Onkyo TX-RZ820 or ? for Elac UniFi

[SwedishChef]

Just joined the community after watching the videos for a few months. I really appreciate the measurement-based approach. I'm making some changes and am looking for some specific advice.

I'm lucky enough to be tweaking a secondary home theater set up in a 15' x 13' x 8' room that is unusual in that one "wall" is open to an adjoining room, so one of those dimension is somewhat arbitrary. I don't need to fill the adjoining area with sound, but obviously lacking a wall affects things, so I wanted to mention it. I will be using an existing Elac UniFi system with UF5, UB5, and UC5 speakers. (Inexpensive sub TBD, feel free to suggest.) I have tried the UniFi's out with various 2-channel amps and they seem to do much better with some decent amplification behind them. But because this is a secondary viewing area mostly using existing equipment, I'd like to keep costs low.

For a receiver I was considering the Onkyo TX-RZ820 which is currently available from a major online retailer for $399, which seems to be a 70% discount on MSRP since the new model is already out. I'd love to stay under $500 if I can get something that will do well with the Elacs. (And if I can't, I'd like to know that now, and what I DO need to do.) I'd also like to take advantage of a model closeout or November/Black Friday deal, but should mention that I am very hesitant to buy refurbished because I really don't enjoy dealing with testing/returns. (I've had too many weird problems of my own over the years like an old NAD sitting in my garage that has a channel cut out, but only after playing for about an hour... slow overheating or something.) The selection of the Onkyo brand is arbitrary - it just seems to be the biggest discount on a $1200-$1500 receiver, which seems to be where the amplifiers in the receiver start to get better (or should I say, "less bad," according to some ).

If it helps, I like the sound of the UniFi speakers, and tend to like flat-measuring speakers in general. (I have some old Paradigm Studio Reference 20's that measure very flat over a wide frequency range which I like.) If you force me choose what side I like to err on, I prefer a neutral to slightly warm sound. I like detail, but not at the price of harsh or bright sound. I don't expect to ever take this system beyond 5.1.

I would welcome any advice or suggestions regarding the receiver (and/or cheap/deal subwoofer well under $500 - I don't plan to go SVS, etc. for this one). Thank you.

 

[PENG]

Just joined the community after watching the videos for a few months. I really appreciate the measurement-based approach. I'm making some changes and am looking for some specific advice.

I'm lucky enough to be tweaking a secondary home theater set up in a 15' x 13' x 8' room that is unusual in that one "wall" is open to an adjoining room, so one of those dimension is somewhat arbitrary. I don't need to fill the adjoining area with sound, but obviously lacking a wall affects things, so I wanted to mention it. I will be using an existing Elac UniFi system with UF5, UB5, and UC5 speakers. (Inexpensive sub TBD, feel free to suggest.) I have tried the UniFi's out with various 2-channel amps and they seem to do much better with some decent amplification behind them. But because this is a secondary viewing area mostly using existing equipment, I'd like to keep costs low.

For a receiver I was considering the Onkyo TX-RZ820 which is currently available from a major online retailer for $399, which seems to be a 70% discount on MSRP since the new model is already out. I'd love to stay under $500 if I can get something that will do well with the Elacs. (And if I can't, I'd like to know that now, and what I DO need to do.) I'd also like to take advantage of a model closeout or November/Black Friday deal, but should mention that I am very hesitant to buy refurbished because I really don't enjoy dealing with testing/returns. (I've had too many weird problems of my own over the years like an old NAD sitting in my garage that has a channel cut out, but only after playing for about an hour... slow overheating or something.) The selection of the Onkyo brand is arbitrary - it just seems to be the biggest discount on a $1200-$1500 receiver, which seems to be where the amplifiers in the receiver start to get better (or should I say, "less bad," according to some ).

If it helps, I like the sound of the UniFi speakers, and tend to like flat-measuring speakers in general. (I have some old Paradigm Studio Reference 20's that measure very flat over a wide frequency range which I like.) If you force me choose what side I like to err on, I prefer a neutral to slightly warm sound. I like detail, but not at the price of harsh or bright sound. I don't expect to ever take this system beyond 5.1.

I would welcome any advice or suggestions regarding the receiver (and/or cheap/deal subwoofer well under $500 - I don't plan to go SVS, etc. for this one). Thank you.

I would wait for AVR-X3500H to go below $599 potentially on Black Friday.

 

[lovinthehd]

For less expensive subs perhaps consider the Dayton SUB1200/1500 models....I like Peng's suggestion, too.

 

[SwedishChef]

Thanks for the quick advice.

Rather than just ask, "Why," I decided to dig in, so I searched for the AVR-X3500H on the forum and read many of the other threads involving it. Let me summarize what I gleaned from it to see if it's in the ballpark:

1. The X3500H has higher quality room correction than most/all other receivers in its price range
2. The difference in power per channel for receivers offering 100-130 watts is too small to be relevant, amounting to only ~1-2db difference in volume, and is generally swamped by other issues like current reserves, amount of distortion near the limits of the amps, etc.
3. It was also thought to sound slightly better than other receivers in its class.
4. However, differences among receiver sound quality in the $1,000 - $3,500 price range from the major makers are relatively small - or perhaps imperceptible among many receivers in blind testing. (This surprised me - I expected not merely feature differences, but sound quality differences when leaping between $500, $1,000, $,2000, and $3,500. I also expected at least one maker to be generally better regarded, thought to be more musical, etc..)
5. There is no special reason for concern for the Elacs being 4 ohms and low sensitivity with receivers in the ~$1,000+ (MSRP) price range. Any of these receivers should be able to drive them to reasonable levels.

Am I overlooking something? Does the X3500H also measure better in general or have some other particular benefit?

If it were $399, like the Onkyo, or $450, I'd probably just order now. So I'm debating whether to buy sooner and save $200 and the time, but if the room correction is really that good, or I'm missing something else, I can hold out to see if there's a Black Friday sale. The lowest I've seen reported for the X3500H was $530, so that could happen again.

(Thanks, too for the Dayton sub recommendation - I'm still looking into that.)

 

[lovinthehd]

Just FWIW the difference in 100 to 130 wpc with all other things equal is only 1.1 dB Not sure I'd agree that just on price point an avr is particularly 4 ohm capable...

I have a coupla older Denons and have used a coupla others, too (have a Onkyo and a Sony in use as well in other setups). They work great for me, use a 3808 and 4520 currently. Pretty much any brand overall, as long as it delivers a decent feature set at the price I want at the time....