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Re: Pioneer VSX1014TX
#68751 11/21/04 03:46 PM
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Whoa there young lad!!! I never once said I liked the Pioneer the most! The Pioneer was my first review only because it surprised the heck out of me! I will post my thoughts on the others soon but for now here are some thoughts on the HK, which is in fact my number 1 choice for HT and second for stereo!...............yes I know what your thinking, I own the Denon 3805 what's up with that? Sorry guys but when it comes to HT and when you take everything into account from power to overall sound to features, the HK walks on my Denon..........and least in my basement and using my speakers!

When it comes to HT, the Harman to me is the ruler of the roost. This thing is just freaking amazing with the options you have. Multiple crossover points all the way to what I think is a great display. It's the only receiver I can actually read the front of from my seating position.......and I have 20/20 vision so no it's not my eyes. Not a big deal for me but the wife loved it. My biggest joy with the HK was with it’s seemingly endless supply of power! No matter what I did, it kept going and going. This receiver to me at least brings a warm sound to the mix that reminds me a lot of my Parasound amp. My guess is this is due to Harman's love of current and not just wattage. I have read a ton in here from Harman owners bragging about them.............I now get it! I have no clue on anything else in the line but the AVR-630 is a wicked receiver that I would own in a heartbeat. I can't say I spent a lot of time on the auto set-up offered up via the remote but I did let it do it's thing and it was ok. I made some changes but in the end I ended up going with SPL levels and setting speaker distance with a good old fashioned tape measure. I can go on but in the end if I was giving away a prize for number 1 overall, the HK takes it! It does it all well, from HT to stereo to multi-channel audio!

One of the things I love to play with, is every receivers multi channel stereo option. 5 channel stereo etc etc. Logic 7 wins this hands down with the Denon 3805 being real close. I have heard from a few Lexicon owners about how good Logic 7 was, but now that I have heard it, I must agree it is dam good.

I could ramble on for ever about this thing as I liked it that much! I also hit the same DB with the Harman as I did with the Pioneer, and it didn't clip..............ever...........not once...........it just kept going and going.

Now the bad. For some reason the volume on the HK went goofy on me a few times. Dam thing would turn itself down for no reason or not respond to the remote. We took it back and got another one. The replacement had problems to. As soon as I got the tunes thumping, it shut down. Again we took it back. The one we have now seems fine so far.

Does HK have some quality control issues? Who knows but I must admit that although I think this is a great receiver I may have some reservations on buying it based on what I experienced with 2 of them!.........but in the end this may have just been bad luck!

Those purty blue lights on the front are calling my name! :-)


Re: Pioneer VSX1014TX
#68752 11/21/04 05:13 PM
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Keep telling us more, especially about the H/K!

I have to confess that I'm changing speakers. I'm not getting rid of the Axioms, but for the HT/main listening area I was able to get a pair of Dynaudio 52SEs at a reasonable price @ Audiogon. So they will replace my M22s, and I suspect I'll need to replace my VP150 center. On the other hand, I bet the QS8s will stay.

Anyhow, while I really love my Elite 55TXi, it's not meant to drive a 4 ohm load (and only 86dB sensitivity). So I just started looking at other receivers and the H/K comes highly recommended for this kind of load. Other receivers (Rotel, Arcam, B&K, etc.) are above the desired price point, but the NAD T763 seems in the right ballpark.

I want excellent HT performance, but need an outstanding stereo/music experience. So want to hear more about your impressions about the H/K's music performance.

Also, any H/K product experts out there? I'm getting confused about the various feature trade-offs btw the 630, 635, 2005, etc. They don't seem to do a really clean "good, better, best" build-up of features.

Whew, this became long! Thanks for writing up your impressions.

Rich

Re: Yamaha RXV1400 vs Pioneer VSX1014TX vs HK AVR630
#68753 11/22/04 12:39 AM
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And the yamaha?? did not see any comments.


Sunfire amps & processor Sammy 50" Crown amp 2-SVS SS Maple Ultras, Axiom 60s,22s,150cc, QS8s
Re: Yamaha RXV1400 vs Pioneer VSX1014TX vs HK AVR630
#68754 11/22/04 03:18 AM
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Ah yes the Yamaha......... First thing I have to throw out there is that Yamaha's YPAO (Parametric Room Acoustic Optimizer) is by far and away the best of the bunch. It came in with the closest settings to what I would call the right ones. It still wasn't perfect but it came real close in most areas. As one would expect it also does well with the HT side of things. It's not loaded with options but it has enough to get most people by. One thing I have to throw out there is with respect to the Component video up conversion of the Yamaha. On my set, it sucked. I had digital artefacts all over the place that are not there with my 3805. I checked my cables and the whole nine yards. I have no idea why it did this but it did it and it got to the point that we bypassed it for up-conversion. You need to keep in mind here that I'm absolutely without a doubt anal about the picture I see. Most folks would probably not even notice what was bugging me.

Anyway, I think I managed to get in a total of 3 movies with it and I had no problems with it. However, nothing really stood out either. That's not a bad thing at all. What is with all the sound fields in this thing? Good god, who needs them and who in there right mind would ever use 95% of them. The Pioneer was the same thing and to a certain extent so is the Denon 3805. The Yamaha sounded fine but is it just me or does this Yamaha sound a little on the tinny side? It might just be my speakers but I have my doubts. I know that most receivers sound the same and for the most part I agree but not with all of them. When I first hooked up the Yamaha and let it loose I could swear I had accidentally turned up the treble. This wasn't the case at all so I checked and re-checked my settings and everything was ok but it still sounded like it was pushing a little more treble. I ask again, Is this just me or can someone else relate?

The Yamaha had decent power for HT but there is no way in hell that anyone is ever going to make me believe that this thing can do 110W X 7. For that matter I think every receiver I tried including my own Denon 3805 is out to lunch on the power ratings. The one exception to this is of course the HK. It as I have stated to many dam times already, has power to burn!

Just to test my theory I tried to get the Yamaha to clip running all 6 of my speakers in full range mode and sure enough it clipped. Keep in mind that we are talking way to loud to be even in the room, I just wanted to see if I could do it. Thank god my Monitor Audio's came out of it in one piece. To be fair to the Yamaha, I'm fairly sure I got them all to clip including my 3805 at some point with the exception again of the HK. I'm fairly sure that if push came to shove, the HK can push for awhile.

With stereo the Yamaha sounds very nice but again I had this tinny thing going on. I really wish I knew if this was just me or what, but I would walk away for a few hours and come back and turn something on and within 5 minutes, I had the word tinny running through my head. I wonder if the Yamaha is running MOSFET power like the Pioneer? I will have to look into this.

Anyway, the long of the short of it is this. The Yamaha for the money is a great receiver but in the end, I would buy the Pioneer for half the cost (MSRP) of the Yamaha and get an external power amp or a better DVD player with the extra money or spend a little more and get the HK. With the HK, I doubt you will need another amp unless you are running some really greedy speakers. The one and only reason I say this about the Yamaha is again the tinny thing. If it wasn't for this I would say the Yamaha rivals the Denon 3805 in almost everyway which is the highest compliment I can say about it!

I didn't want to rate them but so many dam people have asked me to I thought what the hell!!!! If I had to rate them in my own mind it would go something like this:

(Keep in mind this rating is based on my own listening tastes and using my own speakers in my own room that comes with all of it's acoustical drawbacks!)

HT

1 - HK AVR-630
2 - Denon 3805
3 - Yamaha RXV-1400 (The Yamaha is very close to the Denon. So much so that I would almost call it even....almost. The Pioneer would then be in 3rd spot which is better. Hell, I said it wasn't my bottom pick but it ended up being there.
4 - Pioneer VSX-1014TX

Stereo or multi channel audio

1 - HK AVR-630
2 - Pioneer VSX-1014TX
3 - Denon 3805
4 - Yamaha RXV-1400



Re: Yamaha RXV1400 vs Pioneer VSX1014TX vs HK AVR6
#68755 11/22/04 03:33 AM
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So......when are you gonna pony up for that hk630?


*Michael*
AV123 Refugee - X-LS Encore, X-Voce, X-Omnis, Elt-Dpa's
Denon AVR-591
Magnavox NB500MGX BDP

Re: Yamaha RXV1400 vs Pioneer VSX1014TX vs HK AVR6
#68756 11/22/04 03:40 AM
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To be honest, it's already done. It's in transit as I sit here!!!!! I picked up a used one. I'm going to do some side by sides vs. my 3805 and see if what I think right now, holds true in a week or so when the HK arrives. If it does, the 3805 is gone and will live with the 630 until such time as I can swing the AVR-7300 or whatever the newest model is they have out in a month or so from now.

Re: Pioneer VSX1014TX
#68757 11/22/04 03:46 AM
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In reply to:

but the NAD T763 seems in the right ballpark.




Don't rule it out! The T-763 is a great receiver that like the HK has power to spare. I have heard them both and if it was up to me, I would strongly look at the HK first and then the NAD.

Re: Pioneer VSX1014TX
#68758 11/22/04 04:53 AM
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Another great read. Thanks NeverHappy.

I'd love to hear your final thoughts between the Denon and the HK once you've had them togethor for a while.

Cheers, Jag

Re: Yamaha RXV1400 vs Pioneer VSX1014TX vs HK AVR6
#68759 11/22/04 06:18 AM
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Nice review! Thanks!

I'm happy to see the H/K on top--makes me feel good about my purchase of a 525!


I am the Doctor, and THIS... is my SPOON!
Re: Yamaha RXV1400 vs Pioneer VSX1014TX vs HK AVR630
#68760 11/22/04 06:26 PM
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Yes my thoughts exactly with the Yammy being tinny. I'm still doing a test with the RXV1400 and 235 and I'm still amaze with how smooth the HK235 compared to the RXV1400. This is in 2 channel stereo by the way. I haven't had a chance to do an HT test yet. On Saturday I had some people over and did a blind testing. They absolutely love the clarity of the 235. My dad thinks the Yammy had to much trebble and harshness on vocals. Damn I'm kinda dissapointed with my Yammy.


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