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?

Yes, that's what I was trying to convey with my awkward sentence!

Thats bigger than my room at 1700cf, but not huge. Its surprising how little power we use most of the time.

It wasn't awkward, I understood every word ... is that a bad thing?

That somewhat surprises me about the Denon, I was always under the impression that it can be a little tricky to setup. Shows you what I know.

It's only tricky once you try to decode the manual. The main thing I like is the GUI that overlays what is on screen. With the H/K I had to switch to an S-video connection as the menus wouldn't show through the component connection. It was kinda frustrating.

John,
I am in the US. I meant the SR876 instead of the SR806. I've always heard bad think about H/K, But that was also years ago. I was also thinking I wanted HD radio even though I think I will never use it. I also thought I would want to upconvert video to 1080p and have at least 3 HDMI 1080p inputs. These were really the things I was thinking of. I really have not though too much more about it than that.

Joe

Whoa, we didn't expect you back for another five or so years Zeb ... sorry if we hijacked your thread.



Sean, I have ours connected via video output from TV to H/K for the menu setup and just switch the TV connect via the Harmony remote for on screen menus.

I assume that is typical Since I have been a member here for 5 years and have 3 posts. hehe
I see onecall has the AVR-3808CI for $1200 US shipped
I'll probably finish this thread and then be back in another 5 years

I always kinda wanted a Harmony remote to simplify things. I haven't got totally fed up with the multiple remote thingy yet. Also, it probably helps that I'm single and don't have someone constantly reminding me what a pain in the a$$ it is to run the HT.

I bought my 3808 through Onecall for about that price. Had a few purchases through them and no problems yet.

AVS and 6AVE (mention that are an AVS forum member; if not a member, join!) have great prices on Denon.

Also, consider a URC remote before pulling the trigger on Harmony. Harmony is easy to program but may limit you from doing some what more advanced stuff. It's not like programming a URC remote is rocket science or anything though.

Sean I'd almost just as well have used the separate remotes also, I'm not too terribly impressed with the very small buttons and remembering what each button assignment is for the different functions, also it seems like I need to hit the 'help' button way more often than it should due to the fact that whenever I hit a function it will not set a particular component to the right setting. Doesn't happen every time, just enough to make me want to chuck the thing out the window every now and again.

I'll stick with what I got then. Thanks, Rick. Anyway, after I move I hope to simplify things by having two separate systems. That just means the remotes will be more spread out!

I won't tell Mojo that you said this.