 AVR What to buy, need help???
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I recently bought new speakers: M50's, VP150, QS8's and an EP350. I am looking to upgrade my JVC receiver (RX-7000VBK) which is about 6 yrs. old and was looking at the Yamaha RX-V2700, until I saw the latest Onkyo AVR TX-SR805, due for the market soon. Onkyo Pro's: HDMI 1.3, BLU-Ray or HD-DVD compatibility.
Love bells and whistles, but of course my main concern is sound quality, I live in a remote area and can not try either one. The HT system is at one end of a rectangular room 24' x 11' x 8' which opens, from one side, into an area of about 14' x 20', but the main listing area is 2100 cubic feet.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Mike
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Re: AVR What to buy, need help???
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Joined: May 2002
Posts: 10,654
shareholder in the making
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shareholder in the making
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Mike, welcome. There's no good reason to be concerned these days about the "sound quality" of receivers. The technology is at a point where even units with a modest cost have audibly flat response from 20-20KHz and inaudibly low noise and distortion within their designed power limits. So, they all amplify transparently and there's certainly no need to "audition" them. We of course read claims to the contrary, but these collapse when put to the(blind listening)test.
The Onkyo 805 which should be out in a week or two certainly does have most of the latest features and should be plenty for your speakers in your size room. If those are the features that you want, go with it.
-----------------------------------
Enjoy the music, not the equipment.
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Re: AVR What to buy, need help???
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Joined: Mar 2002
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John always beats me to it!
If you purchase Onkyo, Denon, Harman Kardon, or Yamaha, they will also have similar performance.
I do tend to lean towards Denon and HK simply because I find their amp sections to be somewhat more robust. You say you live in a remote area, so I am assuming you have a detached house, and can therefore play your movies and music very loudly. If that is the case, my personal preference would be go for the receiver with the most power.
Don't discount Sherwood Newcastle either. Axiom sells it. I have heard excellent reviews about their products.
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Re: AVR What to buy, need help???
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Joined: Jul 2004
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connoisseur
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Quote:
Mike, welcome. There's no good reason to be concerned these days about the "sound quality" of receivers. The technology is at a point where even units with a modest cost have audibly flat response from 20-20KHz and inaudibly low noise and distortion within their designed power limits. So, they all amplify transparently and there's certainly no need to "audition" them. We of course read claims to the contrary, but these collapse when put to the(blind listening)test.
The Onkyo 805 which should be out in a week or two certainly does have most of the latest features and should be plenty for your speakers in your size room. If those are the features that you want, go with it.
If this is absolutely true, then why are there so many high end companies still in business?
I just don't understand how you can be so closed minded over this topic.
Mark Levinson, Lexicon, Adcom, McIntosh, Anthem, Parasound..... On and on without even mentioning all the units in excess of 50K.
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Re: AVR What to buy, need help???
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Joined: Apr 2003
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shareholder in the making
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Quote:
If this is absolutely true, then why are there so many high end companies still in business?
Because with price comes (perceived) status. A large percentage of consumers assume that if it costs more, it's a better product.
And there's also the whole "reserve power" belief, where the first watt is supposed to sound better if there are 399 more waiting in the wings.
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Re: AVR What to buy, need help???
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Joined: Feb 2007
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Quote:
If this is absolutely true, then why are there so many high end companies still in business?
Remember, this is the field where you can spend more on speaker cables than on a new car if you so desire.
I'm not saying anything about the pros or cons of the brands you mention, just that the mere existence of expensive products doesn't prove their worth.
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Thanks for the quick reply JohnK!
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The local Yamaha dealer carries some mid-range AVR's and he let me take one home (N600?), I thought I detected a small improvement while watching Pearl Harbour. But, then of course I also seem to hit the golf ball better with expensive clubs. Are you saying that it was probably in my mind, as with the pricier clubs?
If so, thanks as I will now base my decision mainly on features and a known brand.
Thanks again,
Mike
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Thanks for everyones input!
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ravi_singh, good point about living in a detached house. However, one neighbor is only about 100' from me, so I still have to be respectful when it comes to movie or music volume.
Thanks,
Mike
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Re: AVR What to buy, need help???
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Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 4,444 Likes: 16
connoisseur
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Quote:
Quote:
If this is absolutely true, then why are there so many high end companies still in business?
Because with price comes (perceived) status. A large percentage of consumers assume that if it costs more, it's a better product.
And there's also the whole "reserve power" belief, where the first watt is supposed to sound better if there are 399 more waiting in the wings.
There is no doubt some truth to that Peter, but you don’t really think it’s the norm do you? Obviously there will come a point when nothing short of bionic hearing, pot and incense where someone will be able to distinguish a difference between two processors, but common, a $500 receiver with “new” technology can not compete with a $12,000 Lexicon Pre/Pro.
I just received my latest toy, a Yamaha RX-V661. $500 delivered to my door. I pulled it out of the box started laughing. It’s such a POS I’m almost embarrassed to hook it up and half tempted to send it back. The first thing that came to mind as I’m holding it in the air with one hand while pulling foam off of it was “Playschool”. Status has nothing to do with my judgment either. But I will hook it up and give it a whirl because I’m pretty darn curious to see how well it performs sonically and if it will drive my speakers as well as the one-watt-is-all-you-need advocates claim. – see, I’m open minded about these things and willing to give different opinions a shot.
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Re: AVR What to buy, need help???
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Joined: Apr 2003
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shareholder in the making
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Quote:
but common, a $500 receiver with “new” technology can not compete with a $12,000 Lexicon Pre/Pro.
Can't it, though? You may not be able to easily lift the Lexicon Pre/Pro with one hand, but I'm willing to bet you'd have a hard time distinguishing between the two in a double-blind listening test. You just gave us a perfect example of how seeing a piece of equipment affects your opinion of it.
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