New avr

[Reckel]

Need advice on purchasing a new avr. I’ve been looking at x4500h but I have no experience with denon. I currently have a Yamaha a860. Would the denon be better than the Yamaha?

 

[lovinthehd]

Why are you changing avr? What do you want in the new one that your old one lacks?

 

[Reckel]

I like the Yamaha for the most part. I’d like to add four in ceiling speakers for atmos but I can only add two on Yamaha and I don’t like that the Yamaha does not independently set sub distances, I have three vtf3 mk5s and one is directly behind my second row. It just sets one distance for all three

 

[Pogre]

The 4500 is a great receiver and the price is right on them lately too.

 

[Reckel]

I’d like to run 7.2.4, I do have an outlaw five channel amp hooked up and my front three are running off that. I may be able to add the second set of atmos speakers but I haven’t played with it yet to see if it’ll work with the Yamaha

 

[Reckel]

The 4500 is a great receiver and the price is right on them lately too.

Would you say it’s better than the Yamaha? Again I have no experience with denon so I have no idea if build quality is similar or performance. Also I’ve read that denons run hot

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Denon Better than Yamaha in terms of what?

Prices? Yes. We see Denon at ~50% off all the same.
Reliability? No.
Warranty Service? Hells no. Yamaha is better.
Operating Temperature? Hells no. Yamaha is significantly cooler.
HDMI Compatibility? No.
WiFi Remote App? Hells no.
WiFi Music streaming ? No.
Sound quality in Direct or Straight mode? No.
Manual EQ? No. Yamaha's Parametric EQ is better.
Down-sampling when using EQ? No. Yamaha does not down-sample at all.
Room Auto EQ (Audyssey vs YPAO)? I think most people would say yes.

On my Yamaha CX-A5100, I can set the distance and levels for my 2 subs independently. I don't know why you cannot do the same with your A860, unless those models were all like that a few years ago.

You might check out the thread on Denon/Marantz vs Yamaha vs Anthem.

Denon/Marantz vs Yamaha vs Anthem Thread

It seems DM, Yamaha, and Anthem are the 3 big AVR heavyweights these days. I think a lot of newbies would love to get some perspective on these three brands. What are their pros and cons? If you have owned all three brands of AVR, your opinions would be greatly appreciated. If you have at...

forums.audioholics.com

It depends on what's salient to you.

 

[Reckel]

Denon Better than Yamaha in terms of what?

Prices? Yes. We see Denon at ~50% off all the same.
Reliability? No.
Operating Temperature? Hells no. Yamaha is significantly cooler.
HDMI Compatibility? No.
WiFi Remote App? Hells no.
WiFi Music streaming ? No.
Sound quality in Direct or Straight mode? No.
Manual EQ? No. Yamaha's Parametric EQ is better.
Down-sampling when using EQ? No. Yamaha does not down-sample at all.
Room Auto EQ (Audyssey vs YPAO)? I think most people would say yes.

On my Yamaha CX-A5100, I can set the distance and levels for my 2 subs independently. I don't know why you cannot do the same with your A860, unless those models were all like that a few years ago.

You might check out the thread on Denon/Marantz vs Yamaha vs Anthem.

Denon/Marantz vs Yamaha vs Anthem Thread

It seems DM, Yamaha, and Anthem are the 3 big AVR heavyweights these days. I think a lot of newbies would love to get some perspective on these three brands. What are their pros and cons? If you have owned all three brands of AVR, your opinions would be greatly appreciated. If you have at...

forums.audioholics.com

It depends on what's salient to you.

The 860 cannot independently set sub distances, the one you have is way above mine. Now I’m not sure about the next two up from mine if you can. If the newer ones that are a couple steps up from can set independently then I’d go for another Yamaha

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

The 860 cannot independently set sub distances, the one you have is way above mine. Now I’m not sure about the next two up from mine if you can. If the newer ones that are a couple steps up from can set independently then I’d go for another Yamaha

I think you're right. Only the RX-A2000s/3000s and CX-A5000s allow for 2 separate subwoofer distances.

But does the Sub distance TRULY matter that much? Probably not.

 

[lovinthehd]

I like the Yamaha for the most part. I’d like to add four in ceiling speakers for atmos but I can only add two on Yamaha and I don’t like that the Yamaha does not independently set sub distances, I have three vtf3 mk5s and one is directly behind my second row. It just sets one distance for all three

You could add a minidsp unit to do even four different sub settings. That wouldn't take care of the Atmos thing, if you're sure about that aspect....

 

[Pogre]

Would you say it’s better than the Yamaha? Again I have no experience with denon so I have no idea if build quality is similar or performance. Also I’ve read that denons run hot

No, I would not say better than the Yamaha like ADTG alludes to above it depends. I prefer Audyssey MultEQ XT32 SubEQ room correction with the Denon and if you get the Editor app is closes the gap on any PEQ advantages Yamaha has.

Denons do run a bit on the warm side but proper clearance and/or a fan can take care of that. Yamaha does have a better rep for reliability but it's not like we see a lot of problems with Denon receivers either. They're very reliable.

As far as sound quality they are going to be equal in a pure/direct mode, with me giving a nod to Denon because I prefer Audyssey over YPAO and to my ears that makes Denon "sound" better than Yamaha. Factor that with the current pricing and the 4500 pulls pretty far into the lead imo

 

[Pogre]

I think you're right. Only the RX-A2000s/3000s and CX-A5000s allow for 2 separate subwoofer distances.

But does the Sub distance TRULY matter that much? Probably not.

With 3 subs and one of them being at the rear of the room? I'd say it matters more than the typical 2 up front most folks have.

 

[Reckel]

You can’t stream music on the denon

 

[Reckel]

You could add a minidsp unit to do even four different sub settings. That wouldn't take care of the Atmos thing, if you're sure about that aspect....

I think you and I have talked before about rew when I was looking for subs which I did download and played with it a little in December. I’ve looked into the minidsp but have no experience with that either so dk the learning curve with that

 

[Pogre]

You can’t stream music on the denon

You can't? You're gonna have to expand a little on that because I'm pretty sure you can stream music with the Denon.

 

[Reckel]

You can't? You're gonna have to expand a little on that because I'm pretty sure you can stream music with the Denon.

I’m asking if it can, I’m not saying that it does not

 

[Reckel]

You can't? You're gonna have to expand a little on that because I'm pretty sure you can stream music with the Denon.

Do you have a denon?

 

[Pogre]

I think you and I have talked before about rew when I was looking for subs which I did download and played with it a little in December. I’ve looked into the minidsp but have no experience with that either so dk the learning curve with that

There's a bit of a curve for sure, but once you get your arms around it you begin to intuit it and things get easier. I wouldn't want to not have one now that I do. It's had a significant impact with my bass response.

You do have to do some homework and there is some trial and error but you don't need a degree in physics or acoustics to learn. You downloaded REW but did you get a mic also? Have you done any test sweeps?

 

[Pogre]

Do you have a denon?

Currently I have a Marantz SR6011, (Marantz and Denon are owned by the same company) and they share a lot of the same tech, room EQ and internals. Very similar, if not identical power supplies can be found in both. If anything the 4500 might be a half step up from my 6011. I've owned 4 or 5 Denons (still have 1 of 'em) tho. This is my first Marantz, but it feels just like my Denons. Even the menus and how they're organized are the same.

 

[Reckel]

Currently I have a Marantz SR6011, (Marantz and Denon are owned by the same company) and they share a lot of the same tech, room EQ and internals. Very similar, if not identical power supplies can be found in both. If anything the 4500 might be a half step up from my 6011. I've owned 4 or 5 Denons (still have 1 of 'em) tho. This is my first Marantz, but it feels just like my Denons. Even the menus and how they're organized are the same.

Yea I did run some tests in December. I assume I was doing it correctly but it was my first time using it. Since the first of the year I have not even been down there because I’ve been working ot on all my days off. The 4500 looks better than my Yamaha but again I’ve had no experience with denon, just want to make right choice. Not sure if I should just keep Yamaha or switch to the denon