Should I stick with Onkyo or dare to try something else ?

OneDesi

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Haing re-arrangeda couple of rooms I now have an Onkyo 876 feeding some B&W M1's in one room and an Onkyo 606 feeding some more B&W M1's in another room (yes I am spoilt and yes I do feel priveleged but it has taken a lot of effort) :)

I absolutley adore what the 876 does with movies but am finding the 606 a little harsh/brutish. The 606 does not steer as well as the 876 and is a lot more in yer face :eek: not surprising really considering the price difference.

This is where I could do with some help - I could be boring and get another 876/875 and replace the 606 but is there another gem out there (Don't mind last years model, 2nd hand is good TBH so long as reliable) that is better than the 606 and as good as the 876 albeit different by another manufacturer?

Demoing is virtually impossible now so the basic requirements are HDMI in and ability to decode HD audio formats.

All suggestions welcome :smashin:
 
Haing re-arrangeda couple of rooms I now have an Onkyo 876 feeding some B&W M1's in one room and an Onkyo 606 feeding some more B&W M1's in another room (yes I am spoilt and yes I do feel priveleged but it has taken a lot of effort) :)

I absolutley adore what the 876 does with movies but am finding the 606 a little harsh/brutish. The 606 does not steer as well as the 876 and is a lot more in yer face :eek: not surprising really considering the price difference.

This is where I could do with some help - I could be boring and get another 876/875 and replace the 606 but is there another gem out there (Don't mind last years model, 2nd hand is good TBH so long as reliable) that is better than the 606 and as good as the 876 albeit different by another manufacturer?

Demoing is virtually impossible now so the basic requirements are HDMI in and ability to decode HD audio formats.

All suggestions welcome :smashin:

Have you thought about going for a denon? They supposedly have a smoother sound. Denon 2310 is about £700 and is supposedly very good from what everyone says. Or a 2809 if you're not fussed about used. One went on ebay the other day for £375 buy it now but the going rate is a bit more than that.
 
Yamaha models 1900/3900 get good reviews on the forums and are supposedly good for music as well as just movies.
 
The Denon's do look tempting, is the 2809/10comparable to the 875/876?

Stereo music isn't really a concern for me, it's more about movies and PS3 games (mostly the former).

I did like Yamaha's when I first got into this game but find them a little harsh on the treble now.

Thanks for the advice folks :)
 
I did like Yamaha's when I first got into this game but find them a little harsh on the treble now.

Thanks for the advice folks :)

Hi OneDesi, what Yamaha's have your heard and what speakers were they paired with? Your B&Ws or did you hear them in a demo room or at friends house?

B&W and Yamaha are considered a good match, so it will be interesting to find out where you heard the Yamaha. The Yamaha's processing (IMO) is fantastic, I find that on my Virgin HD box, it decodes standard SD content into PLII fantastically (compared to Sony, not heard any Onkyo AVRs).

FWIW, you won't go wrong with the Denon or Yamaha. The Yamaha 3900 (yes, I'm bound to be a little bias :D) can be had from Peter Tyson for £950.

Yamaha RXV3900

But to your original point....i think something like the 3900 will stand up to the 876.
 
The Denon's do look tempting, is the 2809/10comparable to the 875/876?

Stereo music isn't really a concern for me, it's more about movies and PS3 games (mostly the former).

I did like Yamaha's when I first got into this game but find them a little harsh on the treble now.

Thanks for the advice folks :)

From reading up, the 2809 is comparable to a 875. They were both similarly priced when launched so were competitors. I haven't heard the 875 to be honest, but I have a 2808 which is basically the same as the 2809 with less hdmi inputs and the sound quality is absolutely excellent. Clear, but also a very full and powerful sound and the surround effect is excellent in the way it disperses the sound without localising it to one speaker.
I know that's not very technical, but I was just watching something and really listening to the sound quality of it and I'm very happy.
Denons are not generally regarded as harsh sounding so it may be worth considering if you're tired of harshness.
The 2809 is the last in the 28 range, now you either get the 2310 or 3310.
The prices are; used 2809 for £400-450, new 2310 for £700 and 3310 for £900.
My 2808 just cost me £300 but you don't really see them for sale very often for some reason.
 
From reading up, the 2809 is comparable to a 875. They were both similarly priced when launched so were competitors. I haven't heard the 875 to be honest, but I have a 2808 which is basically the same as the 2809 with less hdmi inputs and the sound quality is absolutely excellent. Clear, but also a very full and powerful sound and the surround effect is excellent in the way it disperses the sound without localising it to one speaker.
I know that's not very technical, but I was just watching something and really listening to the sound quality of it and I'm very happy.
Denons are not generally regarded as harsh sounding so it may be worth considering if you're tired of harshness.
The 2809 is the last in the 28 range, now you either get the 2310 or 3310.
The prices are; used 2809 for £400-450, new 2310 for £700 and 3310 for £900.
My 2808 just cost me £300 but you don't really see them for sale very often for some reason.

Hi there, thanks for the detailed info :smashin:

I'm intrigued by the 2808,does it decode all of the HD codecs because I only need 1 HDMI input so it sounds like abit of bargain if I can get it in black.

Wasn't there a 2910 or have Idreamt because the 23** range did confuse me :confused:

ZORBA_8 - I'll comeback to you on your post just need to jog my memory as I had an original 620 but I've demo'd the newer ones instores.
 
Hi there, thanks for the detailed info :smashin:

I'm intrigued by the 2808,does it decode all of the HD codecs because I only need 1 HDMI input so it sounds like abit of bargain if I can get it in black.

Wasn't there a 2910 or have Idreamt because the 23** range did confuse me :confused:

ZORBA_8 - I'll comeback to you on your post just need to jog my memory as I had an original 620 but I've demo'd the newer ones instores.

There hasn't been a 2910/2810 released. The 2808 definitely does the latest hd codecs. I know because I used mine last night to do just that! The only difference between that and the 2809 are 2 hdmis vs 4. I only need 2 so it doesn't really bother me. The price difference is £300 vs £450 used though, so it's a pretty big difference in price.
 
Thanks for the info Pete, did you ever hear a 2808 vs a 2809 as I'm quite tempted to try a 2808/

I'm really pleased I started this thread :)
 
Thanks for the info Pete, did you ever hear a 2808 vs a 2809 as I'm quite tempted to try a 2808/

I'm really pleased I started this thread :)

I didn't hear the 2809 but if you research it on the net, they are identical receivers apart from a couple of features, like the number of hdmi inputs and the 2809 has some audyssey features that the 2808 doesn't.
Personally I don't apply any processing to the sound other than prologic IIx to split 5.1 into 7.1 so the audyssey part didn't bother me at all as I wouldn't use it anyway. From reading about the net, a lot of people say that audyssey alters the sound and not always in a good way. But I guess it's up to personal taste.
The 2808 does still have some audyssey features if you want them though, but I'm not sure what as I don't have them turned on.
They are identical apart from that as far as size, weight, power output etc and the amplifier components used are the same so there shouldn't be any difference between them as far as sound goes.
 
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Just one more question - does the AVR2808 let the PS3 pass through video signals as the Onkyo 606 does and I would want to avoid the scalers of the AVR2808?
 

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