DavidKid

h/k 325 vs Denon 2803

I have narrowed my choices down to these two as far as options go but would like some personal experiences from anyone who has these or similiar pieces of equipment. Has anyone had reliability problems with their h/k that you read about on various review sites. Any suggestions for other receivers is welcome.

Dave

David Ruggiero

I looked at both of these over at Crutchfield and they have them listed at the same price, $799.99. I know that you can find them cheaper then that but I am not sure where you going to buy them from. However, if the price is the same where you are shopping I would have to give the nod to the Denon over the H/K even though I own a H/K (AVR-525). It has more power and more features then the H/K. I will also add that if I didn't get a H/K I would have bought a Denon.

As far as reliabilty problems H/K's do run hot, no matter which one you get I suggest you buy from an authorized dealer so H/K or Denon will honor the warranty. I sent my AVR-525 back to Jandr.com for a replacement as I did have a problem with it. I was listening to music at a very high level (-5 on the volume) when the receiver shut itself off. No big deal I figured, because most high power receivers have an auto off feature when they get hot or their is a short. I was able to turn it right back on, then I turned it back off to cool down as it felt hot. Ever since that day I could not take the volume above -20 or so without it shutting down again. I used to always watch movies at -15 or -10 but couldn't anymore. Since I had it less then 30 days I was able to send it back for a replacement instead of having to get it fixed. The replacement will arrive tomorrow so I don't know if that one will have a problem as well. Maybe I'm crazy for getting another H/K AVR-525 but I love that receiver, it sounds phenominal to me.

Greg Thomas

Get the HK 325, especially with the special price that was just posted on this forum. You have until 7/31 to get this price and yes they're an authorized dealer. They're both good receivers with the HK being more musical and the Denon reportedly better from Home Theater. What kind of speakers will you be using?

I've got an HK 320 and have had no problems at all. Sounds great and has loads of power. The Logic 7 feature is a great bonus with HK receivers.

DavidKid

I haven't settled on speakers yet either. I'm going to go listen to both of these receivers tonight along with a couple of different speakers. I'm thinking about PSB, Mirage, or Nuance speakers not sure yet as I have only heard Nuance and PSB on different people's systems. Would you recommend a particular receiver over another based on the type of speakers? I will probably be using my system for 50/50 split with regards to music and home theater. Thanks for the opinions, please keep them coming

Jarvis_R

Do the speakers make much of a difference in receiver choice? I had finally narrowed my choices down to two h/k 525, or the denon 3803 (with a possible, but unlikely third, onkyo 800).

I thought I had the hard part down once I finally settled on a set of speakers. Paradigm Monitor 7, Mini-Monitors and cc370. But I guess I now need to consider what's going to work best with my speaker setup. In the end it makes sense, but I just never considered that before.

What other factors I should consider before making my purchase?
Also any other reccomendations for either would be greatly appreciated!