Pioneer Elite SC-07 vs Denon 3808 vs Onkyo 806 or 906 (1 Viewer)

[muskokaman70]

Hi there,

I'm replaciing my old receiver after serious fire damage. Have heard the SC-07 and the 806, though not back to back. What do you like in this ballpark? I love the look and the sound of the Pioneer, but I think the 3808 is close to it sonically and has the better auto-EQ based on web opinions. Haven't heard Onkyo recently but given that my water-damaged receiver was an Integra, have to assuem that there are some similarities.

Thoughts?

 

[DavidJ]

This really is a matter of personal taste. I spent a lot of time comparing these receivers and a couple of Yamaha units, but I quickly narrowed it down to the Denon and the Pioneer SCs. I really liked them both and I think most would say they are both great receivers. For the most part, I've always liked the sound of Pioneer's receivers, but since the SC uses a new type of amp (Class D) it has a slightly different sound than you might associated with a Pioneer product. That said, it sounds fantastic and I preferred it to the Denon.

 

[ShanonS]

The Onkyo 876 is more comparable to the 3808. I just bought mine and I've been very happy with it. I was a previous Denon and B&K owner. I really liked my previous Denon, but with the price difference between the Onkyo and the Denon, and the slightly higher quality and newer components of the Onkyo, I chose the 876. I moved to Alabama last year and there are no places near me to audition any of these units, so I made a blind purchase, but I have absolutely no regrets.

 

[werty7777]

I just did roughly the same search a little over a month ago. I was able to listen to all the receivers listed, since I live in San Diego, and I had it quickly narrowed down to the 876 and the SC-07/SC-05. The problem was those two receivers were at different stores. For around the same price and I liked the way both of them sounded. Had to move to the video side of things to break the tie. That was easy! The 876 uses a Reon chip and the Pioneer uses the same old Faroudja chip. The 906 uses Reon also but the value of the 876 versus the 906 really makes the networking not worth the extra money IHMO. Problem is the 876 is disappearing more and more everyday. The new model is right around the corner and who knows if it will be better or not. Get the 876 and you too will be a fan for life. Not really an absolute, 100%, guaranteed thing but the the 876 weighs a full 10 pounds more. Maybe Pioneer figured something out with the ICE amps but I figured heavier is still better.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Originally Posted by werty7777

I just did roughly the same search a little over a month ago. I was able to listen to all the receivers listed, since I live in San Diego, and I had it quickly narrowed down to the 876 and the SC-07/SC-05. The problem was those two receivers were at different stores. For around the same price and I liked the way both of them sounded. Had to move to the video side of things to break the tie. That was easy! The 876 uses a Reon chip and the Pioneer uses the same old Faroudja chip. The 906 uses Reon also but the value of the 876 versus the 906 really makes the networking not worth the extra money IHMO. Problem is the 876 is disappearing more and more everyday. The new model is right around the corner and who knows if it will be better or not. Get the 876 and you too will be a fan for life. Not really an absolute, 100%, guaranteed thing but the the 876 weighs a full 10 pounds more. Maybe Pioneer figured something out with the ICE amps but I figured heavier is still better.

Depending on your source components, the type of video processor on the receiver may be completely irrelevant. I just use my Pioneer Elite 94-TXH receiver for pass through of all video sources -- a Sony BDP-S350 Blu-Ray player, Oppo 980H 1080p upconverting SD-DVD player and Motorola 1080i cable box for Comcast cable. I have a Samsung 67" 1080p LED DLP TV.

With many systems no longer containing 480i/p source components (and 1080p TV's with pretty good upconversion), the video capabilities of a receiver are becoming less and less important, IMO.

 

[werty7777]

I would only have to half agree with that statement. My setup is 73" Mitsu DLP model # wd73732. Have a PS3 (only for gaming), Wii, Sony BDP-S350 (for DVD and Blu-ray), the 876 for the receiver and AT&T U-verse 1080i for cable. When I had the Sony 5200ES as my main receiver I had it upconverting the 1080i cable to 1080p. The scroll bar on the ESPN was always a mess (just one example). Random pixels throughout the scroll bar. I turned off the upconversion on the receiver and the same thing was there. I thought that was how it was going to be. Then I plugged the 876 in and it was crystal freaking clear. Also a huge improvement on the Wii. I really don't watch anything that isn't in HD anymore if I can avoid it (U-verse has something 115 HD channels now). But when I do have to step down to the SD channels the 5200ES or the TV doing the processing did nothing for it. In steps the 876 and things improve. I'm not talking that you are mistaking it for an HD channel but a noticable improvement no less. So I would think that the day that all content is in 1080i or p then your statement is correct. I don't even see that happening for atleast another 10 years either IMHO. I would bet their are very few, at best, TV's on the market that can even hold the shorts of the reon chip in the 876. I know my TV is far from the newest thing on the planet but without the 876 I would of probably be buying a new TV soon, which would probably get me sleeping on the couch for years to come.