demo rbh, par4adigm, axiom on yam 2400-
rbh sounded too thin, great, perhaps even excessive detail. imaging was excellent, connectors best ive ever used. lighter weight than others, and maybe better looking, easier to place.
paradigm sounded better than rbh, and also played the loudest, but perhaps lacked a little detail. had silkiest or perhaps smoothest sound of all 3, but left me wondering if maybe mids were a bit drowning. weight was in the middle. looks arent as good as rbh, but better than axiom. connectors were worst of all 3. imaging seemed good but not great.
axiom initially sounded better thna other 3—first instinct. sounded kind of in the middle of all 3. imaging very good to ecellent. thought that guitar notes were more realistic than the others. i thought to myself that these were prob the closest speaker to high end sound. heaviest speaker of the 3. perhaps sounded most well-rounded. connectors not as good as rbh, but better than paradigm. prob looks ugliest of all 3.
conclusion- rbh eliminated w this receiver. maybe itd be better w the denon, but i have serrious doubts about its ability to rate w the paradigms and axioms. the denon would really have to give the rbh some oomph to stay in running.. axiom is the instinct choice, altho i will go back and listen to the paradigms vs axioms again to be sure. note—the yamaha stayed very cool, esp compared to my harman kardon.
initial grading paired w 2400- rbh- 7, para- 8, axiom 9
2nd demo—3805-
rbh—sounded better w 3805 compared to 2400, but still too thin sounding. disqualified.
this time, paradigm and axiom were closer in terms of what i liked better, altho basic inherent speaker characteristics remained the same.
initial impression is that denon is better receiver, altho perhaps the combo that stood out the most of all demos is the 2400 paired w the axioms.
denon sounded warmer, cleaner, more power was evident. even the power cord wasthicker, better. the unit also heated up—something that the 2400 really didnt do. also noticed a high pitch noise coming from denon. 2400’s manual seems better.
paradigm s sounded silkier, played much louder than axioms. thought that axioms still may have had the edge in terms of sound, esp on certain guitar notes, but this time i wasnt nearly as convinced as i was when listening to the speakers on the 2400. no question that the paradigms sounded more robust w the 3805, but perhaps this is partly becuase of playing louder?
i felt as tho the two speakers sounded different, yet both pretty good. still felt that soemtimes the paradigms mid maybe stood out too much, but then again, the axims seemed weaker at times in terms of big sound.
conclusion—w the yamaha 2400—prob no question—axioms are better. w the 3805, its gonna require addl listening. have a gut feeling that the 3805 is superior receiver, but again—perhaps best combo overall was 2400 and axioms. will listen to both setups again and make final decision.
yamaha had more audible hiss when not playing, or between cd tracks. denon transformer dwarfs yamahas.
may come down to: is yamaha 2400 w axioms better than 3805 w paradigms? hopefully next round will provide decisive winning combo. audioholics review will also be helpful. will also consider that my listening is now about 70/30 home theater to music. yamaha is prob more detailed.
grading with 3805- rbh- 7.5, paradigm 8.5, axiom 8.5
ok follow up- after weeks of listening—heres my conclusion. paradigms were the speaker winner—with either receiver. the axioms just werent as full, and i gave points to paradigm bc they also played louder and look so much nicer. after the speakers were broken in, paradigm weas clear winner.
now on to the hard part—the receiver. this was an incredibly tough battle. at times i liked the denon, at times i liked the yamaha. i had friends and family come over for various blind tests. almost to a man, the yamaha sound was always chosen as the winner. people cited fuller sound, clarity, more natural. this was interesting bc some of these peop,e clai to know sound, and they were surprised to know that tey chose yamaha over denon, since they thought denon was a better receiver. i think the denon price, weight, rep, and reviews caused some bias. for me, the denon imged a bit better, but seemed boxy at times. no question denon has a fuller sound at times, but yamaha sounded great too. a/b ing the two was amazingly close in terms of preference. i went in thinking that the yamaha would blow denon away in terms of highs, but that wasnt the case. both played loud, with the yamaha losing out in composure at highest volumes. if youre reading this, be very careful to do blind tests of these two receivers—your preconceived notions could prove wrong. i wanted to agree with all the reviews and people claiming that the denon is an increible receiver—it may be, but the yamaha is perhaps almost as good, or maybe better for 200 less, and yamaha has several edges over denon- easier to set up, manual better, remote better, receiver editor, perhaps better reliability, etc. the denon has some pluses too, like dvd link, more power, perhaps better looking, 100mhz bandwidth, etc. a quick comment on the video conversion for both receivers—its obv better to use direct connections, using macros on remote to switch sources, so dont be too sucked in by the comp bandwidth thing.
with the yamaha, i think i got more of the wow factor with the sound. i also liked the back panel better. definitely two great receivers for the money, esp the yamaha- which casn be found for just 700 authroized dealer. denon about 900 lowest price auth dealer. in reviewing the way these recs sounded, i guess prob the one thing thats standing out most in my mind is the way norah jones vocals sounded- a fuller, perhaps more realistic voice. to a man, everyone agreed. this perhaps came at a small cost of imaging, but overalll the open, dynamix sound of the yamaha seemed to be preferred.
final decision: keeping the pardigms mon 7 v 3’s, will matc them w their ctr channel, surrounds, rears, and an hsu vtf 2 sub. receiver: keeping the yamaha for now, but am still not COMPLETELY convinced, so i still may buy the denon at some point if im unhappy w the yamaha, or if i sumhow change my opinion again. its hard bc i almost want to go with the denon bc its got this perception of being a superior product. i know i know—i should go with my ears. ive listened to tons of cds and movies, and i keep wondering if maybe a diff one may finally cause me to say bamm—the denons superior! it just hasnt happened yet.
a last comment too--the DAC thing--perhaps bc yamaha makes so many diff product lines, and has so much experience in instruments, etc--maybe thats why they sound so good. i dont think yamaha manu's their own dac's, but whichever ones they use, coupled with the proprietary stuff inside the yamaha, it seems to be first rate. you hear a lot about burr brown dacs and denon build quality--but again--dont develop a bias here- the bottom line has to be sound first, then things like cost, reliabilty, ease of use, specs.
final receiver score--for now-lol- yamaha 9, denon 8.5
cost- yamaha
reliablity--yamaha
ease of use--yamaha
specs- denon
sound- too close to call--guessing that denond overall is slightly better, but yamaha wont seem to go away
looks- denon
denon loses points for not including mic-really annoying
display- denon
remote- yamaha
sur modes- yamaha
pride of ownership- denon
remember-conduct blind tests- this way your supposed audiophile friends and experts wont be able to fake the results! post all feedback and lets see which receiver is truly better!
