Denon2807 Vs. NAD T744

[Mike834]

Went to a NAD dealer the other day and listen to the T744. Told him that I was comparing it to the Denon 2807 and that was it. I basicly got a 5 minute sales pitch why The Nad was better then the denon. Had more true wattage per channel less useless electronics...ect. I personly think both sound fine. The denon just seems to offer more has great reviews. Any thoughts? Any other receivers I should look at?

 

[Seth=L]

Ehem,

So the dealer tells you the NAD is better, because (long list of BS reasons), you seem to think both sound fine. I think you should go with your gut feeling, if both sound good to you and the Denon presents the better value (it most certainly does), well you decide.

I think that most dealers truly believe the things that spew from their mouths, and would defend their beliefs like no other, so I wouldn't go back and question them on their turf. You can't help those that don't want to be helped right?

The T744 is 5.1 only, has no HDMI features, less audio video switching abilities, no upconversion, has preouts but you can't use the preouts without completely disabling the amplifier, no auto set-up, no multi-zone capability, and much more I am sure, all of which the Denon does do.

The "less circuitry" thing is kind-of a real concern, but not really. Electricity travels to fast for humans to detect any of those "slow" thingers. The "more real power" is a joke. Most receivers are rated with one or two channels driven because they know that it isn't likely that all channels will be demanded of large amounts of wattage. Most of the time you are doing about 5-10 watts per channel at very respectable volumes. The Denon is a very capable receiver and should have no trouble driving most speakers.

Just curious, how much is the T744 and the Denon where you are shopping?

 

[Mike834]

Price...

T744- $799.99. Denon- 2807 $779-1099 online

 

[Seth=L]

T744- $799.99. Denon- 2807 $779-1099 online

If you can get the Denon for under $800 it wipes the T744 in its own fecal matter.

Good luck,

Seth=L

 

[edmcanuck]

Get the Denon. Hands down the better option for all of Seth=L's reasons and more. Audyssey is a marvel and reason enough to go Denon; you'll notice the difference when you set it up in your room. NAD's are notoriously unreliable. Power-wise Denon comes pretty close to its advertised ratings. As already stated, you'll only be running a few watts in any event so that's pretty much a non-issue.

 

[PENG]

Went to a NAD dealer the other day and listen to the T744. Told him that I was comparing it to the Denon 2807 and that was it. I basicly got a 5 minute sales pitch why The Nad was better then the denon. Had more true wattage per channel less useless electronics...ect. I personly think both sound fine. The denon just seems to offer more has great reviews. Any thoughts? Any other receivers I should look at?

I am sure NAD makes good stuff, but in NA you invariably pay a premium for them. Reasons: higher margin, foreign made. Also, Denon mass produces those 2807, 3807 models and are therefore naturally more cost effective (hence competitive) than NAD's comparable models.

 

[mouettus]

A vote for the nad here. I don't think you can't miss the difference between the sounds except if you're not a hard listener. There's a big difference. The NAD sounds way smoother and warmer, which is good for music. On the other side, the denon represents the top-notch-bells-and-whistles competitor. Good audio and video controls. The thing is that I don't think those 2 models can compare. I think the denon is better performance whise. As other stated, NAD comes from the UK, hence the price. I'd go for the denon for your use because you can't seem to find the difference but I'd personnaly go for the NAD for its musicality.

N.B. I must admit disabling the whole amplifier is bogus if you want to use an external amplifier.

 

[bommai]

You can buy a T754 for $799 now or is that $999. I don't remember. NAD amps, pre-amps are top notch. My brother has the amp/pre-amp and it was head and shoulders above my Denon 2803. In fact, I just bought a H/K AVR 645 and it kills the Denon. The new NAD T755 also has Audessey and I am sure that it will be awesome. NADs had a particular model (I believe the T753) that had reliability issues. Historically, they don't have that much reliability issues.

As a person that has listened to Denon, NAD, H/K, Onkyo, etc I can totally tell you that NAD is awesome, especially if you listen to music also. H/K is the same way. Recently I tested an Onkyo 804 vs the H/K 645 and for music, the H/K just killed the Onkyo.

 

[Seth=L]

I'd personnaly go for the NAD for its musicality.

N.B. I must admit disabling the whole amplifier is bogus if you want to use an external amplifier.

That is because they are old school, they have jumpers.

I am going to kind-of disagree about the "musicality" of NAD. I do listen pretty darn intently and I gotta say I don't notice a difference in SQ between the Denons or NADs (ha, nads) or the Yamahas, Onkyos, Pioneers and so on.

Now, when pressed to higher volumes (lets say you are listening to same jazz with a good bass line) and you start encroaching on 60 watts per channel or so (probably peaking up to over 100 quite a bit) the NAD may actually sound cleaner. It has the ability to handle 4 ohm loads and probably lower for short periods of time. The Denon can handle it as well, but not with the same amount of control (slight clipping). It always helps to have large reservoir caps and a meatier power supply for that type of listening (music listening mostly)

For movies and moderate level music listening you won't really be able to tell the two apart.

 

[hongxxxx]

That is because they are old school, they have jumpers.

I am going to kind-of disagree about the "musicality" of NAD. I do listen pretty darn intently and I gotta say I don't notice a difference in SQ between the Denons or NADs (ha, nads) or the Yamahas, Onkyos, Pioneers and so on.

Now, when pressed to higher volumes (lets say you are listening to same jazz with a good bass line) and you start encroaching on 60 watts per channel or so (probably peaking up to over 100 quite a bit) the NAD may actually sound cleaner. It has the ability to handle 4 ohm loads and probably lower for short periods of time. The Denon can handle it as well, but not with the same amount of control (slight clipping). It always helps to have large reservoir caps and a meatier power supply for that type of listening (music listening mostly)

For movies and moderate level music listening you won't really be able to tell the two apart.

Yo, i recently bought tis NAD t744 @RM2800.

What i can say is, this is real nice stuff, it sound so dynamic and depth. Surround processing is fantastic, have more than enuff watts, although theres limitation which is technology sense, it doesnt ahve HDMI , thx,...etc.. But for a 5.1 system, tis is the best you could expect for durability and performance. If you opt for those HDMI n THX features, this definitely out....

 

[Seth=L]

Yo, i recently bought tis NAD t744 @RM2800.

What i can say is, this is real nice stuff, it sound so dynamic and depth. Surround processing is fantastic, have more than enuff watts, although theres limitation which is technology sense, it doesnt ahve HDMI , thx,...etc.. But for a 5.1 system, tis is the best you could expect for durability and performance. If you opt for those HDMI n THX features, this definitely out....

Like a said, it largely depends on what the user is using the system for.

 

[pearsall001]

If you're into sound quality, then it's NAD all the way. If bells & whistles float your boat then the Denon is the way to go.

 

[emorphien]

I've listened to Denons and NADs myself and my parents got a NAD (I forget what) which so far has been treating them well.

It would be a toss up for me, I think the NAD sounds warmer and richer but I can't explain it in any better words. I've listened to NAD and Denon receivers with the same speakers before, for music I think I'd lean towards the NAD but the Denons do have a better reputation for surround receivers, and they're solid and good home theater units.

Tough call, so I can't help you either way.

 

[warpdrive]

Of course, in this forum, most people seem to think that all amps sound the same, few people are going to recommend the NAD over a Denon. Anyway, I've seen the NAD for much less than $799 so it's no wonder you think it's poor value.

I have owned NAD in the past, and the sound quality was top notch. NAD components has always been about good sound and no-nonsense circuit design, features that don't hinder the sound quality, but I do agree that for AV receivers, their feature set is lacking. So in this case, I would still not give up features that I consider necessary for a good AV receiver so I'd get the Denon. For anything else where features are not as necessary, I'd go with NAD.

Anyway, I think it's a pretty hard sell to spend any amount of money on a receiver which doesn't decode the new HD Audio formats and handle HDMI 1.3. My vote is to go with one of the new Onkyos instead

 

[Hella]

Hi guys new to the fourms here

Im thinking of getting the NAD T755 also(thats how I found this fourm, the almighty google) and I found this while I was looking for some info.

http://www.avtalk.co.uk/forum/index.php?t=msg&goto=234451&rid=0&SQ=0#msg_234451

From what there saying it looks like the new NADs will have HDMI 1.3

 

[bommai]

I was waiting for the T755 also. However, I could not wait any longer and bought a refurbished Harman Kardon AVR 745 for $775 with full warranty. Pretty nice sounding receiver. However, it only has HDMI 1.1 and only two HDMI inputs. How many HDMI inputs does the T755 have?

 

[juno]

has preouts but you can't use the preouts without completely disabling the amplifier......

I'm confused!!

I have connected the audio pre-out, Front L and front R to my Thule IA-60 Main in as an external power amplifier and the Nad T744 a/v receiver is taking care of my surround speakers. If I turn off my thule amplifier I can hear the surround speakers playing!!

 

[Paul Spencer]

Found this forum when looking up info on the NAD receiver.

"has preouts but you can't use the preouts without completely disabling the amplifier......"

Where is this coming from? From what I can see, this is not the case. It has pre-outs on all channels, and amplifier inputs on the front 3 channels. My understanding is that it means this:

1. You can use external power amps as an upgrade (The Denon has this feature also as far as I'm aware)
2. Even if you do this with the 3 front channels, you can still use the power amps if you have a post preamp signal sent to the amplifier inputs.

The advantage is flexibility, the kind that I am looking for. You can use a studio mastering processor (IMO much more powerful than Audyessy) and/or active crossover.

With the Denon, once you use pre-outs, you can't then use the associated power amp - you have no power amp input, so you have given it up. If you only wanted a preout so you could use an active crossover, then you then have to buy more power amps. In that case you end up spending more.

NAD put more into the amps, they will happily drive 4 ohm loads. For home theatre, I'd consider 4 ohm speakers more appropriate when it comes to getting dynamics and high output.

That said, I understand why most users would prefer other receivers which focus more on the other features.

For HT use I don't expect SQ differences will be noticeable, but for critical listening on music, I'd expect more of the NAD. My experience suggests that a subtle but noticeable improvement is possible if you listen for it.

QUESTION:
What features is the NAD lacking? Assuming one isn't interested in HDMI or component video upconversation, what is missing?

The NAD also has a nice looking remote, illuminated with learning functions and macros, as well as the ability to tweak channel levels. Seems to me that NAD are overlooked in the HT market and under-rated. That said, I'm still deciding what to go for myself. The NAD is on my short list.

 

[Seth=L]

Refer back to the first few posts of this thread.

 

[Paul Spencer]

Yes I have read all posts in this thread already. I'm looking for features that the NAD lacks that I actually need. This was written to someone else probably looking for something different, but you mentioned:

"The T744 is 5.1 only, has no HDMI features, less audio video switching abilities, no upconversion, has preouts but you can't use the preouts without completely disabling the amplifier, no auto set-up, no multi-zone capability, and much more I am sure, all of which the Denon does do."

*HDMI - I probably wouldn't use
*AV switching - again, I'd probably only need component video switching and coax audio. Component video upconversion would be nice but can live without it.
*auto setup - not something I'd use
*multi zone - a nice feature, a shame not to have
*pre-outs - I'm pretty sure you are mistaken about that

I'd still like to know where this comes from:

"has preouts but you can't use the preouts without completely disabling the amplifier"

If you are right about this, please enlighten me, as if I'm not mistaken, this is the area where the NAD beats everything else in it's range - the ability to separate pre and power amps, and still use the power amps when you are using pre outs. That would be one of my main reasons for buying NAD.

In Australia, the NAD is $1000 and the Denon is $2200 which makes it not much of a horse race. The next model up NAD which does have multizone is $1500, still quite a bit less than the NAD. Keyword AUSTRALIA! You guys in the US are lucky with Denon prices, we have to pay a whole lot more. The next model up NAD has amp inputs on all channels.

Seems to me the trade off with NAD vs Denon is flexilibility of pre/power amps and the fact that they have put so much more into the basics, and less into features. The NAD is also very simple and appears to have a very good remote.