elgrillo Posted May 22, 2003 Share Posted May 22, 2003 This is ridiculous, no sane man can possibly give recievers a true audition without buying them and taking them home. First of all you can never find all the recievers that you are checking out in the same room, and if you are lucky to find some in the same room that are in you are interested in, they obviously don't have your speakers. As people know, some recievers are better sounding on some speakers then other speakers. Regardless of all these isurmountable obastacles I went on my way to search for the magical reciever. Circuit city had the onkyo ONK TXSR800 and the Harmon Kardron HK 525. Both met my only real criterias which were must be around $1000, 7.1, prologic 2, dts which most have anyway except maybe for the 7.1 part. Never really understood the high current thing with the HK until I compared these 2. Onkyo is rated at 100watts and HK at 70 watts. On the same infiniti speakers and on the same reference number on the reciever, the HK won flat out. Cleaner and just played louder. I didn't need a rat shack meter to know this, it was obvious. So that was farily easy, although I don't really know how it would sound through klipsch since they dont have them there, but at least i know that at circuit city i would get the HK 525. Then on to Tweeter, where I overlooked the yamaha's and compared the Denon 3803 and the Pioneer elite vsx 45tx. Both again met the same criteria. Of course they don't have klipsch now, that would be too convinient for me, so I had to hear it through some Martin Logans, which don't really suit my pallet, but thats another story. Did the same test, with these by bringing them up to reference, and this was a tough battle. THe Pioneer may have been louder with only having 100 watts, while the denon had 110, but the difference is minimal at best. Sonic differences, I really couldn't tell, plus the martin logans were actually distracting me from being very stringent with my listening. I came out of tweeter not knowing which one to pick. All 3 had the same exact price of 999, and could probably have been haggled a bit lower, but I am left with a feeling of almost pick a name out of a hat. If it were on looks, which is easy to pick, it would hands down be the pioneer, but as far as audio???? I know this was a long rant, but for those that finished it, what would you choose? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vital Posted May 22, 2003 Share Posted May 22, 2003 Harman Kardon of course~ : P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BBB Posted May 22, 2003 Share Posted May 22, 2003 No long rants here.The Pioneer VSX-45TX from Tweeter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skonopa Posted May 22, 2003 Share Posted May 22, 2003 Get the Denon No seriously, I can definitly see your point. We do like to try to tell people to listen to the recievers they are interested in and compare, but as you all to well know, that is not always possible and it is nearly impossible to get the same configuration of speakers and other components as you have in your own setup. Still, at the very least, it did get you to get out and actually play with the gear. You can at least get an idea of what to expect, as well as actually check out the build quality, the looks, the feature set, etc instead of just going off some specifications on a web site or catalog page. At least now, you narrowed your pick to those three (H/K, Denon, Pioneer), and it seemed (at least that is how I am reading it), you are leaning towards the H/K. What you can do is ask the Tweeter if you can take at least one of those two units they have home and try it out in your own system. I don't know about your particular location, but the one here was very good at letting me take things home and try them out. And yes, if could very well come down to what ever one you can get the better deal on or just simply flipping a coin, drawing from a hat, etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jalen01 Posted May 22, 2003 Share Posted May 22, 2003 I personally don't like the Denon 3803 + Klipsch RF-7 Pairing. I recently spent about a month at a friends house whom has the set-up in question (bought the last floor models RF-7 + RC-7 from Tweeter). His Room Is roughly about 20 X 20' and we had to damn near max the volume at -10 to -7 to fill his room. Even with movies like Saving Private Ryan & Blade II. Of Course I've been into HT for a little while now and I help to properly set-up His rig with the delays/ DB levels and whatnot. I think the Denon 3803 has alot going for it as far as proccesor duties go with all the video switching, Different sound chips etc etc....Overall it sounds good with Klipsch speakers it's nice and smooth, no harshness detected. But in a similar sized room you may need to add an outboard amp in the 125-200 watt range to really get them big boys to sing!!!! Just My 2 cents, Jalen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ssh Posted May 22, 2003 Share Posted May 22, 2003 elgrillo, Do any stores in your area have a liberal return policy-not happy,bring it back? You haven't heard some very fine receivers in your price range-Have you considered driving to another city to listen? What speakers are you using/going to use? If you are happy with a group of receivers,and the price difference is not a factor,look at tuner specs or other features.Are there warranty differences? Most of us have had to work through your concerns.My best advice is not to get in a hurry. SSH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jstanton8 Posted May 22, 2003 Share Posted May 22, 2003 I would've got the Yamaha... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whell Posted May 22, 2003 Share Posted May 22, 2003 Ask a question like this and you're bound to get 10 different answers. I won't advise you on which receiver to buy, but I might suggest finding a dealer that WILL let you take the unit home to test drive it in your listening room. This is not an unusual policy for a reputable audio store, and I won't buy certain types of equipment without taking it home. Call around. Unless you live in a rural area, you might have a dealer or two in your area who will accomodate you. It might cost you a little more than Best Buy, but you'll be satisfied that you spent your dollars wisely and got a piece that you can live with for a long time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ennessex Posted May 22, 2003 Share Posted May 22, 2003 and if you do choose the HK, you can get it for 699 including shipping and no tax from jandr.com which is a lot cheapter than 1000. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T2K Posted May 22, 2003 Share Posted May 22, 2003 Check to see which receivers have an adjustable crossover. Something in the 60hz or 40hz range would be nice. The ability to switch among two different pairs of surrounds would be nice too. Keith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fabulousfrankie Posted May 23, 2003 Share Posted May 23, 2003 Just so you know, onecall.com has refurb'd HK receiver's very cheap and they're an authorized dealer. HK AVR325 - $438.20 HK AVR525 - $546.85 I think it's a no brainer at these prices. I just ordered a 325 yesterday. I also previoulsy ordered a refurb'd 325 for somebody else and it looked completely brand new. They go pretty out of stock pretty fast too, they just came in yesterday so you better hurry if you're interested. It's pretty obvious what my preference is since I just told you what I ordered. I previously had a HK AVR520, it's internal amps have come closer to the sound of Parasound amp than any other receiver I've tested in my system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TauRus Posted May 23, 2003 Share Posted May 23, 2003 Jalen, Your concern is a legitimate one, but I would like to clarify that on Denon AVR3803 the volume range is from -80 to +20dB, not 0 as you implied. So, -10 was not a max volume output. Also keep in mind that it could be affected by low channel level settings in that particular receiver. My AVR3803 easily fills a somewhat bigger room that you described with 25' high ceilings staying at about -20 - 15 (I have RF-3x2, RB-5x2, RC-3 + a sub). I just wanted to make sure you do not unfairly portray AVR3803 as a whimpy receiver. It's a powerhouse IMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jef Posted May 23, 2003 Share Posted May 23, 2003 Taurus, is right. Isn't it nice to know that the Klipsches where filling your room 'full with sound' with an average power of only .1 watt (a tenth of a Watt :-) there is still a thousand times more in the amp - will sound roughly 8 times louder. Jef Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elgrillo Posted June 10, 2003 Author Share Posted June 10, 2003 Wow I know that I have been away from this thread, sort of forgot about it because i went to california for a while. THanks for the responses guys. there is a good thread in AVS comparing recievers in my price range right now. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=181468 Im gonna post a thread leading to this as well since I think it is a very useful thread for people looking for recievers. I am still undecided as to what to get. I still want to check out the NAD T762. Hell How can you not at least audition something with a name like NAD... he he P.S if anyone has any experiences that they would like to share, please do. Or if anyone would like to donate a sunfire ultimate please do. Damn I just looked closely at the NAD specs and it only has 6 channels. Hmm what do you guys think about the Integera 7.3? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elgrillo Posted June 10, 2003 Author Share Posted June 10, 2003 ACtually I am seeing that on the internet the HK 7200 can be had for about $1200. Hmmm that seems the way to go I think. Do you guys know of a way that I can use the reciever just as an amplifier and add a preamp later on to do the decoding? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damonrpayne Posted June 10, 2003 Share Posted June 10, 2003 I'm a big fan of HK + Klipsch as well. At American TV (chain local to Wisconsin here) they have Klipsch in the same room as HK, Denon, and Onkyo. Even the AVR 325 with 50 watts can fill a huge room with the RF-5s Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elgrillo Posted June 10, 2003 Author Share Posted June 10, 2003 I have narrowed it down to either the 1. marantz 8200(though i need to hear it, but have heard good things about them and its only a 6.1 which concerns me) 2. Denon 3803 3. Pioneer 45tx 4. HK 7200 HK I think is the worst feature wise, but has arguably the best amp out of the four. Can't comment on the Marantz since I haven't heard it but the 6.1 sort of bothers me. Anyone ever have experiences with marantz reciever? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fabulousfrankie Posted June 10, 2003 Share Posted June 10, 2003 What is it about the HK 7200 that makes you think it's lacking feature-wise? The processing section in the 7200 is the exactly same as the AVR-525. The processing section in the 325 is the same as the 525 but it doesn't have HDCD decoding and bass management for the analog inputs. Why not get something like a AVR325 or 525 and add a separate multichannel amplifier. I have a HK 325 and a 5ch Parasound, the both cost less than $1k and the result is more than I hoped for. I simply stunned with the processer in the HK, I give it my highest recommendation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fabulousfrankie Posted June 10, 2003 Share Posted June 10, 2003 If anyone in the DC area wants to avoid elgrillo's frustration of not being able to demo a certain receivers on Klipsch speakers, I have no problem letting people check out how the HK/Parasound combo sounds on my Ref 3 system. I guarantee there's no sub $1k receiver than can beat this sound. fabulousfrankie@hotmail.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
budabear Posted June 10, 2003 Share Posted June 10, 2003 Why haven't you checked out the B&K stuff? Doesn't anyone here like B&K? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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