Yamah RX-V640 or Denon AVR-1804 (1 Viewer)

[Alan Wise]

Ok,
My search for a new receiver has narrowed down to two, and I am stuck in battle with myself.
I need the sage advise from the Forum to help me end it.
I have even considered the ever democratic coin toss (it worked on the play ground as a kid).

They are both on special at my Local Tweeter Etc. store. Yamaha RX-V640 is $ 399.00, and the Denon AVR-1804 is $ 445.00.
I know that either could be had for less online, or may be as a refurb., but Tweeter offers a full price trade in policy of 120 days on receivers (one year on speakers).
This policy is for same, or higher priced merchandise so that they never actually give you cash back. This means that if within four months I get the urge to upgrade to a RX-Z1 or a AVR-3803, I won't totally peturb the lovely wife.

It needs to be noted that I will be using this receiver for 90% DVD or Home theatre use.
Connectivity and switching is one of my strong deciding factors. It will be used in conjunction with my new Sony KP-57WS510 HD-RPTV.
My next conquest will be for a new home theatre speaker system. I already have a new AR-1212 250 AMP Sub, but am still using my 2 year old Pioneer HTIB surround speakers.
I am considering a Klipsch, or Cambridge Soundworks setup.

Any advice in helping me got off top dead center on the receiver issue will be greatly appreciated.

Best Regards, Al. Wise

 

[Marty M]

Both brands have a strong following here at the HTF. No one can tell you which is a better brand. I, personally, like the sound of Yamahas. I have been a loyal Yamaha fan for nearly 20 years. I would suggest you audition both receivers, if possible, with the speaker systems you are considering. This might influence your decision.

IMO, they are both well respected brands and I don't think you can go wrong with choosig either one.

 

[Ken.L]

Al,
I bought a Denon 1803 today and it sure sounds sweet. The 1804 which replaces the 1803 are both nearly identical with 10 more watts in the 1804. You didn't mention your room size. The Denon is not the most powerful, when all 5 channels are driven, the actual power output drops to 35 watt into 8 ohms. This is from a test report in the Feb. 04 edition of Home Cinema Choice. Consequently, the 1804 is best suited for small to medium size rooms, driving higher sensitivity speakers, 89 db/w/meter and up. Denons are know for their warm sounds which may not match well with Klipsch's which are bright sounding. But if you are able to audition the combo then your ears can decide if that combo sounds good or not. The sound quality of the 1804 is second to none in it's price range.
As for connectivity, it should have everything you need. But you can double check by pulling up the specs from Denon's website.
If a warm sound is your cup of tea, the Denon will certaintly put a smile on you face as it did mine.
Now, maybe you can give me some advice. The wife will get home shortly. How am I going to justify buying the 1803 just two months after buying the HTiB system? It all sounds the same to her.

 

[craig_curtis]

Ken, I feel your pain...

I was at a friends house the other day, and my friends wife was like "I can't tell the difference between HDTV and regular TV on her husbands 61 inch Samsung RP_DLP. I was sitting right there.. the differencee was astounding. I don't think she knew how much hee paid for the tv...

anyway, I too like the denon sound. Yamaha's always sounded a little flat to my ears. I'm sure that with the right kind of speakers it really shines though. If I were you I would take advantage of tweeters trade in policy and buy one of them (the denon first and audition it at home with the speakers you are going to use. If you don't like it, trade it in for the Yamaha.

But i'm with Ken. I have the 1803 and am really happy with it (well, it could have a little more power - especially now that it is driving 6 speakers - got my 6.1 setup going... yeah!). The 1803 was a big improvement over Kenwood.

 

[Wayne Ernst]

In my situation, I preferred the Denon AVR-1802 over the Yamaha HTR-5560 receiver. However, you'll have to heavily audition both to determine which one is best for you.