Which AV To Get: Yamaha or Pioneer

[TakeItEasy]

I am in the market for a new receiver and want to keep the price below 300. There are a lot of options at this price point and I have narrowed my choices to two receievers: Yamaha RX-V559 and Pioneer VSX-815K. My selection of these two is based on feedback from this website and word of mouth from friends. I will be using this for general home theater use and music play. Both have some distinct features that the other does not and I am trying to make a final decision. Could the audio pros in this thread provide me with some guidance on the following features/questions:

1. Upconversion: The Yamaha has it and the Pioneer does not. Is it essential to have this feature? What exactly does it do in a receiever? I know my DVD player has this feature, do I really need it in the receiever?

2. 95Watts (Yamaha) vs. 100Watts (Pioneer): Will I, a HT novice, notice a difference in power and sound quality with this seemingly small difference?

3. 6.1 (Yamaha) vs. 7.1 (Pioneer): I currently only have a 5.1 setup. I know 6.1 and eventually 7.1 formats will show up on DVDs and other media, but does the extra speaker really make a difference?

4. Quick-setup: The Pioneer has the quick-setup option, while the Yamaha does not. I've read some mixed messages on this subject and the effectiveness of these quick setup programs. Does this option really pay off?

5. And finally, based on your experiences, which is a better brand?

Thank you in advance for your replies!

 

[mike c]

I am totally not familiar with the pioneer ... but here are my thoughts ...

1) upconversion: this is supposed to minimize the number of cables going to your television. let's say you have a game console that uses composite video in, a player that uses S-video in, a DVD player that uses component cables (red, green, blue). you only need to use one set of video cables going to the TV i.e. component cables. otherwise, you need to wire s-video, composite and component and then switch the tv from video 1, video 2, etc.

2) no, you won't notice the difference

3) yes it does

4) the 659 has automatic configuration (yes, you are considering the 559 - I'll get to my point in awhile.) not sure about the 559

5) my experience is with yamaha, and they havent let me down yet

my point: try to get the rx-v659 or the equivalent HTR unit because:
1) it has pre-outs - you're gonna need this IF in the future you buy an external amplifier
2) it's 7.1

 

[Seth=L]

The Pioneer has pre-outs.

The Pioneer won't likely be quite as powerfull as the Yamaha. The Pioneer has IC output devices, I find them inferior to discrete ones. The Pioneer also has a rather small power supply and capacitors that only have a value of 4700 uF, which is puny for a 7.1 receiver.

 

[GlocksRock]

I think you are confusing upconversion with upscaling. Upscaling enhanaces the picture, while upconversion is just outputing all input sources on either component video, or HDMI depending on your receiver. I owned a Pioneer receiver several years ago and thought it was pretty good. I upgraded to a Yamaha RX-V1600 a year ago and couldn't be happier with it. I would suggest you save up a little bit more and get the 7.1 Yamaha receiver.

 

[jcPanny]

Yamaha receivers

Check out the Yamaha HTR-5960 model. It is about $300 from authorized online dealers and is comparable to the RX-V659 model. It is a step up from the Yamaha model you listed and includes more power, 7.1, auto setup and EQ, and video format conversion to component video. I have last years version, the HTR-5860 and would recommend it.

Also check out the AH review of the RX-V659.

 

[Guiria]

1. Mike C spelled it out pretty good, I like upconversion because I don't have to change inputs on the TV all the time which alleviates confusion for others operating the system. It does not upscale the video however, VHS tapes will still look crappy.

2. I went from a 100 watts rated Pioneer receiver (back in 2001) to a 100 watt rated Yamaha receiver (2006) and to me I could here more material from the DVD's/CD's than I could with the Pioneer. What speakers will be connected to your new reciever?

3. I've never experimented with the move from 5.1 to 6.1 or 7.1

4. It has paid off for me. After running the auto setup I made a few adjustments to the crossover settings and my center channel speaker size and then I was done. It was a lot faster and I am pleased with how the auto setup worked, if you can afford it, get it.

5. I think both brands are exeptional and typically will give you what you pay for.

 

[no. 5]

1. Upconversion: The Yamaha has it and the Pioneer does not. Is it essential to have this feature? What exactly does it do in a receiever? I know my DVD player has this feature, do I really need it in the receiever?

Mike C nailed this one, so I shalnt elaborate farther.

2. 95Watts (Yamaha) vs. 100Watts (Pioneer): Will I, a HT novice, notice a difference in power and sound quality with this seemingly small difference?

nobody can notice a difference in power that small, a diffrence in sound quality however, anyone can notice.

3. 6.1 (Yamaha) vs. 7.1 (Pioneer): I currently only have a 5.1 setup. I know 6.1 and eventually 7.1 formats will show up on DVDs and other media, but does the extra speaker really make a difference?

I have 6.1, it is cool - but the number of DVD's in 6.1 is small.

4. Quick-setup: The Pioneer has the quick-setup option, while the Yamaha does not. I've read some mixed messages on this subject and the effectiveness of these quick setup programs. Does this option really pay off?

personaly, I don't like 'quick-setup' things, but that's just because I like to do it myself.

5. And finally, based on your experiences, which is a better brand?

I have both (not the models that your are looking at though) and I perfer the Yamaha, just my personal tast though.

 

[skizzerflake]

I am in the market for a new receiver and want to keep the price below 300. There are a lot of options at this price point and I have narrowed my choices to two receievers: Yamaha RX-V559 and Pioneer VSX-815K. My selection of these two is based on feedback from this website and word of mouth from friends. I will be using this for general home theater use and music play. Both have some distinct features that the other does not and I am trying to make a final decision. Could the audio pros in this thread provide me with some guidance on the following features/questions:

1. Upconversion: The Yamaha has it and the Pioneer does not. Is it essential to have this feature? What exactly does it do in a receiever? I know my DVD player has this feature, do I really need it in the receiever?

It is a good convenience. As previously noted, fewer wires.

2. 95Watts (Yamaha) vs. 100Watts (Pioneer): Will I, a HT novice, notice a difference in power and sound quality with this seemingly small difference?

Power differences so small are insignificant. A 3 decibel increase in loudness (which is barely detectable) requires twice as much power so going from 95 to 100 watts is inaudible.

3. 6.1 (Yamaha) vs. 7.1 (Pioneer): I currently only have a 5.1 setup. I know 6.1 and eventually 7.1 formats will show up on DVDs and other media, but does the extra speaker really make a difference?

I think it's a diminishing return proposition, especially since most of the time rear channels don't convey much other an ambience. Not much real content comes from the rear except an occasional overflying airplane or other sound effect.

4. Quick-setup: The Pioneer has the quick-setup option, while the Yamaha does not. I've read some mixed messages on this subject and the effectiveness of these quick setup programs. Does this option really pay off?

I don't know that specific unit but I have a Yamaha 5940 in my basement (around $300) and it has a quick setup, walking you through things like how many speakers, speaker size, room size, etc. In any event, it's fun fooling around with all of the settings since you probably need to customize them anyway in order to account for the specifics of your system. The quick setups are average settings and nobody really has an average room.

5. And finally, based on your experiences, which is a better brand?

Thank you in advance for your replies!

I don't have any particular negatives on Pioneer but I am fairly positive on Yamaha. I like it's sound quality, especially its "Straight Stereo", which is a basic analog reference point which is useful for judging all of the DSP gadgets and for pure music listening with no bells and whistles. I definitely like it better than the previous Sony unit I had that got hit by lightning last summer.

 

[Yamahaluver]

Audition the Yamaha carefuly with the speakers of your choice, you may or may not like Yamaha sound.

 

[samNOISE]

Yamaha Sound?

.
Dude,

Yamaha amplification stages don't have 'a sound'. Perhaps a particular variety of proprietary matrix circuitry offered on certain receivers might be different from Pioneer's, but solid-state amplification stages in this day and age, don't have audible sonic signatures.

Andrew D.
cdnav.com
.

 

[Yamahaluver]

Theory aside, all amplifiers tend to sound different with different speakers, this topic has been discussed extensively and worn to the ground, to me a Yamaha amp sounds different from say a SONY or NAD, I am sure others are free to agree or disagree. Different amp circuits will interact with speakers differently, if all amps were created equal, why shell out big bucks for esoterica like Krell etc. then.

 

[Seth=L]

.
Dude,

Yamaha amplification stages don't have 'a sound'. Perhaps a particular variety of proprietary matrix circuitry offered on certain receivers might be different from Pioneer's, but solid-state amplification stages in this day and age, don't have audible sonic signatures.

Andrew D.
cdnav.com
.

Sorry, can't let this one go. I do believe he said Yamaha sound, not Yamaha amplification. The pre-amp section is the part of the receiver, not amplifier, that makes the largest difference in sound.

In this case there is a large difference between the amplifiers in each of the receivers discussed. The Pioneer uses two large Integrated Circuit Output devices instead of the Yamaha's discrete ones.

The Yamaha should also be more realistically powerful being that each of the fundamental parts of the amplifier are significantly larger in the Yamaha with maybe the exeption of the power supply which may be around the same in both.

 

[TakeItEasy]

Audition the Yamaha carefuly with the speakers of your choice, you may or may not like Yamaha sound.

I took your advice and listened to the yamaha and pioneer, albeit not with my exact speakers, but similar (i.e., same brand, just this year's model). DUDE (who says that anymore?), they sounded different....even with the same speakers. I went with the Yamaha V659 based on Audioholics reviews/forum and the auditioning.

Thanks all for the help!

 

[no. 5]

I went with the Yamaha V659 based on Audioholics reviews/forum and the auditioning.

great choice.... dude.

 

[stratman]

Dude looks like a lady (Aerosmith)

 

[no. 5]

dude looks like a caveman. (me, just now)

 

[stratman]

dude looks like a caveman. (me, just now)

HA,HA,HA that's funny, even for a non-caveman!

 

[no. 5]

HA,HA,HA that's funny, even for a non-caveman!

we try.

 

[stratman]

we try.

You know its not nice to "poke" fun at caveman, GEICO doesn't like it.

 

[Seth=L]

You know its not nice to "poke" fun at caveman, GEICO doesn't like it.

Ha, your entity is a caveman, ha.