I'm the proud owner of the Axiom Epic 80 350 system and I 'm wanting to purchase a new HT Receiver and here are my 2 remaining choices so far.
NAD - T775
Denon- 3808
I like both of these but just need help on which is the better receiver. I don't think to many people know that much abot NAD Electronics, so if anyone has either of these your input will be greatly appreciated.

Race, I don't know much about the NAD, but a cursory look at the website shows me that it's pretty similar to the 3808. Many of us here have the 3808, me included, and think it's one of the best out there right now.

It doesn't look like the NAD decodes any of the new sound formats, which is okay, because most Blu-ray players do that themselves (I think).

Either receiver will power your M80s just fine. Looks like one user review for the T775 likes the manual. Sadly, the Denon can't compete there. You're better off using the forum here rather than the manual to figure things out.

Race,

The "What is the best receiver" question is pretty much unanswerable.

The answer always boils down to 1) how much do you want to spend and 2) what features are important to you. Then you use your own ears to make the final judgment.

There will always be a spirited discussion about this one is bright and that one is laid back, but, at the end of the day, they all use copper. When you go out to do the research between 1 vs. 2, you will find 12 responses that give you 13 opinions.

If you are in the price range you are looking at for the 3808, picak ANY receiver around that price point with the features you want and you will be a happy guy.

I know nothing about the NAD...

My vote is def for the 3808 though. I love the networking ability and the GUI of the denon. The robust amplifier in the denon drives my epic 80/500 5.1 system very easily.

Buy the 3808 from 6ave.com though. If you call them and ask them for their best price they will sell it to you for $1098 shipped. (despite the webiste that shows the $1599 MSRP.)

6ave is an authorized denon dealer too.

Bryan, as always, you should get a receiver with the features that you want at the best price that's within your budget. Applying that to the two units that you list, it would seem that the 3808 would be the clear choice, unless the 775 has some specific feature that you really want. Both notably have Audyssey MultEQ XT auto-calibration and room equalization; as to other features, the 3808 would, if anything, seem to be more fully-featured. The 3808 is readily available from authorized dealers such as J&R and 6thave for about $1100 delivered, while the 775 runs about twice as much. The 3808 would appear to be clearly the more cost-effective buy.

Thank you to everyone who has responded so far,your opionion's are greatly appreciated. My main concern was the unit overheating or shutting down while trying to push the M80's,again thanks to everyone!

After running my epic 80 system for a couple of hours (during either movies or music) The unit is not that hot. I can place my hand right on the top and it is only warm.

Save the extra cash and enjoy your denon!

+1 for Denon... I've driven it for hours on end and it's only warm, never hot.

Compare that to my PS3 after an hour of watching a movie and the top of the 3808 feels like an Arctic tundra in comparison (not that the PS3 is a good measuring stick, but suffice it to say, the Denon does not run overly hot)

Another vote for the 3808, after setting up one this weekend, I found this to be one well built receiver with all the bells and whistles.
Other than the manual I can't find any faults with the unit, the GUI is so good it almost makes up for the typical confusing Denon instructions.

3808. Great machine.

Hi Race,

Firstly, I'm from Australia so not 100% sure that the Denon and NAD units are the same as the ones you are thinking about. I am also a bit of a novice at this (first post!)so don't really have the lingo yet either. However I did recently audition both the 3808 and the T775. I even managed to find one dealer that sold both. Unfortunately I was still unable to listen on the same speakers but did listen to the same CD/DVD's on the same day. In short I found the NAD had an amazing sound but did not have the features that the Denon had for my intended use of Home Theatre. I also did some research and found some disatisfied people who had purchased the NAD and were very unhappy with aspects of the video processing. I know NAD's empahsis is on music first, which I respect, but it didn't give me confidence in their HT. I went with the Denon about 2 months ago and love it.

In my opinion, if you are a music purest, get the NAD. If you want fully featured HT - the Denon is without peer in this price point.

Good luck with your decision!

That nicely sums up my thoughts also.

Right now I would say if want it all get the Denon, if you are a music purest, you should only be looking at a 2 channel amp in the first place.

Not sure why denon 3808 owners didn't just get an Emotiva LPA-1 and a Yamaha RX-V663...same price as the denon.

keep in mind most of us paid $1098 for the 3808 from 6ave (not sure how much your combo would cost). The denon has a great GUI and network streaming abilities, not sure if you can say that about the yamaha.

Denon has 4 hdmi inputs, yamaha only 2

I don't think the Yammy Streams, that is one feature that I REALLY dig about the 3808. I am really getting ahead of myself here. I am selling all my speakers before my wife and I move to the states and I am already on the lookout for separates.

I am for sure going to get M80s, and depending on the size of our living space, a 5.1 system. But this time around, since I am in the states and shipping can be saved on all the USA electronics, I am looking at emotiva amps and a pre/pro. I like the Yammy ever since I have owned the 659, strange how I developed a love for the Yammy, it was my first AV recieve

I would like to get a seperate amp as well (not that I need it really.)

ahh, but you DO need one...the XPA-5 looks so sweet, I have already decided I am buying one (my wife won't know about it for another 5 months tho)

The new Pioneer VSX-1018TXV-K looks very enticing... Hmmm June.

The specs are not equal all around on the LPA-1 only 50W inot 8 ohms on the 2 channels, bleh. The XPA-5 well only 5 channels so the 3808 still wins.

the XPA-2 looks very nice though. 500 wpc into 4 ohms for my m80's

You can get 450 watts/channel into 2 channels at 4 ohms with the XPA-5...seems like the better choice to me. Cuz you'll have 3 other channels if you want them

When the XPA-7 comes out I will most likely get one just to check it out. 5 channels doesn't do it for me, I need 6. I know I could still use the Denon but if the seperates are that much better, then why would I still want to use the Denon for any channel?

Hutzal, to get the 450 wpc do you have to have only 2 speakers hooked up to the amp? I think once you hook up more speakers than the wpc is reduced.

Terz,

I don't think so. I think if no signals are coming out of the amp to the other channels (even if they are hooked up) then the WPC gets distributed between the 2 channels that are operating.

Jason,

I have been browsing the Emotiva forum, they are not planning on releasing a 7 channel amp (XPA-7). They are going to stick with the UPA-1 (previously known as the LPA-1) and modify it for 7 equal channels of 125 wpc into 8ohms, and 225 wpc into 4ohms, the new price for this unit will be $649 or less (I guess they haven't decided yet).

This is also an option for me.

I can't speak for the 3808 but I can for their 1906. Mine runs a pair of 8 Ohm M3's and will say Denon's performance is solid. If Denon's higher end works just as well, it's a good choice. Not sure if you've made your decision, but I'll also throw is HK's 645 (my brother owns one). Decent amp tech...that never tires. He also runs M3's.

I think I could actually try out the XPA-5 or the LPA-1 I don't remember which, but one of them is actually 6 channels all equal, the 6th is split to get 7 which is why it is lower. I just needed to read a little further down the page. Hmmm send the PB13 back and keep the PB12 then get the Emotiva....I am a dead man when I mention this to my wife.

Is anybody familiar with the Sony STR-DA5300ES receiver? Axiom told me it won't power the M80s, but that's no worry as I'm looking at the M60s. However I still want to make sure I get the best receiver available for the price. Both the Sony and the Denon are priced similarly and have similar features. However, some of the on-line reviews I read gave the edge to the Sony. But, if the Denon 3808 has a slightly more robust amplifier, should that be a major consideration? I would really appreciate your opinions before I buy.

Thanks in advance.

I'm curious what reviews are giving the edge to the Sony. There are several happy owners of the 3808 on the board. What features does the Sony have over it?

When it comes to AVR's I would pick Denon over sony any day.

I agree 100%, Denon has always been my #1 choice, personally I wouldn't even consider Sony for a receiver, there are at least 5 other brands I would choose before Sony.

Curious, welcome. A more realistic statement would be that any receiver can power any speaker, including M80s which are easier to drive than many, the question being how loud and how long, which varies with the listener's use pattern.

Yes, it's unclear in what respect the Sony has the advantage. Many find that the features in similarly priced units from makers such as Denon, Onkyo and Yamaha(all of which are basically excellent and amplify transparently without coloring the sound)are more to their liking.

Again thanks to all whom have replied and it looks like with out a doubt that I will go with the Dennon 3808!!I know that it will push my M80's I just didn't want it to overheat and shut down or damage the receiver, and it sounds to me that that won't be a problem after all!
Thank you for all your opinions and help!
Bryan

This is the link to the C-Net reviews for both receivers, Sony first, then the Denon.

http://reviews.cnet.com/av-receivers/sony-str-da5300es/4505-6466_7-32552105.html?tag=prod.txt.1

http://reviews.cnet.com/av-receivers/denon-avr-3808ci/4505-6466_7-32553611.html?tag=prod.txt.1

Thanks for your thoughts / suggestions everyone.

Barry

Barry, thanks for the links. What I find interesting is the user reviews, the Denon scored much higher there.

Cnet reviews are pretty much totally untrustworthy. Wanna take a wild guess at who's spent ad dollars there?

Ah, makes sense, probably why I couldn't find any other reviews of the Sony.

Thanks guys. I hadn't even looked at the user's reviews. Silly me. I am now sold on the Denon. I can hardly wait.

Does anybody live in the Toronto area (GTA) so I can hear the Axioms before I buy? I'm upgrading from Energy Take 5.2, so I'm sure the Axioms will be a major improvement, but I wouldn't mind hearing first, if that's possible.

Thanks again.

Barry

Post a message in the Hearing things section of the forum, or contact someone from Axiom and they will be sure to help you if they have someone auditioning in your area.

Hey Barry. You're so close,just take a drive up to Axiom and audition there. Thats what I did. It gave me a change to directly compare various options before buying.

Unfortunately it ended up costing me more 'cause I ended up really liking the M80s.

Thanks guys. I really appreciate all the helpful suggestions.

Barry

Guys, guys, we just helped someone again. We gotta stop doing that! How are we going to keep up our reputation as unrepentant thread-jackers?

Still torturing myself on equipment choices. *IF* I were to go the route of a separate power amp, say the Emotiva XPA-5or LPA-1, what would I use for a source switcher / pre-processor / preamp / surround decoder? Something like the Emotiva MMC-1? Or would I be better off going with a low-wattage AVR (like the Denon AVR-688) and just not using the built-in amps? Or should I save myself hassle and space and just go for the ever-popular Denon 3808?

I have the 3808 and I love it.

However... I am thinking about addinb the emotiva 2 channel amp for my mains.

I say get the 3808 AND the amp! (oh wait that wasn't one of the choices!)

It's not clear that I can swing the purchase of a 3808 alone, not to mention outboard amps. It would seem that, in the Denon line at least, if you go down on wattage you also go down on features and inputs. I was wondering if there were an ampless pre out there that could deliver the decoding etc. more economically.

I would think Emotiva or Outlaw would be the places to look for a pre/pro cheaper than or equal to the full featured receivers, but you may have to wait a little as I do not think either one has a pre/pro that decodes all the newer codecs. The Yamaha 663 has outstanding value so far as just being a pre/pro.

You are correct, as far as I know, about Outlaw. Prototype3a and myself are eagerly awaiting a new prepro from Outlaw that will decode TrueHD, among others. I love my Outlaw 990/7125 combo. I wonder how much better TrueHD would be, and I get all excited. Then my wife calls me a spaz and I calm down again.

I know that Emotiva is on the verge of releasing the update of the MMC-1 ( I think it's the UMC-1 ) which promises to have a lot of those things, including the decoding of the HD soundtracks and upconverting to HDMI.