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New Receiver Comparison

Sailor

Member
in a not to distant future i will be purchasing a new HT receiver, at the present time i am down to two receivers, the Yamaha RXZ7 and Denon 4311CI. i know that as far as sounds is concerned there is not much difference between the two, (sound can only be improved if you upgrade speakers and not the receivers right?) what i am looking for is anyone of you had any experience with these two models. the Denon is more expensive by $300.00 and Yamaha has more features. although i have owned Denon products before and am extremely happy with the product. would appreciate you imputs in that regard. thanks
 
[/Devil's Advocate Mode]
Why do you want/need such a high-end receiver? Have you thought about seperates?
[/D.A.M.]

I have spent a little time w/ a Yamaha Z7. It's a fine unit, but I honestly spent most of my time with it wondering why someone would pay that much for a receiver instead of buying seperates.

John
 
yromj said:
[/Devil's Advocate Mode]
Why do you want/need such a high-end receiver? Have you thought about seperates?
[/D.A.M.]

I have spent a little time w/ a Yamaha Z7. It's a fine unit, but I honestly spent most of my time with it wondering why someone would pay that much for a receiver instead of buying seperates.

John
Here, Here!

Rope
 
Not that particular unit, but I'm extremely happy with my new Yamaha RX-V765; the reason I went with Yamaha is my 31-year old system from college is still working flawlessly! (well, the meter bulbs are burnt out...) :handgestures-thumbup: :handgestures-thumbup: :handgestures-thumbup:
 
i have been convinced by several knowledgeable individuals re seperates, that if you go seperates you have to go with fairly expensive stuff, and looking at prices for the pre/pro they are just about the equivalent of of receivers. i was looking at MacIntosh and Moon products, way out of my price range. i was also advised to stay away from ATI, that is from an individual who builds and fixes any audio products. his setup is an amp for each speaker. so do i want to go pre/pro..... i am not overly convinced to go that route.
 
Sailor said:
i have been convinced by several knowledgeable individuals re seperates, that if you go seperates you have to go with fairly expensive stuff, and looking at prices for the pre/pro they are just about the equivalent of of receivers. i was looking at MacIntosh and Moon products, way out of my price range. i was also advised to stay away from ATI, that is from an individual who builds and fixes any audio products. his setup is an amp for each speaker. so do i want to go pre/pro..... i am not overly convinced to go that route.

I'm guessing we're all chopped liver?

Why not purchase a used Onkyo or Integra prepro and multichannel amp? I'm in my seperates around $3,000.00, that's all new electronics. You could possibly come in under $2,000.00.

Onkyo PR SC-885
ATI AT-2003
Parasound A-23

Rope
 
Those brands (e.g. Macintosh) are silly expensive. You don't need to go there. And if you're willing to look used, we could help you find something good (like on audiogon.com). Aside from sound, one main reason to go with separates is that you can upgrade the pre/pro only, as digital tech evolves - which it does very quickly. But an amp is an amp.

You don't need a separate amp for each speaker, that's overkill.

I second what Rope says.
 
Sailor, I'd like to know what kind of speakers you have. If you're happy with them and plan on keeping them for the foreseeable future, I think that could help determine this upgrade path you're looking to go down.
 
You don't have to spend much (if any) over $3k to do seperates. Many of us on this forum have Onkyo Pro/Integra pre/pros and love them. The price of the amp(s) will vary depending on your needs (ie, listening levels and speaker efficiency, etc.).

John
 
Zing said:
Sailor, I'd like to know what kind of speakers you have. If you're happy with them and plan on keeping them for the foreseeable future, I think that could help determine this upgrade path you're looking to go down.

i am setup 5.1 with B & W speakers DS 604S3 for front, LCR 600S3 Centre DS 6S3 surround, and SVS PB13 Ultra for sub. i am very happy with the sound quality of these speakers, i waited and listened to speakers for about two years and decided on them for what i budgeted for speakers. it was a tough decision between monitor audio and B & W i really liked both bran.
 
yromj said:
You don't have to spend much (if any) over $3k to do seperates. Many of us on this forum have Onkyo Pro/Integra pre/pros and love them. The price of the amp(s) will vary depending on your needs (ie, listening levels and speaker efficiency, etc.).

John

Hi John: i was looking at Onkyo and the sales person told me to stay away from that bran because the store had multiple retuns and many complaints. i know you guys do say a lot of good things about them, but put yourself in my shoes, if a sales representative from an authorize dealer tells to stay away from that product what would be your reaction? i know seperates is the only way to go, i am not denying that, but if i do go that route, i would want a fairly decent amp and i would go with excellent quality product, and that would take me probably around the $3000.00 range. i was looking at Anthem, they are also pricy but good quality product. Remember folks i live in Canada, and audio products are expensive here compare to the US.

Gerry
 
Sailor said:
It was a tough decision between monitor audio and B & W i really liked both bran.
Those were the two that I zeroed in on a year ago, but I went with the Monitors; great speakers both!
 
Sailor said:
i was also advised to stay away from ATI, that is from an individual who builds and fixes any audio products. his setup is an amp for each speaker. so do i want to go pre/pro..... i am not overly convinced to go that route.

I can't speak for the guy "who builds fixes any audio products", but up until a couple years ago I was a electronics engineer at ATI. They are solid and well built products, and most people would find them terrific. I have some issues with some of the more esoteric elements of their design philosophy (a design philosophy shared by many amp manufacturers), but those issues would apply more to those with higher end systems and / or systems using large horn speakers.
 
Sailor said:
i am setup 5.1 with B & W speakers DS 604S3
Those are about as efficient as they come without a Klipsch emblem. I think your options are wide open with only a few caveats. If your room isn't excessively huge, you don't sit 20+ feet away from your speakers and you don't listen at The-Who-in-concert volume levels, you can use virtually anything to drive them including a modestly powered receiver.

The question, I think, that you should be asking yourself is, what does this $2000 Denon (assuming you meant the 4311) offer that you must have that can't be found on a lesser priced model?. Your answer to that question will show you which road to go down.
 
Sailor said:
.........i know you guys do say a lot of good things about them, but put yourself in my shoes, if a sales representative from an authorize dealer tells to stay away from that product what would be your reaction?..........


Then I would go see someone else. If an authorized dealer is telling you that the brand X in his store is "junk" and to stay away from it, then he is only interested in skimming money off you and not truly trying to help you find the right setup.


Seriously, go see someone else. I would hate to see you buy from a person like this, then he tries to put the screws to you because you had to make a return on a product that failed.
 
Sailor, Onkyo Pro and Integra are a different line than base line Onkyo products. It may be that the dealer you are referring to can not get either Onkyo Pro or Integra. As popular as these pre/pros are, any problems would be well documented on this and other forums.

If your speakers are fairly effecient (above say 95dB/W @ 1m), you really shouldn't need a huge amp.

John
 
I think Onkyo MAY be phasing out the "pro" line, just a vibe I get. If you go to onkyo's regular website, you can now view what once believed to be "pro" only 5508 preamp and their new 9-channel amp (model # escapes me as I type this) I'll find a link(s)

Preamp :text-link:

Amplifier :text-link:
 
They do not even speak to the 9-channel amp on the onkyopro.com site...

For all I know there could have been a press release and I missed it regarding the pro-line... :think:
 
Botch said:
Not that particular unit, but I'm extremely happy with my new Yamaha RX-V765; the reason I went with Yamaha is my 31-year old system from college is still working flawlessly! (well, the meter bulbs are burnt out...) :handgestures-thumbup: :handgestures-thumbup: :handgestures-thumbup:
Hi Botch: i am an old timer also, i still have my old intergrated Technics amp from the late seventies works like a charm still and no planning on parting with it any time soon, use it for my music only.
 
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