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jiannisk

Audiophyte
Hi guys i am new in this forum and I am ready to buy my first AV amp.

I am between 2 brands right now. YAMAHA and PIONEER. In the same price range (300-500) which one would be better?
 
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Gary935

Audioholic Intern
Yamaha VS Pioneer

The group may need more information as to what your needs are but with regards to the Pioneer you may want to check the VSX 816 and VSX-1016, the latter having HDMI inputs and THX Select for $ 499.00. The previous version, VSX 1015 has received many great reviews and is basically a Pioneer Elite rebadge as is the VSX-1016.

Connectivity is also strong with Pioneer as even the VSX-816 has pre-outs for all channels (Let's you add an external amplifier if you wanted) for $ 299.00.

Yamaha receivers are also a good buy and tend to sound more musical then the Pioneer-althought this is subjective. Other people may say the opposite so this is my opinion. I really don't think you can go wrong with either. You will need to see what your needs are and see which receivers fit your needs. Then I recommend going somewhere where you can listen to your choices.

Good Luck hunting.....
 
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billnchristy

Senior Audioholic
I have expirience with Yamaha and Sony and definitely think the Yammie sounds better.

I bought mine mainly for connectivity reasons though.

Can you go somewhere and listen to both? that would be ideal!

I used Pioneer head units in my cars for years, always liked their mobile headunits but not much else.
 
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jiannisk

Audiophyte
I was thinking on the VSX-916 or the 516 as the 1016 goes out of my budget.
What do you think. Also is HDMI so important?
Also what do you think about the models YAMAHA RX-V659 and Yamaha RX-V559? Between all these models which one would be the best buy?
 
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wafflebird

Audioholic
Lets Talk about THD for a minuet!!

I am looking strongly at the VSX_816 for my bedroom for connection options power etc. The one problem I have is that it is rated at 1% THD. Now I would like someone to put this into an understandable context. Is this only coming into effect at high output levels so under normal listening levels makes no difference? I also am looking at a Yamaha HTR-5940BL (I have the RXV-2500 in my main room) and it is @ .7 & 10% the .7 is rated at 105 watt output and the 10% is rated at 130 watts THD. The Pioneer is rated at .7 for stereo power and 1.0% for surround. Is this really a big deal? Somebody let me know please thanks. I am looking I think at the same receivers as the jiannisk!!!
 
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Gary935

Audioholic Intern
Pioneer Vs Yamaha

The 1% THD is not going to be noticeable at all. I have the Pioneer 815 which is identical in the specs with regards to THD and in normal to very high listening I had no issues whatsoever. I have the 815 in my bedroom and my Onkyo in the living room driving my main system.

The 815 and it's replacement, the 816 are wonderful capable receivers. Audioholic did a review on the Pioneer 815 and they were very impress with the unit considering the price vs performance ratio. The difference between the 815 and 816 is that the 816 adds a few more watts per channel (110 vs 100 in the 815) and xm decoding. Everything else is identical. You can not go wrong.

With regards to Jiannisk, I would go with the VSX 915. I have not seen anything with regards to a Pioneer 916 yet. The 915 has better connectivity options then the 516. Again it depends on your needs but the 915 has components inputs, pre out for all channels and will will give you more performance then the entry level 516.

HDMI will become more important in my opinion in the future. The new specs for HDMI 1.3 have not been work out yet so I would wait until then. Also, if your TV does not have an HDMI input it has no value as of now.

I have not used the Yamaha 659, but it has receive many good reviews as well. Again, I tend to lean towards Pioneer because most of my viewing is in movies and they use a double precision Motorola DSP engine that is used in most of the movie theatres worldwide to decode all digital formats.

With that said, both the Pioneer and Yamaha are very good brands. I think- in my humble opinion that you might get a better bang for the buck with the Pioneer brand.

Let me know what route you go and have fun!!!
 
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jiannisk

Audiophyte
Thanks Gary. You helped a lot. I think I will go for the Pioneer (prop for the 916). I will let you know.
 

AdamTici

Audiophyte
The HTR-5960SL

anyone have any information regarding yamaha's HTR-5960SL vs. the VSX 816. I have been looking at the VSX 816 and came upon the HTR-5960SL. The output power for the HTR 5960 is confusing. I looked at the specs and it states that it can do 115W x 7. But I have also seen specs that say it does 100W X 7. Total power is also stated as being 700W. Am I missing something? (I am new at all this, so please be kind). As far as options go, they seem very similar. I am way more into music than movies. Which would be more music appropriate? Any light on the two would be appreaciated. I am also under a 500 dollar or less bracket.
:D
 
gmichael

gmichael

Audioholic Spartan
Yamaha rates the HTR models diferently than they rate their RX-V models. The HTR's are rated at 1Khtz instead of 20 to 20k like the RX-V's. The 115 wpc is the 1k rating. The 100wpc is the 20 to 20k rating. The 700wpc rating is just the 100wpc times the 7 chanels that it can drive. It most likely can not drive all 7 chanels to 100wpc at the same time. But it will come close enough. In normal use, the front 3 chanels get most of the sound. The other three are just there to fill in the sound behind you. It's a good unit that you would enjoy for many years. Same goes for the Pioneer you are looking at. You really can't go wrong with either.
 

AdamTici

Audiophyte
Thanks for the help.
I plan on getting the Pioneer VSX-816-S 7.1-channel XM-Ready A/V receiver, Silver. But one question has not been answered to make me feel good enough to go ahead with it and that is it more for movies or music. I am a music man and I would like to now if this will suffice.:D
 
gmichael

gmichael

Audioholic Spartan
AdamTici said:
Thanks for the help.
I plan on getting the Pioneer VSX-816-S 7.1-channel XM-Ready A/V receiver, Silver. But one question has not been answered to make me feel good enough to go ahead with it and that is it more for movies or music. I am a music man and I would like to now if this will suffice.:D
It will do both well IMO.
 
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Gary935

Audioholic Intern
Pioneer 816

The Pioneer models tend to do well on both. The yamaha receivers tend to be more musical in many people's opinion.

I recommend that if you have a chance, to listen to both models. Some people like the Pioneer for music while other prefer the Yamaha brand. I think you can not go wrong with either model but if you want to be 100 percent sure you have to listen to them both.

Hopefully you might have a dealer nearby that can allow you to do such. If not you could always test each model with stores that have a return policy if you feel you are not satisfied with one of the units.

I still recommend the Pioneer, IMHO but your ears are the key. Let them decide.
 
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Blundaar

Audioholic
AdamTici said:
Thanks for the help.
I plan on getting the Pioneer VSX-816-S 7.1-channel XM-Ready A/V receiver, Silver. But one question has not been answered to make me feel good enough to go ahead with it and that is it more for movies or music. I am a music man and I would like to now if this will suffice.:D
For my setup, at any rate, the Pioneer is a movie monster. Music seems a little flat and lifeless, but my DVD player has excellent audio so it's a non-issue. What's nice about the Pioneer is all the inputs that allow you to use as much (or as little) of the receiver as you want, depending on the quality of your other components.
 

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