Does Price determine quality?

[Tallboy]

I have owned Kenwood AV Amp KRV 7050 for the last 19 years but am seeking entry into the 21st century and to broaden my music possibilities with Network streaming etc. I am thinking that any of the new AV Receivers wll sound better that the one I have been happy with.

However, I would like to up to £500 and am looking at buying models from 2011 onwards so that I get the techy options but don't pay full price.

AM currently considering the following and would really appreciate some advice:

Sony STRDN 1040 - £399

Yamaha V675 £289 + Wireless adapter £75

Onkyo Tx-NR809 £499 + wireless adapter £40

Onkyo TX -NR609 £299 '' '' ''

 

[Tricky-Ricky]

To answer your first question, yes pretty much, although because AV moves on rapidly you can pick up last years modes at considerable discounts,

I too came from an older type Sony AV amp with no HDMI switching, and was very surprised and pleased with the upgrade to an Onkyo TX-NR609 two years ago, however i am now at the point where i am about to change due to the Onkyo failing (don't get me wrong Onkyo are very good amps with nice features but currently don't have a good reliability rating)

I am also looking at the Yamaha RX-V675 and the Denon AVR-x2000 as a replacement, £289 is a very good price for the Yamaha 675!

 

[plastic penguin]

I have owned Kenwood AV Amp KRV 7050 for the last 19 years but am seeking entry into the 21st century and to broaden my music possibilities with Network streaming etc. I am thinking that any of the new AV Receivers wll sound better that the one I have been happy with.

However, I would like to up to £500 and am looking at buying models from 2011 onwards so that I get the techy options but don't pay full price.

AM currently considering the following and would really appreciate some advice:

Sony STRDN 1040 - £399

Yamaha V675 £289 + Wireless adapter £75

Onkyo Tx-NR809 £499 + wireless adapter £40

Onkyo TX -NR609 £299 '' '' ''

Yes and no is the answer. A good midrange or high end will only sound the part if all components are well matched. Likewise a well matched budget set-up will sound better than a mismatched midrange kit.

The only sure way of knowning whether a bunch of components is well matched or not is to dem and decide for yourself.

 

[professorhat]

(don't get me wrong Onkyo are very good amps with nice features but currently don't have a good reliability rating)

We've been through this on another thread - actually Onkyo do have a good reliability rating, it's just that some of the hundreds of thousands they have sold have failed (which will be true of any AV receiver manufacturer). Yours was unfortunately one of the "some".

 

[ellisdj]

Cant help but thinking picking up something like a used Pioneer LX83 or similar type of receiver for that budget will be a very good buy indeed

 

[Tricky-Ricky]

(don't get me wrong Onkyo are very good amps with nice features but currently don't have a good reliability rating)

We've been through this on another thread - actually Onkyo do have a good reliability rating, it's just that some of the hundreds of thousands they have sold have failed (which will be true of any AV receiver manufacturer). Yours was unfortunately one of the "some".

Yes we have and my opinion still stands, i also have a right to air it , my comment's are based on my research into the amount of reported Onkyo HDMI board failure's, and there are indisputably a lot of them, despite the "you only see the bad reports on the Internet scenario" like i said previously you only need to got on the Onkyo face-book page to see just how many,

You seem a little preoccupied with my comment's on this subject, is there a sponsorship issue here? anyway all i am doing is letting another forum member know that IMO and experience there are reliability issues with Onkyo AV receiver's, i think its only right to let people know and then they can make there own decision, after all if you really like a product and you decide thats what you want then someone else's opinion will not matter anyway.

 

[professorhat]

You have every right to your opinions of course (who said you didn't), but I'm just attempting to bring a sense of balance and perspective to them. I think it would be a shame if someone read your comments and disregarded all Onkyo AV receivers as a result if that was the only information they had. Onkyo make excellent value AV receivers, and in my opinion, people shouldn't disregard them because a small percentage of owners have had issues with them. If you were to disregard any AV receiver where some owners have had failed units, then you simply could not buy any AV receiver, since all manufacturers face this issue.

As noted in my previous discussion with yourself, you make a note of hundreds of issues logged around the internet - if you take that as a percentage of the hundreds of thousands sold, then this is well below 1% of total units - hardly an indication of poor reliability as you are insinuating. You can choose to ignore this if you like, but it does not change the fact. I'm not suggesting therefore everyone must buy Onkyo - that would be ridiculous. But I am suggesting that to discount them because of this wouldn't be rational and would actually be to your detriment. Audition them with the others in your budget range, and go with the one you think best provides your needs.

As to sponsorship, I've no idea where you get that from - I happen to own an older Onkyo 905 amp which I purchased about 5 years ago and has been working flawlessly for all that time now. I also know several other long term forumites who have owned their Onkyo receivers for a similar period. When I see posts that I believe are misleading, I comment on them. Which is my right to do so, just as is your right to make these comments in the first place.

Now our rights are both agreed, let's end this and let the OP make their own mind up based on the arguments presented on both sides

 

[Tallboy]

Thanks for all your comments - this was the first time I have ever posted a

question and am amazed that people take the time to respond. Thanks agin.

Didn't mean to spark off an Onkyo reliability war!!

 

[professorhat]

No worries - certainly not a war! Just a misunderstanding of the facts

 

[chrisup]

Like Prof I have an Onkyo 905 which I am delighted with and use it with my B&W 685 Theatre. My cousin also has an Onkyo and would upgrade to another Onkyo. I would audition the models you are interested in and buy the one that delights you.

Customers with a good experience usually tell 3 people and customers with a bad experience tell 10 people. I had Olympus OM4 & OM2 and bought their first autofocus SLR when it failed Olympus refused to repair it even though it was 2 months old. I insisted that they put it writing so I claim on insuarnce policy. I sold all my Olympus equipment and I bought Canon SLRs since. However, my company was about to spend £60,000 with Olympus and I went and showed my the letter from Olympus & he told them they lost the order over a £200 camera! This was in the 1980s.

Best Wishes

Chris

 

[theflyingwasp]

I'd like to see and hear 2 identical rooms playing the T-Rex v King Kong scene in King Kong .one room with the panasonic ST plasma with a cheapy blu ray player and a £300-£500 receiver including speakers ,then in the next room the panasonic ZT65 with a refrence blu ray player with the monitor audio apex set up with the pioneer lx87 receiver.

unless your into home cinema room 1 will be all you would ever need is room 2 really worth thousands more???

i have the imac you can buy the exact spec machine in pc form for a heck of a lot less ,does it make the imac better .....I don't think so.

 

[Frank Harvey]

I'd like to see and hear 2 identical rooms playing the T-Rex v King Kong scene in King Kong .one room with the panasonic ST plasma with a cheapy blu ray player and a £300-£500 receiver including speakers ,then in the next room the panasonic ZT65 with a refrence blu ray player with the monitor audio apex set up with the pioneer lx87 receiver.

unless your into home cinema room 1 will be all you would ever need is room 2 really worth thousands more???

Are you saying that a £500 AV system is any sort of match for a £4-5k one? A system of any price can be appreciated (although that depends on your own standards), but there is a world of difference between the two systems you have mentioned. Have you heard two systems like this?

We don't even have any systems that we can put together for £500 in store as our packages start nearer the £1-1.5k price point, but I'd still offer that challenge when comparing £1-1.5k to £4-5k.

 

[Frank Harvey]

I have owned Kenwood AV Amp KRV 7050 for the last 19 years but am seeking entry into the 21st century and to broaden my music possibilities with Network streaming etc. I am thinking that any of the new AV Receivers wll sound better that the one I have been happy with.

However, I would like to up to £500 and am looking at buying models from 2011 onwards so that I get the techy options but don't pay full price.

As already mentioned, price generally does give you an idea of quality, although it isn't always the case.

If you look at older AV receivers before HDMI connections around the £1,000 price point (rrp), they generally had better and more capable amplification, mainly due to having less features, so more of the budget was available for amplification. The budget for more modern receivers has to cover a lot of extra features, so less is available for amplification. You'll find that pre-HDMI receivers at £1,000 are more comparable to £2,000 receivers now as far as amplification is concerned.

The Onkyo 809 from your list would be the best buy, but make sure you don't enclose it inside furniture, and if placed on a rack, make sure there is plenty of room above it as it will get warm. I am guessing that most of the issues Onkyo owners have had have been from lack of adequate ventilation.

Buying more recent AV receivers, you have to look at doubling your price for the next step up - for example, from a £500 receiver, you're looking at the £1,000 ones, and from the £1,000 ones, you're looking at the receivers around £2,000. Someone looking at a £1,000 receiver could either buy a new model for that price, or look at used models that are a couple of years old that were £2,000 and generally get better for their money - the main drawback being no warranty, and AV receiver repairs can be expensive, particularly if associated with the HDMI board.

 

[theflyingwasp]

Hi David

no Im not saying that a £500 av set up would match the apex - pioneer set up I mentioned in my earlier post .putting the speakers and receiver to one side for a moment.i have a 4.5x4.5m room for my home cinema with 3 stone walls.

now if there was a calibrated panasonic ST next to a calibrated ZT both for easy sake at 60inchs playing the King Kong scene I mentioned or say many other reference scenes from films ,any Pixar movie ,tron,thin red line etc the list goes on .the ST playing through the midrange sony and panasonic blu ray players the ZT playing through the oppo or marantz blu ray player .

i would love to see that I'm not saying to me and you and many others on this form the high end system wouldn't look better BUT by how much?? And the cheaper set up is thousands less.

now with the systems above connect up the apex system and high end receiver wether it be the pioneer lx87 or say the yamaha a3030 etc then in the cheaper set up connect up the £400 panasonic or samsung 5.1 sets up on the currys website.now yet again to me you and everyone on this forum know the high end sound set up will laugh at the cheap one it will be like night and day!! BUT.......

the average person in this country would be blown away with the £500 set up .everyone of my friends and family wouldn't spend £20 on a blu ray movie when the DVD is £10 or £20 on a hdmi cable let alone £5000 for a receiver and speakers EVEN if they won 10 grand.

i am going to buy the monitor audio 5.1 apex system with 2 extra speakers and I am going to buy pioneer lx87 receiver both this year because with electronics I do feel you get what you pay for .take a look at my kit my only weak link is the sound.

everyone has a budget but as far as price determines quality it depends on what each person thinks is quality and unless you're into this stuff most people don't have a clue what quality looks and sounds like.