Hi, Shek.
Integra's products are very literally Onkyo products in a different case. The internals are identical. If there's any value what-so-ever in Integra products, it is in the fact that they are really only sold by custom installers, and those custom installers make most of their money from installing the components for you and setting things up for you. In other words, if you really do not want to "do it yourself" in any way, you're more likely to find a local custom installer who will almost certainly carry and sell Integra branded products.
In some cases, the Integra version will also include a couple of things that make them more "installer friendly", such as RS-232 ports, more IR extender ports, more 12Volt triggers. Those sorts of things. You can basically just look at the back panel of the Integra model and compare it to the Onkyo model to see if the Integra version has a couple of extra plugs
But all of the really important stuff is indentical between the two brands. It's very much like Ford and Lincoln - same engines, same computer systems, same engineering, just different shells and finishes, and the Lincoln version might have a couple extra bells and whistles, but nothing fundamentally different.
If you want to actually set things up yourself, and not hire a custom installer to do it for you, then there's really no reason at all to pay the higher price for the Integra name.
I actually consider anything in the sort of $1000 and up range to be a higher budget than what most folks are looking to spend. So I wasn't thinking you had a small budget
But even if you've got plenty of cash, I don't know anyone who likes to waste it! There's still value to consider, and even if you have the ability to spend more, I don't know too many folks who just want to spend more because they can - especially if it doesn't get them any gains in performance!
It's important to note that the whole THX Certification labels situation is not about "levels". THX Ultra is not "better" than THX Select. Although it obviously SOUNDS that way, doesn't it? No, THX Ultra actually just means that the product is certified for a larger room than THX Select products. THX Select products are certified to have enough output to properly handle a "medium" sized room with a seating distance up to 12 feet. THX Ultra is for "large" rooms with a seating distance greater than 12 feet.
Naturally, that tends to mean that THX Ultra certified receivers have more amplifier power and THX Ultra speakers are capable of higher output levels than their THX Select counterparts. But that doesn't make them "better". Just louder
But here's the real trick - while the TX-NR1010 has slightly more amplifier power and thus has THX Ultra2 Plus certification vs. the THX Select2 Plus certified TX-NR818, for the difference in price, you could afford to purchase the Emotiva XPA-3 amplifier. And the XPA-3 amp has considerably more power than the TX-NR1010! So even if you have a large room and sit farther than 12 feet away, the combo of the TX-NR818 plus the Emotiva XPA-3 amp will be better equipped to handle LOUD output levels than the TX-NR1010 on its own.
So to me, the way to come at this is by deciding what features you want. That's going to determine which AV Receiver is the best choice for you. After that, you can add external amplification to any of them if their internal amps can't quite handle your room size and seating distance and playback loudness.
As mentioned before, Onkyo's receivers do tend to run hot for a lot of people. Unburdening the front 3 channel amps (which is where the vast majority of the power is needed) by using an external amp completely takes care of that. And Onkyo's receiver amps can easily handle powering the surround speakers. So there's no real need and no real value in using external amps for anything other than the front 3 speakers. Again, you have the budget to add more amps or buy a more expensive receiver if you want to. But why spend more if you're not gaining anything by it? This really is the trap that a lot of people fall into with higher end audio. Spending more does NOT always get you improved performance. So I prefer to spend wisely, not spend more than will net you a benefit, and if you have money left over, there are PLENTY of other, better ways to improve your sound, such as acoustic room treatments, getting yourself a good measurement microphone setup so that you can properly measure the sound in your room, decoupling your subwoofers and speakers, or really going whole hog and improving the sound isolation (soundproofing) of your listening room.
You can go nuts with speakers and amps. The sky's the limit in terms of price and crazy designs! But the room itself is a full 50% of your audio system. So it makes ZERO sense to me to go spending tens of thousands of dollars on speakers and amps, but leave the room acoustics neglected. Speakers and your room make the biggest differences in audible sound. Amps come way, way behind those two components. I'm not saying there's no difference and improvements to be had in amps. Gene is all excited because his $50,000 RBH towers are revealing amplifier differences in his fully acoustically treated room! But that's a
surprise , even to him, because that's how little of a difference amplifiers usually make
And the Status Acoustics speakers are monsters that can suck up insane amounts of power, so they'll reveal the differences in amps that really only come into play at the extremes of their output capabilities. Your Paradigms aren't going to stress any decently built amps in anywhere close to the same way.
If you wanna go nuts, there are certainly a lot of great amps to consider beyond the very affordable Emotiva XPA-3 - including Emotiva's own 500 Watt Monoblock $1000/each XPA-1 amps, which are rather sublime by any standard. But I'd also look at some ATI and Anthem amps as well.
In terms of the AV Receiver acting as your pre-amp though, base your decision on features. It makes no sense to spend the extra for the TX-NR1010 over the 818 if you don't need or want any of its very slight upgrades in features (dual independent HDMI outputs, dual independent subwoofer EQ, 1 extra HDMI input). You'll get bigger gains by adding the external Emotiva XPA-3 amp right away, and the price basically ends up the same!
And unless you think you'll ever want an 11 speaker setup (which I personally find completely useless and frivolous), there's no reason to consider the 3010. And certainly not the 5010, which really is just in the lineup for the "more money than sense" crowd.
I know it can be a bit tough to look at the higher prices and accept that there's really nothing of value being offered for the higher price tag. We've all been trained throughout our whole lives to believe that "you get what you pay for". But in cases like this, it's more a matter of, "we're selling a lot fewer of these more expensive models, so we need to make a higher percentage profit on each one that we DO sell." You're not getting
nothing for the higher price tag. There are a few extra features, or more amp channels. Those sorts of things. But those, on their own, do not justify the jump in price. It's the economies of scale that are making the prices jump up the way they do from model to model.
All that said, I certainly think extremely highly of the Denon AV Receivers as well. I happen to actually like the THX listening modes, which the Onkyo receivers have and the Denons do not. I like Marantz a lot too (they're owned by the same parent company as Denon and share the same factories), but you won't find Audyssey MultEQ XT32 in the Marantz lineup, and I'm a VERY big fan of that EQ program.
So it all just boils down to the TX-NR818 having all of the features that *I would look for and recommend. I personally see no value in the 9 or 11 speaker setups. And the 818 combined with an Emotiva XPA-3 can play louder, run cooler, and sound better than the TX-NR1010 on its own, while basically totalling up to the same price! THX Ultra2 Plus is not "better" that THX Select2 Plus. That's strictly the rating for the room size and listening distance, which the XPA-3 more than makes up for. The ONLY real reason to get the 1010, IMO, is if you really want those dual independent HDMI outputs instead of the mirrored dual HDMI outputs of the 818. That's not much of a feature to spend an extra $700 for
So I hope that makes sense. But yeah, Denon's got their new AVR-4520CI coming out soon, which is a beast. There's the AVR-4311CI that's already been mentioned. You can't go "wrong" with any of these. If you've got the money and one model just tickles your fancy, heck! I'm not gonna turn my nose up at them! I'd GLADLY take any of them!
But just in terms of getting what you need, not spending hundreds or thousands extra on stuff that you don't, AND getting more and better power where it really counts (the front 3 speakers), I just don't think there's any better VALUE than the 818 + XPA-3 combo. And given that you'd be spending less at the outset with that combo, it'll certainly leave you room to play with different amps in the future without ever feeling like you "wasted" money on the XPA-3. AND you could spend some of the money you save on improving your room acoustics, which will make a much larger difference.
Hope that helps!
