Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater reciever diffrences

Hey all
I found the people here very helpfull--and correct when i looked into my axioms
I currently have a pioneer vsx-811s reciever and was thinkin of maybe upgrading in the near future. I recently purchased the M60s,q8s and the v150. (luv em by the way)
i was wondering how much of a diffrence a reciever makes--will a better one give better surround--or just louder. I cant imagine the surround sound being better(although i didnt think it would be that much with the soeakers and was proved wrong).
The reciever i have seems loud enough,although i notice i need to play it louder with the axioms-guess thats the lower imp thing.
i have had pioneer for many years and would hate to drop money on another brand and have issues--but am very open minded. price range--hmmm guess 300-1000
but the closer to 1000 the more of a diff i will need to hear--(was worried about upgrd spkrs with wife but she loved them and ok'd it so same with reciever would apply)
thanks in advance very any input

Gabe, unless there's something specific wrong with your 811 a different receiver would be neither better nor "louder". Keep in mind that most of the time your M60s and other speakers will be using about 1 watt each. Occasional split-second peaks would take much more, but it's unlikely unless you're listening in a very large room at very high levels that your 811 doesn't have all the power that you need. If you want more up-to-date features okay, but that's a different matter.

I agree with John! Unless there are some features that you just want, or if you just must have some new gear, keep your old receiver.

The 811 is loud enough--just wondering if you get better sound with better reciever--like does one do a better job of surround sound--or a wider freq range. For example,if i got a higher end reciever,and played the same dvd at the same level from each reciever-would ther be a diff? Or is the surround aspect completly seprate from the reciever and just past through from the dvd player?

gabe: that's a tough one to call. There may be subtle differences in how the various brands do their "processing" which will result in a different sound. I do believe that different manufacturers use different chip sets in their hardware.

Guess that the only real way for you to tell is to listen to them in a common environment.

Good Luck!

There can be differences between brands and receivers in how well they do the surround decoding but AFAIK the differences tend to be very subtle -- not at all like the kind of improvement a better set of speakers gave you.

You *might* get a more noticeable improvement for the $$ by upgrading your sub, depending on what you have today.

do different processors make a differance on dynamics?

The bottom line is that different processors CAN make differences. The issue is DO they make differences? It would take some significant technical analysis, IMO, to determine the facts.

Sounds like ur just trying to find an excuse to buy another new toy.

I have the Denon 3805 and it does play loud. I am looking into an amp for my mains because, from what I've read, the amp may make the difference in sound AND also louder.