AVR around 1L

[dillihifi]

Hi all the time has come to upgrade my HT setup. Well after issues with my existing AVR (Harman Kardon 260) (HDMI conked out), i had thought of upgrading the AVR but DD and DTS decoding being carried out I was putting it off. Well now that the AVR no longer turns on (it seems there is a problem in the standby circuit) I have finally decided to upgrade my equipment and so wand the esteemed advice of members regarding what my choices are and am I missing out on anything or what else should I consider.

My setup :
Placement in Living Room/Bedroom
Using Marting Logan LX 16 bookshelves Front speakers (am trying to get an matching centre)
A pair of Onkyo bookshelves as surrounds
A Sonodyne Roar 210 sub

The AVRs which I have shortlisted are as under :

1. Denon 4400h (9 channel, packed with features, but reliability ??, Audessy Room Correction)
2. Yamaha Aventage 870/880/1070 (7 channel, YAPO Room Correction, more reliable than Denon)
3. NAD 758 V3 (7 channel, Dirac LE room correction, 3 HDMI ins/1 out, Reliability ??)
4. Anthem MRX 520 (5 channels, ARC, Reliability ?)

One of the most important issues is going to be reliability and sound. As this system is exclusively for HT duties so mostly will not be used for music listening other than some casual listening. The movies are also limited to around 1/2 every week or less.

Please contribute all your views so I can make an informed decision.

 

[elangoas]

Well now that the AVR no longer turns on

That is sad..

Placement in Living Room/Bedroom

What are your room dimensions?.. THis will help, narrow down the AVR choices..

Using Marting Logan LX 16 bookshelves Front speakers (am trying to get an matching centre)

See if you can get a single LX16 to use as center..

A pair of Onkyo bookshelves as surrounds
A Sonodyne Roar 210 sub

Both are fine.. Do you have false ceiling in your room to accommodate in-ceiling speakers as heights?..

One of the most important issues is going to be reliability and sound. As this system is exclusively for HT duties so mostly will not be used for music listening other than some casual listening. The movies are also limited to around 1/2 every week or less.

The probability of AVR failure is less..

 

[matbhuvi]

Very interesting. I was also looking for AVR in same budget to replace my dead Pioneer Elite VSX-21TXH.

1. Denon 3440/4400 - Good choice because of Audyssey Ext32. But, denon has gone down in quality lately. Only 6440 is made in japan.
2. Yamaha Aventage - Yamaha SQ is ahead of Denon, Pioneer and Onkyo. The same applies for quality as well. But, YPAO room correction is yet to be proved. Heard that current gent has improved a lot.
3. NAD T758v3 - NAD sound and Dirac live is a very very big plus. Extremely conservative in their power rating. I have tried Diracl live for my stereo setup and i love it. But, based on what i read, NAD has high reliability issues. These guys are not good in presentation/GUI/software compared to how good they are in hardware. I am not sure how good is NAD's service capability in India.
4. Anthem MRX 520 - I would recommend to go at least 7 channels. Dolby ATMOS does make a difference in movie watching.

I am tilting heavily towards Aventage 1070.

 

[dillihifi]

Thanks for the replies man.

Well to answer some of the queries

The Living room is L Shaped and has an opening to the dining area. Dimensions are around 16 x 11ft. The bedroom is around 12.5 x 11.5 ft

Trying to source the motion 30 for centre channel duties

No false ceiling right now maybe will do it later


Good analysis by @matbhuvi. It seems that Yamaha 1070 is a sweet deal. I like to go for NAD but the reliability is driving me away from them Anthem is great but the lack of even processing of 7.2 channels is holding me back.


Lets see what the pricing is for these and if the pricing is OK will be having a new AVR by the end of this month

@matbhuvi could you please elaborate on how you are using Dirac-Live for stereo ?

 

[elangoas]

The Living room is L Shaped and has an opening to the dining area. Dimensions are around 16 x 11ft. The bedroom is around 12.5 x 11.5 ft

Hope you are planning to set -it up in living room..

No false ceiling right now maybe will do it later

Ok.. Then for heights, you will need to consider a satellite speakers that can be ceiling mounted with external brackets..

No expereince with Dirac, ARC, YPAO.. Just been using the Denon X 3300 for a while..

You can look for an AVR with at-least 5.1.4 capability out of the box and upto 7.1.4 layout with additional amplifier, Denon x 4400 with Audyssey XT32.. It also should be the least expensive of the AVR's that you are considering.. Also Marantz SR 6012..

 

[JayaRaa]

Denon X3400 is now discontinued, X3500 will be available in next 10 days
Yamaha Aventage '80 series will also be available by then
NAD has new distribution now so service will not be an issue
Anthem whilst good is too expensive & the way technology is progressing, it doesn't make sense to invest in their model range
FYI, there are some good deals available of Denon X4400 currently

 

[pranjandas]

The official site of Yamaha now features only Aventage A 880 and none of the XX80 models. May be Yamaha is not considering higher aventage models beyond A880, not all models are released in India as per previous experience. Suggest to please get confirmation from their corporate sales office first else it might not be worthwhile to wait too long.

Other option is you may consider getting the chosen model imported. But make sure it is a 240V version and using a step transformer is best avoided.

Whichever AVR you chose to buy, make sure you give proper attention to its room calibration performance and its ability to manually feed the changes afterwards. Manual EQ for sub(s) are a must.

 

[matbhuvi]

The official site of Yamaha now features only Aventage A 880 and none of the XX80 models. May be Yamaha is not considering higher aventage models beyond A880, not all models are released in India as per previous experience. Suggest to please get confirmation from their corporate sales office first else it might not be worthwhile to wait too long.

Yes. A1080 is not yet released in India. The only difference is the new AI based EQ which will boost the dialogue volume based on scene and musicast. I am not sure i would use any of the features.

 

[dillihifi]

Well I am not interested in importing an AVR. Seeing the considerable investment in the equipment I would like to be assured regarding the reliability part. Though there would not be issues in getting the NAD repaired but am apprehensive about the same as they are very finicky and have read several posts regarding the hissing sounds from the atmos pre-outs and dealers changing the receivers which I guess will never happen in India.

Though the Denon is available at attractive prices but my recent interaction left me with an impression that Marantz and Denon have gone down quality wise. I have no preference for the 80 series in Yamaha nor the latest series in Denon, last years models would serve me just as well. I am biased towards the NAD hoping for the same sonic signature of their amps but as pointed out above the reliability factor is holding me back and I don't think we will be getting anywhere the levels of service as NAD offers elsewhere.

@matbhuvi could you please elaborate on your Dirac Live implementation in stereo

 

[rpmahale]

There are few AVR you need to consider which are equally capable and comparable like Marantz SR 6012 , Onkyo RZ830 and Cambridge audio CRX120. Marantz SR6012 is the cheapest AVR with 11.2 pre out. In future the same can be use as processor with additional powerful three or five channels power amplifier like Emotiva XPA 3/5 or Bsax 5175.

 

[dillihifi]

Hello again

After giving a lot of thought I think that maximum media content is consumed through streaming and therefore mostly the sound tracks are in DD or DD plus. Watching a Blu ray or HD DVD (Yes I got around a 70-80 HD DVD discs) comes around in ages. I do not own a single Atmos disc as of yet. I will still be pretty happy with the Anthem with its 5.2 capabilities. Though I had a 7.1 channel AVR since the last 6 years, I have never contemplated connecting the surround back channels so the extra amps were unutilised. I would be running a 5.1 setup primarily for watching streaming media content, sports action and some other documentaries.

The AVRs which I am actively considering are :

Yamaha 1070
Yamaha 870
Denon 4400
NAD T758
Anthem 520

 

[insane79]

Hello again

After giving a lot of thought I think that maximum media content is consumed through streaming and therefore mostly the sound tracks are in DD or DD plus. Watching a Blu ray or HD DVD (Yes I got around a 70-80 HD DVD discs) comes around in ages. I do not own a single Atmos disc as of yet. I will still be pretty happy with the Anthem with its 5.2 capabilities. Though I had a 7.1 channel AVR since the last 6 years, I have never contemplated connecting the surround back channels so the extra amps were unutilised. I would be running a 5.1 setup primarily for watching streaming media content, sports action and some other documentaries.

The AVRs which I am actively considering are :

Yamaha 1070
Yamaha 870
Denon 4400
NAD T758
Anthem 520

If its only HT usage, just get the Denon & nothing else. They are balanced more for HT use then the other models in your list.


Cheers.

 

[matbhuvi]

@matbhuvi could you please elaborate on how you are using Dirac-Live for stereo ?

I use PC as transport. You just need to install Dirac calibration and filter software. Then in Jriver player, just set the output to Dirack live. But, the trial period is over now. I am hesitant to spend 30k for it. But, it helped me identify the problems. My sub has ability to tune the phase. I have to play with that and use REW EQ now to get the proper response. Any day, room acoustics correction is better than software EQ correction.

 

[humblebee]

Anthem is better than others.

 

[dillihifi]

Thanks for all the suggestions here and vide pm. Finally I have got the NAD 758V3 . now budget got a little bumped upwards and what tilted me the towards the NAD was 7.1 channel amp with Atmos and Dirac + wifi and blue tooth connectivity with option for upgrading in future as the receiver features 7.1.4 preouts. Will open a separate thread for the listening experiences, etc.

 

[spirovious]

Thanks for all the suggestions here and vide pm. Finally I have got the NAD 758V3 . now budget got a little bumped upwards and what tilted me the towards the NAD was 7.1 channel amp with Atmos and Dirac + wifi and blue tooth connectivity with option for upgrading in future as the receiver features 7.1.4 preouts. Will open a separate thread for the listening experiences, etc.

Congratulations.Add a review to that thread.

 

[buxx]

Thanks for all the suggestions here and vide pm. Finally I have got the NAD 758V3 . now budget got a little bumped upwards and what tilted me the towards the NAD was 7.1 channel amp with Atmos and Dirac + wifi and blue tooth connectivity with option for upgrading in future as the receiver features 7.1.4 preouts. Will open a separate thread for the listening experiences, etc.

Hey just curious, but what was the pricing on the NAD then

 

[dillihifi]

well at that point of time I got it for 1.1 or 1.2 l dont exactly remember. I think that the prices have been substantially increased. Well the DTS X upgrade has also happened and you cannot go wrong with this receiver.

 

[buxx]

What's all this talk about modularity in the NAD .. is it practical ? Any issues all this while.. ? Seems like the NAD may be a bit better VFM than Arcam/Anthem ..

 

[insane79]

What's all this talk about modularity in the NAD .. is it practical ? Any issues all this while.. ? Seems like the NAD may be a bit better VFM than Arcam/Anthem ..

Well you guessed it right, it is more VFM compare to Anthem & Arcam. It will be a massive upgrade from your 6012 for sure. I would say only the 8012 might rival the T758 v3. Then if you like to listen to High quality music like Tidal, you can do this with the BlueSound built in the Nad T758 v3.
I don't think any of the Marantz can do MQA directly, i could be wrong but doubt it so it is good VFM. I purchased mine around 1.5 years back at first the T758 v3 was very buggy but a lot of firmware updates(which are regular compare to other brands) solved most of the teething issues. I haven't even used the Dirac Live room correction yet beat that as i love the sound this avr gives just the way it is. Get it you won't regret it.

Cheers.