What Hi Fi team, advice on A/V receiver choice, please

[Anonymous]

i guess its hard to know what the step up models really bring to the party with a regular 5.1 setup , ive got a yamaha rxv765 , and its more than good enough for me , yet i would have bought a 1065 if they were only e80 more , even though im not sure what benefits if any id get

men and gadgets eh ...

 

[Andrew Everard]

maxflinn:even though im not sure what benefits if any id get

Well obviously a 1065 is 300 better than a 765...

 

[Anonymous]

Andrew Everard:
maxflinn:even though im not sure what benefits if any id get

Well obviously a 1065 is 300 better than a 765...

and id be making sure my mates down the pub new that too

 

[strapped for cash]

Well, on that basis, a 1909 must be 844 better than a 1065! I guess I'll try all three out in store with whatever kit they can be hooked up to and go from there. I'm sure whichever amp I opt for will serve me well... Thanks one and all.

 

[Nick_Shepherd]

A good result I would say strapped, Andrew broke cover and gave his opinion (which is what we wanted). Nice curve ball though throwing in the Sony 2400......

Maybe Andrew is playing with our fragile minds!!!! lol

Who tested the Yamaha 1065 & Denon Andrew? (or am I pushing it now?)

 

[strapped for cash]

Yes, we finally got an answer! Incidentally, the Yamaha is available, with free delivery and installation, for £449 from Superfi for this week only (according to their website). I'm taking the plunge and investing at the end of the week. Can't imagine I will go too far wrong with this choice, and Yamaha receivers have worked well with my B&Ws previously. Let me know if you decide to go the same route, Nick...

 

[strapped for cash]

Should add, that is, of course, unless members of the learned WHF team post information to suggest otherwise in the interim.

 

[Nick_Shepherd]

Has your amp arrived yet strapped?

 

[strapped for cash]

Due to unforseen financial circumstances, I've had to postpone my purchase for a fortnight. Hopefully Superfi will sell for the same price then. Also, on another thread, Clare recommended the Denon over the Yamaha and Sony, just to confuse matters further. Assuming I can still get the Yamaha for £449, I'm still inclined to go with that choice, but I'll have to defer my appraisal until I'm on a slightly more even keel financially. Sorry, appreciate that doesn't help much!

 

[strapped for cash]

A quick update, Nick. Just spoke to Superfi, who say they are selling the Denon at £379 at the moment, and they recommended the Denon over the Yamaha, especially partnered with my B&Ws. Going in tomorrow afternoon to audition both, hooked up to (newer model) B&W speakers. If I prefer the Denon then I can stretch to that price and will buy tomorrow. If not, Superfi will reserve the Yamaha for me at £449 for a small deposit. Either way, I'll let you know what I think after the audition...

 

[Nick_Shepherd]

which thread had Clare preferred the Denon? Sorry, but i dont know how to post a thread link.....

I'm sure we are not the only ones looking at these two amps, or three if you inclued Sony's 2400. I know maflinn plumped for the Yamaha 765 after considering.

Richer Sounds should beat prices by a tenner.

We know both th Denon and the Yamaha are warm amps, but they were in different price brackets (£450 / £700). The Denon must be some amp to beat a higher priced Yamaha.

I was put off / confused by the What Hi Fi review of the Denon regarding the auto set up / Auddessy (spelt that wrong I'm sure?), they said it should be switched off. Did that mean you need to calibrate your self, or let the amp do it, then switch something off when using??.......

 

[strapped for cash]

It was a thread titled: 'WHF team-Amp to partner Boston Acoustics Soundware XS or Jamo A10'... Sorry, I don't know how to post a thread link either, maybe someone can enlighten us?

As far as I'm aware, both the Yamaha and Denon offer "direct" options, which bypass either receivers' sound processing technology. I know I found with my current Onkyo amp that this gave better results than using the Audessy option. Presumably this would be the case with either the Denon or Yamaha?

I agree that the Denon will have to go some to better an amp that originally cost £250 more. Hopefully all will become clear with a thorough audition!

 

[Anonymous]

there you go guys...

 

[bigboss]

Clare has suggested the Denon for different speakers, not yours. It does not necessarily mean that Denon will perform better than Yamaha for all the speakers. You really should somehow try to audition your receivers, or at least get an agreement with your dealer to swap it for the other if you don't like it. Also, receiver choice is a personal preference. What sounds good to me, may not be that good to you.

 

[strapped for cash]

Agreed, Big Boss, but the WHF team has hardly been forthcoming with regard to my enquiries about partnering any of these amps with B&Ws. Mine are the 600 series 3 speakers, so quite old now. The closest I'm going get to an accurate audition with the Yamaha and Denon is to try them with B&W 680s at Superfi tomorrow. Admittedly, it's very difficult for anybody comment on how speakers that are approaching 10 years old will compliment the current crop of A/V receivers, so I'm not really being critical of WHF here. I still think my B&Ws produce a great sound though, and I'm unfortunately not in the market for an upgrade at present...

 

[Nick_Shepherd]

Let me know how you get on strapped.

I cant demo both, I dont have the time (serioulsly, actually dont).

I have MS Alumni package with front pair swapped for MS Aviano 1's. Now, the Alumni got four stars here, and generaly, probably from that, people slate them a bit, but in other mags here and in the US they got 5 star / best buys. Also people say never to miss match speakers, but I needed more mid range and hope that buying the same brand, if not the same range, will be ok?......

Bigboss is right I should try and find a helpful dealer. Maybe one will let me buy both (credit card) and return one a week later.....? now theres an idea!! Can test at home wth wn speakers! A question for Superfi maybe Strapped?

Issue I have with the Denon is that it won awards for being the best all rounder, and i only want the best for home cinema, dont care about stereo music, have other things for that in different rooms.

I'm lucky strapped is getting a demo, i'll wait and see what he thinks!

 

[strapped for cash]

According to their website, Superfi have a reasonable returns policy, so I think I should be covered if I get the receiver back home and I'm not entirely satisfied. That said, I'll discuss this with them tomorrow to be on the safe side. I'll certainly post to say how I get on, though whether that will help with your own conundrum (as you have different speakers) I don't know. I'll pay attention to the presence/clarity of the mid-range. Personally, I'm looking for an amp that produces a refined, clean and articulate, rather than forceful, sound. I'm on pretty good terms with the neighbours and don't want that situation to change!

 

[Anonymous]

hi there!

Try to keep it simple with what your needs are and for what your looking to get from the unit. There will always be av amps offering more for just that little bit extra cash, so do keep it within your needs. many people will buy components that have funtions or features that they will never need or use. All the others in question have up-sides and down-sides. this only has up.

I have a AVR1910 and i love it. Every amp is different in many ways
than one. i'd say pound for pound this is the ultimo all-rounder. It's also won the is a EISA
award (European Imaging and Sound accosiation). if that means anything to you!

For my needs this has everything, no need for me to mention the features as you would have probably learnt everything you need to about your choices. however what i would say is that the Yamahas in genral can be a bit tricky setting up correctly, but once set up will seem balanced.... the Sony well, i have a friend who purchased one a few weeks ago and he likes the amp for build, but did winge about the low levels sounding a bit flat. I have not heard his amp yet but will do soon.

My Denon is warm sounding and i also have Kef IQ5se which also have plenty of low end, but this is the way i prefer to listen to my music. I also have a Mordaunt-Short Alumni 5 which is bright enough to balance out the sound when watching movies.

 

[strapped for cash]

Thanks for the post S100

Nick -- just to let you know how I got on...

Spent an hour and a half in Superfi today listening to the Yamaha and Denon with various sources. They didn't have the Sony in stock, so can't comment on that. They also threw the Onkyo 607 into the mix, but I thought it was a bit of a slugger (it punches really hard, but wasn't so refined), so I discounted that one fairly quickly.

In my humble opinion, the Yamaha was more forceful and exciting, and the Denon more refined and dragged up greater detail. For my purposes the Denon was ultimately the better choice, hence I ended up buying one there and then. I could see the Yamaha really upsetting the neighbours and the Denon sounded a touch warmer and more articulate through the midrange, so this might be exactly what you're looking for based on your earlier comments. The Yamaha is still a really good amp, and it was a very close call between the two. It was simply a case of the Denon suiting my needs better, rather than concluding it was a better receiver overall. Plus, the Denon was £70 cheaper, and a bit prettier to look at (if that's important to you).

Don't know if that helps? I've got wait till Tuesday now for it to be delivered.

Incidentally, Superfi told me that they will exchange for another receiver of the same or greater value if I'm not happy after I've had time to have a thorough listen at home. All in all, they were very helpful and let me audition all three receivers in a dedicated room with current model B&Ws, so I think I got a pretty good impression of how each would compliment my own speaker package. All in all, thumbs up to Superfi!

 

[Nick_Shepherd]

Thanks starpped for posting your findings and yes it will help me as I know you will have listend hard! With the Denon being up to £80 less than the Yamaha, it made me read the reviews again.

Re the denon, I am confused by the following, probably as I dont know what Audyssey is. Can you or someone clarify?:

'This model uses Audyssey MultEQ to help set up your speakers, which allows the readings to be taken from up to six different seating positions.

We found, however, that the '1910 performed best with the Audyssey system turned off. We'd suggest you perform a manual set-up, or allow Audyssey to measure your speaker distances and levels and then turn the EQ off once the set-up procedure is complete.

We'd also recommend enabling the amp's Direct Audio mode for optimum sound quality'

Does this paragraph mean that the auto set up is no good and we are advised to do our own, or that its ok to use auto set up, but we need to turn Audyssey off afterwards? Then , if we do that, is the auto set up used not as good as a mnaul one???

 

[strapped for cash]

Audessey is the name of the surround EQ mode the receiver uses. It's really not going to cause you a problem. On my current (until Tuesday) Onkyo receiver I also have the option -- like on either the Denon or Yamaha -- to select a "direct audio" option, which bypasses the receiver's added sound processing options. It's the same as the "source direct" function you get on some stereo amplifiers that bypasses the tone controls. This gave me the best results my Onkyo, and it also afforded the best results with the Denon I auditioned.

 

[strapped for cash]

Although reading your post again, i see what you mean. What's the point in Audessey if you're going to bypass its function? It could be that you have to go through the set up process anyway, before disregarding it completely! WHF team/anyone????

 

[Nick_Shepherd]

See other post strapped, Andrew has kindly explained.

I am to buy an amp next weekend and its still between the two.

Do you find any difference with Audessey off / on?

 

[strapped for cash]

Hi Nick. Yes, in either case the receiver sounded tauter and better balanced with the Audessey disengaged and run through the direct audio mode. That's how I've used my Onkyo for the last few years and always thought it sounded better -- makes sense I guess, less processing, greater fidelity to the soundtrack stored on the disc.

Good luck with your decision. Can't imagine you'd go far wrong with either choice...

 

[strapped for cash]

Though far be it from me to question Andrew's advice!

Seeing as I only listened to either receiver with Audessey on, or in direct audio mode, I can't claim to have heard the Denon as the review team suggest. Of the settings I auditioned I preferred the sound through direct audio, though maybe the way the team set up the receiver will produce even better results! Have to wait till Tuesday to find out...