Onkyo SR875 to a Denon X2300W or Yamaha RX-V681?

Sh4rkie

Sh4rkie

Sh4rkie

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Advice required please.

My Onkyo 875 needs replacing as it's starting to misbehave. I've a budget of up to £450 and within that the Denon X2300W and Yamaha V681 have caught my eye.

4x4m room, 5.1 speaker setup (Q Acoustics 2050 L/R, 2000 C, Kef rear / sub)
4k TV, HTPC, XB360, gaming PC
80% films, 20% music (wide spectrum of tastes)

Based on the above would either be a good choice or are there other options?

Cheers
 
Really need to go and demo each AVR with Q Acoustics speakers as you may prefer sound quality over another. I personally like Yamaha AVR's for the relability and trouble free firmware.

YPAO isn't too bad, allows you some customisation over others. Not sure what room EQ Denon has, if it's audyssey room eq it's pretty much on or off. I've only had one Denon product in the past, not bad for the price but found it a bit "Japanese sounding " for my tastes.
 
I own the Denon X2300W and previous to that several generations of Yamaha AVRs.

Both the Denon and Yamaha will give you a warmer sound, you'll need to demo to decide which one you prefer. Both have the same sort of reliability and support (despite what many will say - Yamaha just has a more historic reputation).

Why did i move from Yamaha to Denon? The Denon offers full HDMI 2.0 / HDCP 2.2 ports, the Yamaha only has 3. Also the Denon has reguarlly been on offer from £350-£380 so easily price matched with Richersounds where the Yamaha typically sits at £450 most of the time. So you save money and get something more.

Having demo'd both, i noticed no real difference between the two. I did actually prefer the Denon setup over the Yamaha, everything just seemed to work first time without fiddling. With my previous Yamaha's (5 in total) - that just hasn't happened. Could be down to personal experience though.
 
sprite- said:
I own the Denon X2300W and previous to that several generations of Yamaha AVRs.

Both the Denon and Yamaha will give you a warmer sound, you'll need to demo to decide which one you prefer. Both have the same sort of reliability and support (despite what many will say - Yamaha just has a more historic reputation).

Why did i move from Yamaha to Denon? The Denon offers full HDMI 2.0 / HDCP 2.2 ports, the Yamaha only has 3. Also the Denon has reguarlly been on offer from £350-£380 so easily price matched with Richersounds where the Yamaha typically sits at £450 most of the time. So you save money and get something more.

Having demo'd both, i noticed no real difference between the two. I did actually prefer the Denon setup over the Yamaha, everything just seemed to work first time without fiddling. With my previous Yamaha's (5 in total) - that just hasn't happened. Could be down to personal experience though.
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I have found that the UI is terrible on Yamaha's it looks as if it's running DOS but give it some time and it grows on you, it's badly need of updating but I'm sure this is the case with most AVR's. However the 781 I own is miles better than the 677 in terms of everything. Was easier to set up, configure and it sounds a lot better too. Yamaha is a name that has been around for years. Denon is good too but I have heard of reliability issues over at avforums where they run very hot and you could probably mod it with a cooler if your worried about that.

Your right the Denon is probably the one to go for as it's £100 cheaper. However the 681 was £399 up until recently where it has jumped to £450. I know because I have been watching it for 3 months now. This is due to the weak pound and brexit, etc. The extra £50 price jump is what made me think well i might as well spend that little bit extra for the 781 now which went the other way and dropped in price.

I'd always pick yamaha personally. I have bought 3 yamaha soundbars and 2 yamaha amps. I find their products to be very good compared to the competition usually. Same goes for monitor audio. I prefer their speakers over everyone else's as they are very well priced.
 
Cracking replies much appreciated, thanks one and all :)

Glad i appear to be on the right track but with all the input it's given me a lot more to think about. At this point i'm leaning towards the Yamaha but more research to be done first (auditioning either of them is unlikely for me).

Thanks again (the forum needs a like a post button!)
 
Nope, if anything it's gone the other way. Modern AV amps cram a lot more in terms of audio/video processing and the amp section tends to suffer because of it. Ignoring all the digital trickery for a second, to get an onkyo amp with a similar construction to your 875 will cost you significantly more than your 875 did. In fact i dont think onkyo even have an ultra 2 amp with less than 11 channels, now - they are all select 2 unless im mistaking whereas your 875 is ultra 2 and there's quite a big difference in the two ratings. Not that thx certification is the be all and end all but it's a good indication of performance when you have two amps from the same manufacturer and only one of them is ultra 2 certified.

in reality you might find it doesnt make an awful lot of difference with your kit in your living room (ultra 2 is way over the top for most average living rooms, mine included!) Then again, you might find it does - so you really need to demo first. You might even find that despite the downgrade on the amp side, some of the digital stuff on the denon like Audyssey dynamic eq might make up for that in other ways.
 
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james.miller said:
Nope, if anything it's gone the other way. Modern AV amps cram a lot more in terms of audio/video processing and the amp section tends to suffer because of it. Ignoring all the digital trickery for a second, to get an onkyo amp with a similar construction to your 875 will cost you significantly more than your 875 did. In fact i dont think onkyo even have an ultra 2 amp with less than 11 channels, now - they are all select 2 unless im mistaking whereas your 875 is ultra 2 and there's quite a big difference in the two ratings. Not that thx certification is the be all and end all but it's a good indication of performance when you have two amps from the same manufacturer and only one of them is ultra 2 certified.

in reality you might find it doesnt make an awful lot of difference with your kit in your living room (ultra 2 is way over the top for most average living rooms, mine included!) Then again, you might find it does - so you really need to demo first. You might even find that despite the downgrade on the amp side, some of the digital stuff on the denon like Audyssey dynamic eq might make up for that in other ways.
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In a word, crumbs! Budget won't allow for something meatier and i do love my 875 as it fills the room and the sound stage is huge but precise. Musically it also ticks all the boxes for me too.

Might have to make the effort to be social and try Richer Sounds out or something to demo some kit.

Thanks for the input :)
 
james.miller said:
Not that thx certification is the be all and end all but it's a good indication of performance when you have two amps from the same manufacturer and only one of them is ultra 2 certified..
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Yes and no.

Plenty of power amplifiers don't have THX spec at all, but you can bet they will pass and exceed THX Ultra 2 easily. For example ATI 6007.
Can't see the spec of the 875 in full channel mode (because all the ratings are blown out and made out to be fake) but in 2 channel it's 140W x 2.

Also THX includes things on the processor side, it's not just on the amp (or speakers) my THX Ultra 2 pre has some THX features you can toggle (and of course pure THX mode)
 
That's why I said its not the be all and end all :)

hornetstinger said:
Can't see the spec of the 875 in full channel mode (because all the ratings are blown out and made out to be fake) but in 2 channel it's 140W x 2
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Itll exceed that at 4 ohms, its closer to 300. It'll do that at 8 ohms if you run bridged and sacrifice the two rear channels.
 
Power results were generous almost to a fault, handily exceeding the receiver's 140 watts-per-channel rating in all tests except for seven-channel-simultaneous power, which came very, very close. The TX-SR875 got quite hot under prolonged power testing, however. And the fan (which came on only under severe stress) was a bit noisy, though users should never hear it while playing at the volume required to activate it. With the receiver's impedance menu set to "4 ohms," power in all modes was limited to around 55 watts, as is usual with such current-limiting modes. All our listed tests, including 4-ohm power measurements, reflect performance with the "6 ohms" setting. Bridged output at clipping was in excess of 300 watts, two channels driven into 8 ohms.


Read more at http://www.soundandvision.com/content/test-bench-onkyo-tx-sr875-av-receiver#0Fyt69rljO7XhJYV.99
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I know all channels driven is important however you mentioned 2 channels - the 875 is capable of dumping a lot of current in to the front channels, far more than its 7 channel figures suggest. The 805 (which I own) is similar.
 
I'd class that as a 128W x 7 amp. Which is good, and THX spec means you know it'll output 100W all channels driven.
Compare that to a Yamaha AVR around 50W all channels driven.

spec of my amps
FTC Full Bandwidth Output Power at 8 Ohms**
200 watts

FTC Full Bandwidth Output Power at 4 Ohms**
300 watts
Frequency Response at Rated Output
20Hz to 20kHz ±0.1dB
Signal-to-Noise Ratio “A-Weighted”
Greater than 120dB below rated FTC Full Bandwidth Power
Total Harmonic Distortion (THD)
Less than 0.03% at full rated FTC power Less than 0.005% at full EIA power at 1kHz
 
I am no sound expert but currently am using an X2300W Denon with Q Acoustics Q7000i, and from my perspective it is fantastic. Easy to use, the menus could be a little better but once it is set up nicely it is perfect
 
Shivy011 said:
I am no sound expert but currently am using an X2300W Denon with Q Acoustics Q7000i, and from my perspective it is fantastic. Easy to use, the menus could be a little better but once it is set up nicely it is perfect
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Cheers Shivy :)

I'm looking at stretching my budget once the 875 gives up to £550 which means the Yamaha RXV781 is on the table in terms of options.
 
If you want a AVR with lots of power in multi channel mode, Yamaha aren't a good choice. I own a Yamaha

Seven channels driven continuously into 8-ohm loads:
0.1% distortion at 27.1 watts

What a piece of rubbish.

I'm only making do with 3x300W, and 4x200W hehe
 
Sure you will be fine with the AVR X2300, I picked one up just over a month ago and im pretty happy with it for the cash. I had a AVR-2809, which new around the 1k when it came out. Recent upgrade to a 4k TV forced me to look for a 4k and HDR compatible amp. I was originally going to get the AVR X3300, but other then a very slight bump in power, and better room correction, the models are supposed to be identical.

My speakers aren't the easiest to drive (monitor audio GS) and it does a pretty good job at driving them. It helps that if your only using 5.1, you can use the free 2 channels to bi-amp the front speakers.

Sound quality wise, I wasn't blown away by it, the AVR-2809 did seem to have a tad more control, and power in reserve. But it does have a nice balanced sound and the room eq is far better than what the 2809 did. it does steer the sound around the room impressively. It also has the added benefit of internet radio, bluetooth streaming etc. You get an awful lot for the cash if you must buy new.
 
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