Onkyo CR515 vs Onkyo CR715 vs A.N.Other

[admin_exported]

Having seen all of the awards gained by the Onkyo CR515, I decided to buy it (£230). Then I saw that the CR715 delivered 50W per channel rather than the CR515's 20W. This excited me despite the extra £100!

However, can anyone confirm that the CR715 is just as good as the multi award winning CR515 just with more power or is there a reason that the CR715 has no awards whatsoever?!

Also, with the CR715 costing £330, could I get a get a better system for my now increased budget of £330?

Any recommended system still needs to be a micro with DAB (which I love), alarm clock, sleep function etc as I intend to use it as an expensive alarm clock for my bedroom!

 

[Clare Newsome]

Hi Rowan,

We have tested the CR715 - in last year's Awards issue - and gave it four stars.

Yes, it offers extra power, but it lacks the animation and verve of its smaller brother. No speakers as standard, either.

Your extra budget would be better spent on superior speakers for the CR515 - say the Tannoy Mercury F1s at £110, or the Q Acoustics 1010s at £100, plus decent speaker cable (QED Silver Anniversary, £5.50/m)

 

[T2004]

Regarding A.N.Other, I've just bought the Teac CR-H255 and am very happy with it (paired with Monitor Audio BR2 speakers). Not sure exactly how it sounds compared to the Onkyo though and What HiFi seem to think the Onkyo offers superior sound?

Clare, I notice that like most, you suggest decent speaker cable.

At the moment, I'm using basic, thick copper cable. I have had QED silver Ann. on a different system though.

I'd be grateful if you could please describe exactly the sorts of differences that one might expect to hear when upgrading the cable on micro systems such as these? Thanks

 

[Clare Newsome]

We always test micros (or anything that comes bundled with speaker cable) as it comes out of the box and then with price-comparable cabling.

The Onkyo sounds OK from the box, but upgrading the cable reveals far more of the system's potential. In the case of the Silver Anniversary XT, you'll hear a more detailed and open-sounding performance with far more impact.

It's probably the most cost-effective instant upgrade you can make.

 

[Anonymous]

Cheers for that.

System now bought and I've put a couple of hundred aside from next month's salary for new speakers and cable.

Thanks again,

Rowan

 

[Anonymous]

can you reccomend suitable floor speakers to go with the 515? thx