Yamaha 1900 vs. Onkyo 876 vs. Denon 2809

[admin_exported]

Dear WHF Team,

I intend to buy a new AV Receiver before Christmas and have trouble deciding which one to get.

Between the 3 AV Receivers listed above, which would be the best (assuming that the Yamaha is priced at $1000)?

Also, would the HQV chip used in the Onyko superior to the chip used in the Yamaha?

Thanks.

 

[Andrew Everard]

seakingadvice:Dear WHF Team, I intend to buy a new AV Receiver before Christmas

Are you sure? We seem to have been having this conversation for a very very long time.

seakingadvice:Between the 3 AV Receivers listed above, which would be the best (assuming that the Yamaha is priced at $1000)? Also, would the HQV chip used in the Onyko superior to the chip used in the Yamaha? Thanks.

We'd buy the Yamaha, though not sure why we're assuming it's $1000. Do you mean £1000? If so, and you're going to buy it before Christmas, you'll beat the price rise, and you're more likely to get it for £800 with a bit of shopping around.

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you Mr. Everard. ;-)

Yes, I have been holding out for as long as possible to wait for the esteemed WHF Team to finish testing all the AV Receivers while my B&W set has been collecting dust in a corner.

Yes, I meant £1000. I was checking out the prices on the US websites and the Yamaha 1900 was listed at US$1,400, Onkyo 876 at US$1,800 and Denon 2809 at US$1,200. Therefore, based on the US$ prices, it seemed to indicate that the Onkyo was a more "premium" product as compared to the Yamaha and was better value assuming that both are priced at £1000.

While we're on this, do you think that it is worth the extra money to get the Yamaha 3900 over the Yamaha 1900 or is the Yamaha 1900 good enough? Thanks!

 

[Andrew Everard]

seakingadvice:I was checking out the prices on the US websites and the Yamaha 1900 was listed at US$1,400, Onkyo 876 at US$1,800 and Denon 2809 at US$1,200. Therefore, based on the US$ prices, it seemed to indicate that the Onkyo was a more "premium" product as compared to the Yamaha and was better value assuming that both are priced at £1000.

Then choose a receiver based on the price in the USA. Makes perfect sense to me.

seakingadvice:While we're on this, do you think that it is worth the extra money to get the Yamaha 3900 over the Yamaha 1900 or is the Yamaha 1900 good enough?

If you need the extra power and facilities of the RXV-3900, notably network audio, then yes it's worth the extra.

 

[Anonymous]

What hi fi is great place to read reviews and gather opinions but you shouldnt in imo buy anything without listening to it yourself and making your own mind up! ive bought many products recomended by what hi fi but never without hearing them first! Treat what hi fi has a guide not a bible....

 

[Andrew Everard]

Well, that's a given...

 

[Anonymous]

Andrew Everard:
seakingadvice:I was checking out the prices on the US websites and the Yamaha 1900 was listed at US$1,400, Onkyo 876 at US$1,800 and Denon 2809 at US$1,200. Therefore, based on the US$ prices, it seemed to indicate that the Onkyo was a more "premium" product as compared to the Yamaha and was better value assuming that both are priced at £1000.

Then choose a receiver based on the price in the USA. Makes perfect sense to me.

seakingadvice:While we're on this, do you think that it is worth the extra money to get the Yamaha 3900 over the Yamaha 1900 or is the Yamaha 1900 good enough?

If you need the extra power and facilities of the RXV-3900, notably network audio, then yes it's worth the extra.

Nah, I make my choices based on the esteemed opinions of the expert testing team of WHF.

I don't need the extra power but what additional facilities are we talking about here? From what I understand, the networking facilities allows you to get internet radio and play music files directly from your PC. Is that all there is to it?

 

[Anonymous]

garethwd:What hi fi is great place to read reviews and gather opinions but you shouldnt in imo buy anything without listening to it yourself and making your own mind up! ive bought many products recomended by what hi fi but never without hearing them first! Treat what hi fi has a guide not a bible....

Yes, I've listened to the products but unfortunately, I'm not an audio expert so I wasn't able to pick out the subtle differences in the different AV receivers. Furthermore, all the AV receivers were hooked up to different speakers so I couldn't really do an apples to apples comparison.

Anyway, I've eliminated the Onkyo from my shortlist now as the only reason I even considered the Onkyo was due to the rave reviews that last years' models received and the latest reviews are less than stellar. Also, it seems like the HQV video processing chip doesn't make much of a difference when compared to the rest.

I'm considering the Denon 3808A and the Yamaha 1900 now. I'm able to get the 3808A at almost the same price as the Yamaha 1900 but the Denon 3808A has networking facilities whereas the Yamaha 1900 doesn't. Or do I pay the premium for the Yamaha 3900?

I'm still trying to figure out what I can actually do with the networking facilities.