Replacing RZ830 Onkyo lost a customer

[Ken32]

I recently bought an Onkyo RZ830 and after 2 faulty units and headaches from their customer service, let's just say I'm no longer an Onkyo customer. Which puts me back on the market again for a new AVR.
I spoke before of the Yamaha Aventage series and the Denon and Marantz series. Currently I'm looking at the Yamaha a2070 i can get new for 899. or i can go back to an X4400H for 719. I'm leaning towards the Yamaha based on positive feedback all over the web with reliability and sound. I have previously had a Denon x4400 i demoed with an Onkyo and ultimately I kept the Onkyo.
My questions are if anyone has the same Yamaha model and if anyone has directly compared them to Marantz 7012 or the Denon mentioned above and how they fare against one another. As soon as i get home from out of town I'd like to have it waiting for me at home.

 

[lovinthehd]

What were the particular faults with the Onkyo? I'd say that the Denon and Marantz are far more similar than different.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

We all realize there are many fans of Yamaha, Marantz, and Denon.

Each of our personal experience (no matter how significant) influences our paths.

I’ve owned many Denon for a long time and most of the Denon worked out fine.

Now I own Yamaha and if my experience with Yamaha continues to be flawless, my choice will continue to be Yamaha.

@M Code can elaborate about Yamaha being “#1 in reliability” and “HDMI compatibility testing” and how Yamaha keeps almost everything “in-house”, instead of “out-sourcing”.

Yamaha is a huge company that makes or have made just about everything including cars, motor bikes, yachts, boats, pianos, violins, drums, other instruments, speakers, amps, pre-pro, AVR, turntables, BD players, Integrated amps, professional electronics, and more.

There are plenty of threads about Yamaha vs Denon/Marantz and AVR vs Separates.

People who have great experiences with DM will recommend DM, same with Yamaha.

 

[Ken32]

What were the particular faults with the Onkyo? I'd say that the Denon and Marantz are far more similar than different.

Board issues. Dropping connections, powering off by itself and random powering on. Popping noises when listening to music. That was the first device. the second was DOA.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Currently I'm looking at the Yamaha a2070 i can get new for 899.

$900 is a great price for a brand new RX-A2070.

A4L has the A2070 REFURBISHED for $800. So buying brand new for only $100 more is a no-brainer.

 

[Ken32]

We all realize there are many fans of Yamaha, Marantz, and Denon.

Each of our personal experience (no matter how significant) influences our paths.

I’ve owned many Denon for a long time and most of the Denon worked out fine.

Now I own Yamaha and if my experience with Yamaha continues to be flawless, my choice will continue to be Yamaha.

@M Code can elaborate about Yamaha being “#1 in reliability” and “HDMI compatibility testing” and how Yamaha keeps almost everything “in-house”, instead of “out-sourcing”.

Yamaha is a huge company that makes or have made just about everything including cars, motor bikes, yachts, boats, pianos, violins, drums, other instruments, speakers, amps, pre-pro, AVR, turntables, BD players, Integrated amps, professional electronics, and more.

There are plenty of threads about Yamaha vs Denon/Marantz and AVR vs Separates.

People who have great experiences with DM will recommend DM, same with Yamaha.

I've read a lot of great things about Yamaha. I've heard their menus are crowded? (not straight to the point) I don't know how true that is. How would they stack against D+M for sound quality? It'll be used by me and my family 50/50 music and movies. Best Buy had a Marantz SR6012 hooked up to the same B&W speakers i have and it sounded great. Unfortunately, they didn't have anything Yamaha in stock to test at that time.

I like what I've read about Yamaha which leads me to my next question.... I'm at about 900 for spending which i could get the 2070 for or i can can the 1070 for 599. Should i spend the little extra for the 2070? would it be worth it? I know it boasts the extra power which could come in handy. maybe some other tweaks the 1070 doesn't have....

 

[Ken32]

$900 is a great price for a brand new RX-A2070.

A4L has the A2070 REFURBISHED for $800. So buying brand new for only $100 more is a no-brainer.

I thought so too. I just wish the xx70 series had the new remote the 80 series has.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I thought so too. I just wish the xx70 series had the new remote the 80 series has.

You can get the 2080 remote on eBay for ~$55 delivered.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Genuine-Yamaha-RX-A2080-AV-Receiver-Remote-Control/292962060191?epid=24025652651&hash=item4435e6479f:g:-z4AAOSwMYtcSf6F

I don't even use the remote on my CX-A5100 (batteries out, remote wrapped in plastic). I only use the AV Controller Remote App on my iPad and Samsung Phone.

 

[Ken32]

You can get the 2080 remote on eBay for ~$55 delivered.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Genuine-Yamaha-RX-A2080-AV-Receiver-Remote-Control/292962060191?epid=24025652651&hash=item4435e6479f:g:-z4AAOSwMYtcSf6F

I don't even use the remote on my CX-A5100. I only use the AV Controller Remote on my iPad and Samsung Phone.

I wonder if the new remote works the entire receiver? I had an older Onkyo remote i preferred some buttons on the remote wouldn't work at all on the newer unit which was disappointing. I'll use a mix between app and remote.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I wonder if the new remote works the entire receiver? I had an older Onkyo remote i preferred some buttons on the remote wouldn't work at all on the newer unit which was disappointing. I'll use a mix between app and remote.

I would guess that it would work for Yamaha since there isn't much change between 2070 vs 2080.

There has been a lot changes with Onkyo - the merge with Onkyo + Pioneer. Now Sound United (bought Denon/Marantz) just bought both Onkyo & Pioneer. So more changes.

But Yamaha is its own giant company, not bought out by some other companies over the years. Unlike Revel, B&W, Denon, Marantz, Onkyo, Pioneer --- nobody buys out Yamaha.

 

[_Mithrandir_]

Currently I'm looking at the Yamaha a2070 i can get new for 899.

Where can you find the 2070 new for 899? Ive only seen it on A4L for 799 refurbed.

 

[Ken32]

Where can you find the 2070 new for 899? Ive only seen it on A4L for 799 refurbed.

HDVisionworks

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

HDVisionworks

Are they really an authorized dealer?

Not much reviews about this new site.

This is what Scam-Adviser said about this website:

...This site is using an anonymous service - which prevents us from identifying the site owner. This can sometimes be just so that the owner does not receive spam, but be aware that many scam sites use this as a method to hide their identity....

....The website has been newly registered with a short life expectancy, which follows the pattern used by many fraudulent and fake selling websites....

https://www.scamadviser.com/check-website/hdvisionworks.com

 

[MR.MAGOO]

I'm speculating, perhaps now that Onkyo/Pioneer is now part of the "Sound United" family along with Denon/Marantz, maybe quality will improve for Onkyo.

 

[Ken32]

Are they really an authorized dealer?

Not much reviews about this new site.

This is what Scam-Adviser said about this website:

...This site is using an anonymous service - which prevents us from identifying the site owner. This can sometimes be just so that the owner does not receive spam, but be aware that many scam sites use this as a method to hide their identity....

....The website has been newly registered with a short life expectancy, which follows the pattern used by many fraudulent and fake selling websites....

https://www.scamadviser.com/check-website/hdvisionworks.com

By the looks of it probably not. I just did a quick google search and that's what popped up. I could grab it from A4L and add an extended warranty for 67 bucks. I wonder how well they cover under their warranty policy?

 

[lovinthehd]

Before you buy an additional year of warranty, check your own credit card....mine extends even refurb purchases a year....

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

By the looks of it probably not. I just did a quick google search and that's what popped up. I could grab it from A4L and add an extended warranty for 67 bucks. I wonder how well they cover under their warranty policy?

I think plenty of people here have had pretty good success with A4L.

@Phase 2 bought a refurbished Yamaha AVR.

My personal opinion is that if I were buying a refurbished AVR, it would be a Yamaha.

A long time ago I bought a refurbished Denon (it was a cheap, I think 1000 series AVR) from another authorized refurbished seller (Damark or something, can't recall name). The AVR was still under warranty when it broke - no VOLUME output to ANY speakers even after hard reset. So I sent it into the Panurgy repair service, which I think is the primary repair service for Denon/Marantz. Cost me like $40 to ship to them in NJ. When I got it back, there was still no Volume output to any speakers. Minutes later, smoke came out of the AVR. So I cut my losses and threw it away.

Sometime later, I bought a few more refurbished Denon - the 4000 AVR series and then a Denon AVP-A1HDCI. I think also from Damark. Both of them were DOA - guess what? NO VOLUME Output (ATI Amps),even though they powered up. So they powered up, but NO VOLUME output. Both of them.

I returned both and got my refunds. I also assumed that both the AVR4000-series and AVP-A1HD came from Panurgy since Panurgy is the primary repair company for all Denon/Marantz.

Then I bought the brand new Denon AVP-A1HDCI.

Fast forward 8 years later. The AVP-A1HDCI broke. Guess what? NO VOLUME Output! Different sources (analog, digital). Different ATI amps. Not again! This No-Volume-Output has been a pain in the a$$ for me.

So I asked Best Buy if they could send it in for repair for me even though it's out of warranty. They said it would charge for shipping - $50, I think.

They sent it to Panurgy. I knew because I called Panurgy and spoke to them while they had my AVP-A1HDCI. They said they had to replace the Audio-Video Circuit Board. It would cost like $950. I said OK.

When I got it back, guess what? Not Again. NO-FREAKING-VOLUME-OUTPUT!!!!!!!!!

Tried all my ATI amps and all speakers. NO Volume output.

So I spoke to the Best Buy manager and he was cool enough to send it back to Panurgy, but this time under the BEST BUY STORE WARRANTY!!!!

Yes, under FULL BEST BUY Warranty! So They could fix it by whatever means necessary! I wouldn't have to pay a DIME since it's now under full Best Buy Store Warranty!

A few weeks later. I got it back. This time, guess what? Not Again! NO VOLUME Output. But that's not all. Now NO HDMI worked. I tried plugging different sources to all the HDMI Inputs. Nothing worked. Analog sources didn't work either.

So not only was Panurgy unable to fix the No-Volume Output, they managed to screw up the HDMI board too.

At this point, I was fed up with Panurgy and Denon altogether.

Some people might understand why I changed to Yamaha after that.

Could just be bad luck. Some guys just don't have the luck.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Before you buy an additional year of warranty, check your own credit card....mine extends even refurb purchases a year....

Oh, yeah, my CHASE Visa (Amazon Visa) gives me 1 extra year warranty.

I love it. I had to use it for my robot vacuum. The free 1 year extended warranty worked great. Chase sent me a check to cover the whole robot - $150.

 

[Ken32]

Before you buy an additional year of warranty, check your own credit card....mine extends even refurb purchases a year....

I'll be using my debit card and paying for it up front. I've been paying down debt and thankfully almost clear. I'll have to add a warranty for a piece of mind. A4L states it's 100% hassle free coverage with $0 deductible.

 

[lovinthehd]

I'll be using my debit card and paying for it up front. I've been paying down debt and thankfully almost clear. I'll have to add a warranty for a piece of mind. A4L states it's 100% hassle free coverage with $0 deductible.

I commend you for getting debt free. That's my preference as well, but I simply pay off my credit card in full each month as it's a handy thing to have in several ways. Can't tell you anything about A4L's supplemental policy, while I think I reviewed it several years back never needed it...