Lowerend line's Quality?

[dloweman]

Just thought I would start a link to see if anyone has really spent time with the lower lines of Yamaha, and or denon. I keep reading that the yammie 1500/2500 and the denon 2805/3805 are pretty great, but can anyone let me know just how much difference is between these units and the lower models like the 650/750 and 1905/2105? I just can't afford the higher end models and was wondering what peoples thoughts are on these models. Thanks for your input!
Derek

 

[nm2285]

In my opinion, if you're going to get a receiver in those price ranges, Harman/Kardon is your best bet. They have probably the best power supplies and pay the most attention to sound (instead of features) for receviers in the 2105 or 650 category. Look at the avr130 and 230.

 

[toquemon]

Just thought I would start a link to see if anyone has really spent time with the lower lines of Yamaha, and or denon. I keep reading that the yammie 1500/2500 and the denon 2805/3805 are pretty great, but can anyone let me know just how much difference is between these units and the lower models like the 650/750 and 1905/2105?
Derek

One of my friends has the 750 and it sounds the same to me at normal levels(i have the Yammie 1400). Maybe the difference between the 750 and the 2400/2500 would be more noticeable because the 2400/2500 are built with higher quality parts than the 1400/1500 (as the brochure says).

 

[flyv65]

Denon has a comparison chart on their website that shows the specific differences between each of their AVRs, Perhaps you could pick the Denon you're interested in (2805?) and then match stats against the Yammie, Onkyo, HK, etc. IIRC, most of the differences in that range of the Denon line are wattage and processors, but it's been a while since I checked.

Bryan...have fun shopping...

 

[Nomo]

Although I never compared them head to head I couldn't tell much difference between the Yamaha HTR-5760 (equivilent to RX-V650) and the 1500 I presently own. I simply opted to return the 5760 in favor of the 1500 primarily for it's better YPAO. At the $500 level your considering however The Onkyo SR-602 is a pretty nice unit. The troubling thing about the Onkyo's though is the posting here concerning problems with them. Myself I'm still wondering if the problems were with the set-up not with the recievers themselves.
Getting back to Yamaha, don't completely give up hope of getting a RX-V1400 for a price comparable to that of the 650. There ain't much difference between the 1400 and the 1500.

 

[Rob Babcock]

With Denon, at least, the main diff is power & features. All the way down to the lowest one's I've heard (ie the old 1601) it sounded basically the same as the 3802, but less dynamic. At lower volumes the differences are minor.

 

[stevez]

Like you, I'm still trying to decide what to buy.

I have a New Zealand Home Theatre magazine in front of me and for it's price, the Yamaha RX-V750 gets a 5/5 rating and an editors choice award. They said that it couldn't match some of the higher priced units (in "spaciousness and dynamic headroom), but that is to be expected as it is not competing in the same market segment. They said (quote), "The overall performance was exemplary for both music and movies and we'd have no problem recommending the receiver to anyone looking for a feature-rich bargain".

Other models also rated 5/5 but these were in the price range above your preferred point.

The Onkyo TXSR-602 doesn't have a phono input. If you want to use a turntable you'll need to buy an additional component.

Denon and Marantz are supposed to have "warmer" sound as opposed to Yamaha's slightly "brighter" sound. You probably won't go wrong with any of the receivers in your price range, including H/K. As others have said, it basically comes down to the features you want, listening to the models where possible and deciding whether you like the overall sound of a particular receiver. Good luck with your purchase.

 

[rschleicher]

I have the Yamaha RX-V750, and have been very happy with my purchase. I thought about upping to the 1500, but for me the differences weren't that important.

The DSP chips used for both are basically the same, and so there is esssentially no difference in the digital processing. I don't think there's much real difference in the amps, until you get to the 2500, which (I think) uses some beefier power supply and amp components.

One difference to watch for is that the YPAO for the 750 isn't the "full" YPAO - it sets speaker size, speaker distances (for delay timing), and speaker levels, but doesn't do the parametric equalization (largely for correcting room acoustics issues). You DO get a graphic equalizer function for just the center channel, but this requires manual set-up.

The 2500 definitely has the full YPAO - I'm not sure if the 1500 has the full or partial YPAO.

This isn't clearly spelled out in Yamaha's literature.
You almost have to go into the manual set-up menus to see if equalization settings exist for the speakers other than the center channel.

 

[BMXTRIX]

Bells & whistles, inputs & outputs, power...

That's the differences. Power really isn't that important as long as what it provides is enough to make you happy then it gives enough power - and most do.

Bells & whistles are nice, but I don't play with my surround settings at all really, so I would be happy with about 5 settings instead of 65. Likewise, you may feel the same and have no problem doing manual setup instead of putting a mic in your room to do the work for you. It takes longer, but saves you $$$$.

The thing that may kill the deal is inputs and outputs. If you don't have enough for the equipment you own, or will own before you want to upgrade, then you are stuck. But, most receivers can usually cover the important stuff you may need. Component switching I think is where receivers really lack. I think most decent ones should come with 4 inputs, yet they come with 3, and almost all others come with 2. 2 gives you HD cable or satelite plus a DVD player. That leaves your game system stuck on S-Video or composite unless the TV has more than 1 component input... which many do fortunately.

Lots of lesser expensive stuff is a great way to go... and get hooked.... and buy bigger - BIGGER - BIGGER!!!!