Onkyo or Sony? (1 Viewer)

[Ben LG]

I have a pair of Infinity RS-4's laying around collecting dust and seeing as entry level recievers are quite cheap nowadays, I decided to pick one up and get some use out of my speakers. I wanted to get some opinions on the following recievers:

Onkyo TX SR500
Sony STR-DE485
SONY STR-DE595

Any others around the $200-$300 mark such as Kenwood or Harmon Kardon that you guys would recommend? I am gonna set it up in a 15 x 10 bedroom and would be mostly use for music rather than home theater.

 

[ChadLB]

In my opinion I would take the onkyo over the sony. Smoother sound not so muddy as the sony's sound(lower end).

 

[tom_pat]

Onkyo has much better amplifier circuitry than Sony does! Sony sucks in the receiver department!

 

[Arup]

Onkyo is pretty good and only the SONY ES series compares favorably to it. For other options check out similiar offerings from Yamaha which has better DSP performance. Also personaly I prefer Yamaha's sound over Onkyo although both are equaly well constructed and are much more reliable than SONY.

 

[Brett DiMichele]

Onkyo has been praised by numerous professional reviewers
as having the smoothest sound out of all the mainstream
recievers and that includes HK,Denon,Sony etc.

I tend to agree with them. My Onkyo did a fantastic job for
music. I stepped up to a Preamp that cost dang near as much
as my Reciever did and didn't notice the HUGE difference
that I assumed I would. This only goes to show just how
good the Onk's do sound. But I would let your own ears be
the judge.

 

[James Edward]

I agree with Brett. I upgraded from an Onkyo 575X receiver to a NAD T752, and though the NAD will play louder, and with more balls, it was not a 'sonic unveiling' as I had expected. For the money, Onkyo does pretty well.

 

[Jon Torres]

I've got the Sony STR-DE485 and it does okay for movies, which is why I got it and it was cheap. You could take a look at a refurb onkyo tx-sr500 for $150. There's a link in the coupons and bargains forum.

 

[Bob Kavanaugh]

I just upgraded from a STR-DE475 to a STR-DA2ES. I would stay away from sony's lower end receivers at all costs! Horrible would be one word to describe them. I would have audio dropout during intensive scenes, the volume would drop substantially. Can't speak for the Onkyo's but maybe you can find one open box in your price range that'll make you happy.

 

[Randall Duncan]

Post Deleted

 

[Brett DiMichele]

Randall,

May I ask why the Onkyo would come in behind the Yamaha and
Harmon Kardon? I personaly would place the upper end Onkyo's
far ahead of either from a processing and musicality stand
point. Of course that's my biased opinion

If it's because of some of the issues Onk has had in the
last few months, HK has had thier share as well.

 

[Randall Duncan]

Post Deleted

 

[Brett DiMichele]

Randall,

I agree with you about HK's amp circuitry they do drive
4 Ohm Loads where as the Onky have only ever been rated to
a minimum of 6. More recent Onk's have had questionable all
channels driven output (Thankfuly my Onk is not one of the
latest units.)

But musicaly I think Onk makes one of the best mainstream
recievers out there. And I think (from my ears) the HK's
also sound fantastic so I would lean towards it like this..

Onkyo or Integra then Harmon then Denon then Pioneer then
Yamaha. All are great products though!

 

[Angelo.M]

I agree w/ Brett about Onkyo. I think their stuff is great, and prefer it over H/K. Yeah, the most recent line is not up to their usual standard, but it looks like the new models will correct the deficiencies. That being said, my neighbor has the SR700 and it's a very nice AVR; sounds great.

In terms of Onk vs Sony: I prefer Sony ES stuff over mainstream Onkyo. Not a fair comparison, of course, but I have zero experience w/ Integra, which I'm certain compares with ES. The Sony 4ES is, at the moment, and IMHO, the best AVR dollar-for-dollar and pound-for-pound.

 

[Thomas Nichols]

I recently moved from Sony to H/K(I now have an AVR125). I love the H/K, you can find them at very reasonable prices. I like the build quality and the ergonomics. The sound is fantastic. You may want to give it a listen.

 

[DarrylM]

I agree with you about HK's amp circuitry they do drive 4 Ohm Loads where as the Onky have only ever been rated to a minimum of 6.

Onkyos were UL-listed to drive 6 ohm speakers, which I believe means that they can safely power these speakers without current-limiting devices (like those switches you see on cheaper receivers). This is also an indication that they have high current amplification. I don't know about the old HKs, but I have not seen any 4 or 6 ohm ratings for their new receivers. The new HK receivers also specify "8 ohms" for their speaker connections.

 

[John Morton]

If you decide on Sony, go with the DB or "QS?" series. I have:

STR-DB930
Infinity RS5x4
Infinity CC3
Infinity HPS1000 sub

My dad has:

STR-DB930
Infinity RS4x4
Infinity CC3
Infinity HPS-1000 sub

I like the sony because of the "tweakability". I wouldn't trade my HT setup for almost anything. My dad and I use different low/mid/high settings to get the sound we like.

Also, a small project to take up some time but may make a huge improvement: Take off the RS4 metal grills, get yourself some size 10 needle point pieces of plastic at a craft shop (plastic with holes in it), bend them into a half moons over each tweater, then cover with the thinest speaker cloth you can find. You'll have to experiment with the size of the half moon (the sound stage size and accuracy will change as you change the size of the moons. I got this idea from the Infinity's Overture series.

That's what I did with my RS5s anyway and the sound quality improvement is undescribable.

 

[Koren T. Wolf]

I used to have a Sony STR-DE595, and i couldn't stand the tinny sound to it. it couldn't push my PSBs at all. so i gave it to my brother-in-law (since he doesn't know much about H/T). i replaced that Sony POS with an Onkyo NR900. OMG! what a difference. i almost had my ears bleeding. the sound is smooth, crisp, just delightful.
i've found that the only decent electronics that Sony makes are monitors and the Playstation 2.

 

[carl_b_byrne]

Bob, I too am getting audio dropout with my sony "home theater in a box" and I believe its the receiver and not the discs (although some discs are scratched somewhat badly). I haven't really auditioned any new receivers yet (my wife wants to have a baby so I can't buy anything...darn biological clock!!!) but if I was I would probably try a HK or Integra. I also am eyeing the mirage omnisats as the new surrounds (again...the WAF).

 

[Chad Isaacs]

Another vote for Onkyo.I currently have the txds575 and am saving for the 600.I may also pick up one of their dvd players.The Bose outlet store has them for $99....pro scan too

 

[Shiu]

I listened to the HK recievers quite a bit within the last two weeks at the Future Shop. They use the AVR325 or 525 to demo their speakers. I listened carefully to several Polk, Bose, Infinity, and other models. In the end I chose the Polk RTi38 to replace my two front Polk RM6700. During the A/B comparison of those speakers, I felt that none of them sound really that good in terms of clarity. I know the listening environment has a lot to do of it. Regardless, it was till a pleasant surprise when I hooked up the RTi to my Sony STR-DA4ES. They sound great in the clarity department. The bass is a bonus, I find it almost acceptable to use the "analog direct" switch to listen to music CD without using my subwoofer. I am sure the Sony ES series receivers are as good (or better) as the HK AVR325/525. I cannot say the same for their non ES receivers.