Yamaha or Pioneer receivers. Help me choose.

[BJWagner]

My wife and I will be moving into a new house soon and I’ll be building a home theatre that is in need of a new receiver and speakers. The room is 19.5 feet long and 13 feet wide with lament flooring. I’ve got a Panasonic AE900 projector, 100 inch Da-Lite Cinema Contour screen and currently using a Panasonic S97 for my DVD player. I’ve decided to go with a 7.1 set of Axiom speakers to replace my 5.1 Energy e:XL series speakers, but need some help deciding on a receiver. The only receiver I’ve ever owned is my good old Yamaha RX-V595a. For almost 7 years it has performed perfectly, but with the HD audio formats looming on the horizon, and my wish to upgrade the speakers, I feel it’s time to find a replacement. My budget for a new receiver is going to be $2000.00, but I’ll happily spend less if possible. I’ve been very impressed with my Yamaha, but also wish to broaden my horizons and am looking at Pioneer. If Pioneer’s Blu-Ray player works like it’s supposed to, and if they release a new receiver with HDMI 1.3 and full Dolby Digital HD and DTS-HD, etc. I’d be very interested in committing to them both. My only concern is to get some advice on how Yamaha receivers compare to Pioneer in general. If this forthcoming HD audio format wasn’t an issue, I’d be hard pressed to look beyond Yamaha’s RX-V2600 or RX-V1600, but as it stands I’ll begrudgingly hold onto my cash and wait until the spring in hopes that we may have an idea of what’s to come.

Any comments or advice?

 

[wafflebird]

Decisions...decisions.....

First off welcome to the forums. It would seem you have a pretty good grasp as to what is going on with the whole HDMI issues, and I feel that if you can hold off from a decision (thus the reason for the title of my post he..he) so that you can truly benefit from the true capacity of HDMI 1.3 then you would be best served for sure. I own both a Yamaha (RX-V2500 main room) and Pioneer (VSX-816 bedroom) and as they are pretty far apart price-wise they are both great performers, and both companies offer a great variety of products. In looking at their offerings as of late they have both been providing great components to consumers, Pioneer seems to offer a lot of options HDMI wise maybe a little more than Yamaha. They have a great receiver VSX-84TXSi with 4 HDMI inputs and it is now priced around $1500.00Yamaha has the RX-V4600 for around 1900.00. The one big difference I see (beside price) is that the current Pioneer mentioned above has 4 HDMI inputs and the Yamaha has only 2. The Pioneer also has 10 watts more per channel, although this is not a huge deal unless you listen @ ear bleeding levels. All this said they are both great companies with great offerings. You also will probably want to look at Denon etc.

In the long run I would expect Pioneer to stay with the 4 HDMI input unit as they will not step back on the input options when they go with HDMI 1.3. So for the money it would look to favor Pioneer if you look at input options and wattage. You would not lose sleep over either one for sure, and these are just my opinions. Again I think you have the right mind-set, waiting until all the issues get sorted out and you can then purchase a "Complete" receiver good luck.

 

[Sheep]

Waffle,

The RXV2600 is the one with more HDMI inputs, as well as full analogue upconversion out the HDMI out. Does the Poineer feature that?

Also, don't take the power ratings into account. It's BS.

SheepStar

 

[GlocksRock]

If you want a receiver that can decode the new HD audio formats, you may have to wait a bit longer, as I don't think any of the new receivers are able to decode them yet.

 

[wafflebird]

????????

Hey sheep,

Lookikng at the Yamaha web-site the RX-V2600 shows only 2 HDMI inputs, is there something in the future coming out or am I missing something, I am with you on the watts as I said that doesn't make much difference.

 

[BJWagner]

Looking at Yamaha and Pioneer, I'd have to agree that Pioneer offers more HDMI inputs, which may become very important in the coming years. I still really like Yamaha as my experience with my old receiver has been fantastic, but I've recently read that Pioneer offers better home theatre receivers, where Yamaha is better for music. As I rarely listen to music in my home theatre, I was beginning to lean toward Pioneer, but want to hear as many opinions as possible. Watts don't really matter all that much, so long as I get 120 or more--my current receiver offers only 80.

Thanks for all the advice so far!

 

[jcPanny]

Receiver options

I think that the Yamah RX-V2600 would work great with your Axioms and hold you over for a while. Which mains did you get? The Axiom M80's are 4 ohm speaker and might desive an outboard amp.
It will be at least a year before HDMI 1.3 and the new HD audio formats are worked out, so you might consider spending <$1k on a receiver now and putting the rest into the receiver upgrade or amplifier fund. Also, with the RX-V2700 comming out this month, you will probably be able to get a good deal on the older 2600 model. HDMI switches can be bought for about $200 and up, so the number of receiver inputs is not a huge issue.

 

[BJWagner]

I think that the Yamah RX-V2600 would work great with your Axioms and hold you over for a while. Which mains did you get? The Axiom M80's are 4 ohm speaker and might desive an outboard amp.
It will be at least a year before HDMI 1.3 and the new HD audio formats are worked out, so you might consider spending <$1k on a receiver now and putting the rest into the receiver upgrade or amplifier fund. Also, with the RX-V2700 comming out this month, you will probably be able to get a good deal on the older 2600 model. HDMI switches can be bought for about $200 and up, so the number of receiver inputs is not a huge issue.

I haven't bought the Axiom's as of yet, but I'm looking at the M50's--however that's not set in stone. The more I read about the speakers, the more my choices seem to down-size. My room is only 1980 cubic feet, and I don't think I need a speaker as big as the M80. As for HDMI inputs, truth be told I always try to directly connect my components. All I really need is one in the receiver for the HD audio, as I'll run the HDMI video directly from the DVD, Blu-Ray, HD-DVD, or whatever quantum flux video device may win the format war, to my projector.

 

[Sheep]

Looking at Yamaha and Pioneer, I'd have to agree that Pioneer offers more HDMI inputs, which may become very important in the coming years. I still really like Yamaha as my experience with my old receiver has been fantastic, but I've recently read that Pioneer offers better home theatre receivers, where Yamaha is better for music. As I rarely listen to music in my home theatre, I was beginning to lean toward Pioneer, but want to hear as many opinions as possible. Watts don't really matter all that much, so long as I get 120 or more--my current receiver offers only 80.

Thanks for all the advice so far!

I'm going to have to disagree here. Yamaha DSP modes for movies are the best out there. I have never been impressed with other companies attempts.

SheepStar

 

[GlocksRock]

I don't care for the Yamaha DSP modes, they add way too much reverb, and that can be heard with the click test on the avia disc. But it's the only way to use the presence speakers if you have a yamaha recevier.

 

[zoran]

I think Pioneer Elite are NEW/CURRENT, 81-84 TXSI etc are loaded with functions! I have a BRAND NEW 82TXS to sell, with full 2 years warranty, purchased from authorized dealer! still in box!

 

[JayMan007]

I think Pioneer Elite are NEW/CURRENT, 81-84 TXSI etc are loaded with functions! I have a BRAND NEW 82TXS to sell, with full 2 years warranty, purchased from authorized dealer! still in box!

What price tag do you have in mind? I'm looking at the 81 & 82. - JayMan

 

[zoran]

sent u pm..sorry for delay

 

[B5I8]

My 2¢

I just have to throw this out there. If you wanted to buy right now, why not consider a Denon AVR-4306 and some Ascend Acoustics speakers. If not, I'd wait until the HDMI 1.3 receivers start rolling out. As far as speakers, I cannot stress how important it is to get out to your local dealers and audition what they have to offer. Speakers are the most subjective and require one to listen to them before buying. There are plenty of other brands out there that in my opinion are better than the Axioms.

 

[BJWagner]

I just have to throw this out there. If you wanted to buy right now, why not consider a Denon AVR-4306 and some Ascend Acoustics speakers. If not, I'd wait until the HDMI 1.3 receivers start rolling out. As far as speakers, I cannot stress how important it is to get out to your local dealers and audition what they have to offer. Speakers are the most subjective and require one to listen to them before buying. There are plenty of other brands out there that in my opinion are better than the Axioms.

Thanks for the advice. I'm not a big fan of Denon, but if I can find some, I'll certainly give the Ascend Acoustics a try. As I get closer to the time when I'll be ready to buy my new speaker set, I'll try out as many as I can. However what I like about the Axiom's is that I can try them out in my own home for 30 days before making a final decision. This to me seems great as I find most stores willing to let you audition speakers in their listening rooms are either arrogant and pushy when you question their choices, or the rooms are far too different from my own home to make a truly informed decision. I'm willing to spend about $3000.00 on my new speakers, I just hope it'll be money spent well.

 

[B5I8]

Thanks for the advice. I'm not a big fan of Denon, but if I can find some, I'll certainly give the Ascend Acoustics a try. As I get closer to the time when I'll be ready to buy my new speaker set, I'll try out as many as I can. However what I like about the Axiom's is that I can try them out in my own home for 30 days before making a final decision. This to me seems great as I find most stores willing to let you audition speakers in their listening rooms are either arrogant and pushy when you question their choices, or the rooms are far too different from my own home to make a truly informed decision. I'm willing to spend about $3000.00 on my new speakers, I just hope it'll be money spent well.

Ascend Acoustics is also in internet direct company with the same 30 day policy as Axiom. The reason I like the Ascends better is because they use an excellent SEAS tweeter and have a very very flat frequency response. They may not look that great but they are pretty cheap and very accurate. For $3k you can get Ascends top-of-the-line system.

 

[BJWagner]

Thanks! I'll check them out.

 

[vlad335]

I'm going to have to disagree here. Yamaha DSP modes for movies are the best out there. I have never been impressed with other companies attempts.

SheepStar

I agree with Sheepstar, my yamaha RX-V3200 excells for movies. The Sony and Pioneer receivers I owned previously sounded better with music.

just my opinion...