Which receiver would you get RX2700 or Denon 4306?

[dreday]

first off I must say I love this site, there is such a wealth of information. Anyways, I work at a "big box" vendor (not all of us are bad) and can get a decent discount on both. The difference would be 100 bucks to be perfectly honest. So which would you pick if you had one a choice? I will be powering martin logan esl's clarity, their center channel Fresco and their surrounds. The sub I really like is the Klispch rf12 or 10 inch. I am having a hard time deciding b/n the two. I believe the 2700 will be better for overall sound (with ypao, neural surround etc...) And the review on the 4306 is not very promising (lacking accurate Audyessy results). Not to mention the denon looks like they painted a brick from Super Mario black and stamped denon on it.

Thanks for the advice.
Dre

 

[Nestor]

I'd say go with the 2700, but then, I may be a little biased (see below)

 

[Jeje2]

I'd say go with the 2700, but then, I may be a little biased (see below)

More interesting question is: did you compare these two before purchaise and if did - why did you choose the V2700?

 

[arftech]

first off I must say I love this site, there is such a wealth of information. Anyways, I work at a "big box" vendor (not all of us are bad) and can get a decent discount on both. The difference would be 100 bucks to be perfectly honest. So which would you pick if you had one a choice? I will be powering martin logan esl's clarity, their center channel Fresco and their surrounds. The sub I really like is the Klispch rf12 or 10 inch. I am having a hard time deciding b/n the two. I believe the 2700 will be better for overall sound (with ypao, neural surround etc...) And the review on the 4306 is not very promising (lacking accurate Audyessy results). Not to mention the denon looks like they painted a brick from Super Mario black and stamped denon on it.

Thanks for the advice.
Dre

If you're into the music as well as video I say choose the Denon. Musically, to me the Denons are better but of course some of this is subjective.

Al

 

[Nestor]

More interesting question is: did you compare these two before purchaise and if did - why did you choose the V2700?

Both are so closely matched, one could almost swap nameplates.

I was able to get the Yamaha at a good price. I also liked the fact the Yammy uses parametric eq's for the dsp.

Other shortcomings were common to both. Music streaming could be better, and the internet radio feature is limited. Both use Vtuner, which would be okay, but the station lists are limited to only a portion of the stations listed with Vtuner. The Sonos kicks butt here. They use Vtuner too, but you can add url's of any station streaming in mp3 or wma.

My bias lies with the fact I've had a RX-V1050 for about 12 yrs and was very happy with it, and felt it was time to catch up to the latest technology (dolby digital, etc.)

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

 

[Hi Ho]

I had access to both of them at the store I work at and had a substantial discount as well. I went with the 2700.

First, the 2700 has a much better GUI. It is not only user friendly, but pretty. The "60's computer" look on other receivers (including the 4306) is just tacky and unrefined. Yes, it gets the job done but for the price I expect more.

I listened to both receivers and I liked the Yamaha sound better. Honestly, there wasn't a big difference. In fact, I'll bet most of the (small) difference could be attributed to the room EQ and auto calibration settings. I liked Yamaha's YPAO better than Denon's Audyssey EQ. The Yamaha has one super sweet spot but the other seats still sound good. The Audyssey EQ in the Denon attempts to average out the room response for multiple sweet spots. I prefer having one sweet spot. The way I look at it is, averaging is a compromise. I'm not saying the Denon's Audyssey sounded bad, it didn't. I simply prefered Yamaha's system. Another plus for Yamaha, their system has two parametric EQ bands on the sub.

I wasn't able to try the music streaming feature on the Denon but I have been using it on the Yamaha. Sound quality is excellent but navigating my large music library is a pain. There is no easy way to get to specific artists or songs because they are arranged in a gigantic alphabetical list and pages load very slowly. Scrolling through takes forever. I have overcome this by creating playlists.

Featurewise the two receivers are very similar. It comes down to personal preference. Both are excellent receivers and you would probably be pleased with either one. I say the Yamaha gives more bang for the buck.

 

[JackT]

If you are interested in video deinterlacing, the 4306 is the best bet.

 

[jcsprankle]

I believe the 2700 will be better for overall sound (with ypao, neural surround etc...) And the review on the 4306 is not very promising (lacking accurate Audyessy results). Not to mention the denon looks like they painted a brick from Super Mario black and stamped denon on it.

It sounds to me like you already made your decision.

 

[Geno]

Unless you get into the esoteric (way expensive) class of components, pretty much all receivers look like boxes, IMHO. I happen to like my 4306's looks - mine's silver. Like others have said here, when you're comparing boxes in the same price class, the differences are going to be pretty minimal. Personal preferences and the financial deal are the only real differences. Of course, that's just my opinion...I could be wrong

 

[Jeje2]

Not to mention the denon looks like they painted a brick from Super Mario black and stamped denon on it.

As we are on the subject - I prefear the cimplicity of V2600 with almost all buttons behind a front cover. Thus have a clean simple frontpanel which is easy to keep clean. (All those buttons&wheels would make the cleaning job a lot harder )