Which receiver is best

[KingPing]

I'm planing on buying a 5.1 Home Theater, and i was going to buy this SONY HT-DDWG700. A friend of mine has one, so i have the chance to hear it and it sounds like s**t, so i decided to buy the receiver and the speakers separately. First i'll buy the receiver and later the speakers because i already have a pair but not the cash to buy both at the same time.

So which do you think is the best out of this 3:

-Yamaha RX V371
-Denon Avr-1312
-Pioneer Vsx-521k


Thanks!

[BumbleBee]

Pioneer.

[THE_EGG]

Originally Posted by KingPing

I'm planing on buying a 5.1 Home Theater, and i was going to buy this SONY HT-DDWG700. A friend of mine has one, so i have the chance to hear it and it sounds like s**t, so i decided to buy the receiver and the speakers separately. First i'll buy the receiver and later the speakers because i already have a pair but not the cash to buy both at the same time.

So which do you think is the best out of this 3:

-Yamaha RX V371
-Denon Avr-1312
-Pioneer Vsx-521k


Thanks!

Some audio enthusiasts like to match the countries from where their receiver and speakers are made. I couldn't because I got my denon second hand for a really REALLY good price. But I've listened to a focal receiver powering focal speakers and they sounded insane, but when paired with the equivalent onkyo receiver they didn't sound great. So that that into consideration when choosing speakers.

Personally I've only had Yamaha and Denon receivers before and I'd be leaning towards the Yamaha as I've found that the sound from the Denon receivers sound a little flat and muddy imo. I can't comment on the pioneer i'm afraid though. If you can try and listen to them before buying, but I'd be leaning towards Yamaha if I were you.

[AsRock]

Yamaha
Denon
Pioneer

Maybe all so

ONKYO
SONY
KENWOOD ( if available )
TEAC
Technics ( if Available )

Speakers that come with his unit are most likely making it sound real bad ( most if not all do come with shit speakers ) as i have had a few SONY's and they have a nice true sound to them. JUst make sure you get one with enough HDMI inputs.

Best way is to go a shop and try one or more of them if possible.

In the end everyone hears differently so only you know and as Bumblebee said Pioneer but it would not be my option as i find them over bright and then i would try another Pioneer as they change to some degree in sound over time.

[cdawall]

Out of that lot the pioneer would be my buy, but I rather like my Harmon/Kardon so would shop for one of those.

[AsRock]

Originally Posted by cdawall

Out of that lot the pioneer would be my buy, but I rather like my Harmon/Kardon so would shop for one of those.

OOh forgot about those and there is marantz too although i am not sure if they do AV but i would of thought so..

[silapakorn]

I currently own a Yamaha v471. It's a fairly decent AVR. Action movies and games are great, but musics are not its strong point.

If your usage is mainly non-action movies (like drama series), then Yamaha is not for you.

[Aquinus]

Originally Posted by cdawall

Out of that lot the pioneer would be my buy, but I rather like my Harmon/Kardon so would shop for one of those.

+1: This. I've had decent luck with JBL speakers but that isn't in your list. I have some Pioneer speakers myself that are kind of old but still work and sound good.

[KingPing]

Thanks all, i'll go for the Pionner then.

[XL-R8R]

Having played with both the Pioneer and Denon units recently (my friend couldn't decide either), I can say there is very, very little between the two of them in terms of features, specs or sound.

They both visually look nice, also, so it comes down (in my view) to whatever one you want OR is cheaper (mainly the second :P)... you'll like whatever one you go for.

[nleksan]

Good choice

I have a boatload of audio equipment, a lot of it "professional" but a fair amount of home theater type as well, and despite having some very "high end" receivers, and up to 11.3ch speaker placement (I swap speakers constantly), my "GO TO" receiver for TV, movies, and even some gaming (unless I need HDMI) is a Pioneer 509. It's an "old" receiver, "only" puts out 5.1ch, and doesn't have any type of HD pass-thru, but it also has absolutely incredibly pure sound and is the only receiver I have that can fully drive my "guilty pleasure speakers" which are Cerwin-Vega's (4-way towers with 12" woofers, 6.5" and 4.5" mids, and 1.25" tweeters; rated for >750W, and I have pushed them with 2 McIntosh Labs 2x500W Class-D amps for over 1100W without breaking them)...
In this day and age, when product specs, much less electronics specs, are looked at as a joke, this one receiver beats not just one, but EVERY SINGLE ONE of its rated specifications. As I have access to fairly high end audio testing gear, as well as a trusty multimeter, I tested the receiver a while back to see how it compared to the newer stuff. It puts out 193W/ch in 2.1 (stereo) mode despite being rated at over 50W less per channel; it's SNR (using Def-Tech Monitors with a measured SNR of 123dB) is at least 119dB, a full 20dB over its rated specs!

I don't buy any receivers other than Pioneer anymore, because while Onkyo/Denon/et al have a lot of nice features, the Pioneer ones are not only (typically) less expensive, they SOUND BETTER!!!

[BumbleBee]

Originally Posted by XL-R8R

Having played with both the Pioneer and Denon units recently (my friend couldn't decide either), I can say there is very, very little between the two of them in terms of features, specs or sound.

They both visually look nice, also, so it comes down (in my view) to whatever one you want OR is cheaper (mainly the second :P)... you'll like whatever one you go for.

Pioneer has MCACC. Denon doesn't have Audyssey and the budget iteration of YPAO isn't that great.

[XL-R8R]

Originally Posted by BumbleBee

Pioneer has MCACC. Denon doesn't have any room correction and the budget iteration of YPAO isn't that great.

Said friends' room is pretty much square (22x24ft) with a door at the rear center and sofa in almost center placement making speaker placement/orientation a dream so that wasn't a consideration in her requests for a budget receiver.


Personally, I wouldnt go with any of them... but I guess thats just me lol

[BumbleBee]

rooms that large need to be measured and treated.

[XL-R8R]

Originally Posted by BumbleBee

rooms that large need to be measured and treated.

For the sake of watching 4 movies (max) a month with sub-par speakers (still pretty decent for her needs, either way) due to budget restraints? And with the sofa being in a central position??


Sure, being anal about audio is nice to a certain extent.... but not with equipment that's really not the best in the first place OR when the person doesn't care.


I'm not sure the difference once properly calibrated will make any noticeable or productive change to her listening/watching pleasure... she isn't that much of a sound freak in the first place and "just watching stuff" being the goal, I doubt she'd care so much, if at all.