What's your favorite brand Receiver?

[fuzzy32]

My vote goes to Onkyo. I have the Onkyo 989 and love it. Has all the inputs/outputs I want and will need. Previously had the Onkyo 787 and had no complaints with it either.

 

[xyntax]

i go for ONKYO.recently buy tx-sr602e and it's great.it drives my jamo e850 very well.

 

[dsa220]

I voted for Pioneer. I have always liked their products and for HT they do a good job, and I like the MCACC more than YPAO in the Yamaha's. But, for two-channel, just about all the receivers are lacking. Most do a poor job with music, their tuners are lousey at best and the ones that have a phono section are few, and those that do, these sections are below pitiful to just about useless.

I will save my opinions on the amp sections for the steem vent.

What ever happened to good sounding receivers, like the older Kenwoods, McIntosh's and Marantez's. Even SAE made a receiver that sounded better than most of the newer offerings.

 

[jordanny]

I voted for Marantz. To my ears, they sound reasonably musical and accurate. Onkyo and Dennon sound pretty good, too. But, Dennon seems a little subdued, lacking a little real-time dynamic response. To be honest, I miss my old Carver receiver. It was the best for the money I've ever found.

 

[Leo]

I have an old Denon AVR 2500.....and is still working fine since the day I bought it. Love the sound of the deep bass on my Klipsch speakers.

 

[UmAlum1990]

I Love my Rotel RSX 1067. Power and Power when I need it...

 

[GmcG]

I vote for Pioneer, as it is the only one brand which has mutibit High End DACs in their top receivers, those can be found in the best sounding devices such as Ayre D-1x DVD player, Theta Casablanca II and III AV processors (Extreme DACs use PCM1704), Moon Nova CD player.

 

[enob]

I'm an old skool Carver fan but my last 3 receivers have been yamaha,
best bang for the buck

 

[qwertynerd]

No, MINE is the best

My Denon-5700 has never dissapointed since day one. Rock solid and still looks great in my rack. Oh, sorry, I forgot it's about how it sounds, not how it looks . . . did I mention it looks really cool?? Especially when all the red 5.1/DTS come on . . . it looks great! Yeah, I really like the looks of it.

Bass Traps are coming . . . THEN my life will be complete and I will be happy.

 

[ebough]

I prefer Denon because of their comprehensive, thoughtful, articulate, and well organized instruction manuals. NOT!!!!

Actually, Denon equipment has to be extraordinarily good for anyone to put up with the garbage that passes for their instruction manual. I don't think these people could explain how to open a refrigerator.

 

[fwgwani]

PIONEER!!!!!

The first reciever I possessed and I am loyal to my first brands. Every componet I buy I look for Pioneer first. If they made Pioneer VCRs I would buy a Pioneer VCR just to keep the consistensy

 

[Electone]

I have always played Yamaha Keyboards and Yamaha Electone Organs, therefore, I have always leaned towards their audio products.

I just love the company.

 

[Khellandros66]

Through demos at a well setup store I find the Denon's receivers to be geared more for movies then musid, though this could be just me, I feel that Yamaha is more 50/50 for music and movies.

~Bob

 

[BMXTRIX]

Bob - That's funny, most people I have heard from feel the opposite from you...

My vote goes to Denon & Yamaha. Either, they are an even 50/50 in my book and I won't choose one over the other until I find how much I can get it for. Work for a Denon dealer now.... But it was Yamaha when I had money.

Anyway, why I rule companies out: Piss poor total engineering system combined with lousy customer service. Since I work with Crestron & integration of systems serial control is very, VERY important to me. The following companies have shown beyond a shadow of a doubt that they don't know how to make the serial port work correctly, and have no interest in fixing engineering problems within components that exist to make their receiver better, but insist upon advertising it as a feature despite KNOWN problems with it....

1. Marantz - Marantz has long been my number one complaint. Zero customer support, half their products aren't designed/built in house, and when put in serious tests their power is severely over-rated to what reality shows. Their base logic for building high-end receivers is just stupid on the engineering front.

2. Integra - My phone call went something like "Hello, you have a problem with your receiver, I can't turn it on via serial control." "Okay, if you are aware of this problem, where can I get firmware to fix it." "You aren't going to fix that problem... great, nice doing business with you." So simple, yet they screw it up OH SO BAD!!!

3. Rotel... Can someone please tell me how you are supposed to use the serial port of their receiver AND listen to anything? Because as soon as we plugged in their serial cable (included with the receiver) the speakers started hissing and making noise? Cripes! It's like the speakers hissing as soon as you touch the remote control, except constantly. Talk about something that wasn't tested before release.

Other companies I hold optimism for, but haven't tested. I am strongly of the belief that a company that is serious about its engineering will provide a good all around product and support that product or make it so that product does not even need support. Yamaha and Denon are a step ahead... Let me add McIntosh to that list who I called when the MX-134 came out and did not work via serial control.... Within 1 week they sent me an email with new firmware to fix the problem and it actually worked perfectly. They dove through hoops to make their product better very quickly.

Just a few opinions with reasons behind them.

 

[cownd]

Marantz - rock solid and is equally great for HT and music, without the useless bells and whistles.. *cough,.. Yamaha, cough*

 

[shokhead]

Maybe its better now but it use to seem that sony and yamaha always lacked inputs and outputs,at least the important ones.

 

[Audiosouse]

Denon - 'till someone does better for the dough

First things first...Sound is sound, whether you're playing music or movies, jazz or classical. So I don't understand how one infer's a receiver is better for music or movies, unless it is distorting the source (making it sound "warm" by under/over emphasizing certain frequencies, poor processing, etc.). And if it is, move on to another receiver.

A good one faithfully reproduces all source material without distorting it in any way. A great one will have looks AND more features than a $2K processor AND more power than a $2K amplifier AND set itself up with a microphone AND not say made in China on the back!

Which is why I chose Denon after a lot of research, listening and recommendations from reviewers and esoteric audio stores. In Canada, most serious audio stores ALL carry Denon receivers and DVD players along with the likes of Arcam, Anthem, Simaudio, Martin Logan and Totem. That's pretty rarified company. However, setting a stiff budget narrows down the choices real quick.

To my ears the AVR-3805 sounded best with the speakers I fell for (Paradigm Monitor System 7). Reveiws and measurments confirm it. I could have bought any amp/speaker combo; Arcam and Totem, Rotel and Energy, but realized the Denon/Paradigm combo provided the highest quality, best sound and most features for the price.

 

[MDS]

First things first...Sound is sound, whether you're playing music or movies, jazz or classical. So I don't understand how one infer's a receiver is better for music or movies, unless it is distorting the source (making it sound "warm" by under/over emphasizing certain frequencies, poor processing, etc.). And if it is, move on to another receiver.

I couldn't agree more! Its the same argument that some subwoofers are more suited to music than movies or vice-versa. The goal is to find a receiver that has the aesthetics, ease of use, and features you want and colors the sound as little as possible.

All the top tier brands are good and Denon is certainly in that category. I happen to prefer Onkyo just because I have alot of experience with them and have never been disappointed.

 

[Ohmage]

First things first...Sound is sound, whether you're playing music or movies, jazz or classical. So I don't understand how one infer's a receiver is better for music or movies, unless it is distorting the source (making it sound "warm" by under/over emphasizing certain frequencies, poor processing, etc.). And if it is, move on to another receiver.

You are under the premise that everyone likes to listen to their music sufficiently loud all the time. Denon makes very good receivers, but they like to be turned up, and really only come alive when turned up; that is why they are great for home theatre. Who likes to watch movies with the volume muted anyway? Rotel and Arcam receivers are considered very musical because not only do they sound exceptional at high volume, they also have great detail and dynamics at low volume, which Denon lacks. I love my music loud, but not all the time. The difference is not distortion, but due to the way the transformers and amp sections were designed to deliver power. It is sort of like the way different car engines deliver torque and horsepower at differing engine rpm. Some cars are great for city driving, while others thrive on the highway, and still there are those that are great for both city and highway driving.

To my ears the AVR-3805 sounded best with the speakers I fell for (Paradigm Monitor System 7). Reveiws and measurments confirm it. I could have bought any amp/speaker combo; Arcam and Totem, Rotel and Energy, but realized the Denon/Paradigm combo provided the highest quality, best sound and most features for the price.

I thought Rotel was married to B&W...nevertheless, it always give me satisfaction to hear a fellow audio fanatic being completely happy with their gear...of course, that is until the next upgrade.

Ohmage.

 

[Audiosouse]

You are under the premise that everyone likes to listen to their music sufficiently loud all the time. Denon makes very good receivers, but they like to be turned up, and really only come alive when turned up;
Ohmage.

Interesting, I can't say I've ever heard that explanation before. With the Denon's extremely low noise floor and Paradigm's efficient speakers, I would have thought the opposite.

But you're right, if I can't feel the music in my chest, it's not loud enough for me. If I liked quiet volumes, considereing the ambient noise of the average house these days (espeically open concept where you hear the fridge compressor, furnace and wife talking), I'd opt for a HeadRoom Max with DiMarzio cable and Sennheiser HD650 cans with the Cardas cable upgrade. Just a thought.