Hey all,

Wth the economy-saving check coming my way, I figured it was time to shirk off responsibility and spend that money on a shiny new receiver. But, I’m having trouble deciding on which one. The current contenders are (with Amazon prices):

Onkyo TX-SR805 ($680)
Marantz SR7002 ($1400)
Pioneer Elite VSX 92TXH ($900-ish)

I currently have M60 fronts, 3 QS8s surrounds and a VP150 center. I’ve really enjoyed my current Pioneer Elite receiver, but I’d like to branch out and try new brands. The Onkyo and the Marantz have similar specs (the Onkyo actually has more power and is THX Ultra2, while the Marantz is only THX Select). Some have told me that the reason the Marantz is double the price of the 805 is that Marantz is a higher-caliber company, thus the receiver should sound better.

I won’t lie, having nice equipment is important to me, but, at the same time, I don’t want to pay extra money for a name. I’ve read several reviews of each receiver and they’re all favorable. Unfortunately, I’ve not seen any shootouts or comparisons, and I have no way to demo them without dropping the money for them all.


Here is the current priority list (in order of importance):
• 7.1 sound quality
• Price (under $1000 if possible).
• HDMI switching
• Build quality
• Reasonable power consumption
• Video upcon (I can let my players and projector handle this)


So, what do you think? Should I jump on one of these receivers or perhaps wait for newer models to come out?

Any help would be much appreciated!

Thanks.

I'm looking at similar characteristics and am leaning towards the Denon 3808.

I think the Denon may be too far out of my price range. I'd like to keep it under $1000 if possible.

Actually, 6th Ave. has the 3808 for about $1100. Call and mention the AVS deal. This unit is a beast!

I would def go for the denon 3808. I bought mine from 6ave.com for $1098 shipped. it is a great receiver, the GUI and ability to stream FLAC files/mp3's ect from your computer, plus internet radio is really cool.

Plus the 130wpc amplifier is very robust- it drives my epic 80 5.1 system with ease. There was a review of one of the less expensive denon '08 models over at audioholics and the testing they performed showed the unit had power output beyond what denon had specified... given that review I would bet that the denon 3808 can provide even more than the 130wpc that they claim.

Get the denon, and don't even look back!

Also, I think the onkyo 805 is known to have audio/video sync issues so read up before you buy that one!

In your first post you have the Marantz @$1400 so how is the Denon out of your price range, even without the 6ave deal?

denon 3808 is $1599 MSRP

Sorry, I was refering in part to his second point of around $1000 the Marantz isn't close to that either.

good point- I didn't realize he had already blown his budget by $400 with one of his choices!

So it shouldn't be a problem to stretch the budget past $1000 by an extra $98 for the denon 3808 then eh?

That was what I was thinking when I brought up the Denon.

I went through the same waffling. Sided with the $1100 Denon. Don't think I'll regret it. I did strongly consider the Marantz, but given the J&R deal, it was a no-brainer.

I'll have to go with the 3808 also, my brother in law received his today from 6th ave. for that price Imho it is the best receiver out there.

Sorry, I posted the Marantz option to compare and contrast with the Onkyo (that seemingly has better specs). I’ve read about the sync issues with the Onkyo, but it doesn’t seem to be across the board.

This is what I'm trying to figure out. Why go with the Denon or Marantz? What do those two brands do that is so much better than the Onkyo? Is this just brand loyalty or are the parts used really that much better?

More past history of Denon being rock solid and able to run 4 ohm(and less) loads with much less heat issues, other than that I don't know.

And that's the problem. Should I really spend $700 extra on something because of past track records? Does Onkyo have a history of sucking?

Michael, is 6th Ave an authorized online dealer?

6ave is a certified Denon dealer.

Looking at the Onkyo I think I would buy it, they have it spec'd down to 3 ohm(THX cert. says it has to) and has all the decoding anyone should need. Just make sure you have a few inches of cleareance all around it.

Would you explain "spec'd down."

Rick, they are authorized for all the products they sell, they are also listed on Denon's site as an authorized online E-tailer.

My zwei pfennig:

o THX ratings are pretty much meaningless these days. About all they really tell you is that the manufacturer gives the THX people a bunch of money to use their logo, which gets passed along to the consumer
o The Denon 3808 is a highly-regarded unit and if I go with M80's I'll probably spring for one myself. For M60's, though, especially given your pricepoint, you might consider the new Yamaha RX-V663 which can be had for $400-500. Compared to the Denon 3808 you don't get the network foo (which seems useless since it apparently only works with MS-DOS), downloadable firmware, and you have <wpc and one less HDMI in.

RE: Yamaha RX-V663

My HT may be a bit large for a 95w receiver. My current Pioneer is 110w, and I don't really want to go backwards. I do like the idea of 7.2, though.

Personally, I think the network foo is pretty cool. It's not just the downloadable firmware and the ability to stream music over the network, but also internet radio. I think Denon is way ahead of everyone on that deal.

If that stuff doesn't matter to you - or you just don't want to pay for it - then the Onkyo is probably fine.

But I've never heard anybody disappointed with the 3808, and many people I trust have them.

I don't think you're going to be able to discern a difference between 110w and 95w.

I would get the Yamaha RXV1700 from Amazon it's half price (~$500) right now since Yamaha is changing the product to newer models.

http://www.amazon.com/Yamaha-RXV1700BL-C...9484642&sr=1-15

This is the receiver to get once I test my m60s with a more powerful AMP (friend's Accuphase) than I'll decide whether to upgrade or not

I believe even though this receiver does not have TrueHD and DTS-HD decoding capabilities but it can still be done with a proper BD player to output PCM via HDMI.

A friend of mine is got the 2700 and the burr-brown DAC is amazing for both movies and musics.

I need to see that "TrueHD" displayed.

The specifications lists the output at 3 ohms as per THX specifications.

JL, the 805 is an outstanding receiver that meets all the requirements that you've listed. Unless there's some other feature that you're willing to pay more for, there appears to be no good reason to go beyond the $600 range.

Let's put it this way, I highly doubt running all of the receivers in question at the same time doing a blind test, you most likely wouldn't be able to tell the difference with no DSP's in use. Going from this point to the actual DSP's and other bells and whistles is where the differences are found and paid for at this caliber of receiver. I would just pick the one that suits your needs and live happily ever after or so the story goes.

For me I loved the idea of streaming music right to my Denon and internet radio, so I went with the 3808 for that network connectivity.

The only fear with Onkyo receivers is the lip sync issue, the over heating and the sonic boom with DTS-HD MA. The last one pushed me over the edge and made me decide on the Denon.

I don't think that the lip sync is an issue. Here is a fix:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=935808

If you have your tv, receiver and blu-ray player being hdmi 1.3 then you can set the receiver to lip sync to fix it. Otherwise you may have to tweak it a little bit like suggested on avsform thread.

I think this is the better buy than the Denon. The onkyo is around 50 lbs while the Denon is only around 40 lbs. Weight is a good thing with amplifiers. If the O.P. has m80's and the Onkyo is having trouble driving them then he could get a couple of Outlaw monoblocks and the total price is still only around $1200. The best price on the Denon was around $1100. At audioholics they gave this the product of the year and started carrying this and other Onkyo's in their store. The review at audioholics especially how good the audyssey works convinced me to buy this receiver.
Link: http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/receivers/onkyo-tx-sr805/tx-sr805-listening-tests

I ordered mine from amazon this past Tuesday for $680 including shipping and tax. I'll post any problems that I have if I have any when I get it next week. I originally wanted the onkyo 605 so that I could get all the new audio formats from my ps3. Then I read about how good the audyssey was in the onkyo 705 for another ~$100. Then I saw how the weight of the receiver from the onkyo 705 to the 805 jumped from 30 lbs to 50 lbs. I figured that for another ~$100 it will give the dynamics some extra headroom. At $680 out the door there isn't any competion close to the onkyo 805.

- Nick

Haylo, the guy's house I auditioned my axioms at, said that the onkyo 805 kept shutting down on him when trying to run the m80's. He bought an axiom amp and sent the onkyo back.

Not an issue with the m60's tho.

And another satisfied customer of 6ave!

There is just so much that is cool about this receiver... except for the owner's manual.

Rich

I can't remember if I mentioned this earlier in the thread, but there has been a longstanding issue with audio dropouts on these Onkyos when combined with DirecTV DVR receivers (don't know if that affects you or not). Short summary, whenever watching TV, using the FF, play, pause, etc. buttons would cause the audio to drop out for 3-10 seconds when you resumed play. Ugly! Some folks in other forums confused this with the lipsynch issue as they present themselves similarly.

Here is a link to a post describing the problem. I didn't read through the entire string to see if it had been fixed, so just do some research to be sure if this problem would affect you. I do know that at one point in the past either DirecTV or Onkyo released a firmware update to address the issue, and then one or the other released another subsequent firmware upgrade and the problem came back.

Either way, just be sure to research before you buy if this would make problems for you in your HT. (My wife would've killed me if my receiver did this after all the money I spent in that room!)

Onkyo has completely blundered the Reon implementation and interface, as well as several other quirks. It needs more weight than the Denon so it will sink faster.

Get the 3808. It’s so much more advanced than anything else on the market right now, there’s really no comparison. Denon has also been very good about pushing firmware updates for all their new AVR’s to address network and internet radio bugs. All you do it push a few buttons on the remote and it starts updating. If for some reason or other the update fails, you just do it again. This AVR is quite simply, bullet proof.

All that praise from you Mike gives me great confidence in my 3808, as I know of nobody else that has had the avr problems that you have had.