Which receiver? Denon, onkyo, or HK? (1 Viewer)

[Babek]

I'm deciding on these three because they are from high end companys. Here is the info:
denon AVR-1803
AVR-1803
Harman Kardon AVR-325
AVR-325
Onkyo: TX-SR600
*on the onkyo site just follow the links to the receivers and then find TX-SR600.
I have narrowed my decision to those three. I was wondering if anyone on these forums have any three of those receivers and if so, what do you think of them? Anyone is welcome to give input.

 

[Jose G]

You're making good choices. I have the HK225- love it. It's terrific with music and with HT. I believe the Denon will do great HT also, and will be a little less warm for music than the HK- so much depends on your speakers here. The Oink- well personally I like the older models better- no good reason, just didn't sound as rich to me when I compared to my 225, but than again I didn't compare with my speakers- again, so much depends on the speakers. Good luck!

 

[Babek]

Thanks, that was a great input.

I have sold my sony receiver, because I heard that Harman kardon, marantz, onkyo, and denon receivers produce high quality sound somehow. I am wondering why?

And are there any distinct differences between my 3 choices that are listed above?

As of right now, I'm leaning toward either the onkyo tx-sr600 or the denon AVR-1803 because they are fairly cheaper than the HK.

 

[David Lorenzo]

I'll give opinions that many people on this forum have. They are not mine. I just want to share with you what I have read on here from a lot of threads.

The Onkyo units tend to be very good with home theater and only ok when it comes to music. They are some what bright sounding. This lends itself well to giving a punch to home theater.

Harman Kardon is generally the best with music. Producing a warm sound. It is considered good with home theater also.

The Denon is said to be equally adept at HT or music, but is not the best at either. It is a blend of sorts between the HK's warmth and the Onkyo's brightness.

Note that these are big generalizations and your speakers should be considered when choosing. I haven't done direct comparisons between the 3, but I would reccomend the HK. It sounds great and has 7 channels of amplification. It also has the best bass management of the 3.

 

[stan mucha]

I love my denon 1803..very clean sounding amp.
stan

 

[Bill Griffith]

I've recently bought the Oink and I'm impressed. I was also looking at the 1803.

The main clincher was that with the Onkyo I could get 6.1 DEcoding and speaker setup, and still have a couple of speakers running off the B side of the reciever. (basical another zone)

the 1803 only allows you to run 5.1 when having speakers in another zone, or you can run 6.1 and not have any extra speaker zones.

Please correct me if I'm wrong but thats the way I understood it.

But when testing the equipment I didn't notice any difference in anything.

 

[Ammon]

Onkyo's are a bit too bright to me. I've always felt the Onkyo's were better for music rather than HT IMO. I guess that would bring up the question to what you will be using it mostly for? Music or Movies. And what speakers you will be using. Usually if you have a bright sounding receiver, it's best to get speakers that are warmer sounding. I am more of a Denon fan, but out of the 3 you listed, I would suggest the HK when comparing them. A good place to see a comparison of these side by side would be at Crutchfields website. You may also want to compare receivers of equal price as the HK is a bit higher than the Onkyo and the Denon.
http://www.crutchfield.com/cgi-bin/S...=4&s=0&g=10420
Bill you are correct about the 1803 speaker setup. The 2802 will allow for 6.1 in the main area and still have the ability to use the multi-zone features.

 

[Bill Griffith]

Yeah, like I said that was the main reason for my decision. There all good recievers but it all depends on what you want to do. Do you want 6.1 Decoding with another zone capable? Do you just want 5.1 Decoding? Do you care about movies at all or is this just for music?

My deal was movies and I wanted 6.1, with another zone capable. My wife likes her music so the reciever had to be good with music as well. The 600 ultimatly was the only choice.

 

[BrianAe]

They are all good. I went with the Onkyo because:

1) Price
2) Easiest to tune
3) Best remote by far

Despite some claims, the Onkyo has plenty of power. I use it to drive Aperion Audio speaker which require some power in a 22 X 15' room. In terms of sound, they are all good. I think what speakers you use make a way bigger difference.

 

[Babek]

What is this zone thing you're talking about? Sorry, I don't know what you guys are talking about.

 

[Ammon]

Some receivers are capable of Multi Zones. This means that while 1 set of speakers hooked to the receiver can be used in room 'A' while watching a movie, a seperate set of speakers can be hooked up in room 'B' and can be used for listening to music or other audio at the same time. Both of these audio sources would still be coming from the same receiver.

 

[Babek]

oh okay, thanks

I won't be need multiroom connections so I believe I'm okay with that. Anyway, I'm interested in just having a 6 channel discrete receiver which has dolby digital ex and dts es.

 

[Chris Sherman]

HK 325 or Denon . Onkyo is a non runner IMHO.

 

[DougKuhn]

I was orginally eyeballing the same Onkyo and was going to buy it. But I ended up with the Denon 1803 based off a buddy's strong recommendation.
HTH

 

[EricM]

I just got the Onkyo as well. I am very happy with it. For the record, it does not have multi-zones. It does have B speakers but the Onkyo 700 has the true multi-zone (I know that feature doesnt interest you but I figure I would clear that up.)

IMHO the Denon and Onkyo are very similar. Both companies manufacture a good product. (I bought my Mom a Denon few years back and it is very nice.) The HK was out of my price range.

Chris S:

"HK 325 or Denon . Onkyo is a non runner IMHO."

If you are going to make a claim like that, can you at least tell us why?

 

[shivas7]

Just got the 1803 last week...very happy with it so far....

 

[Babek]

Cool, just a quick question, how do the Denon's and Onkyo's sound better than sony or kenwood? I ask this because denon, onkyo, harman kardon, and marantz are looked at as the 'high-end' audio receivers.

 

[Jeff Braddock]

I've had my 1803 about a month and really like it.

 

[Chris Sherman]

Eric, I do recommend the HK over Onkyo , however, you will find that I still own and run two Onkyo receivers in my home, a TXDS-656 and a TXDS-676 . I love em both. I bought one of the new Onkyo receivers and found it to be a total dissapointment . It has a glitch where it will not reproduce the LFE channel, also the build quality on the new Onkyo's is way down the capacitors are puny, the power supplies weaker , and the heat sinks no longer the heavy one piece cast ones they used to put in their receivers. This is how they are packing more features like a sixth amplifier channel and component switching into their receivers, yet they are way lighter than their equivelent price point models. They are trading build quality for features, which is what they probably feel they have to do in order to get people to feel they are " upgrading".The SR600 has been tested 5 channels driven and put out a paltry 34 watts, pathetic. I would have loved to have bought another Onkyo, I do like their remotes and they are very intuitive to set up and operate,however, build quality is no longer there , again IMHO. I'm not trying to diss your receiver but I auditioned the SR series receivers and I would not trade my "old" TXDS models for Onkyo's new SR line. Thats why my new receiver is an HK 225.

 

[Chris Sherman]

I should also have mentioned that costco online is selling the HK 325's online for $499 and you can return them to your nearest costco store if unhappy. Everywhere else I looked this receiver is $799.00. That makes it about the same price as an SR 600 . This receiver weighs in at a hefty 40 lbs, has seven amplifier channels and about any feature you could ask for. I opted for the HK 225 because I didn't need the extra amplifier channels or the component video switching. To anyone who might be dissuaded by the lower amplifier ratings of the HK's remember these are true high current amps and will play louder and cleaner than a low end higher watt rated receiver. I should know better than to post my opinions here, you're always called upon to defend them I've owned my share of audio equipment from receivers, to seperates from Parasound, Carver, Marantz etc. I've almost shifted entirely to Home theater and recently sold off all my two channel gear. I believe you can still have the convenience of a receivers all in one box convenienence and still have it do justice for music , you really need to audition and not get caught up in specs and features alone . You need to find the one that's gonna make you smile when you fire it up knowing you made the right choice