Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Time to update reveiver. If my wife will let me

I have an Onkyo TX-NR900 Receiver
2 M80, VP150, 4 - QS8's, SVS 20-39CS

I am thinking it is time for a new receiver. I am a little slow to upgrade stuff but now feel the need for all the HDMI stuff on my receiver. I have had no issues powering the M80's with this receiver BTW. I do not CRANK it super loud though.
Thinking 1000-1500 USD

These are the items I came up with quickly
Onkyo
TX-NR906
TX-SR806
Denon
AVR-3808CI
AVR-2809CI
Yamaha
RX-V1900

Not opposed to any other brands, just that these are brands I know. I really have not been following the A/V market lately as I now have too many other things to do
Just looking at what my options might be. I can look and listen to some, but would like to know of some of the options in this price range the some of you like

The most popular one on this board is the Denon AVR-3808CI. People have been very happy with it.

And here I thought Wayne (FordPrefect) was a slow poster.


I'm partial to the H/K's myself but most others will probably chime in on the Denons.

Do you actually know about recent Harman Kardon units, Rick? I never hear about them, but I'm curious what people are thinking of them these days.

Charles the H/K AVR 354 is only rated for 75 watts per channel and are rather pricey at around $750-$800 each. Seems like the Denons have a few more features and are priced a little better so I believe most folks are going that route although I'd go with an H/K just because of the very good luck I've had with my old 635 which is also a 75 watt per channel unit that I've driven the 80's fairly hard with and have had our VP100 and 150 paralleled (3.4 ohms) for the past two years without nary the first problem.

H/K AVR354

Hey Rick. How big is your room? I can't remember.

I was super paranoid about having enough power for the M80s before I picked up my current Sherwood receiver. I find for my small room and my modest listening habbits (though I do listen to movies quite loud now) the 90wpc I get from mine is more than enough.

I would think that features should, for the most part, be the deciding factor. When I upgrade, I will probably stay away from low end models from Sony, Pioneer, Yamaha and a few others given reputation.

Zeb, been wondering where you were. Unless some feature of the 906 especially attracts you, I'd suggest that the 876 would be most appropriate and the factory refurb is available for about $950 from Accessories4less .

Fred our room is 14'x 25' but keep in mind I also have a Rotel RB1080 (300 watts/4ohms) two channel amp that I'm running the 80s with while the H/K is running everything else. I did have the H/K running the 80s for a while and never had any problems whatsoever and like I stated above, the H/K is powering the 3.4 ohm load from the 100 and 150 and has been doing so for over two years. I'd probably go with H/K because I have a lot of confidence in their stuff and also I'm familiar with their setup menus ... I'm old, my feeble mind can't take overloads as well as it used to.

I ran an H/K 7200 for a few years. It had lots of power and never came close to breaking a sweat. The menus and set up weren't bad, but now that I have a Denon 3808. . .well, it's that much easier to work with.

Sean the Denon is that much easier to operate and setup than the H/K?