Onkyo TX-SR602 vs. Yamaha RX-V650, please help me with choice!

[nadrealista]

I am in the market for mid level receiver and I need some help from you guys to help me make decision.
My choice boiled down to these two.

Yamaha RX-V650
http://www.yamaha.com/yec/products/receivers/RXV650.htm

Onkyo TX-SR602
http://www.onkyousa.com/model.cfm?m=TX-SR602&p=f&class=Receiver

The system will be used in medium sized living room (14X21X8) with hardwood floors and 5.1 speaker set up. I have very powerful Sub with dual 10" push pool design (rated at 250W RMS).

I watch lot of DVD's and listen variety of music so I need something that will sound good with both music and movies. I like my speakers to produce crisp and clear mid and highs and deep lows.

Thanks for your advice!!
D.

 

[Berlin]

Get The Onkyo

I own an Onkyo receiver so I am biased. I would suggest if you can swing it go with the Onkyo 702. It has more power. That will allow you to drive it at higher levels with lower distortion. You can find it cheap at Circuit City. It is a 7.1 receiver in case you decide to put in right and left surrounds as well as rear speakers. You can even do a THX Ultra2 Configuration. (WELL WORTH DOING!!! imho)...see this link on how to do it: http://www.audioholics.com/FAQs/THXp2.html#illustrations
Another nice thing about the Onkyo they are THX Certified. Just another bit of reassurance that it has met stringent guidelines as far as sound quality.

 

[Nomo]

Both the Onkyo 602 and Yamaha 650 are good recievers.
One thing the the Yamaha has over the Onkyo is preouts for more than just the Sub woofer, a consideration if you ever wish to add a power amp.
Going to the Onkyo 702 remedies this. For an extra $150.

 

[CosmicOne]

I have the 650 & it's very good reciver,also it has 7.1 channels i don't know if the Onkyo have that,
also if ur speakers are worm/flat u should go with the Yamaha coz it's very detailed that it may be a little bit harsh to some people if used with bright speakers.

 

[WooHoo]

I'd vote Yamaha. And while I am biased, seems to me that the Yamaha has better features. 7.1 vs 6.1 is a plus. For movie watching you'd be way ahead. Music is probably a push. Not sure what your budget is, but you can get a RX V-1500 on the internet for a little over $500.

 

[Leprkon]

Research carefully. A couple of months back, the x02 series from Onkyo was taking hits on sites like this for video problems. You might be better off picking up a 701 instead of 602, as the prices should be close (I think www.onecall.com still has the 801 for less than six hundred bucks). the x01's by all accounts were simply outstanding in performance and reliability.

Or you can just get a Yamaha

 

[Berlin]

Onkyo (Japanese for Audio)

I have the Onkyo 700, and have NEVER had a problem. Shop around and see if you can't pick up the 701 or the 801 Series in a close out. I'm sure you can find some great deals.

 

[nadrealista]

well while looking for prices for the above mentioned yamaha and onkyo I found this deal on the Marantz SR8400 770W 7.1-Ch. A/V Home Theater!

Is this Marantz better receiver the the these other two I am looking at right now?

Marantz SR8400 770W 7.1-Ch. A/V Home Theater

http://www.ubid.com/actn/opn/getpage.asp?AuctionId=10313989

 

[Berlin]

Thx

Aprox. how much did you want to spend for your new reciever?

 

[nadrealista]

My buget is around 300-350 hence the choice of the two receivers I mentioned at the top. I can get both for about $330 shipped...

from my research so far it seams that yamaha does better with movies while onkyo might be better for music...

 

[Doug917]

I'd go for the Yammi.

 

[Berlin]

I was double checking and the Onkyo 801 even has an ethernet port. I would tell you to go with the Onkyo, you won't be sorry, but try and save a few more bucks to step up to the 701 the extra power is worth havng. Especially for HT. Of course it never hurts that it has been awarded THX certification.

 

[Berlin]

I will add this. If you can't afford; or don't want to spend the extra money to step up to the Onkyo 701, then I personally would get the Yamaha RX-V650 over the Onkyo 602... Hope this helps.

 

[Berlin]

Stealing your thread for a second

I hope you don't mind, but I just purchased a new Subwoofer last week, and I thought I would share it to with you. My old subwoofer was killed by a bad service center

You can see it at this link:
http://www.paradigm.com/Website/SiteReferenceProduct/RModels/Servo/ServoSeries.html


Here are the specs:
http://www.paradigm.com/Website/SiteReferenceProduct/RModels/Servo/ServoSpecs.html

 

[nadrealista]

I hope you don't mind, but I just purchased a new Subwoofer last week, and I thought I would share it to with you. My old subwoofer was killed by a bad service center

You can see it at this link:
http://www.paradigm.com/Website/SiteReferenceProduct/RModels/Servo/ServoSeries.html


Here are the specs:
http://www.paradigm.com/Website/SiteReferenceProduct/RModels/Servo/ServoSpecs.html

wow this is a serious sub..I can just imagine how some crash movie scenes play on this sub...

 

[spider_duggan]

From the Onkyo TX-SR602 site, "The TX-SR602—the latest in a line of Onkyo’s constantly evolving home theater receivers—has joined the big league. With an extra channel—now seven hardworking full-bandwidth channels in all..."

I have this reciever connected to Klipsch RF-15 speakers, DVD player, Xbox, TV, Digital Cable box. It works really well. The sounds is crisp and undistorted until higher- then-comfortable listening levels. The speakers are efficent and take little power to push to adaquate listening levels. The noise-floor is high enough to be a non-factor (85% volume).

I would have purchased the 702 because of the pre-outs if I had known of there importance! Would you be interested in a 602 that was used for 2 months?

My 2 cents, I would have gotten the pre-outs because I'm going to get louder speakers some day. If you don't intend to get speakers that can roll your scalp back then don't worry about pre-outs.

 

[nadrealista]

Last night I finally went and bought Onkyo 602 and Yamaha htr 5750, which would be same amp as their V550 model (has 5 watts less then 650).

Then I compared them head to head...

For Music winner is ONKYO:
I tested them with variety of music and onkyo produces more detailed and clean sound. I also like its feature where you can adjust each speaker individually with equalizer.
Yamaha was ok, it had stronger but much looser bass...but the sound was not as crisp and detailed as onkyo.

So probably with some tweaking I can push some more bass from onkyo as it has lots of settings to play with...maybe some of the onkyo users could give me some advice!

For Movies winner is YAMAHA:
Well that loose bass comes in handy with the movies..I played spider man 2 and man that thing can shake the room especially when Dr. Oto makes first fusion...it felt like I was there...also Yamaha had better DSP for movies even dough I forgot to use ONKYO's cinema filter...Onkyo was powerful as well but it's tight bass doesn't do as well with special effects....

Those are my initial thoughts...what do you guys think?

I would apreciate the advice on the set up from the owners that already have one these two receivers.

Thanks
D.

 

[Berlin]

I told you you'd love the Onkyo

If your looking for more bass, do what I did. Buy the Onkyo, and get a good subwoofer. It doesn't have to be something as "sick" as the one I bought. But if you don't already have a good subwoofer, YOU MUST GET ONE!!! Then you will find that you will get the best of both worlds, Music and HT from the Onkyo.

 

[nadrealista]

It is not the sub that is the problem..the one I have is very capable...I think it is more matter of playing with settings for the sub on the Onkyo receiver...

This is the sub I have:
http://www.circuitcity.com/rpsm/oid/79697/originURLEncoded/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.circuitcity.com%2Frpsm%2FcatOid%2F-12950%2FN%2F20012898+20012950+40000129%2Flink%2Fref%2Frpem%2Fccd%2Fcategorylist.do/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do#tabs

 

[Berlin]

Got ya...play around with the subwoofer cross over settings. I keep mine at 80Hz but try the other settings like 100 or 120Hz. Also try changing your speaker size settings. Change them all to small that way it diverts the bass to the subwoofer.