Yamaha or Denon

[quakana]

I have a Klipsch Reference (mixed versions) speaker system with the focal points (IMO) being the RF-7II fronts and the RC-64II center in a 1000 sq ft room and have been using yamaha receivers for years but am looking at the Denon too.

 

The models I am looking at currently for mostly home theater use are  

 

Yamaha RX-A3040

Denon AVR-X5200W

 

 

They both are in my price range and I like the fact they have wireless, 4k pass, and Atmos

 

Which one do you prefer and why?

Thanks in advance 

Dave

 

[The History Kid]

Of the two I'd pick the Denon.  I just am not liking Yamaha's latest sound.

 

May I inquire why you have not looked at any of the Marantz offerings?

[quakana]

Of the two I'd pick the Denon.  I just am not liking Yamaha's latest sound.

 

May I inquire why you have not looked at any of the Marantz offerings?

Thanks I have just been a die hard Yamaha user but am considering the Denon actually because they seem very popular. Never have looked at/used the Marantz line but I will check them out

[The History Kid]

Ah yes...I was a fan of Yamaha up until their 5x series of RX-V.  After that, I started to just sense that the sound was becoming more and more dull.

 

Denon is a fantastic choice though, and as I said, I'd recommend it of the two.

 

http://us.marantz.com/us/Products/Pages/ProductDetails.aspx?CatId=AVReceivers&SubCatId=0&ProductId=SR7009

This is what Marantz would have to offer if you're looking for ATMOS in an A/VR unit. 

 

Many here like both Marantz and Denon.  Many people I know locally that deal with A/V also tend to prefer Marantz.

[Youthman]

Never owned a Denon. Loved my older Yamaha RX-V1800 in a 5.1 setup.

[Scrappydue]

im not a fan of yamaha. never owned a marantz. but they are a denon under the hood so i would choose one of those. and that big of a room i would have no problem saying you are gonna want an amp eventually to squeeze all you can from them speakers. 

 

so i would say get what you want feature wise and make sure it has priest to add an amp down the road. 

[Jim]

I have both a Yamaha RX A2020 and a Denon AVR X4000.

 

The sound difference in my opinion is that the Denon is more geared towards a warmer voice sound than the Yamaha with Yamaha being geared more towards the music side. My Yamaha seems to have a wider music sound with instruments being heard better than the Denon,and movies seem to be better heard through my Yamaha.

 

The Marantz I looked at and all Marantz's I listened to are geared even more towards voice than they are towards music in my opinion.

 

I've also owned Yamaha's for most of my systems and it seems not only with them, but with everyone out there, they don't hold up as well as they used to. I owned Onkyo's which I will never purchase again,and wish I would have kept my older Yamaha unit RX V2095 which I sold because I got caught up in the HDMI craze. The Marantz and Denon upper end models use almost the same components in them for everything. They seem to be better geared towards voice with Yamaha geared more towards music IMO. I am by no means as advanced as almost everyone on here, and haven't ever used amps on my speakers, so I'm only going by the built in amps within the receivers. I also don't have top of the line speakers either so I'm going by what I do have in my home.

[quakana]

im not a fan of yamaha. never owned a marantz. but they are a denon under the hood so i would choose one of those. and that big of a room i would have no problem saying you are gonna want an amp eventually to squeeze all you can from them speakers. 

 

so i would say get what you want feature wise and make sure it has priest to add an amp down the road. 

Thanks and sorry, I have a Yamaha M-85 for the fronts

[Paducah Home Theater]

I'd pick the Denon simply because Audessey is proven, especially XT32.  Realistically speaking though you'd be happy with either.  

 

As for the Marantz, I have an SR-7009 if you have any questions about it.  My only complaints are that the display isn't quite as advanced as most people imagine plus it gets very hot compared to cheaper receivers.  Otherwise it's a beast, can crank out way more than what I can use.  

[Jim]

I'd pick the Denon simply because Audessey is proven, especially XT32.  Realistically speaking though you'd be happy with either.  

 

As for the Marantz, I have an SR-7009 if you have any questions about it.  My only complaints are that the display isn't quite as advanced as most people imagine plus it gets very hot compared to cheaper receivers.  Otherwise it's a beast, can crank out way more than what I can use.  

 

The Marantz getting very hot is an issue I've read in other forums. I've called them direct and they say it needs to have at least 6 inches on all sides for clearance. The display is the other one. And as per Marantz, once over the $1000.00 range, them and Denon have almost identical components.

[twk123]

I have always loved Denon for the warm sound. I had an old school Denon AVR I got from my Dad and loved the sound and eventually found an AVR 3801 on Craigslist for $35 and snagged it for the ridiculous low price. It does not have HDMI but I use Optical for my XBox 360 sound and just run the HDMI video directly into the TV as I dont mind occasionally hitting the 'Input' button. 

 

I have heard some people say that Yamaha sounds too "Bright" but I dont know first hand.

[Paducah Home Theater]

as per Marantz, once over the $1000.00 range, them and Denon have almost identical components.

 

 

They are very similar but the official statement on this is that the two companies have separate design teams and each are independently responsible for the end sound.  The biggest differences I have found is that Marantz in general has some additional processing capabilities that make it better for music, and the flagship Denon receiver is as close to a separate av/amp setup that you can get without actually going with separates, supposedly it's great for movie dynamics and has low noise as well as higher than usual real world power.  That is coming from a second level Denon tech support guy.  

Edited November 4, 2014 by MetropolisLakeOutfitters

[Mudkicker]

I use Marantz and love it.  I just find that for the great sound quality that you get, you give up on features.  I feel that other brands give you more for your buck in terms of bells and whistles at the same price point.  I also feel that Marantz is always one year behind in newer technology.

Having said that, I am willing to compromise because I love the product.

[ChuckAb3]

I switched from a Denon AVR to Marantz separates for HT and never looked back. I've always liked the Marantz 'house' sound and before I made the switch in my HT, used to have a Marantz integrated in my 2 ch system for quite a while and knew that it was a good match for Klipsch. It may depend on whether your emphasis is on sound or AV features. Denon is by no means a bad choice. I just subjectively prefer the sound I get from Marantz and I'm not as 'into' the features as some of the other folks here.

[Paducah Home Theater]

 I also feel that Marantz is always one year behind in newer technology.

 

Dolby Atmos for the home just came out, and Marantz was right there on top of it with the SR-7009.  

[The History Kid]

I don't feel that way about Marantz at all.  I've been very pleased with the products of theirs that I've demoed, and even the less-than-ideal purchase I had made off of CL last month. 

[Jim]

I have always loved Denon for the warm sound. I had an old school Denon AVR I got from my Dad and loved the sound and eventually found an AVR 3801 on Craigslist for $35 and snagged it for the ridiculous low price. It does not have HDMI but I use Optical for my XBox 360 sound and just run the HDMI video directly into the TV as I dont mind occasionally hitting the 'Input' button. 

 

I have heard some people say that Yamaha sounds too "Bright" but I dont know first hand.

 

 

The Yamaha's are definitely brighter, but can be "warmed" up a little. I like them better for instruments playing and for HT. They seem to have a "fuller" more all around sound to me.The warmer sound from Denon and even warmer sound for Marantz is nice for people who focus more on voice/jazz type music in my opinion. I just felt that they weren't bright enough for the instruments and didn't give a full enough sound for me. Maybe it was the store where I listenend to them. Maybe it's just that my ears have been accustomed to Yamaha all these years, but I like hearing a nice crisp high and thumping bass with the mids not as focused. MARANTZ didn't seem to have the thumping bass, but were ridiculous with voice/jazz and mids. I feel Denon is in between both.I can say the older Yamaha receivers were warmer in sound than they are today.

[Jim]

I don't feel that way about Marantz at all.  I've been very pleased with the products of theirs that I've demoed, and even the less-than-ideal purchase I had made off of CL last month. 

 

Unfortunately for me, there aren't any places I can demo any receivers, unless I pay for them 1st then return them.

[Paducah Home Theater]

 

Unfortunately for me, there aren't any places I can demo any receivers, unless I pay for them 1st then return them.

 

Same in my neck of the woods, nobody can demo hardly any AV products worth demo'ing, except TV's.  Luckily, somebody is trying to do something about that.  (me)    

[Max2]

The 4520 is pretty strong on the bench, especially when you look at the 5 and 7 channel continuous output. Unless you have to do Atmos with the 5200, you might find a good deal on a 4520 or even a 4311.  Comparing Marantz to Denon because they are both owned by D&M is plausible, but I wouldn't say they are they are the same. Both don't look anything alike on the inside, from the boards, to the heatsinks, to the power supply. Having said that, they very well could sound very similar and a direct source from both may be indistinguishable between the two for most ears.  Both good choices and I would be happy with either, but there are a lot of great choices out there with other brands as well. One thing you don't want is problems. I would search high and low and see what kind of reliability the choice you make has before purchasing.   

 

Test Bench on the Denon 4520

Two channels driven continuously into 8-ohm loads:
0.1% distortion at 172.6 watts
1% distortion at 190.7 watts

Five channels driven continuously into 8-ohm loads:
0.1% distortion at 121.8 watts
1% distortion at 145.3 watts

Seven channels driven continuously into 8-ohm loads:
0.1% distortion at 108.8 watts
1% distortion at 121.7 watts

 

This graph shows that the AVR-4520CI’s left channel, from CD input to speaker output with two channels driving 8-ohm loads, reaches 0.1% distortion at 172.6 watts and 1% distortion at 190.7 watts. Into 4 ohms, the amplifier reaches 0.1% distortion at 237.5 watts and 1% distortion at 287.1 watts.

Response from the multichannel input to the speaker output measures –0.03 dB at 10 Hz, –0.00 dB at 20 Hz, –0.22 dB at 20 kHz, and –3.65 dB at 50 kHz. THD+N from the CD input to the speaker output was less than 0.005% at 1 kHz when driving 2.83 volts into an 8-ohm load. Crosstalk at 1 kHz driving 2.83 volts into an 8-ohm load was –74.77 dB left to right and –74.69 dB right to left. The signal-to-noise ratio with an 8-ohm load from 10 Hz to 24 kHz with “A” weighting was –107.59 dBrA.