In reply to:
Is HK generlly considered "warmer" than Denon?
What are your thoughts on this?
Urban legend and/or internet myth and perhaps a bit of "power of suggestion"
. I have a denon AVR-3200 receiver and a yamaha RX-V 2400. I hear no difference between the two when run in "straight" (no processing) mode. Even with YPAO(EQ) engaged on the Yamaha "warm vs. bright" in a non issue.
I think the more important issues with receivers is having enough power and features for your needs.
The terms "bright"(lively sounding, perhaps due to treble tip-up by designer) and "warm"(upper-bass/lower-mid weighted) generally refer to speaker traits. Bright or warm sounding speakers may sound appealing but are not accurate (see/hear Axiom speakers for very accurate, neutral sound). Highly accurate/neutral speakers are sometimes mistakenly refered to as "bright".
The goal of most electronics designers is to allow the equipment to pass the most unadultrated(not bright nor warm but just neutral) signal possible. If an amp or pre-amp adds anything at all to the sound, although it may sound very pleasing as in the case of tubed equipment, it's either poorly disigned or intentionaly designed that way(for whatever reason
) or there is something wrong with it.
