Yamaha RX-V2400 or Onkyo TX-NR80???

[spdrcr1024]

I'm a bit indecisive on these two models. I have heard good reviews on both the Yamaha and the Onkyo, however, I don't know which one to get. I currently have a Kenwood VR-6070 which I bought without doing any research and have been throughly disappointed. My biggest complaint, with this model, has been with its poor decoding of DTS. There seems to be adrop-off in sound when DTS is engaged. I am currently using Polk Audio speaker and Bi-polar speakers as my surrounds. Any advise will be appreciated.

[Lexmark3200]

I'm a bit indecisive on these two models. I have heard good reviews on both the Yamaha and the Onkyo, however, I don't know which one to get. I currently have a Kenwood VR-6070 which I bought without doing any research and have been throughly disappointed. My biggest complaint, with this model, has been with its poor decoding of DTS. There seems to be adrop-off in sound when DTS is engaged. I am currently using Polk Audio speaker and Bi-polar speakers as my surrounds. Any advise will be appreciated.

I know you are probably gonna hear from a lot of Yamaha fans here (and on hometheaterforum.com), but I would recommend the Onkyo; I have heard from reliable people in this field and the HT hobbyist community that Onkyo and Denon are doing the best receivers today; of course, this is highly subjective, but my personal Onkyo receiver seems to have impeccable build quality and their handsome all aluminum faceplates are great to look at. The unit just looks and feels high end, and emits enough power for a decent sized room; a friend of mine got me hooked on their components after hearing his Onkyo stereo receiver, which rocked, and sounded like a good power amp....no joke. Like you, my receiver is hooked up to a Polk 5.1 speaker array and I have had no problems with the DTS decoding in this receiver.

As for Yamaha, my only experience has been with their stereo receivers, which I owned, and they performed fine, too. Another friend of mine is a diehard Yammie fan and after trying the Onkyo TX SR500, on my recommendation, he felt it didnt put out enough power for him so he returned it and got a Yamaha....he likes their stuff better. So, its all in what moves you really. But honestly, I think he just didnt know how to boost up the Onkyo's "Intelli Volume" gain controls for each input source, so everything "sounded" low to him....

[Woochifer]

The feature working in Yamaha's favor is their YPAO acoustic room calibration feature. In general, the two biggest variables in any audio system are the speakers and the room acoustics. All other considerations like the front end sources, amps, cabling, etc. are far less significant. The YPAO is a function that at least partially addresses the room acoustics.

Otherwise, the Yamaha and Onkyo receivers I've tried out are pretty evenly matched with only subtle differences in sound quality (without the DSP modes engaged). Anyone who tells you that one blows away another either did not compare them side by side with comparable settings, or has a bias. With the DSP modes engaged, you will likely hear more noticeable differences because different manufacturers take different approaches, and something like the YPAO can potentially make a huge difference in the overall sound quality.

The other things that you should consider are the user interface, the build quality, etc.

[paul_pci]

I know you are probably gonna hear from a lot of Yamaha fans here (and on hometheaterforum.com), but I would recommend the Onkyo; I have heard from reliable people in this field and the HT hobbyist community that Onkyo and Denon are doing the best receivers today; of course, this is highly subjective, but my personal Onkyo receiver seems to have impeccable build quality and their handsome all aluminum faceplates are great to look at. The unit just looks and feels high end, and emits enough power for a decent sized room; a friend of mine got me hooked on their components after hearing his Onkyo stereo receiver, which rocked, and sounded like a good power amp....no joke. Like you, my receiver is hooked up to a Polk 5.1 speaker array and I have had no problems with the DTS decoding in this receiver.

As for Yamaha, my only experience has been with their stereo receivers, which I owned, and they performed fine, too. Another friend of mine is a diehard Yammie fan and after trying the Onkyo TX SR500, on my recommendation, he felt it didnt put out enough power for him so he returned it and got a Yamaha....he likes their stuff better. So, its all in what moves you really. But honestly, I think he just didnt know how to boost up the Onkyo's "Intelli Volume" gain controls for each input source, so everything "sounded" low to him....


Lexmark,

My Yamaha will b*tch-slap your Onkyo any day of the week with one watt tied behind its back.

All joking aside, what Woochifer is getting at is that when you have two comprable receivers, one way to make the difficult choice is by figuring out which one has the features that you want. For instance, does one have a better remote than the other, does one have component video up-conversion and the other doesn't, etc. etc.

[kexodusc]

I like both makes, except, the 2 Bose outlet stores I've been to recently sell Onkyo receivers as the only non-Bose products in store....not sure, but that might be the kiss of death??? just kidding...
YPAO is a great feature...all things equal I'd say that gives an edge to the Yamaha.

Just curious, why the 2400 and not the 1400 model??? You could easily save yourself a 150 bucks or so.

[markok]

I have the older Yamaha 2300 and I am very happy with it's performance so I would imagine the 2400 would be that much better.


I'm a bit indecisive on these two models. I have heard good reviews on both the Yamaha and the Onkyo, however, I don't know which one to get. I currently have a Kenwood VR-6070 which I bought without doing any research and have been throughly disappointed. My biggest complaint, with this model, has been with its poor decoding of DTS. There seems to be adrop-off in sound when DTS is engaged. I am currently using Polk Audio speaker and Bi-polar speakers as my surrounds. Any advise will be appreciated.

[Lexmark3200]

[QUOTE=paul_pci]Lexmark,

My Yamaha will b*tch-slap your Onkyo any day of the week with one watt tied behind its back.

I seriously think not

[Lexmark3200]

Lexmark,

My Yamaha will b*tch-slap your Onkyo any day of the week with one watt tied behind its back.

All joking aside, what Woochifer is getting at is that when you have two comprable receivers, one way to make the difficult choice is by figuring out which one has the features that you want. For instance, does one have a better remote than the other, does one have component video up-conversion and the other doesn't, etc. etc.

I was joking too by saying I think not, but my point was that everyone has a fan favorite and everyone has loyal ties to certain brands in this hobby (or those seasoned veterans of this hobby, not the beginners as they learn what brands they like, dislike, etc), and for me, I was sold on Onkyo based on performance and recommendations and I just PERSONALLY believe their performance is the best for the dollar and that they make as professional of a product as any Sony ES or even their own Integra line; that said, I know people who swear by Yamaha, as you do, so its all relative. But the same way you feel your Yammie would ***** slap my Onkyo, I feel the same about my unit smacking other receivers (never really considered Yamaha in my mind though) all to hell. Features are what separate some of these units, though, as you and Wooch suggest. Sometimes, too, we get gut feelings that some of these units are just built better than others; the all-aluminum faceplate and clean ergonomics were a selling point for me with the Onk.

[toquemon]

I have had two Onkyo's (tx-906 and tx-775x) and I think they're extremely well constructed and they have plenty of reserve power for all types of music. They sounded very warm and smooth (especially the tx-906). Onkyo is a very good brand.

Now i have the Yamaha RX-V1400 and I think this is a very reliable amp (it has a lot of features) and I think it sounds better than the Onkyo for this particular reason: Yamaha makes its own processors (Onkyo buys them from Motorola) and they're really a state-of-the-art pieces of work. The Cinema DSP with its "pressence" speakers sounds better than anything i have tried before.

The RX-V2400 has more powerfull capacitors than mine, wich makes this amp a very high cost-benefit item and I think you should see this. Another amp with the same features and capacity of other brand i think it would cost you at least another $300.