Denon 4306 vs. Yamaha 2700

[maddi]

Need help deciding between the two recievers..I currently have a yamaha 2095 and ready to upgrade..So far these are the two that have caught my eye, does anyone have any advise on the two or know of something better in the same price range

[musicman1999]

I have not heard the Yamaha,but i dont think there will be a large difference between the 2.If you are a music lover and want good stereo performance check out the new Cambridge Audio 640r.It does not have a bunch of useless features like the other two but it sounds fantastic.

bill

[kelsci]

My brother had the Yamaha 2095 a few years back. I personally liked the sound quality of that receiver very much along with its D.D. and DTS decoding. I recently heard some Yamahas which may have included the 2700. I did not care for it. I did not hear that Denon Model, but I heard a 3806 and liked that in surround sound though not in stereo that much. If I had the bread, I would consider the Pioneer Elite vsx-81. The Elite 82 even sounds better but I have read some issues with the video portion. That could also occur on the Ellite 84 as well. I do not think the 81 has the same video set-up, or in other words it may be a simpler set-up that might not cause problems.

[basite]

how about a rotel rsx-1057?

heared that they performed well both in stereo and surround, and looking at the price of the denon, why don't you go for seperates? power amp and a preamp, you could possebly use your current yammie as a preamp and just add a power amp.

Good luck,
Bert.

[kelsci]

I recently heard some kind of rotel receiver in a store. Judging from its sound, I would audition a 1057. It may be quite good.

[Rock789]

for the kind of money for the Denon (don't know the cost of the Yami), I would suggest:

B&K (http://www.bkcomp.com/avr507.asp) or NAD (http://nadelectronics.com/products/av-receivers)

[blackraven]

Denon all the way. The 4306 is a great receiver. I would also take the Denon 3806 over the yamaha. Also consider NAD.

[recoveryone]

when considering these newer AVR you need to really look at what you are going to connect to them. I'm not up on the Denon, but they almost aways put out good gear. but the Yamaha has some features that would allow you to stream your MP3's and other compressed music via ethercable and allow you direct internet connection also has Ipod port and XM radio support. If I could have gotten the price on the 2700 that I got on my Pioneer I may have went with it just for the ethernet port.

[Woochifer]

If you're considering the 2700, you should also take a look at the 1700. My understanding of the two models is that the 2700 adds ethernet and USB connectivity and 1080i video upconverting. Otherwise, same basic decoding chips, same power supply (2700 might use higher rated capacitors), and most the same basic feature set. Personally, I think Yamaha is really pushing the limits with the $1,700 list price on that model (a $300 increase over the RX-V2600).

In my listenings, you won't hear very clearcut differences between similarly priced receivers when they're running in the basic default modes. If you're talking about the DSP processing or auto-calibration functions, then there are definite differences. The little things like the remote, user interface, and convenience features often don't get mentioned by self-described enthusiasts, but in actuality, they make a much bigger impact on a day-to-day basis than the more subtle differences in sound quality.

However, since you already have a decent 5.1 receiver, I would actually wait a few months before buying a receiver. HDMI 1.3 is the looming tsunami in the home theater world, and just about everyone's been ramping up for that upgrade (the HDMI 1.3 announcements from CES this week are already pouring out). The HDMI 1.3 spec adds support for greater color depth on the video side, and support for the new high res Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, and DTS-HD Master formats on the audio side. If you're at all considering a HD-DVD or Blu-ray player or a Playstation 3 in the next couple of years, you're better off with a HDMI 1.3 receiver because it allows you to integrate your receiver's setup functions and switch all of your HDMI sources through one output. Otherwise, you're relying on your video player's multichannel audio outputs, which typically offer far less functionality, integration, and flexibility compared to letting a receiver handle the digital decoding and audio processing.

[Capeman]

I work for a company that sells both the 2700 and the 4306. the Yamaha has a good features list for the money but the Denon sounds cleaner and smoother for music and theatre. Denon has the edge in build quality too.

[kexodusc]

It's a crapshoot - when I demo the 2 I can't tell a clear cut difference in sound. You use to be able to tell easily years ago, but I think they've both changed the sonic characteristics of their amps to be more neutral sounding. Yamaha re-modeled it's platform about 5 years ago or so and did away with the traditional "bright" sound it was known for.
The only glaring difference to me is that Yamaha has a reputation for being second-to-none when it comes to build quality in this price range. But Denon seems to have got over the troubles they were having 2-3 years ago when they shifted production facilities, and traditionally has delivered quality products. Chances are neither will cause you grief in the reliability department, and shouldn't really be a deciding factor.
I'd go with whatever does what you need to do for the least money if these are your choices. Neither is intrinsically better than the other. Very small, subtle differences between the 2.

However, I think at those prices I'd be looking at NAD, Arcam, or Rotel. Or separates. Both of these models are over-priced for what you get, IMO. A few years back the level in Yamaha's product line was under $1000.

The industry seems to be at a crossroads right now, with HDMI 1.3 set to break-through in the near future. Honestly, for this kind of money I think people are better off looking at something like Pioneer's excellent VSX-1016TXV (which can be purchased for under $400 and is a phenomenal value - not out of place against either of these models!), saving a good chunk of money, and upgrading maybe in a few years when HDMI 1.3 hits and becomes more reasonable price wise.

I've probably recommended Yamaha and Denon more than any other brand, but these guys are making it really difficult continue to do so when other companies are putting out comparable products for considerably less money. Personally, I can't help but wonder if their just jam-packing too many gimmicky features into these things.

[vyruz]

Hi there,

I myself own a RX-V1600, but My father has the Rx-V2700, and i must admit that it sounds fabulous, there's certainly no point there...

There's just one thing i want to warn you about:
don't do it for the network/usb play feature!

I own a sonos ZP100 system to play my music collection over the network (using mp3's of only 320Kbits), based on my experience with the sonos, i can say the following about the yamaha system:

bad:
-requires a windows PC running special software to play:
The yamaha required the windows media director to be running on your pc before it can play anything, while sonos system uses standardized NAS (network attached storage) protocol, it can play music files from any PC which has this protocol installed (not just windows), which also makes it possible to buy standalone NAS drive, which you can keep powered on all day.

-this software stops responding every now and then:
In my fathers case, his PC is quite far away from his amp, and at some times, the software will stop responding, requiring the PC to be rebooted, this is quite annoying...

-TV has to be turned on to make it bearable to browse through the music library:
the small screen on the 2700 will show you some info, but by far not enough to use it to navigate through your music
good:
-you can use 1 remote for all your devices:
the sonos systems makes use of a WLAN remote, which implies that it cannot be controlled by any kind of universal remote...
That's truly one bad thing, since i have a Logitech Harmony remote to control my entire AV rack, but still need to use the sonos controller

[blackraven]

If you are willing to spend $1700 on a receiver then you should check out outlaw audio and get a separate 7ch amp and preamp combo at that price. www.outlawaudio.com This would be my number one choice for that price.
You might want to consider the Adcom AV receiver that I recently bought.
The GFR-700. 125wpc in multichannel, 145wpc 2ch and 225 wpc at 4ohms. List price is $2000, you can purchase a refurbished model or B stock direct from Adcom with 3yr warranty for about $1200. Onecall also sells them. I'm very happy with it, it drives my Magnepan Q1.6's without any problems.

[recoveryone]

Hi there,

I myself own a RX-V1600, but My father has the Rx-V2700, and i must admit that it sounds fabulous, there's certainly no point there...

There's just one thing i want to warn you about:
don't do it for the network/usb play feature!

I own a sonos ZP100 system to play my music collection over the network (using mp3's of only 320Kbits), based on my experience with the sonos, i can say the following about the yamaha system:

bad:
-requires a windows PC running special software to play:
The yamaha required the windows media director to be running on your pc before it can play anything, while sonos system uses standardized NAS (network attached storage) protocol, it can play music files from any PC which has this protocol installed (not just windows), which also makes it possible to buy standalone NAS drive, which you can keep powered on all day.

-this software stops responding every now and then:
In my fathers case, his PC is quite far away from his amp, and at some times, the software will stop responding, requiring the PC to be rebooted, this is quite annoying...

-TV has to be turned on to make it bearable to browse through the music library:
the small screen on the 2700 will show you some info, but by far not enough to use it to navigate through your music
good:
-you can use 1 remote for all your devices:
the sonos systems makes use of a WLAN remote, which implies that it cannot be controlled by any kind of universal remote...
That's truly one bad thing, since i have a Logitech Harmony remote to control my entire AV rack, but still need to use the sonos controller

Thats some good info there, I have one other question about the 2700. How good is the enhancer mode on compressed music sound?

I have the Pioneer Eilte VSX-81TXV with the Sound Retriever mode on it. It suppose to be the same as the ehancer mode. Mine works great with my Squeezebox. I've had Mp3s that rival the CD and thats not in Lossless format (if the Kbps bit rate is at 150 or above its hard to tell from the CD.