Should I Swap? Onkyo TX-SR705 for Denon AVR-3310CI

[David Gaudreau]

I'm thinking about selling my Onkyo TX-SR705 and getting the Denon AVR-3310CI.

Comments....?? Questions....?? Concerns....??

 

[tom67]

Denon

What quantum improvement does the Denon have that you are looking for? If you cant name something worth the cost of the new unit, why do it? The Onkyo is hardly out of date, save a few functions. I dont even have HDMI and I would not do it.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Maybe you can talk your insurance agent into just giving you the money to buy your own replacement!

Tell him that you will give him a copy of ALL the receipts to prove that you did replace EVERYTHING!

If you still like Emotiva, then just get the UMC-1 + XPA5.

And do you REALLY need 7.1? Or just allocate some of that money elsewhere?

If you could just replace everything YOURSELF.

My insurance company allows ME to replace everything myself as long as I give them a copy of all my receipts.

 

[GlocksRock]

If you remember he got the def techs for a steal because of a hookup he has/had at def tech, so I don't think that would be the best course of action.

 

[David Gaudreau]

Yes, plus my theater room is set up for the BPVX/P's. The reason im thinking of swapping the Onkyo for the Denon is, 1. it would be a free upgrade for me. 2. I get the notorious DTS Master Audio "gunshot sound" when listening to certain movies. My Onkyo is almost 2years old now, Newer is better.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Oh yeah, now it's coming back to me. It seems like years ago.

In that case, I say go ahead with the Denon receiver.

 

[David Gaudreau]

Yeah I'm just on standby mode with the insurance company. I'll report back when I know more.

 

[GlocksRock]

I would get the Denon as well, plus it will run much cooler than the Onkyo, and since the 3310 has preamp outputs it makes it an excellent choice, any Denon below the 3310 does not have preouts.

 

[David Gaudreau]

Yeah I have been pretty happy with the Onkyo TX-Sr705's performance but I just haven’t been BLOWN AWAY by the realism of it. I was hoping that "TrueHD" or "DTS Master Audio" would just knock my socks off, To be honest I don’t know if it’s just me or if it's just not setup right, or maybe the Onkyo is just weak in its processing. I have heard the TrueHD setup at the CES show last year and it was WOW. I’m pretty sure I have better speakers & more power than what they had there and mine just doesn’t give me that same wow factor. You know what I mean???

 

[MatthewB.]

David, I think in your case it might either not be set up right or the room itself and if it's the room then no "upgraded AVR" is going to change that. I own a Onkyo 805, a Denon 3808ci and a Denon 4802R all very solid recievers and have not thought of replacing any of them. They all do fine for their intended purposes.

Naturally if it's a free upgrade grab that Denon quick and fast, Denon makes excellant receivers, Now back to your room, certain rooms and seating position create null voids (cancellation of sounds) and you may be sitting in a null void hence why your sound doeasnt sound right. You may want to look into room acoustical treatments to help with them pesky null voids, also speaker placements.

Now as for your Onkyo 705 which is a fine reciever in it's own right, (except for the periodic gunshot sound) you may just want to upgarde your firmware which overcame that DTS-Bomb, (check over at AVS for their 705 thread) which has ways to get a hold of a firmware upgrade dongle. I has an issue with my 805 and had to send it in to get fixed and they upgraded my firmware to 1.08 for me, and havent had any issues since (knock on wood)

You can't go wrong either way. The problem with the CES show rooms is they are specifically set up and designed to sound tehir very best and unfortunatly not everyones home rooms can be set to teh standards of CES show rooms. I have attended many A/V GTG over the years and am always blown away by how great they sound, but find mine lacking yet when I have a GTG everyon e is amazed at how great mine sounds, perception is everything and of course we are the biggest critics of our own systems. I know people who have HT rooms that cost in the hundreds of thousands and they always want to upgrade and I'm thinking, "What the H"

But check out the speaker placements (it's free) then check out room acoustics (fairly cheap) before investing any more in "upgrades"

 

[David Gaudreau]

Thanks for the info!!! As far as my HT room goes, I had a little help on the design from Chuck at Definitive technology and with speaker placement as well. My room is 18ft wide and 31ft deep with 10ft ceilings. The back of the room is elevated almost 2ft up. I have 3 rows of seating and each row is at a different level (Stadium Style) when you enter the back of the room you are up higher than down in front. The side walls are not flat; I have arches built in to help break up the sound. I also have carpet running up the walls about 2-3ft high all the way around the room. I'll post up a few pictures of the room. Let me know what you think.

 

[zumbo]

Shocked. You have a theater room like that, and you want a Denon 3310?

My friend just bought a 3310 for his entry level living room set-up. I hate the thing. PITA GUI, and manual. But, if you must, he got it for $799.95 from 6th AVE. Just call them and ask for the price.

I personally prefer a comparable Yamaha(2065), or better. I have a Z7, and I love it. Straight forward set-up, and manuals that actually make sense.

 

[David Gaudreau]

Shocked. You have a theater room like that, and you want a Denon 3310?

My friend just bought a 3310 for his entry level living room set-up. I hate the thing. PITA GUI, and manual. But, if you must, he got it for $799.95 from 6th AVE. Just call them and ask for the price.

I personally prefer a comparable Yamaha(2065), or better. I have a Z7, and I love it. Straight forward set-up, and manuals that actually make sense.

Whats wrong with the denon? Im not getting it for its power. I hope to run it thru the Emotiva XPA-5 and XPA-2

 

[MatthewB.]

I agree with a setup like that (which is gorgeous I'm jealous) I would be looking at preamps and outboard amplifiers to get you the best audio and the power you need. That is a very big room and now I can understand why your Onkyo might be underwhelming (that and a lot of room reflections) You idea of hooking up the two Emotiva amps to the Denon is a great solution (now that I see that room) but I would also look at the Emotiva preamp) I would also seriously look at placing acoustical treatments in everyone of the alcove spaces you have to help tame the room of all the reflections that you are getting, in fact this could be the crux of your problem and are have way too much "cancellation" of frequencies going on.

Man that room is impressive.

 

[zumbo]

Whats wrong with the denon? Im not getting it for its power. I hope to run it thru the Emotiva XPA-5 and XPA-2

Nothing wrong with it's power. It's the operation of set-up features, along with a manual written by a third grader that is the problem.

In my personal opinion, a Yamaha is just easier to live with. Not wanting to sway you from what you want, just informing you of how I felt after a day with the 3310.

FWIW, I use my Z7 in full pre-amp mode. The Z7 has a pre-amp feature that actually disables the internal amp. Very nice.

 

[David Gaudreau]

but I would also look at the Emotiva preamp)QUOTE]
Yeah i guess since I will not be using the power out of the denon, all I need is the preamp right?

 

[David Gaudreau]

So if all I plan on doing is watching movies and playing games in the HT, All I would need is the UMC-1 7.1 Channel Preamplifier/Processor. Instead of the Denon 3310CI. Would the sound quality be better thru the UMC-1 vs the Denon?

 

[MatthewB.]

David alot of people have a hard time hearing a difference between a good preamp and a good reciever. The benfits of the preamp are that you have more setup options, more control of speaker setups and in some cases having a lower crossover cutoff than the standard 40Hz that most recievers have before setting a speaker to large. Since you are gtoing with outboard amplifiers, it would be a waste to buy a reciever because you are paying for a amplifier that you arent going to use. Your bigger bang for buck will be with the preamplifier. Since you are already looking at Emotiva contact them and see if they will give you a deal on a preamp if you plan on buying a 5 channel and 2 channel amp with them. Most of the time they will work with you.

I'd go preamp and amp over reciever any day, just make sure the preamp has HDMI 1.3 or higher switching and a decent video processor.

 

[David Gaudreau]

Right on Man Thank you!!!!

 

[GlocksRock]

Nothing wrong with using a receiver for your preamp, and the Denon is a better choice than the yamaha if for no other reason that you can select different crossover points for your different sets of speakers, unless you set them all to large then it doesn't matter. Another reason to use a receiver instead of a preamp is what happens if your amp needs repair, then you have nothing to power your speakers. At least with a receiver you can temporarily hook the speakers up to the reciever so you aren't without for a while. The Denons aren't the easiest to setup, but they aren't that difficult either if you spend some time with it and you know what you are doing.