Onkyo 595, Denon 1802, Marantz 5200: Powerful enough? (1 Viewer)

[ChrisAG]

A friend has asked me to recommend a lower-priced yet decent performing receiver. These receivers are rated at about 75-85 Watts by their manufacturers. To those that own or auditioned them, do you find that they can play loud without straining? Do they have enough "slam" for loud HT, and is loud 2-channel stereo possible without distortion or clipping?

 

[Greg Robertson]

Owning an ancestor of the denon 1802 and having heard the onkyo, they should both be enough for most people (and I'm pretty sure someone will say the same about the Marantz). I can play my denon at levels which most people would say is too loud without any audible distortion or clipping. Of course this is in my smallish living room. You also should take into account what your friends room size is, and what his definition of enough 'slam' is. Not to mention that if he wants some bass slam, then that won't have as much to do with the reciever.

 

[geoff dixon]

I have an Onkyo 595 delivering 75watts RMS into 8ohms. I have a fairly large listening area 26ft x 22ft and find the output pwer ok but a better choice would have been the 100watt model just for the extra output when you need it.

 

[Jason Au]

I'll be getting the Marantz 5200 at the end of this week along with a pair of Klipsch RF3's so i'll let you know. The dealers insist that the Marantz is a much better value than Denon or Onkyo in that price range (these were the other two brands I was considering as well) but I have no way of knowing for sure yet.