best receiver out of these 3? (1 Viewer)

[mulalleybs]

SHERWOOD R-972 Newcastle 7.1 A/V Surround Receiver TrueHD DTS-HD
http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/SHERR972/SHERWOOD-R-972-Newcastle-7.1-A/V-Surround-Receiver-TrueHD-DTS-HD/1.html
3 year warranty new, free shipping, and ...60 lbs?!
Onkyo TX-NR809 7.2-Channel Network A/V Receiver
http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/ONKTXNR809/Onkyo-TX-NR809-7.2-Channel-Network-A/V-Receiver/1.html
1 year warranty factory refurb
DENON AVR-3312CI 7.2 Integrated Network A/V Surround Receiver
http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/DENAVR3312CI/DENON-AVR-3312CI-7.2-Integrated-Network-A/V-Surround-Receiver/1.html
1 year warranty factory refurb, free shipping

 

[schan1269]

Sherwood Newcastle(as long as it is a Newcastle) are the real deal.
They shortchange you on the power rating though. If you notice, the power rating is based on 1 channel at a time...They do show you a stereo power rating...but the 5/7.1(based on whether the receiver is 5 or 7) is based on one channel running at a time.
Even considering that...they aren't a slouch.
It is "rumored" that Sherwood pretty much makes everybody else's $400 and under receivers...

 

[DaveF]

What I notice is the Newcastle only has 4 HDMI inputs, while the Onkyo and Denon have six. That's important if you're routing everything through the AVR.
To me, at the $600-$1000 price point, everything is good, and feature set is more important than minor variances (real or imagined) in audio quality.

 

[gene c]

The 809 probably has the best feature set is would be the easiest to setup and operate. They have had problems with the hdmi board over the last couple of years and their CS is worthless. They set the bar too high, even for themselves, with the 805.
The Sherwood, with it's Trinnov Optimizer might give the best over-all audio performance (if you can figure out how to use it) but it's short on features (a year or two behind the others-hence the 4 hdmi inputs among other things) and has reportedly had problems with video. Kind of turned out to be a dud by not living up tp the hype. But the audio potential is through the roof. I hope you buy it so you can tell us what you think about it. But remember, I warned you .
Denon's are harder to setup and operate for me but if you can't afford to make a mistake then it's the one to get. Not perfect but a good all-around avr. Very similar to the much more expensive (for some reason ) Marantz 7005.
But there is no perfect receiver, at any price point. Download the manuals and/or product sheets off their websites and give it all a good read before you buy.

 

[spshultz]

mulalleybs,

I'm not sure which receiver you've decided on yet but, more importantly I see you have listed Accessories4less.com as the potential source of the purchase. Make absolutely sure that you save every single plastic bag, twist tie, etc. and throw away nothing. They state they will charge you for any missing packaging. I threw away a few of the smaller plastic bags one of which had a bar-code on it. I'm waiting to see if they charge me for those missing bags.

Anyway, I ordered from them about 2 weeks ago. I went with the Onkyo TX-NR809 because my old Outlaw is having center channel issues. I received the unit about 7 days later. I got everything connected up properly and proceeded to take a few hours to configure all of the settings (and there are a lot). At first I had manually configured my speaker settings. But it sounded hollow (I guess I didn't do a very good job). Then I let it configure my speakers by using the Audyssey microphone feature. That made a world of difference. And so, the first day and night it sounded superb. I was really struck by how good it sounded. The next day I turned it on to watch some morning TV and within a few minutes there was a very loud "POP" through my speakers and then a cubic crap ton of smoke rolled out of the receiver.

Royally PO'd I went to the website and submitted a claim. The next day they reviewed my case and issued a CR# and emailed my FedEx return shipping label. Once you receive that label you have 4 days to get the receiver shipped out. When they see the return tracking number is now active they will then ship you another like unit. I am now waiting for my next refurb'd receiver (another TX-NR809) to arrive sometime late next week. I truly hope this one is in much better condition.

 

[DaveF]

Do current Onkyo's have the solenoids for mechanical switching between analog and digital input? I'm an Onkyo fan; my current and last two AVRs were Onkyo. And I'll probably default to Onkyo if I can upgrade next year. But I wouldn't mind having that mechanical click going away if I upgraded.

 

[mulalleybs]

I actually picked up a denon 4310 for $450 haven't gotten a chance to check it out yet though.

 

[DaveF]

I'll also add: recent years, Black Friday has been a fantastic day to buy Onkyo. If you're thinking of getting a new AVR this year, but not in a rush, I would consider waiting until day after Thanksgiving.