upgrade on av receiver

[john]

Hi all,I'm SD o torn and need advice.The Onkyo 828 or the Denon 4100?Any thoughts?I'm not ready for Atmos but maybe later down the road.Which of these two amps are more efficient and sound better.Thank you.

[willland]

I would love to say which is better.  Both Denon and Onkyo have some really nice AVR's that are pretty powerful and feature full.  I have always liked the Onkyo sound(very neutral) and have owned my TX-SR705 since 2007 with never a problem.  I can't speak of the Denon's sound quality because I have never owned a Denon AVR.  Sound quality is mostly subjective so only you can determine which sounds better to you.

 

Can you get them for around the same price?  If so I would opt for the Denon 4100 because it has Audyssey MultEQ XT32 with Sub EQ HT on board which is far superior to just MultEQ with the Onkyo 828.  I may even go with the 4100 over the 828 even if the 4100 comes in a higher $$$.

 

Bill

[wvu80]

The Denon X-4100 at $1500 is still a current model and the Onk 828 is discontinued at $600.  The current model Onk TX-NR 838 is comparable feature-wise at $800.

 

I have the Onk 717 and I am a huge fan of the sound.  The Onk gives you many choices in the listening modes which has a significant impact on the sound.  If you want a clean 2.0 sound without all the processing there is Pure Audio mode.  I also think the 828 was the last year for Audyssey in the Onk, but it was also the last model which had the well known HDMI board problems.  The warranty on the board is covered by Onk until 2018 so you are safe in picking the 828.

 

I haven't heard the Denon 4100 myself but the direct competitor to the Onk of its era was the Denon X-4000.  I don't remember hearing anything bad about it, and my memory was that the Denon was very highly rated.  It would be a solid purchase.

Edited June 27, 2015 by wvu80