500-600$ receiver (1 Viewer)

[BarOr]

I'm looking to buy 500-600$ receiver. Judging SPECIFICATIONS, reviews and more I found two suitable receiver: Marantz sr5400 and Onkyo tx-sr601. what would you recommend ? are their any more suitable receiver?
Thank you

 

[PaulDA]

I think either one will do fine, depending on your speaker loads (4,6 or 8 ohm). I have an Integra DTR 6.4 (gussied up Onkyo 701) and I think it's great. However, it's not rated for 4ohm loads, and I would have had to go with something else if my speakers were 4ohms. There are others available at your price point, Denon, Yamaha and Pioneer come to mind. Audition them through the same speakers, if you can. At this price point, it often comes down to features.

Good luck.

 

[Ernest Yee]

YGPM BarOr

 

[Blaine_M]

I've got the Marantz SR5400. I am extrememly happy with it. Does the Onkyo have a 3 year warranty, I know the Integra does, so does the Marantz. My father in law has the Integra version of the Onkyo you are looking at, I'd get the Integra before I got the Onkyo. In comparing the two they both sound very good. I preffer the way the Marantz handles the auto-surround though over the Integra, I also like the remote way better. It is personal preference really, when I made my choice it came down to those two models, and I picked the Marantz. You probably can't go wrong either way. The marantz does have a virtual 6.1 mode which is kinda nice if you won't have a 6.1 setup.

 

[PaulDA]

Onkyo offer a two year warranty.

 

[Blaine_M]

So you would gain a year by getting the Integra, there are probably some other upgrades the Integra offers as well as far as quality maybe? Either way, the Integra or Marantz would be good for this guy. I'm not sure the remote on the Integra will allow you to control all the dvd menu stuff, but the Marantz remote does. I guess I have a Marantz DVD player, but I'm assuming you can navigate the menu of any brand dvd player with the Marantz remote.

 

[PaulDA]

I don't know about the remote. The Integra has better DACs (all 192khz and eight instead of 4 (2x192, 2x96 in Onkyo)), and extra features. For example, I can apply my time/bass management settings to my multichannel analogue input, which can be useful for a less than ideal speaker placement setup of multichannel music (the equivalent Onkyo doesn't have this, IIRC). The sonic merits/drawbacks of this extra AD/DA to hi-res is open to debate. I also have built in 7.1 pre-outs (even though I have 6.1 channels), digital upsampling, component video upconversion, and a couple of other features.


http://www.onkyousa.com/model.cfm?m=...class=Receiver


http://www.integrahometheater.com/mo...s=Receiver&p=f

 

[Blaine_M]

I believe the equivalent reciever to the 601 would be the 5.4, not the 6.4. How much is the 6.4, I'm fairly sure it is out of his $500-600 price range.

 

[PaulDA]

The 6.4 is 1000$ retail, can probably get it for 850$ if you bargain hard. I was simply listing the differences between the 701 and the 6.4. I'll do a quick check of the 601 vs 5.4, though he'd likely have to stretch a bit even for the 5.4, as Integra is somewhat notorious at capping discounts given by dealers.

The 5.4 has better DACs, digital upsampling, something called Non-scaling configuration (don't know what that means), wider "Extended Frequency Response" (whatever that means) and 3 year warranty (along with other differences).

Of course, this takes nothing away from the already good quality of the Onkyo units. I look at it as icing on the cake. Much like there's nothing wrong with a Toyota Camry, but the Lexus ES300 is nicer, if you can afford it.

 

[Blaine_M]

My father in law got his 5.4 at our local Integra dealer for right at $600, not sure if they were running a sale or not. The Marantz SR5400 is also right at $600 if you get it from an authorized dealer, $550 if you get it at cambridge online, which is authorized.

 

[PaulDA]

If he can get the 5.4 at that price, I'd go with it over the Onkyo, just for the warranty and DACs, if nothing else.

 

[Joshua H]

The Onkyo / Integra only has 1 coaxial input if that matters for you. Even the 6.4 only has 1... why a thousand-dollar receiver can't have 2 coax-ins is beyond me.

 

[Blaine_M]

I did not know that. I believe my Marantz 5400 has two coax and two optical.

 

[PaulDA]

I agree, but it performs well enough that I can overlook this, though this might be a problem for others.

 

[Sami Kallio]

If you haven't bought a receiver yet and you have a Fry's store close, they had H/K 7200 for $499. You can check the specs here to see if they match what you're looking for:

http://ww1.onecall.com/PID_18440.htm

 

[PaulDA]

The Integra DTR 5.4 retails at 600$, so if you're still thinking about the Onkyo 601, give this a consideration. See above for the advantages of the Integra over the Onkyo.

 

[Blaine_M]

Or consider the Marantz SR5400 at the same price

 

[PaulDA]

Either way, I think he'll be happy.

 

[Cam McFarland]

Fry's also has the Onkyo tx-sr701 for $599.00 now
as well..........

 

[BarOr]

where is it (Onkyo 701)? Further more the HK 7200 costs 839.67$ and not 499$ (at fry's store)