what would you do? rx-v2500, vsx-816, avr-2106 or vsx-1015 (1 Viewer)

I have been looking to replace my old faithful panasonic xr55 amp with a newer better avr. I love the size and sound of the xr55 but want more flexible options with connections.

with that said I pulled the trigger the other day on a yamaha left over rx-v2500 (brand new in box from tweeter) for a great price of only $699 due to some problems I had on something else so the manager gave me a good deal IMHO. I do see it for much less online but I like the warranty.

1st off my system:

* set of five velodyne deco speakers (I know they are not great speakers but for my 12x14 HT room they kick donkey :-0

2nd this is used for 95% tv/movie watching


My "problem"

OK so I bought the yamaha rxv2500 a couple days ago (with out telling my wife) and just hooked it up last night. wow talk about a sound upgrade! I always laughted when I heard other say what I'm about to say "I heard new sound effects in movies that I watched before, simply amazing!" much more detail and more depth IMHO. So what is the problem? My wife new I was looking for a new receiver and wanted to surprize me so she saw some of my choices one being two units from Pioneer the 816 and 1015... she couldn't find the 1015 so she bought me a 816.

1st off its more then half the price which is a great thing! just from looking at the units you can tell the yamaha has more "guts" inside plus old school weight test.

2nd I kind of like the look of the pioneer more - I'm not a fan of the amber lights (I know its a small thing)

so I swapped out the yamaha for the pioneer this morning - after using the auto setup which like the yamaha was painless (the yamaha does control bass and it is noticable). The pioneer sounds very crisp and acurate like the yamaha which suprized me for the $$$ difference (even more since the yamaha was close $1100 in its hay day). But the Pioneer didn't seem to shine as much on slight detail sounds. One example on star wars III when general grievous blows out the windows in the beginning and uses the grappling hook to come down the tunnel; on the yamaha you hear his feet hitting metal to metal and it was crystal clear. on the pioneer you could hardly hear that sound effect maybe its just me and being a slight sound effect I should just ignore it? One thing I do like about the pioneer is the dialogue lift feature which does make voice much more pronounced a great feature... The yamaha has the same option but you need an extra pair of speakers????


I was thinking about taking them both back and finding the pioneer 1015 would that equal the yamaha sound wise? Or is it just a more powerful 816? Also would look at the Denon AVR-2106????

sorry for the long post


thanks in advance
John

Keep changing things out until the upgrade bug wears out...LOL

Really though, it is not about how much many different receivers you try, just end up with the one you like the best. You never want to decide against one with "well, that was just a minor detail" since it is the minor details that will come back to haunt you.... just in the middle of a good movie or when you are at a friends house and hear things in a movie that you didn't hear at home.
Get the one YOU want....... and have fun doing it.

BTW... WHAT have you done for your wife lately?????

LOL - so true!

The pannasonic avr I have also has worn spring clips (I used some of those speaker wire tines I thought it would be easier and better but I messed them up) so every few weeks one of the rears or center channel would stop working - i assume from slight movents in my rack???

I think if I go with a better Pioneer unit like the 1015 I would be "happy" as the 816 I am using right now sounds pretty good (if I didn't plug in that darn yamha rx-v2500 I wouldn't even had known


again thanks


ohhh I am bringing her to one of American Idol tours and an other show

I bought a Pioneer 1014. After a week, my yamaha RX-v630 went back to being my primary receiver. Everyone has different taste, but IMHO, the yamaha was the better unit.

*** Update ***

I did bring bring back the Pioneer and was going to keep the Yamaha it just sounds so clean.

When I was returning the pioneer to circuit city something drew me to the back where they keep the rest of the AVR's and what do I see on sale. An Onkyo 703b brand new for only $499 no rebates nothing just a straight price. So I bought it I thought for that price why not, right?

Out of the box first thing I noticed was it does weight less then the yamaha 2500 I'd say close to 4-6 pounds? I do like the look better - but the yamaha still looks classy.

Sound wise - haven't had a chance to test it out yet - what seems to be the ruling here on the 703?


again thanks in advance,
John

For that price, I'd likely go w/the Onkyo. This is coming from an owner of an RX-V2500. That's not to say I don't like the Yamaha, on the contrary, I've had a very good experience w/it and I'm glad I made the purchase a few months ago.

However, I got mine refurbished for a few hundred dollars cheaper than a new one. If I had to pay the price They're offering you on it, I'd go w/the Onkyo.

Just my 2¢... -TD

I personally like the onkyo sound compared to the Yamaha's and this is coming from extensie listening tests done at a friends and then in my theater room at the time. the onkyo had more detail where the yamaha put out a little more "oomph" but i've got an onkyo and haven't looked back since.

I have owned a Yamaha RX-V650 and an RX-V757 and really liked them. However, the 650 seemed to have more real power. I recently just bought a Pioneer 1015 and I can say that it is a lot better than both the Yamaha RX-V650 and the 757. The Pioneer has more real power and seems to just sound better over all. IMHO, I do believe the Yamaha RX-V2500 would be better than the Pioneer 1015. Just a couple of days ago I got the chance to hear what an Harmon Kardon 7300 could do and let be just say it was absolutely amazing. That thing is a beast to say the least. If I could I would buy that receiver in a minute. Heck it weighs in at like almost 60 lbs.!!!!! I assure you it will smoke any that has been listed here.

I wouldn't say it would "smoke" the other receivers here, but with a price tag close to a grand, it oughta best the one's John's listed... -TD

good point that HK 7300 looks great but well over twice my budget at the moment.


so far the onkyo 703 seems to be a great value (at least at the $499 I paid) PLUS sounds almost as good as the yamha 2500 (maybe its the lack of dsp's? but the 703 is equal if not a tad behind)


thx all - please let me know if any one has any questions and visa versa

The 7300 would eat these listed for lunch. MSRP is over 2k and it is a "flagship" receiver. 60 pounds, high current power boasting 75 amps of high current capability, puts out more than 110 watts per with ALL channels driven, and is heavily discounted to $999. Yes, it would smoke the $500 receiver competition.

Alright, maybe it would smoke/eat for lunch the other receivers noted, but the point was it's like comparing apples to oranges. Reeeally expensive oranges... -TD

just a quick question john,

did you listen to both receivers 2500/703 at the same store? and what type of speakers did you listen to them on? or did you get to try in home? these things will be a major difference, most electronic stores will run the cheapest wiring they can to these speakers/receivers and all of it is switched through a board that can be programmed for them. this degrades SQ alot. just some food for thought, see if you can get a demo in home before you buy.

Bill -- great question

I did hear them at two differnt stores; the 703 at Circuit City and the 2500 at Tweeter. So as you may already be thinking not a fair match And you would be correct


I brought both home and used my own equipment (I know its "wrong" to return but...)

I have a set of Velodyne Deco satellites which are rated at 4 ohms -- they are semi small with only a 4" mid driver and a tweeter; and include a 8" sub which put Velodyne on the map. I was very suspect of the mains but I have to say they sound great (just not soo good with a digital amp like the xr-55)

http://www.audioholics.com/productre...mShootout1.php

I still think the Yamaha sounded a tad better then the onkyo - but at this time money is a tad bit tight and well the 703 from Onkyo does do a great job (plus I think it looks better, but I do miss the DSP's from the Yamaha)

I only use this setup for TV and Movie use (maybe 5% for music)

some non performance things:

the onkyo 703 seems to run a bunch cooler (and has a 4 ohm switch)
the yamaha 2500 is built like a tank and weights as much as one
the onkyo has direct buttons for dvd, video 1 video 2 etc ect which to me is more "wife" friendly

all in all for the money the 703 does it for me!

Yamaha has direct buttons on the remote, just not front of unit.

From a feature standpoint nothing comes close to the yamahas at a given price point (especially the RX-v2500), you may not have discovered everything it will do, but especially for the price, it is quite amazing. Combined with sound quality that rivals the others there aren't any other contenders for me anymore.