[Burki]

Hi everyone !

I am looking for a good a/v receiver with some good sound formats. I looked to most common brands like Denon,HK,Pioneer,Onkyo,Yamaha etc. and finally for my money 2 good machines came outioneer VSX-D812 or Onkyo TX-SR601. Now its really hard for me to make a decision between these 2 beauty. Pioneer has 6*100 output power and has all the sound formats i need. Onkyo has 6*85 output power and has almost similiar features pioneer has(more also). I've read hundreds of comments about these two but nothing came out. My aim 1st is to listen music from cd player and also connect to my PC ( to listen mp3 ). I decide to buy 2 normal speakers from JBL. If i have more money to buy more speakers, i can have more time to watch movies instead of going to cinema i guess ) So ppl who has experiences with these 2 plzzz help me.

[Clemens]

Pioneer(for the vsx-*12 series) lists their power output at 1kHz @ 1.0% thd or something to that extent, and the home theater primer states that that would equal about 40watts per channel or something like that.
on the otherhand, onkyo lists their power at 20Hz-20kHz @ 0.x or 0.0x% thd, so it's a true average output.
If I was to pick between the two, I would definitely go for the onkyo.
But then again, at the end of the day, your ears make the decision, so test them out, pick a your favorite.

I'm just using the 712 with the AR HC6 package, and it serves its purpose well.

[Burki]

At audioreview.com ppl wrote about u can only hear the true sound after 40db something like this. It means below 40db it's nothing. But i guess thats not a problem.

[DamonG]

I would go with the Onkyo receiver. I have the TX SR-501 and I must say it is the best receiver I have ever owned. They make any speakers sound wonderful!!

[ChadLB]

For what it's worth ...I had the Onkyo 600 which was great until I ran into a couple problems with some movies and speakers popping. Yes it was the receiver.......ran many tests and problem still existed.
So I bought the pioneer 811....
Sound comparison...Onkyo sounded smoother more laid back.
Onkyo Pros:
smooth sound
easy set up
On Screen Display
They had a setting called TV..sounded great when watching TV

Onkyo Cons:
Remote wasn't the greatest
Didn't have option for adding an external amp


Pioneer Pros:
Easy set up
Remote - Learning remote..easy to program
able to add 5 channel amp

Pioneer Cons:
No On Screen Display
Not as smooth sounding as the Onkyo

Both did 6.1, dd/dts, 5/6 channel stereo

To me both were great machines.....they both get the job done and well I think it depends on what you want out of it(inputs/outputs, remote features, etc)

[Burki]

It looks a good system u have there at your home. I want to learn some more thing from you. Like ;

1- They say you can hear the good sound after 40db something. Does it matter so much? And what was your problem with it? And i m plannig to buy tx-601 model.Can u add external amp to this one? ( and what can i do with an external amp extacly?)

Thanks man you gave some opinion to my mind..

[John S]

I installed an Onkyo SR-501 last night and dang was it ever impressive....

Speakers used were Yamaha NS-6490's all around and the sub was an AR S112PS. It definetly had that pro type upper end sound. It is amazing you can get recievers under $200 that can perform so well with a full warranty.


Auditioned Steve Via - Passion and Warfare on the music side.

T3 (DD) and Bruce All-Mighty (DD ES) on the HT side.

Peace out....

[Ryan.S.]

Where did you get the SR-501 for under $200??

[Jon_Welker]

I'd vote on the Onkyo in this matchup...I usually stay out of these, but this one seems pretty obvious...

[ChadLB]

Burki,
Yes with the Onkyo 600 that I had:
For tv viewing volume was at 40 or higher and movies well usually at least about 60. But this doesn't really mean much as each receiver is dialed/tuned in differently.
Meaning to get to a volume you like might take more on the Onkyo vs The Pioneer because they are dialed in differently .

External amps basically give you the true 85*5(in my case).
Most receivers never truly put out say 100*5 per channel.
The 601 does not have preouts except for the subwoofer so you would not be able to add an external amplifier to it.

The pioneer is not a bad machine at all. The 912 has Auto setup and has preouts to add an external ampl. IF the remote is like mine I have my remote programmed for my Mitsubishi VCR, Toshiba DVD player, Sanyo projector.
Yes I think the Onkyo might sound a tad better but for now I am happy with the Pioneer 811s and will keep it until I upgrade to a true pre processor like Outlaw or something else.