mid grade receiver help!!

[InVeNtOr]

hey fellow Kheads......

i have a buddy who has my KSF 10.5's (5.1 set up) and he's looking for a 3D receiver. i'll be honest, since i have bought my UMC-1 i haven't even looked at "receivers."

he has his eye on a Yahama at BB, but i simply don't know how good or bad that is (Yahama's web site). normally i go with Onkyo for HT use and Yahama for more music. he's almost a pure HT guy but being honest, probably couldn't tell the difference. he really just wants 3D and "HD audio". the receiver i was thinking would be a good buy is this Onkyo.

if there is a better buy, please drop me a line. he does have a small budget on this too, which of course makes it harder. i think it's max $400. if anyone has a used one and is local to OK or shipping would be too much, also let me know. he's looking to buy real soon, under a week i think.

one thing that stands out to me in both of these receivers, Onkyo's are 80w per channel where yahama says it's 115w. up until you get into the $1000 onkyo's they are 80w per channel, so i assume, onkyo's spec is closer to the truth.

HA!

115W per channel (8 ohms, 1 kHz, 0.9 % THD, 1 ch driven)

80W per channel (8 ohms, 20 Hz-20 kHz, 0.09 % THD, 2 ch driven)

just pulled that off of Yamaha's web site. this is what i was thinking. they are 115W if there is only 1 channel and 80W is there are 2! so what does that mean if you are using all 5?????

if anyone has any additional help or info, please let me know,

thanks again for all the help!

[Brac]

Do you mean KSF 10.5, or KLF 10?

[InVeNtOr]

KSF 10.5. lol, my bad. slip of the keys!

just read this in the HT section. it's the Onkyo TX-NR809. that seems like a much better product and price point than the 414, or am i missing something?

[InVeNtOr]

well amazon has a TX-NR515 for $317. $109 difference. i see a big difference being 135w vs 80w. i wonder if this is something like when they made the 805, then discontinued it and made a 806 with that cheaper transformer????

[Brac]

I don't dislike Yamaha gear, but but I agree at this price point I would go with the Onkyo.

[willland]

i wonder if this is something like when they made the 805, then discontinued it and made a 806 with that cheaper transformer????

That is somewhat true. The 805 was a 50+ lbs overbuilt monster that sat right in the upper middle region of the Onkyo line. It was very close to flagship quality(huge power supply, Audyssey top EQ, feature packed) for a little over $1000.00. I think Onkyo realized that no other mfr was building such a quality receiver at that price point so when the 806 came about, the first thing to go was the massive power supply.

Personally, I think the 809 for $475.00 is a super price and would better meet your friends current needs(or future needs with preouts for amp) than the 515.

Bill

[InVeNtOr]

thanks for the info. i suggested the 809 to him. it's now up to him.

thanks again for all the help!

ps. i was noticing that onkyo really gives a great product at such a low price. the only ding i can say about them is, with klipsch RF-7's, it seems a bit bright. not sure how other speakers in other lines are, but if that's the only problem, then thats pretty good (IMO).