PanTora

Onkyo 703 vs. HK 635

Hey all,

Im looking at the Onkyo 703 and HK 635 and can buy both of them for the exact same price.

I don't expect there to be a difference in the SQ between the 2 (both good amps), may be wrong here?

The HK seems to have seen rough past as far as having issues and just plain breaking. I owned a HK lesser model a few years back and the left channel amp stopped working in about 4 months. Are there still issues with the 635 I need to know about?

The Onkyo just seems like a good buy with ample power and the options that I need.

I am using a NHT SB2 fronts, SC2 center, SB1 surrounds and the SW12 powered sub. Keep reading they are inefficient, should this play into the decision betweem these 2 receivers?

Any other receivers I should be looking at? Large room with 90% HT 10 Music
and a budget between $500 and $750.

Thanks in advance for any input.

Pan

Tom Donaghue

Re: Onkyo 703 vs. HK 635

I think either of those would suit you just fine, they're fairly comparable. HK has had QA issues in the past, but I think they've gotten their act together over the last year or two ironing these out. I think the only thing that might sway your decision of one over the other would likely be some of the specific features for each unit and aesthetics.

If you found after purchasing that either of these units weren't giving you enough power for the NHTs, you could always grab a separate amp for either the mains, the front three or even a larger multichannel amp for more juice. This would obviously come w/a price, but even something as small as a $200 2-channel amp could substantially improve the signal at higher listening levels and take some of the burden off the unit iself powering the other channels.

If it does come down to a power issue, there are very few receivers (if any) under the $2000 price tag that would provide you with sufficiently more power than either of these two units without the benefit of an external amp... -TD

My Home Theater

BillSuneson

Re: Onkyo 703 vs. HK 635

If you can go somewhere where you can listen to a direct comparison of HK and Onkyo. There is a noticeable sound difference but only you can decide which is better in YOUR EARS. I went with the onkyo over the HK due to the Onkyo having a little less of a "pushy" sound to it. just my $0.02

Bill

steveKlein

Re: Onkyo 703 vs. HK 635

i'm in the same boat as the OP (debating between the Onkyo 703, HK 635, and also the Denon 886S).

any of these will give me enough power and a great sound, so i'm going with the bells and whistles that don't matter to most but do matter to me. The Onkyo is XM- and iPod- expandable, and the inputs are renameable which i think is cool.

the only other thin to judge for me was aesthetics. for me, the harman-kardon probably does look the best of the bunch, but the onkyo is not far behind (the silver model anyways...). and because the HK is neither xm-ready or ipod-expandable, i'm going with onkyo (i think).

Andrew Pratt

Re: Onkyo 703 vs. HK 635

I'm running the 703 in my system and its a pretty decent budget receiver. I'm using external amps for my fronts but the center and 4 surrounds are being driven from the Oink's amps. Feature wise its pretty loaded other the lacking HDMI which is in the 803.