Denon or HK with Paradigm?

[jasmit]

I'm building my first HT and have pretty much settled on Paradigm speakers -- Studio 40's for mains, CC-470 for center, SA-10R in-ceiling speakers for surrounds (no back or side walls in my great room); haven't decided on a sub yet. The Studio 40's are the best speakers I can afford among the ones I heard. Now I would like to select a receiver.

I've been lurking the audio forums and have auditioned a few. Based mainly on perceived build quality within those I can afford, I've narrowed the field down to two: Denon (either the AVR-1804 or the AVR-2803) or Harmon Kardon (AVR 330). I've been able to audition Denon with Paradigm and liked what I heard. I haven't been able to hear the HK but I've read more than a few comments about HK being too "warm" to go with Paradigms. Can this be true when reviews on the Studio 40's describe them as uncolored and transparent?

So, any objective opinions out there as to which of these two receiver(s) mate best with the Studio line of Paradigm? I'd really like to hear from those who have heard HK with Paradigm. Feel free to make other suggestions within my price range ($500 - $800) with the understanding that I'm not interested in used equipment. Thanks for your help.

[kexodusc]

I have a very similar setup to the one you are interested in buying...Studio 40's and 20's with a Studio CC. Personally, I preferred the H/K as far as sound quality went compared to Denon when I was testing out receivers on my speakers. My fiance liked the Denon better. To tell you the truth, they both sounded pretty darn good. However, I think Denon has a few more features than the comparably priced H/K's. I also belive the H/K's have more dynamic headroom (or reserve power, whatever) than Denon. Since the extra power was kind of not really needed for my listening levels, I think the Denon offered a better value (AVR-2803).
I ended up going with Yamaha's RX-V1400, to me it sounded the best. If you're looking to keep close to the $500 price range, I'd recommend the RX-V650 (or the HTR-5760, $399 phone order at J&R.com) and RX-V750. Plenty of power and features for you, but ultimately I think Yamaha's Parametric Acoustic Optimizer tool is a dynamite feature that significantly improves the sound quality of your system. This will undoubtedly make a far larger difference in sound quality than the differences you hear between receivers. I strongly suggest you consider Yamaha for this feature alone. Especially in your setup with ceiling speakers. YPAO might actually compensate for any acoustic problems you might have in your room.
I'd also suggest you take a look at Marantz, kind of ugly, but I thought they had a very nice sounding, feature packed receiver as well...can't remember the model number. I've had both Yamaha and Marantz receivers powering my speakers and I quite enjoyed them.

[Woochifer]

I doubt you'll hear a huge difference between those two receivers, at least in the basic decoding modes. Spend some time with both of them and decide based on which one you feel more comfortable with. The Paradigm Studio series is more demanding than their lower tier speakers, but they're still relatively forgiving on receivers.

In fact, when I was auditioning receivers, the differences between them were relatively narrow, especially compared to the variation you find when comparing speakers. Among the receivers in your price range, I think the one that will likely sound different is that aforementioned Yamaha because of the YPAO room calibration feature. Room acoustics and speakers are the two biggest variables in an audio system, and the YPAO at least partially accounts for the acoustics. By this time next year, probably all of the major receiver manufacturers will incorporate some form of parametric room calibration feature, but for now only Yamaha, Pioneer, and Denon (only with the new $1,300 AVR-3805) have that anywhere near your price range.

[agtpunx40]

does it have preouts? It doesn't say so on the j and r website. That seems like a pretty good deal though

[agtpunx40]

on a different forum I read that the htr series doesn not have the full YAPO feature. It seems the only one which actually has the parametric eq is the 5790, which is the same as the 1400. The rest of the htr series just does auto calibraiton. You wouldn't happen to know how much j and r is selling that for, do ya?

[kexodusc]

HTR-5760 has pre-outs...check Yamaha's website and look at the back panels or the download the user manual and you'll see....the 5750 and below do not.

[kexodusc]

I've also read that only the RX-V1400/HTR-5790 and above have the Parametric equalization incorporated into YPAO. Another forum claimed that after contacting Yamaha, they were told that the YPAO features were the same and that the write-ups in the product literature were the only difference.
I only have the RX-V1400 and haven't seen any of the other units, so I can't tell you for certain. Still, the auto calibration, is better than nothing I suppose.

Personally, I'd be a little disappointed by Yamaha if this is true. They are implying that YPAO is the same across all the RX-V and HTR lines. This is the kind of marketing tactic I'd expect from a few other companies...no names. I guess business is business.

[46minaudio]

I doubt you'll hear a huge difference between those two receivers, at least in the basic decoding modes. Spend some time with both of them and decide based on which one you feel more comfortable with. The Paradigm Studio series is more demanding than their lower tier speakers, but they're still relatively forgiving on receivers.

In fact, when I was auditioning receivers, the differences between them were relatively narrow, especially compared to the variation you find when comparing speakers. Among the receivers in your price range, I think the one that will likely sound different is that aforementioned Yamaha because of the YPAO room calibration feature. Room acoustics and speakers are the two biggest variables in an audio system, and the YPAO at least partially accounts for the acoustics. By this time next year, probably all of the major receiver manufacturers will incorporate some form of parametric room calibration feature, but for now only Yamaha, Pioneer, and Denon (only with the new $1,300 AVR-3805) have that anywhere near your price range.

I was going to write this but Woochifer was reading my mind and beat me to it..Also if you read many audio forums you will find Yamaha has very few QC issues,and most of these are failing to read the manual..