Help on Choosing Right AV Reciever

[Audio Enthusiant]

Hi,

I currently have an 3 year Old ONKYO TX-NR818 paired to 5.1 Speakers. Front is KEF Q300 BookShelf and Surround and Center Channel are POLK Audio TSi Series. Most of the times i listen to just stereo music. After listening to my friend's sound setup i m feeling Onkyo TX-NR818 seems to be little harsh and sound quality is not what you get from a Very Good AV Receiver. So with this dilemma i am in search of a Very Sound AV Receiver. Please help me out to know whether my setup is not calibrated correctly or whether buying Marantz SR-7009 or Yamaha Aventage RX-A-1050 will make my speakers sound better. if there is not great audible difference between onkyo-818 and Marantz/Yamaha Aventage. it is better i put off the idea of upgrading. For me almost is very good audio i m not bothered about atoms or 4K scaling. I read good reviews about onkyO-818 and hence got it.

 

[PENG]

Hi,

I currently have an 3 year Old ONKYO TX-NR818 paired to 5.1 Speakers. Front is KEF Q300 BookShelf and Surround and Center Channel are POLK Audio TSi Series. Most of the times i listen to just stereo music. After listening to my friend's sound setup i m feeling Onkyo TX-NR818 seems to be little harsh and sound quality is not what you get from a Very Good AV Receiver. So with this dilemma i am in search of a Very Sound AV Receiver. Please help me out to know whether my setup is not calibrated correctly or whether buying Marantz SR-7009 or Yamaha Aventage RX-A-1050 will make my speakers sound better. if there is not great audible difference between onkyo-818 and Marantz/Yamaha Aventage. it is better i put off the idea of upgrading. For me almost is very good audio i m not bothered about atoms or 4K scaling. I read good reviews about onkyO-818 and hence got it.

It is possible that your friend has better sounding speakers, better room acoustic conditions, or both. If you are keen on Stereo music, then upgrading your front left and right speakers should be a higher priority than upgrading the AVR. I do not believe the SR7009 or RX-A1050 can make your Q300 sound better in Stereo.

If you are concerned about not setting up the Onkyo correctly, then you should simply try listening in pure direct mode to find out if that makes a difference.

 

[TheWarrior]

What kind of flooring is beneath your speakers? Any windows near by?

 

[mtrycrafts]

Hi,

I currently have an 3 year Old ONKYO TX-NR818 paired to 5.1 Speakers. Front is KEF Q300 BookShelf and Surround and Center Channel are POLK Audio TSi Series. Most of the times i listen to just stereo music. After listening to my friend's sound setup i m feeling Onkyo TX-NR818 seems to be little harsh and sound quality is not what you get from a Very Good AV Receiver. So with this dilemma i am in search of a Very Sound AV Receiver. Please help me out to know whether my setup is not calibrated correctly or whether buying Marantz SR-7009 or Yamaha Aventage RX-A-1050 will make my speakers sound better. if there is not great audible difference between onkyo-818 and Marantz/Yamaha Aventage. it is better i put off the idea of upgrading. For me almost is very good audio i m not bothered about atoms or 4K scaling. I read good reviews about onkyO-818 and hence got it.

Welcome.
You are comparing an apple, your setup in your room and an orange, your friends setup in his room.

Too many variables to come to a conclusion that your receiver is at fault.
Rooms are way different. I bet he has different speakers.
Usually, receivers are not the problem but the room, the speakers and the quality of the recorded sound being played back. Perhaps his setup is tuned differently from yours.
Have you tried adjusting the built in EQ on your receiver?
Blaming the receiver up front is unwarranted.
Peng gave you some good tips.

What setup does your friend have? Maybe you want to borrow his receiver and see what that does with your speaker?

 

[tyhjaarpa]

Like said, there is many factors for sound and it is possible that your receiver is not the problem.

 

[Audio Enthusiant]

Thanks for shedding some light. I happen to check with my friend, he is using the same front speakers what i have i.e KEF Q300 and also got to know he has Marantz SR6009 Receiver with MultiEQ XT. As Peng suggested i tried on pure direct mode on onkyo 818. I feel sound is very bright and high on treble compared to how it sounded on his system. i agree room setup of both of us is different. But is it with room setup or really marantz sound way better than mine?... I did some research further and based on some reviews and feedback they say marantz is any day better than onkyo amps. so not sure what should i do . I hate treble on my system after listening to my friends.

 

[PENG]

Thanks for shedding some light. I happen to check with my friend, he is using the same front speakers what i have i.e KEF Q300 and also got to know he has Marantz SR6009 Receiver with MultiEQ XT. As Peng suggested i tried on pure direct mode on onkyo 818. I feel sound is very bright and high on treble compared to how it sounded on his system. i agree room setup of both of us is different. But is it with room setup or really marantz sound way better than mine?... I did some research further and based on some reviews and feedback they say marantz is any day better than onkyo amps. so not sure what should i do . I hate treble on my system after listening to my friends.

At the minimum you should do the compare using the same material and both in pure direct. Even then it is totally unreliable as you are relying on memory and the two systems are in different rooms. Could you bring your 818 to his place?

The odds are very low that the SR6009 would sound better than the 818. The two should be very comparable and both should clearly and easily make the Q300 the weak link for serious music listening.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

See what kind of surround sound settings, bass management/EQ setting, Audyssey settings your friend uses.

Does he use a subwoofer? Audyssey Dynamic EQ with subwoofer?

 

[herbu]

Hi,

I currently have an 3 year Old ONKYO TX-NR818 paired to 5.1 Speakers. Front is KEF Q300 BookShelf and Surround and Center Channel are POLK Audio TSi Series. Most of the times i listen to just stereo music. After listening to my friend's sound setup i m feeling Onkyo TX-NR818 seems to be little harsh and sound quality is not what you get from a Very Good AV Receiver. So with this dilemma i am in search of a Very Sound AV Receiver. Please help me out to know whether my setup is not calibrated correctly or whether buying Marantz SR-7009 or Yamaha Aventage RX-A-1050 will make my speakers sound better. if there is not great audible difference between onkyo-818 and Marantz/Yamaha Aventage. it is better i put off the idea of upgrading. For me almost is very good audio i m not bothered about atoms or 4K scaling. I read good reviews about onkyO-818 and hence got it.

Audio Enthusiant,
Are you hearing what everybody is telling you?

Think of it this way: A receiver is designed to take some input, amplify that input as cleanly as possible, then output it to some speakers. Both Onkyo and Marantz have been doing it for years, and are pretty good at it. You likely won't be able to hear a difference between them.

However, the things that makes one AVR different from another are Power and Features. If the Power is similar, the only thing left is Features. These Features can make a huge difference in how an AVR sounds. HUGE. Also, room geometry and furniture make a big difference. So when comparing the sound of AVRs, the Features and Room are the challenge. Comparing different brands can be especially difficult because they can give different names to the same feature.

It is quite difficult for a novice, and even an expert. Our suggestions? Before you spend money on a new AVR, learn and experiment with the Features of the one you have. This will take weeks, not hours. Really study the manual. Play with different settings. Ask questions. After you become an Expert on your AVR, if you're still not happy with the sound, come back here. We'll try to help you figure out what is lacking and how to best improve.

 

[fmw]

The bottom line is that sound quality is not a reason to change receivers. A reason would be to gain features and capabilities you want, will use and don't have currently. However, audio enthusiasts do become fascinated with buying gear so you may want to do it just to assuage that itch.

 

[Audio Enthusiant]

Thanks Guys. Let me take my receiver to my friends house as Peng suggested and see whether there is really a difference or just the source material/Room made such a huge difference. Since i have been listening to onkyo TR-818 from 3 years i really didn't notice but after listening to my friend's system i started becoming more observant on whether mine was too bright or warm. Let me do some exercise before i come back again for some more suggestions .

 

[PENG]

Thanks Guys. Let me take my receiver to my friends house as Peng suggested and see whether there is really a difference or just the source material/Room made such a huge difference. Since i have been listening to onkyo TR-818 from 3 years i really didn't notice but after listening to my friend's system i started becoming more observant on whether mine was too bright or warm. Let me do some exercise before i come back again for some more suggestions .

Please compare in pure direct mode with no processing at all, and volume match the two.

 

[mtrycrafts]

... I did some research further and based on some reviews and feedback they say marantz is any day better than onkyo amps. so not sure what should i do . I hate treble on my system after listening to my friends.

Firstly, you read opinions of others and highly biased at that, I bet.
As Peng mentioned, your acoustic memory is not as good as you think it is. You should really compare
the 2 amps on the same speakers and in the same room. If you have the same speakers as your friend,
why did you have to ask him what he has?

Also, if the way your receiver sounds is bright, it has internal treble controls, use it.