A/V receiver reviews and differences

Richersounds.ie: Dave

Hi all.

In the past few months, the A/V receiver category around £300 - £500 has been hotly contended.

With Onkyo pulling in the numbers with some crazy price drops, to Denon following suit, Yamaha sticking to it's guns (to a certain degree) as they felt that they had the best product to Pioneer pulling out the stops and bringing in some budget priced Airplay models.

The playing field is just about to get a little grass cutting as some of the old models are starting to fade out and new ones start to appear on the Horizon and in the flesh.

With the introduction of our new Demo room in Belfast, we have been able to get some proper listens to the A/V receivers and this would be my opinion on the current models that are for this year.

Yamaha RXV673 - Not yet replaced and now reduced in price to £399.95. I had to include this as winner of the Home cinema receiver 2012 on What Hifi and so far the new model has not appeared. This is a very open sounding and well balanced receiver that tends to work well with larger satellite / bookshelf or floorstander speakers and provides excellent sound in both stereo and home cinema. The smaller satellite speakers just can't do enough with the sound from the Yamaha so I would go for something slightly larger. Like the Wharfedale DX1 pack / Monitor Audio Mass pack for example. A bargain at £399.95. Home cinema receiver of 2012 at £500 in What Hifi. 

http://www.whathifi.com/review/yamaha-rx-v673

The new Denon AVRX2000 - This is one of the few receivers to have both spotify and Airplay on board and thanks to the current What Hifi review has hit the ground running. Boardies seems to have missed this one in the running but I can understand why. £499.95 and wouldn't be just as open as the Yamaha but a little more laid back and brilliant for music. Works well with a wide range of speakers. The lack of wifi on the Denon and Yamaha are not a real issue as I would always go hard wired where possible or use the homeplugs.

http://www.whathifi.com/review/avr-x2000

Onkyo TXNR626 - Awarded a 4 star review by What Hifi. The Onkyo has some nice features like the Wifi on-board but again they have opted for no Airplay support and instead are sticking with Spotify. Could be an agreement that has a time to run ? The 626 is a very good receiver but it most definitely doesn't have the detail of the Yamaha or the Denon and this may be down to the drop of the THX certification on the new model ?? My previous Onkyo has a very good bottom end but whatever has changed they have gone for a brighter sounding receiver, so I would be a little more cautious about which speakers you pair this up with. The wifi and bluetooth will be pleasing features for a lot of people as there is a lack of love for dongles in general.

http://www.whathifi.com/review/onkyo-tx-nr626

Marantz NR1504 - This slimline receiver is designed to go into those spaces where other receivers just can't go....and I don't mean unde the bed when the missus gets her hands on the visa bill ! The NR1504 doesn't stock up in performance against the like of the AVRX2000 or the Yamaha 673. It does give the Onkyo a decent workout but the Marantz can't have the same power capabilities due to the smaller chassis. If you're looking for something for a larger room, then I would look at the 1604 or the others above. I haven't included the 1604 as it's priced at £550. The Marantz does have Airplay and other nice networking bits and pieces but again wireless is not an option. The Marantz has a beautiful music ability and is one of the few slimline receivers on the market that works very well.

Cambridge 351R - Lacking in features compared to some but wow, what an amazing product. The 351R is a little sleeper and one that has remained under the radar on here and in our store. It's a seriously well built receiver that provides the best stereo sound I've heard for under £500 from any A/V receiver. This has been designed by a bunch of audio geeks from Cambridge to maximise the sound quality without necessarily having the best features on the planet. This unit provides a gutsy home cinema sound but really impresses on the stereo side and from a chassis which is smaller than the Marantz, this is one to be considered if you are stuck for space. If you are a hifi nut and want some of the features of hone cinema then look no further than the 351R. 

There are some other deals going on the likes of the 717 Onkyo at £499.95 but I;m focusing more on the current models as I reckon that AVRX2000 or the 673 gives the 717 a run for it's money. You'll also notice that I haven't mentioned Pioneer as yet the models from 2012 are still around and no sign of any news ones as yet.

Hope this has been useful for anyone looking at the current 2013 range of receivers, but as ever if we can help with anything, just drop us a line.

ATB



Dave
(demo room resident)

weisses

Excellent post

seamie mac

Hi Dave,

Good summary, thanks. I have the Yamaha RX-V673 and am currently puzzling over a 5.1 to pair well with it. Have been looking at both Wharfedale DX1 pack / Monitor Audio Mass packs - my reservation has been if the Fronts in both those kits are really adequate for music and whether the Mass loses anything by not having a 'specialised' Center speaker. My mix is 60% home cinema to 40% music (eg Pink Floyd, lead and bass guitars) - but I'd hate to have good home cinema sound and only average music sound. Room size is 15' x 17'

The Mass is rated at 8 ohms and, far from an expert that I am, some reading around the boards seems to prefer matching the 8 ohm Yamaha with an 8 ohm speaker package. Your view?

Would you think the Wharfedale Diamond 121 would complement the DX1 in this regard (the satelites could be re-purposed to make an overall 7.1)

Similiarly would the MA BX2 boost the MASS pack for FL and FR ?

Because of these 'reservations' my heart is saying to do a Johnnie Cash with the Monitor Audio BX range instead .... 2 x BX2 for fronts, 2 x BXFX for surrounds, the BXC and the BXw10 ... buy it one piece at a time to spread the cost .... so would you highly rate the MA BX with the Yamaha RXV673 over the 2 recommendations in your post or is it totally overkill for the Yammie?

If I popped up have you these combinations to listen to in your demo room ??

Richersounds.ie: Kenny

seamie mac wrote: »

Hi Dave,

Good summary, thanks. I have the Yamaha RX-V673 and am currently puzzling over a 5.1 to pair well with it. Have been looking at both Wharfedale DX1 pack / Monitor Audio Mass packs - my reservation has been if the Fronts in both those kits are really adequate for music and whether the Mass loses anything by not having a 'specialised' Center speaker. My mix is 60% home cinema to 40% music (eg Pink Floyd, lead and bass guitars) - but I'd hate to have good home cinema sound and only average music sound. Room size is 15' x 17'

The Mass is rated at 8 ohms and, far from an expert that I am, some reading around the boards seems to prefer matching the 8 ohm Yamaha with an 8 ohm speaker package. Your view?

Would you think the Wharfedale Diamond 121 would complement the DX1 in this regard (the satelites could be re-purposed to make an overall 7.1)

Similiarly would the MA BX2 boost the MASS pack for FL and FR ?

Because of these 'reservations' my heart is saying to do a Johnnie Cash with the Monitor Audio BX range instead .... 2 x BX2 for fronts, 2 x BXFX for surrounds, the BXC and the BXw10 ... buy it one piece at a time to spread the cost .... so would you highly rate the MA BX with the Yamaha RXV673 over the 2 recommendations in your post or is it totally overkill for the Yammie?

If I popped up have you these combinations to listen to in your demo room ??

Hi Seamie,

Thanks for getting in touch and apologies about the delay in getting back to you.

Both the Wharfdale and Monitor Audio are great speaker packs.  The DX1 is fantastic for movies and not too bad for music.  The Mass pack is a much better all rounder in my opinion.  Do not let the small centre put you off, we demoed the full system for a customer in store not that long ago.  He had a mix CD of acoustic, electronic and also the Inception soundtrack.  The mass pack didn't miss anything, unreal sound for such small speakers.  I'd defiantly giving it a listen.

The 673 would have no problems with the BX pack.  Again another option well worth looking at.  The whole BX range is fantastic.  For audio the BX2s are out of this world.

Are demo room is pretty much near ready to go.  Just a few finishing touches and we're rockin.  There's no problem at all letting you hear all 3 packs  Just let us know when suits and we'll get it sorted for you.

Chris