Narrowed choices down to 3 a/v receivers

[landonspop]

I know you sort of said you didn't need 6 inputs, but the 4300ES has only 3, it is the 5300ES that has 6.

http://www.hometheatermag.com/receivers/108sony4300/

I meant to put 5300. I hope this isn't the reason people didn't choose it. I just purchased the Denon 3808 for $1200 out the door.
I haven't opened the box yet, but want to use it for SB tommorow. Should I have gotten the Sony 5300 instead??

 

[bandphan]

great choice, enjoy>

 

[brulaha]

What's wrong with the Onkyo? They have a good track record, every bit as good as Denon. It seems to me it has a lot going for it.

In my opinion, heres whats wrong with the Onkyo:

A) It runs hot. We all know that heat destroys electronics. I tend to keep gear for at least 5 years, and I leave it on all the time. I just can't fathom that kind of heat build up over long periods of times not doing damage to the unit.

B) There are known problems with speaker popping. There are just too many testimonials on top of which Onkyo was shipping with a piece of paper saying this was normal operation. Bear in mind, this was not relays popping in the receiver. This happens in all receivers. This was the receiver sending a pop to the speakers, commiserate with the volume. If you volume was up loud, you get a loud pop.

C) The units seem to take a really long time to lock onto signals, and don't stay locked when you skip chapters etc. This isn't a huge deal, but it think it's past the point of a minor annoyance when the delays are this long.

D) It lacks a true GUI. With the depth of menu systems these days, it's really nice to have a comfortable way to navigate the receiver. Old OSD's just aren't cutting it anymore. With as much as I interact with and tweak the settings for various program material, this is a big deal to me.

Those are my major issues with Onkyo's new line. They are by no means a bad product. For the money they are the most competitive receiver out there. However, I don't think they are the best, especially when you are not using most of the amps in the unit. I only use the rear channel amps, and as such, the feature set was much more important than the power output. Even still, I don't think there is a massive difference the power output between these to units. I don't think power output should be the deciding factor.

 

[PENG]

I meant to put 5300. I hope this isn't the reason people didn't choose it. I just purchased the Denon 3808 for $1200 out the door.
I haven't opened the box yet, but want to use it for SB tommorow. Should I have gotten ths Sony 5300 instead??

The 3808 would have been my choice too.

 

[Seth=L]

A) It runs hot. We all know that heat destroys electronics. I tend to keep gear for at least 5 years, and I leave it on all the time. I just can't fathom that kind of heat build up over long periods of times not doing damage to the unit.

There is no good reason to leave your gear on all the time, that could be rendered by shutthing your gear down.

Graphic GUI's are for newbs. The popping and delays I could deal with, they are minor annoyances, not problems with the equipment.

 

[PENG]

What's wrong with the Onkyo? They have a good track record, every bit as good as Denon. It seems to me it has a lot going for it.

I didn't say there was anything wrong. It does seem to offer the best value for the money right now. I prefer the 3808 because it is a proven product. If you look at the specifications of the 3803,5,6,7,8, they are very similar. The main differences are in the features department only. You are right, Onkyo has a good track record, but the 805, 875 are quite different from their predecessors. For one thing, they reportedly run hotter, and are much heavier. May be it is all for the better, but IMHO only time will tell.

 

[landonspop]

I had no problems with the Onkyo name, but I do question why it is priced so low if it equals higher priced units. It is on sale for $899 at CC. My first amp was an Onkyo that my mother in law still uses today. I went to buy a Pioneer or Kenwood, like most of my friends had, and the salesman convinced me to get Onkyo, which at the time, was a new company selling equal or even better items for less money than the comp (1977ish). I got the amp, dd cassette p/r and a direct drive turntable and Boston Acoustics speakers that I still have. All for $600 hard earned $. I remember I couldn't afford 3 way speakers, so I was showed the 2 way speaker BA's because they were rated ahead of many 3 way spkrs.

They shouldn't need to price their items below equal competition today without a reason. This is why I stayed away this time. I could be wrong.

I picked the Denon because I thought it would have greater resale value. I still have 3 old recievers that still work fine. I think I need to start trading equipment right before they go obsolete.

 

[Seth=L]

What Bostons where they?

 

[landonspop]

What Bostons where they?

They are in my attic. They were about 3.5' tall and 10" deep and pretty heavy. They were in wood cabinets. I only remember they had a 10" woofer and a tweeter that had a soft touch to the center. I think it was called domed.

 

[Davidt1]

Onkyo is a good brand. However, they might have rushed their first-generation truehd sound receivers to the market. Those who think Onkyo can do no wrong only has to look at the numerous problems posted over at AVS.

 

[brulaha]

My point exactly. They are good products and as long as you buy informed, that's fine. But I hate hate hate it when people continue to say "oh it's the best" at a given price point without pointing out it has some serious short comings.

 

[landonspop]

What Bostons where they?

For some reason A100's just came to my mind.

here is an example

http://ames.craigslist.org/ele/530647718.html

 

[bandphan]

Onkyo is a good brand. However, they might have rushed their first-generation truehd sound receivers to the market. Those who think Onkyo can do no wrong only has to look at the numerous problems posted over at AVS.

the rush to be first has been their moniker. in the avr dept i think this can come with a price, but time will prove it.

 

[mtrycrafts]

I had no problems with the Onkyo name, but I do question why it is priced so low if it equals higher priced units. .

Lower price should sell more. Market economics.

Higher price is not a guarantee of anything, except that it costs more.

 

[mtrycrafts]

...and are much heavier. ...

Where is what's his name He likes his by the lbs.

 

[Seth=L]

Where is what's his name He likes his by the lbs.

If you are refering to me, I use it along with other factors a helpful determinate of how much grunt a receiver might have. At the moment I am using a 10 pound Teac CR-H220, hardly what you would expect from me.

 

[Seth=L]

They are in my attic. They were about 3.5' tall and 10" deep and pretty heavy. They were in wood cabinets. I only remember they had a 10" woofer and a tweeter that had a soft touch to the center. I think it was called domed.

I have the HD10s, which are a follow up on that A series. I enjoy them very much. They have a 1" tweeter and 6.5" woofer with 10" passive radiator in a sealed cabinet, they sound so sweet.

 

[Sesquipedalian]

Seth=L

This is not my opinion as I have no experience with the Onkyo!s. I know there has been comments about the video processing on them not being anything to write home about. I saw a pro review that claimed the pulldown did not seem to work well leaving jagged edges and I saw another mention in a couple places about video processing although one mentioned receivers in general can have that fault. I recall one mentioned that you have to go to the 875 to do better. Whether or not there is actually a problem or if they are any worse than others I do not know but that has been stated.

Another comment that is not meant to argue with your statement but just to let you know what some are telling customers. I have been told by different people in different stores that you should leave the receiver on all the time because turning it on and shutting it down can cause the solder joints to fail over time. Once again that may not be true but I know for a fact that different places tell people that.

 

[PENG]

If you are refering to me, I use it along with other factors a helpful determinate of how much grunt a receiver might have. At the moment I am using a 10 pound Teac CR-H220, hardly what you would expect from me.

I thought he might be thinking of buckeyefan1. If I remember correctly he uses 33 lbs as the threshold.

I know you also use other factors/indicators, and so do I. Weight of a receiver is largely dependent on the power supply transformer and heat sinks, so different types of transformer core material and heat sinks used will have a major impact. Amplifier design is an obvious factor. An amplifier that produces more heat will need larger heat sinks and may be even a bigger box. Manufacturers such as HK, who rate the all channel driven output close to the 2 channel output will be heavier because of the need for heavier transformer, heat sinks and the resulting beefier enclosure. Typically their (such as HK, NAD) individual channel output is not any higher, in fact lower in the case of HK, than the products of their competitors within the same price bracket. I guess I agree weight is a good indicator but a heavier unit is not necessarily better or more powerful than a lighter unit because of other important factors.

 

[Seth=L]

I thought he might be thinking of buckeyefan1. If I remember correctly he uses 33 lbs as the threshold.

I know you also use other factors/indicators, and so do I. Weight of a receiver is largely dependent on the power supply transformer and heat sinks, so different types of transformer core material and heat sinks used will have a major impact. Amplifier design is an obvious factor. An amplifier that produces more heat will need larger heat sinks and may be even a bigger box. Manufacturers such as HK, who rate the all channel driven output close to the 2 channel output will be heavier because of the need for heavier transformer, heat sinks and the resulting beefier enclosure. Typically their (such as HK, NAD) individual channel output is not any higher, in fact lower in the case of HK, than the products of their competitors within the same price bracket. I guess I agree weight is a good indicator but a heavier unit is not necessarily better or more powerful than a lighter unit because of other important factors.

I agree, so weight is not the only factor I use. A company's reputation, and amplifier type are other factors. If the manufacturer supplies the public with a VA rating, as well as capacitance, it is helpful. They generally don't have the capacitance, but you can always peek under the hood to find that.