Tough Choice around £300

[admin_exported]

I would appreciate any opinions on which AV amp would best suit my requirements the Sony STR-DA2400ES seems to have all the requirements I need apart from the zone 2 function, but is slightly over my budget (£320 being about my limit)

The Denon AVR-1909 also looks good, especially at £300, but the lack of pre outs puts me off buying this model, and I am not sure if it would be as good with music as the other 2 models I am looking at. The Yamaha DSP-AX763 has great reviews, but only 2 HDMI inputs and no upscaling (But I wonder if my Sony HXDX770 would make a better job of the upscaling anyway)

I am looking for the most musical amp out of these three. I have been waiting for the STR-DA2400ES to drop in price, but it does not seem to be happening at the moment. Can anyone advise me as to whether the Sony would be more musical than the Yamaha. I can not judge this from the reviews I have read.

Thanks in advance

Peter

 

[Anonymous]

Cant you stretch to £379.95 as thats what richer sounds have it for.

 

[Pindi]

Where have you seen the 2400ES for £320?

Check out the Sony STRDG820.

http://www.froogle.richersounds.com/showproduct.php?cda=showproduct&pid=SONY-STRDG820-BLKÿ

 

[professorhat]

I'm pretty sure I read a recent answer in the letters page of WHF and they recommended the Sony 2400 over the Yamaha as the more musical amp.

Yup - just decided to dig out the issue and check it before posting - page 93, Home Cinema Sound Advice section, and I quote "More importantly for you, the Sony sounds more refined and composed than the Yamaha. For music and movies, it's ideal".

ÿ

 

[roger06]

peterpickles:...I have been waiting for the STR-DA2400ES to drop in price, but it does not seem to be happening at the moment.

My local dealer (who are not very good so I won't name them) have the 2400 on 'sale' at £449 from £499. On enquiring about it the very first thing they said was that when their current stock ran out the price was going to go up...

Well maybe - but this from a shop where I heard the salesman tell someone he 'may' be able to buy one of their TVs cheaper from Internet 'cowboys' - hmm, Amazon, John Lewis cowboys??? one had to laugh...

 

[Anonymous]

professorhat:
I'm pretty sure I read a recent answer in the letters page of WHF and they recommended the Sony 2400 over the Yamaha as the more musical amp.

Yup - just decided to dig out the issue and check it before posting - page 93, Home Cinema Sound Advice section, and I quote "More importantly for you, the Sony sounds more refined and composed than the Yamaha. For music and movies, it's ideal".

It would be nice to know which yamahas they're refering to with this quote tho :-

" But the Sony also injects an extra layer of realism and emotion to a
film's music score. The Yamahas in this test boast marginally greater
transparency and dynamics, but the classical score of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull still sounds great."

from the Sony STR-DA2400ES review

 

[Anonymous]

Can you not stretch your budget as i said before £379.95 for the sony strda2400, here http://www.richersounds.com/showproduct.php?cda=showproduct&pid=SONY-STRDA2400-BLK had demo of one and prefered it to the onkyo 606 dont know about the yamaha though.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks all for the replies

professorhat:
I'm pretty sure I read a recent answer in the letters page of WHF and they recommended the Sony 2400 over the Yamaha as the more musical amp.

Yup - just decided to dig out the issue and check it before posting - page 93, Home Cinema Sound Advice section, and I quote "More importantly for you, the Sony sounds more refined and composed than the Yamaha. For music and movies, it's ideal".

That quote just about answers my question, as the Yamaha DSP-AX763 & Sony 2400 seem to be my preferred choice, especially as they both have pre outs.

I am still limited by my budget at the moment, so I am still hanging on for the Sony hoping it will drop in price any day soon....

 

[Andy Clough]

forbes:professorhat:
I'm pretty sure I read a recent answer in the letters page of WHF and they recommended the Sony 2400 over the Yamaha as the more musical amp.

Yup - just decided to dig out the issue and check it before posting - page 93, Home Cinema Sound Advice section, and I quote "More importantly for you, the Sony sounds more refined and composed than the Yamaha. For music and movies, it's ideal".

It would be nice to know which yamahas they're refering to with this quote tho :-

" But the Sony also injects an extra layer of realism and emotion to a
film's music score. The Yamahas in this test boast marginally greater
transparency and dynamics, but the classical score of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull still sounds great."

from the Sony STR-DA2400ES review

As I recall the Yamahas in question were the DSP-AX763 (£400) and DSP-AX863SE (£600).

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the info

 

[Anonymous]

Andy Clough:forbes:professorhat:
I'm pretty sure I read a recent answer in the letters page of WHF and they recommended the Sony 2400 over the Yamaha as the more musical amp.

Yup - just decided to dig out the issue and check it before posting - page 93, Home Cinema Sound Advice section, and I quote "More importantly for you, the Sony sounds more refined and composed than the Yamaha. For music and movies, it's ideal".

It would be nice to know which yamahas they're refering to with this quote tho :-

" But the Sony also injects an extra layer of realism and emotion to a
film's music score. The Yamahas in this test boast marginally greater
transparency and dynamics, but the classical score of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull still sounds great."

from the Sony STR-DA2400ES review

As I recall the Yamahas in question were the DSP-AX763 (£400) and DSP-AX863SE (£600).

ok, on page 93 of this months magazine its says "the Sony sounds more refined and composed than the Yamaha(AX763)"

but in the review of the Sony it says " The Yamahas in this test boast marginally greater
transparency and dynamics"

which Implies then that the AX763 has greater transparency and dynamics but is less refined and composed than the Sony...no ?

If so, which is better ??