Kenwood VR-6070 or Yamaha RX-V630? (1 Viewer)

[Mike Parr]

Both of these machines have been recommended in the past, at one time or another. I am in the market for a receiver that will put in the basement for a second location to view movies. These two receivers are within $40 of each other and both look like a good deal.

The Kenwood is a refurbished unit and tha Yamaha is new. I don't really have any reservations about a refirbished unit. The Kenwwod is a 7.1 system with THX certification and the Yamaha is a 6.1 system. I really don't have any plans to run this reciever with any more than a 5.1 setup.

So I guess the question is this, for overall ease of use, sound quality, connectivity and remote control use which one of these would you buy for your second system to be used by the kids (10 and up) and other family members?

Thanks.

 

[Kevinkall]

So I guess the question is this, for overall ease of use, sound quality, connectivity and remote control use which one of these would you buy for your second system to be used by the kids (10 and up) and other family members?

Then go with the Kenwood 6070, you won't be sorry. The 6070 is also only powered for 6 channels, not 7.

 

[RobWil]

I've used both Kenwood and Yamaha products and for movie only I would tend to favor the Yamaha, but it prolly depends on how critical the viewers are. If it's just kids, they prolly won't notice the difference so I'd be tempted to go with the least expensive. I think for very critical viewers the Yamaha's proprietary chip provides better movie performance, although I don't think it's leaps and bounds better. I would prefer the Kenwood for music though as the Yamaha, IMO, sounds a little 'thin'. I'm sure you'd be happy with both, although you should consider the Yamaha RX-V530 over the 630 as they are absolutely identical, I believe, except the 630 has 6 channel amps and the 530 has only 5. Unless, of course, you can get the 630 for the same price or less
I'm assuming you're looking at ecost and they don't list the 530?

 

[Stephen Hopkins]

One comment, the Kenwood isn't a 7.1 receiver. It has 6 channels of amplification and a single back center speaker hookup.

That said, I would also go w/ the 6070. One of the big reasons alot of people buy Yamaha receivers are for their superior DSP modes. I personally don't use any DSP. The Kenwood puts out an honest 92 watts per channel w/ all channels driven, which is amazing since most receivers in this price range don't come anywhere near their rated power. The 6070 also has an RF remote, meaning it doesn't have to be pointed directly at the receiver. Setup is a bit difficult, but daily use is a breeze.

When i was making my last receiver choice I had it narrowed down to the 6070 and the Sony 2ES. I ended up with the 4ES because some more $$ became available, but if I could have picked up the 6070 for the price it's available at now, I probably would have went with it.

Hope this helps

 

[Kevinkall]

If you are looking for another receiver I have one listed on the HARDWARE FOR SALE FORUM. Nice unit at a nice price.

 

[Jeremy Anderson]

I'd go with the Yammy. Both companies are honest about their ratings, but Kenwood uses different standards for the surrounds than the rest of the system. They rate for 0.09% THD on all channels (including the center surround) EXCEPT the left and right surrounds, which are rated at 0.7% THD (which is NOT an insignificant difference).

Hopefully Kenwood fans won't flame me for saying so, but I haven't heard a Kenwood in the last two years worth of models that didn't have audibly noisy surrounds at reference. Every Yamaha I've heard has been noise free at reference.

Regardless, either will work fine for you. I'm just being picky.