Denon AVR-X2200W vs Onkyo TX-NR6464

[soapboxpreacher]

So I am in the market for a new AV receiver and these two fit my budget. I currently have a Denon 2311ci that just lacks some features and I am looking to start building my 4K setup so the 2311ci will be on eBay shortly. My room is 18x18 with 8' ceilings. I currently have a 5.1 setup consisting over front klipsch reference 5.3I believe and kilpsch dipole 4.3 in the rear with an rc10 center. I also have a rythmik 12 port sub. My 2311ci is rated for 130 watts x7. I am first concerned that the x2200 might be under powered. But I like the feature set tremendously. I do like to turn it up some but not over board when we watch movies. It is purely a tv/movie setup, no music. I am planning on adding some ceiling speakers as well for my sides. I am trying to keep my expenses for the receiver under 700. The denon is on sale for 599 and the Onkyo is the same. The Onkyo is rated for 5 watts more. Power isn't as my driving factor as much as sound quality, sorround quality and 4K. I sorround fields and fullness, imaging and so on are my main points. Back in the day when I bought my 2311 I had a pioneer 1123k I tested along side the 2311 as well as a Yamaha and the denon clearly had the better fuller sound, better imaging, better dialogue and better fuller bass. So the other went back. Let me know what you guys think. Or if I should consider something else. Dts X/atoms seems like it would be wise to have considering my speaker layout with the two side ceiling so I believe I should be looking at units that support it. Once again let me know. Hope I gave you guys enough info. Thanks.

 

[PENG]

So I am in the market for a new AV receiver and these two fit my budget. I currently have a Denon 2311ci that just lacks some features and I am looking to start building my 4K setup so the 2311ci will be on eBay shortly. My room is 18x18 with 8' ceilings. I currently have a 5.1 setup consisting over front klipsch reference 5.3I believe and kilpsch dipole 4.3 in the rear with an rc10 center. I also have a rythmik 12 port sub. My 2311ci is rated for 130 watts x7. I am first concerned that the x2200 might be under powered. But I like the feature set tremendously. I do like to turn it up some but not over board when we watch movies. It is purely a tv/movie setup, no music. I am planning on adding some ceiling speakers as well for my sides. I am trying to keep my expenses for the receiver under 700. The denon is on sale for 599 and the Onkyo is the same. The Onkyo is rated for 5 watts more. Power isn't as my driving factor as much as sound quality, sorround quality and 4K. I sorround fields and fullness, imaging and so on are my main points. Back in the day when I bought my 2311 I had a pioneer 1123k I tested along side the 2311 as well as a Yamaha and the denon clearly had the better fuller sound, better imaging, better dialogue and better fuller bass. So the other went back. Let me know what you guys think. Or if I should consider something else. Dts X/atoms seems like it would be wise to have considering my speaker layout with the two side ceiling so I believe I should be looking at units that support it. Once again let me know. Hope I gave you guys enough info. Thanks.

Maybe take a chance on a refurbished unit that has pre-outs and equivalent power to your 2311ci?

http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/denavrx3200w/denon-avr-x3200w-7.2-atmos-full-4k-ultra-hd-a/v-receiver-wi-fi/bluetooth/airplay/1.html

 

[soapboxpreacher]

My 2311 is only 105watts per..so it isnt the 135 I thought. I should be ok. Just wondering if for the money the Denon is the best option in that price range. Im also curious about the DAC they use and the Upscale Chip for 4K. My experience in the past with the upscaling from Anchor Bay is terrible compared to Mervall Qdeo. The Qdeo is amazing!

 

[PENG]

My 2311 is only 105watts per..so it isnt the 135 I thought. I should be ok. Just wondering if for the money the Denon is the best option in that price range. Im also curious about the DAC they use and the Upscale Chip for 4K. My experience in the past with the upscaling from Anchor Bay is terrible compared to Mervall Qdeo. The Qdeo is amazing!

You will be better off letting you TV or media player to take care of upscaling. You can't expect a low to mid range AVR to do better. Neither my AV8801 or the Oppo 105 can do better than my TV.

The Denon 2311 is amazingly powerful, take a look of the following test result.

This graph shows that the AVR-2311CI’s left channel, from CD input to speaker output with two channels driving 8-ohm loads, reaches 0.1 percent distortion at 126.3 watts and 1 percent distortion at 154.3 watts. Into 4 ohms, the amplifier reaches 0.1 percent distortion at 154.6 watts and 1 percent distortion at 198.8 watts.

THD+N from the CD input to the speaker output was less than 0.005 percent at 1 kiloherzt when driving 2.83 volts into an 8-ohm load. Crosstalk at 1 kHz driving 2.83 volts into an 8-ohm load was –74.43 decibels left to right and –75.83 dB right to left. The signal-to-noise ratio with an 8-ohm load from 10 hertz to 24 kHz with “A” weighting was –112.12 dBrA.

Read more at http://www.soundandvision.com/content/denon-avr-2311ci-av-receiver-ht-labs-measures#64Ctv3CqWqGXbmRh.99

I highly doubt the X2200W will do as good but you won't notice the decrease in power of about 1dB either but aside from the new video features it will be a downgrade. To upgrade you need to step up the the X3200W, or the X3100W if you can forgo HDCP 2.2.

 

[soapboxpreacher]

I ended up ordering a 747 and a X2200W. Got them for very similar price. We will see who comes out victorious!

 

[selden]

The major advantage of the Denon over the Onkyo is its room EQ software. D+M still provides Audyssey. Onkyo dropped it in favor of their own (much less capable) AccuEQ.

 

[TheWarrior]

I ended up ordering a 747 and a X2200W. Got them for very similar price. We will see who comes out victorious!

Due to the inclusion of Atmos, those receivers effectively suffer a downgrade in amplifier performance to maintain costs.

All you did was buy a 'new' receiver. Take PENG's advice and buy an actual upgrade like the X3200W!

 

[soapboxpreacher]

So I got both setup and tried the Denon for a Day and the Onkyo for a Day. Early observations are: The Denon produces significantly better video. My picture detail, sharpness, and so on have improved!!! This I was not expecting at all!! So that video processor is either not degrading via pass thru or it is processing. Either way my picture looks AMAZING going thru the Denon! Ill take it! As for the Onkyo the picture when passing thru the HDMI gets degraded.. huge disappointment. As a long time Onkyo owner and one that got stung by the HDMI issues in the past this is really frustrating. Not that the picture is bad but there is a noticable difference. All thru the same cables and Samsung 65" HDTV. Now on to the sounds early observations. Dialogue is better on the denon...you get more detail and clarity. It isnt a big difference like the video differences but it is noticeable. Bass the onkyo is nothing short of amazing. I replayed tron legacy light cycle scene about 20x on both! The scene where the two go guys sandwich the bad guys bike! It is a rumbler!! My FV12 really rolled the floor. It was also more apparent during Star Wars ep 2 of the nubian craft enters the atmosphere as well as the seismic charge sequence. Have lots more listening to do. I do not like the calibration of the Onkyo AccuEQ is complete garbage!! It crossed my main at 120hz...we are talking about Klipsch RF52. They arent bookself speakers!!! I believe they should be xover to something in the neighborhood of 60-80hz. Audessey is significantly more accurate and more comprehensive!! These are early observation but the where also the obvious ones. The AccuEQ takes a few minutes where as the Audessey takes 20 mins with multiple measure positions. AccuEQ...one location? It also didnt crossover my towers correctly! Level were also very goofy! They should not have cut this corner! The Onkyo does have more balls but it is more like a bull in a china shop than somes powerful yet refined! The Denon which I thought was going to be inferior is actually my early favorite. I just need to see how I cant get my sub to perform better with it. I am going to post another thread on how to config my sub with the denon. I hope this is a case of a bad LFE port on the denon where I lose all my dynamics. The guys over at SVS have said in the past to watch for this. Know how my sub performs I believe I need to take a deeper look. More to come!