Refurbished: Yamaha vs. Denon vs. Onkyo

Yamaha vs Denon vs Onkyo

  • Yamaha

    Votes: 6 60.0%
  • Denon

    Votes: 3 30.0%
  • Onkyo

    Votes: 1 10.0%

  • Total voters
    10
McDaveCave

McDaveCave

Audiophyte
o_Oo_ORecently I found Klipsch RF-28 tower speakers on Craigs list at an incredible price and they are in immaculate condition and sound great. With the amount of $$ I saved on the speakers I wanted advice about a receiver around 6 to $700 price range. I looked into refurbished receivers and im leaning toward Yamaha factory refurbished. I would like pre amp inputs so as I add more speakers I will have the option to add more power. So two questions:

1. Factory referb...is it a safe option?
2. What brand gives the most power and features for my price range?

Thanks! I am quickly becoming obsessed
 
Last edited:
Bucknekked

Bucknekked

Audioholic Samurai
o_Oo_ORecently I found Klipsch RF-28 tower speakers on Craigs list at an incredible price and they are in immaculate condition and sound great. With the amount of $$ I saved on the speakers I wanted advice about a receiver around 6 to $700 price range. I looked into refurbished receivers and im leaning toward Yamaha factory refurbished. I would like pre amp inputs so as I add more speakers I will have the option to add more power. So two questions:

1. Factory referb...is it a safe option?
2. What brand gives the most power and features for my price range?

Thanks! I am quickly becoming obsessed
I can give an opinion here since I just made a refurb AVR purchase. IMHO the refurb option isnt "safe" but can be considered worth the risk depending on your tolerance for risk.

I used accessories4less since they offer warranty coverage and no cost exchanges if the unit fails. My first AVR failed within the first 24 hours. They shipped me another at no cost and paid to return the bad one. The second AVR has been letter perfect.

I bought a Denon x4200w. Still sells new at about $1400 and as a refurb it was $748. For me it was well worth the risk and reward. For others on the forum, they wouldnt buy anything over a certain price as a refurb.

It comes down to your own tolerance for risk. I found it worthwhile. Ymmv. Good luck
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
Yep, a matter of risk tolerance for the most part. As long as the refurb goes bad, if it indeed will go bad, inside of 30 days then A4L makes it fairly painless too (except for the hooking up/setting up then tearing it down then to set it up again parts :) ). A bit more pain if you need to rely on factory warranty alone.

I had two bad Denon refurbs and still would take the risk. In terms of warranty you normally get the 1 year refurb factory warranty, but your credit card may extend that for another year; or you can purchase extra protection as well (but watch the terms in all cases). Another way to get an avr at great discount is to watch closeouts of models, and A4L does sell some of those as well with full factory warranty (what I ended up with as my tolerance for another refurb after setting up and tearing down the system twice was exhausted).

Would be nice if Denon would take more effort to thoroughly test their refurbs, tho.
 
McDaveCave

McDaveCave

Audiophyte
Thanks for the info about the return process at accessories4less. That makes me feel better about buying.
 
William Lemmerhirt

William Lemmerhirt

Audioholic Overlord
Welcome to the rabbit hole!
As Buck already mentioned. A4L is a good source, and a good company to deal with. Power specs are not really super meaningful considering those klipsch are easy to drive(high sensitivity), and unless you're in a cathedral should have no trouble driving them. You did mean pre amp "outputs" right? For brands, onkyo was king of features/cost. They got a bad rap after a rash of hdmi board failures. They've been making good on those well after warranty. I feel they're past that but have abandoned Audyssey room correction for their own and for that reason only, I'll say look at Yamaha and Denon/Marantz. I personally don't like Yamaha's menus and lingo, but they're solid and sound great. Their ypao seems effective but gets criticized for not having subwoofer EQ. I use an Onkyo (hdmi fixed) in my main system but have Yamaha and pioneer in the house too. Pioneer/elite is worth a look too. FYI, then obsession isn't likely to go away! Welcome.
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
Oh, the types of connections for an external amp are called pre-outs (pre-amplifier outputs), and there are such things as a set of analog inputs. Power among avrs doesn't vary greatly, keep in mind it takes a doubling of amp power for a 3dB spl gain; most avrs are within a few dB of each other.
 
F

fred1942

Audioholic Intern
o_Oo_ORecently I found Klipsch RF-28 tower speakers on Craigs list at an incredible price and they are in immaculate condition and sound great. With the amount of $$ I saved on the speakers I wanted advice about a receiver around 6 to $700 price range. I looked into refurbished receivers and im leaning toward Yamaha factory refurbished. I would like pre amp inputs so as I add more speakers I will have the option to add more power. So two questions:

1. Factory referb...is it a safe option?
2. What brand gives the most power and features for my price range?

Thanks! I am quickly becoming obsessed
I would like your opinions on what brand of receivers are the most reliable. I have tried Pioneer, Onkyo and Marantz.
 
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