PLEASE help me upgrade my receiver yamaha 5840 vs onkyo vs denon

[vxaudio]

currently i have an onkyo 501 6.1 x 65watts. I got this when i really didnt know much about receivers and now i realize that is is really underpowering for my speakers and theclarity i want(plus this peice doesnt have a reference level, only a volume from 0-79, and no large and small speakers settings,haha) . I really want to go up to about 100w x 6. I found a YAMAHA 5840 with 100 x 6rms for only $279 at BB. Im sure i could get it even cheaper online. My problem is that i really dont know anything about the performance of the yamahas as most of my research has gone into denon, onkyo, and HK. For some reason i was thinking that yamaha was lower end than these, but i could be wrong. The denon and onkyo's i am looking at are around 400-600 for the same wattage. there are no reviews on here for the yamaha so i was wondering if anyone owned it? I noticed that the THD was .07% at 1Kz. this is bothering me because the others have ratings fron 20-20000 Hz. Please let me know anything that can help.
also, im not really into the auto mics b/c i have a spl and do it myself..so thats not a problem.

PS i just ordered a SVS PCI 25-31, Im really stoked about this sub. Its the same height as my Bose 601's and i think its really gonna look and sound great. thanks for any help.

[N. Abstentia]

I think you're looking in the wrong place to upgrade. To be blunt, in one sentence you say you lack punch and clarity, then in the next sentence you say you have BOSE speakers. Well..which do you want? Quality, punch, clarity....or BOSE?

You have plenty of power, you just need speakers that can use it. You also need to ignore the power ratings on those receivers becasue they are all rated differently. If the Yamaha were rated using the same method as the Onkyo it would come in around the same or maybe even less. You're not comparing apples to apples here.

If you like Best Buy then use that money for some Athena speakers. You've got a nice sub on the way, match it with some good speakers.

[vxaudio]

as far as the Bose 601 speakers go, i compared them to athena among others when i bought them and i simply liked the sound better. I know that they are not as accurate as alot of other speakers, but for some reason they sounded great to me. I have in the past hooked them up to a stereo amp with 110x2 and they sounded twice as good as with the receiver i have now. . So when i meant clarity, I was coming from a power standpoint since i had heard them with more power. For now im going to stick with this setup and get a higher wattage amp. thanks for your thoughts though. In the future however, i will be looking for some new towers and surrounds. I have looked into athena, but for some reason dont particularly like their sound, same goes for all the Harmon companies except for my car speakers where i replaced the faxtory bose with some infinity's...im interested in paradigm, and also (axiom because off the reviews here) any thoughts about this and the original topic of the receivers?

[Eric Z]

denon, onkyo, and yamaha are excellent receivers (same quality level- through pioneer in there, too)- some prefer yamaha because of their history of quality builds.

i see NA's point about not paying attention to the power ratings on the receivers. is your current onkyo receiver an older model? sounds like it since it doesn't have small/large speaker settings. also, some people like bose speakers (not many at all on this site) because of the advertising and sales pitch from stores- i just think they are waaaaaay overpriced. with all that advertising, bose has to make extra money somewhere- they do it by hiking up the prices. sorta like aol- who in their right mind will spend $20+ for a crappy internet connection?

anyway, i recommend picking up a yamaha and test it out at home to see if it makes a difference worth the extra money. bb has a good return policy so if it doesn't sound good enough return it. the 5840 is a good entry level receiver. if you can upgrade to the 5860 ($499 msrp, but you should be able to get it for around $400), then you get the auto calibration feature (ypao) and some more power and inputs/outputs.

good luck!
eric

[PAT.P]

I would try the Yammy I have a HTR-5760 and bought it at Future Shop in Canada a few months ago (last year model and floor display) at $399 CND .The feature are great ,the power is there.As for Bose ,if you like them ,dont worry what the Bose basher say.Most of them probably did'nt listen to any Bose and follow the opinion of others.

[kexodusc]

Yamaha is every bit as good as Denon, Onkyo, H/K, etc. I'd add Pioneer and Marantz to that list of receivers.

The 5840 at Best Buy is a great deal IMO. Few Authorized Dealers will match that price. Doubtfull they'd match and provide free shipping.

As far as entry level receivers go, the 5840 is great. A few years back it would have been a $600 receiver at least. I don't think you'll find any better for the price you're looking at.

[N. Abstentia]

.As for Bose ,if you like them ,dont worry what the Bose basher say.Most of them probably did'nt listen to any Bose and follow the opinion of others.

Yeah right. That's kinda like saying "don't listen to the guy who says to never stick a fork in a power socket. He's probably never actually done it so he has no idea what will happen. He's just going by what others say."

No. It's just common sense. Haven't you noticed the general hatred for Bose outside of the "my wife won't let me have anything larger" crowd?

vx I would like for you to audition some speakers in an ideal environment..say like your house. Take some others home. Notice that most dealers won't let you A/B Bose speakers with others in the same room? There's a reason for that. They want you to buy those Bose speakers because they have a huge profit margin and they make a nice comission. Now the 601's are a little different, I'm speaking more on the Acoustimass stuff but something is smelly if the 601's sounded better than Athenas.

[PAT.P]

Yeah right. That's kinda like saying "don't listen to the guy who says to never stick a fork in a power socket. He's probably never actually done it so he has no idea what will happen. He's just going by what others say."

No. It's just common sense. Haven't you noticed the general hatred for Bose outside of the "my wife won't let me have anything larger" crowd?

vx I would like for you to audition some speakers in an ideal environment..say like your house. Take some others home. Notice that most dealers won't let you A/B Bose speakers with others in the same room? There's a reason for that. They want you to buy those Bose speakers because they have a huge profit margin and they make a nice comission. Now the 601's are a little different, I'm speaking more on the Acoustimass stuff but something is smelly if the 601's sounded better than Athenas.Im just saying if somebody likes his speakers, why do people cut them down.Its like your room you are building it looks great but the paint color is not the same color some others would of chose.We cant have the same taste.

[Mooch28]

I just tested the Yamaha RXV-2500, Yamaha DSP-AX1 (flag ship 5 years ago), Onkyo SR-702. and Denon AVR-3805.

IMO, the Denon blew all them away. Just my opinion of course after comparison. In the past i owned a Onkyo TX-DS575X, and while it was a great reciever, the denon is much better sounding imo.

It all depends on what your ears hear. If you like the sound, go for it!!

[GMichael]

I just tested the Yamaha RXV-2500, Yamaha DSP-AX1 (flag ship 5 years ago), Onkyo SR-702. and Denon AVR-3805.

IMO, the Denon blew all them away. Just my opinion of course after comparison. In the past i owned a Onkyo TX-DS575X, and while it was a great reciever, the denon is much better sounding imo.

It all depends on what your ears hear. If you like the sound, go for it!!

I tested the same ones and picked the Yammie RX-V2500. I'm very happy with it. The Denon and Onkyo sounded good also though. It was a tough choice.

[kexodusc]

I tested the same ones and picked the Yammie RX-V2500. I'm very happy with it. The Denon and Onkyo sounded good also though. It was a tough choice.
I find the new Yammies and Denon's to sound pretty much the same. Ruler flat. H/K's and NAD's are a bit different, not much.
Thing is, some speakers will react differently to amplifiers. Which can explain the huge disparities we get in customer reviews.
Go with whatever floats your boat.