Receiver Upgrade (1 Viewer)

[kulas]

Hello, I am definitely not a home theater expert, but I sure do love watching movies in my living room. I am looking to upgrade my older receiver, it is a Yamaha RX-V800 (specs here: https://www.cnet.com/products/yamaha-rx-v800/specs/) and I see that the Yamaha RX-483 (http://a.co/24CCiTt) is $399.99. However, is that a better receiver? I know my receiver is 15 years old, but it has more power (100 watts per channel vs. 80 watts per channel) and its THD is less (0.04 vs 0.09). I'm running the Klipsch reference series (RF-3, RC-3, and don't remember the rear, whatever series 3 is) for speakers with the 15" 800W powered subwoofer.

Is this receiver an upgrade for me or should I go with something else? I work for the military and move around all the time and right now I have the perfect living room in Germany for sound (it is like a hunting lodge haha). I don't want to run anything more than 5.1, but I like having HDMI throughput with the ability to go 4K (getting a new Samsung 55" 4K with the new Apple TV).

Any recommendations on this receiver or not? I love Yamaha and this seems comparable, but I am unhappy when I actually compare the specs. To get the same THD and power, I would need to get a RX-870BL, but not sure if that is overkill.

Would love your thoughts please.

Chris

 

[Elizabeth S]

There is no such thing as "overkill".

What about the RX-770? It's 95W, 0.06. The difference between 100W and 95W is negligible.

I'm also a fan of Yamaha and have the RX-1050 now (my 3rd Yamaha receiver). I wasn't looking for anything more than 7.2 and I really liked the features. Several years ago, I wasn't even thinking of 4K and will not be for some time so it suits me for now. I did want the phono input and I like the "scenes" capability.

I do think the RX-xx70 line will be an upgrade for you. Good luck!

 

[JohnRice]

The difference between 95 and 100 watts isn't negligible. It's non-existent. The difference between 80 and 100 watts is also non-existent.

Those Klipsch are extremely efficient speakers, so power just isn't important. I'll explain. Sensitivity measures how much power it takes to drive speakers to a given sound level. Your front speakers are 97dB and 98dB (I looked it up). What does that mean? It takes no power at all to run them. For comparison, my main speakers are 86dB and I use a 78lb. 500 watt per channel amp to drive them. Taking into consideration the difference in their efficiency, can you guess how powerful an amp if would take to drive your Klipsch to the same sound level as my speakers and amp? About 30 watts. So, as long as you have the Klipsch, just don't worry about how much power you have.

Find the receiver with the best combination of price and capabilities other than power.