I currently have the Denon AVR-3805 (see my other stuff in my bio) and am looking to upgrade to something which will handle the HD audio formats and be future-proofed for when I upgrade to an HDMI PJ, etc. On reading the reviews on last year's(?) new Onkyo range, my heart was set (almost- without actually auditioning yet) on the 875. I was just hoping the prices would fall a bit. Now that the new range is here, there seems to be strong competition from Yamaha. Then I read the review of the Pioneer SLX81 and THAT sounds superb. Then I realised I would be without the Denon-link from my DVD player, so would be unable to play multichannel SACD's (unless I get another 6 analogue interconnects), and wonder wether I should stick to Denon.
So, as you can see, I'm in a bit of a dilemma. I do need the amp to sound pretty good with vanilla stereo music aswell. I have seen the Onkyo 876 for £800 with a free £85 HDMI cable thrown in. Is the Yamaha better than this? Certainly it has less connectivity and no THX sound. Or is the 906 worth the extra £200? Last year WHF thought the Onkyo's were the dogs, but less than a year later, their opinion of them is less than favorable (Onkyo paying less in advertising than Pioneer or Yamaha, or am I just being skeptical? Ooh, scandalous!) I know the Pioneer is a lot more expensive, and I don't need the networking (who would want to listen to awful quality internet radio, and my pc is linked to my amp anyway) but if the sound quality is twice as good I won't need to upgrade for at least 5 years. And I could stretch to it. Or, because of my DVD player, do I stick to Denon- although I'm sure soon I'll be upgrading to a standalone blu-ray spinner (only ps3 presently), so this might not be so much of a hurdle.
Obviously whatever I get I would want to be an audible improvement over my current AVR.
I'm sure you'll all be thinking 'try them out, dummy!' but down here in darkest Devon, decent Hi-Fi/AV shops are hard to come by. There's only really Sevenoaks in Exeter 25 miles away or Bristol 90 miles away.
Incidentally, what's this obsession with going back to black again- the Yamaha looks like something out of the mid-eighties. Dull, dull, dull. Quite literally- they're just black blobs from a distance. Brushed silver aluminium, please, not cheap- looking shiny plastic! After all, these are expensive bits of kit. Obviously asthetics are unimportant compared to sound and vision, but don't we all want our kit to look as good as it sounds?
So, as you can see, I'm in a bit of a dilemma. I do need the amp to sound pretty good with vanilla stereo music aswell. I have seen the Onkyo 876 for £800 with a free £85 HDMI cable thrown in. Is the Yamaha better than this? Certainly it has less connectivity and no THX sound. Or is the 906 worth the extra £200? Last year WHF thought the Onkyo's were the dogs, but less than a year later, their opinion of them is less than favorable (Onkyo paying less in advertising than Pioneer or Yamaha, or am I just being skeptical? Ooh, scandalous!) I know the Pioneer is a lot more expensive, and I don't need the networking (who would want to listen to awful quality internet radio, and my pc is linked to my amp anyway) but if the sound quality is twice as good I won't need to upgrade for at least 5 years. And I could stretch to it. Or, because of my DVD player, do I stick to Denon- although I'm sure soon I'll be upgrading to a standalone blu-ray spinner (only ps3 presently), so this might not be so much of a hurdle.
Obviously whatever I get I would want to be an audible improvement over my current AVR.
I'm sure you'll all be thinking 'try them out, dummy!' but down here in darkest Devon, decent Hi-Fi/AV shops are hard to come by. There's only really Sevenoaks in Exeter 25 miles away or Bristol 90 miles away.
Incidentally, what's this obsession with going back to black again- the Yamaha looks like something out of the mid-eighties. Dull, dull, dull. Quite literally- they're just black blobs from a distance. Brushed silver aluminium, please, not cheap- looking shiny plastic! After all, these are expensive bits of kit. Obviously asthetics are unimportant compared to sound and vision, but don't we all want our kit to look as good as it sounds?
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