Denon, Yamaha, Pioneer, Onkyo...Which one???

Hi there, I'm new to this forum and got a bit of a quandry. I am trying to choose between the Pioneer 94 the Yamaha 3800 the Denon 3808 or the Onkyo 875. These all have great features and receive excellent reviews, but I would like to hear some real world experiences and comparisons.

Thanks in advance,
Jay

Re: Denon, Yamaha, Pioneer, Onkyo...Which one???

I know you didn't ask about them but I'm about to purchase the Onkyo tx-sr605 7.1 capability and TrueHD and DTShd capability for next gen systems. I just bought for $389 shipped. I can't wait to get it.

Re: Denon, Yamaha, Pioneer, Onkyo...Which one???

I spent a couple of months researching receivers. I'm sure the Yamaha is a fine product but it never was a serious contender for me. The Pioneer 92 and 94 were deep into the running but there were a few things that didn't satisfy my particular wants and needs. For some reason I looked closer at the Onkyo 905 instead of the 875, but $1700 was too high a price. Of the four mentioned, if video precessing thru the receiver is a big concern then I'd opt for the Onkyo 875. If sound is the bigger priority, then the Denon 3808. Just my opinion of course. BTW, I ended up buying a very good but used Pioneer Elite 59txi.

Re: Denon, Yamaha, Pioneer, Onkyo...Which one???

My last purchase ended up being another Denon to replace a "not very old" Yamaha. Upon listening to several options at a local upper crust audio/video shop, the Denon was hands down the sonic winner.

As with all audio opinions, you have to take that with a grain of salt and buy what you think sounds good to you. All of the units you mention are good at what they do from a processor standpoint.

Re: Denon, Yamaha, Pioneer, Onkyo...Which one???

I looked at all the receivers you are looking at. I went with the Denon. I posted in another thread on this forum as to why I went with the Denon. Here is my reasons again.

I just got the Denon last week. So far I am very pleased. I had a Yamaha RX-V1000 that I replaced. The Yamaha is going to my bedroom. I wasn't sure how I would like the Denon. I knew from experience that I liked the sound of my 1000 and was afraid to change. I finally found a store where I could listen to both on the same set of speakers in the same room. At First I thought the Yamaha sounded better, then I realized that the Denon had no subwoofer connected. Once the store corrected that issue, they were very close. I do believe it is true that the Denon has a warmer sound. Some of the reasons I went with the Denon. I did think the Denon sounded better. The fact you can do firmware updates via the network connection. You can't even do the updates on the Onkyo, you have to take it in to a dealer. That is what I read on another forum. Also this does not sound like a big deal, but the Yamaha does not put the menu bar up on the screen if you are using HDMI to the TV with a HDMI source. My eyes are not what they used to be, and I like being able to see the volume on my TV. I even called Yamaha, The Z11 does not even do this, per the rep I spoke with. Also you can adjust all the features on the Denon via your internet browser. The Yamaha from what I was told, you can adjust some things, but not everything. Also I have found that you can go to radiodenon on the internet, put your mac address in, and preview and add favorite internet radio sites. Then they appear in the favorites on the receiver. I don't know about the Marantz. I did listen to the Pioneer 94, and I liked the Yamaha better than it. They were both in the same room at another store. For me the Denon sounded better, and had all the features, that I was really looking for. One thing I did notice is that the Yamaha got louder faster than the Denon, but once you really cranked them the Denon was just as loud, but seem to be clean. I actually heard the Yamaha start to clip. Hopes this helps. I agonized over this decision

Re: Denon, Yamaha, Pioneer, Onkyo...Which one???

Well I dove right in and bought the Denon 3808 last night. This thing rocks!!! And I'm not even done setting it up yet. Thanks for the input y'all.

Re: Denon, Yamaha, Pioneer, Onkyo...Which one???

I currently have a Denon 1804 receiver and have no issues with it. I need a new receiver to handle HDMI 1.3a and TrueHD codecs. I naturally thought I would buy Denon again, especially the 3808. However, I went to the audio store to preview some speakers and they sounded terrible. I thought for such large towers I never knew they would sound so bad. Then it occured to me, maybe the Denon 3808 was not good for music listening (with no subwoofer). So I hooked up a pair of Focal speakers as I own the pair at home and they have amazing, tight, punchy bass. Sounded terrible again. So the dealer changed receivers and viola, the speakers almost shook the room with their low-end.

I will be using subwoofers in my home theater but it really concerns me that this receiver does not deliver the full sound to speakers to exploit their potential. I read on other forums and other people have the same complaint about the 3808...no mid-bass. I tried setting the eq., setting the fronts to large and disabling the subwoofer. Still this big towers delivered very, very poor sound. I went back when they brought in new stock and tried a different 3808. Still nothing.

I have not written it off though. I know this receiver is complicated and maybe there is something set wrong to make it sound so poor. As I only know Denon, what others do you guys recommend for receivers?