Music or Flat is a flat response, L/R Bypass will leave the L/R speakers as is and eq the surrounds accordingly). If Audyssey is on, then the sound modes (like Dolby Digital or the DTS sound modes) will use it.

 

[Joe B]

Right now my main question is why does audyssey turn the subs so far down.?
Do people like Dynamic EQ in audyssey?
Audysee is just a helpful set up to and kind of like a EQ? Dolby Digital and everything else just uses the audyssey settings? Correct?

If the subs volume level is set high (back of sub), audyssey would turn them down to match the output of the other speakers. If set low, it would increase the db of the sub to bring them up to the output level of the other speakers. How does the bass sound? Does it sound like it should be louder or are you just looking at the db reading after calibration and wondering why it's low?
As for "Dolby Digital and everything else", they all process before the receiver's amplifier output, so audyssey settings do not effect their sound processing.