What's your favorite brand Receiver?

[MBauer]

Denon

I just bought one (AVR3805) so I guess I should my mouth where my money is.

Why?

Home Theater capabilities for one. Solid reputation for reliability and performance, excellent reviews, and in the case of the 3805 the ability to use it as a preamp in the future (my understanding is that they do really well at that).

I am fortunate to have a dedicated Home Theater system based on Parasound equipment (pre-pro and amp) and I wanted a second system in our Family Room powered by an AV Receiver that had excellent capbilities and could give me several years of good service. Several friends have Denon AV receivers and have been very pleased with them and from my listening to them I felt they did a great job.

I also considered Yamaha, Onkyo and Integra.

When I get everything working to my satisfaction I will write a quick report and post it. It is not optimized yet but I did get it up and running without difficulty but I am still optimizing it, plus I love to fiddle with things like this.

 

[Ohmage]

Decent review

This is a very decent, recent, comparative review of some of the top A/V receivers from Rotel, Harmon-Kardon, Denon, Yamaha, and Arcam; a good read:

http://www.nebyhifi.no/documents/RSX-1056HomeCinemaJuly04.pdf

If you read between the lines, the Denon AVR3805 is the top receiver for HT out of the lot.

cheers,

Homage.

 

[toquemon]

This is a very decent, recent, comparative review of some of the top A/V receivers from Rotel, Harmon-Kardon, Denon, Yamaha, and Arcam; a good read:

http://www.nebyhifi.no/documents/RSX-1056HomeCinemaJuly04.pdf

If you read between the lines, the Denon AVR3805 is the top receiver for HT out of the lot.

cheers,

Homage.

I read between the lines and i have the impression that the Yamaha is better for HT (with its propietary CINEMA DSP, not ordinary DD or DTS) and the Arcam is the most musical one. The funny thing is that the Yamaha and the Denon are priced equal, so, i think the Denon is the winner just for that reason (in the UK).

In the US, the Yamaha is priced $200 less and here in Mexico the Yamaha is priced $500 less than the Denon (i choose the Yammie because of that).

The Denon distributor here in Mexico is crazy and its the same distributor of Bryston and B&W (with the price they're charging for the 5803, you can buy a nice VW POLO).

 

[S.R. Johnson]

my favorite brands of receivers are

1.) Yamaha--of course! and Marantz tied for first place
2.) Pioneer Elite
3.) Denon
4.) Onkyo
5.) Old Sony and Old Sony ES

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

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.



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.

I've got to disagree with you whole heartedly about Denon and low volume. I have the 3805 and a 7.1 set up with super inefficient Polk RTi's, CSi, and FXi's that just sound creamy at dinnertime every night. Whether we play country, jazz, or classical, that setup never seems to amaze me. I've had Yamaha and Sony receivers, and never have heard such sweet music at low volumes. Just my opinion.

 

[sts9fan]

Yammie

My Yammie treats me good

 

[zackde]

cheaaap

i like onkyos because they are really cheap, there are refurbished onkyo that is really sweet in the budgets

 

[Scorpius]

parasound...or nad...maybe even adcom..not made up my mind yet..but i ve heard the harmopn kardon also and it also rocked...
maybe once i get a chance to chek them all out i ll know and will post a more decicive answer...but for now i ll say parasound...there speakers surly rock!!!

scorpius

 

[Die Hard Yammy]

I think my name speaks for itself! I just love the ease of use and features you get for unbeatable prices, not to mention the sound, Yammy all the way!

 

[Scorpius]

I think my name speaks for itself! I just love the ease of use and features you get for unbeatable prices, not to mention the sound, Yammy all the way!

cool yammy!!!

i m gonna check it out i guess..

 

[MarieonCape]

In my price range

I am pretty much like MBauer in my reasons.

When I looked for a new receiver I looked at many different brands and Denon seemed to have to best combination of quality, features, performance, apperance, and price for me. Also Denon seemed to be serious, developed by people who have enthuiasm and pride in their products. And I'll be honest, amongst my circle theDenon was kind of exclusive and high end, so add snob appeal.

I got a 3805 when they first came out (didn't see this post till now) and still love it, and for once owning something while it is still current and not out of date by a generation or more.

Marie

 

[Scorpius]

i m also looking into a sony that seems to be a favotrite ..its a ssub grand category amp..sorry cant remeber the model...but i guess it will either be that with cunjunction with a mutichannel rotel amp..i think its the 1065...for my home theater...

anyhow

scorpius

 

[3db]

I chose NAD

Its a toss up between Rotel and NAD but I've know NAD alot longer than Rotel so I guess that sways it for me. I like NAD because they stay away from gimmicks and features. They concentrate their designs on ampand pre-amp sections and it shows. Of all manufactures, NAD has consistently lived up to its rated specs with all channels driven. Ya I know about the real world scenario never driving all channels at once in DVD. However, since the onslaught of multichannel DVDA and SACD, this all channels power delivery is going to play a much bigger role than it has in the past.

To my ears, the Denons and the Yamaha's with all their bells and whistles still don't approach the sound quailty of a NAD.

My 2 cents worth

 

[Scorpius]

Nad has nice product and yeah they stay away from gimmicks...i figured since you are anad fan you would also like outlaw..they have the same way of thinking also..so i m alsolooking into one of their setups...

anhow

tahnsk

 

[cokeman]

Happy with what i have Yamaha rx-v1400

It has alot goodies and toys on it. You watch about anyting on it and listen to anything on it like DTS DTSES DTS 24/96 DTS NEO6 DD DDEX PLIIX THX THXEX THX ES and of course
yamahas DSP's too

 

[Scorpius]

i also came across a device that upconverst 42/12 to 96/24...and it does thsi with cd based materials and tv based feeds...i guess it is suppose to be an enhancer of soem type which supposevly makes the sound like a highg end coded material...it was 699 dollars but i cant find the link again...different computer...
i know that tisi is off topic..but has anyone herad of something like this???

thanks

Scorpius

 

[JJMP50]

My unscientific choices

I have 3 receivers set up in my house: an ancient Technics "surround sound" (used only as a stereo in the bedroom), an aged Yamaha and a new Pioneer. These are not comparable due to the difference in technologies but the Yamaha out performs the Pioneer in everything except "phony" surround. That is a techology thing due to the Yamaha is old and only has Dolby Pro Logic (the older version) where the Pioneer is more up to date. When the Yamaha dies it will be time for a 2500. This is not to say I don't like the Pioneer: I do. It does the job it was intended for.

 

[Cygnus]

I can't vote yet as I don't have my receiver! . But I may end up voting Denon once I get it!

 

[sudyke]

Pio for me...

I chose Pio, because it seems the most user-friendly to me! I love music and HT, but I don't have enought knowledge in these areas (ufortunately) to be able to set up my home system for near optimal sounds. I like its design a lot too. I don't really care about WPC, cos I can't afford to buy anything bigger than the VSX-D814, which has 100W/ch @ 1kHz. I guess that means around 80-85 WPC @ 20Hz-20kHZ!? The Yammy at the same price lvl produces about the same, but you can buy stuff with higher WPC rating at the price, but would the 20-30W more make a big difference? NO! Maybe 1dB higher SPL! That I don't care about! I was looking for the system that I can enjoy the most, and I found it!

 

[firefighterchri]

Yamaha, I have the RXV2500. I didn't like the Denon 2105.