Recently my 4 years old Denon 1312 has developed fault in the HDMI board (no HDMI output at all). My horrible experience with Denon support and the probable cost of repair quoted by Mumbai service center + two way shipping of the AVR turns out to be more than the resale value. Thus, I have decided to buy a new one
1. Room size: 30'x13'x13' (approx.)
2. Speaker I am going to use (already in place): WHF diamond 10.2 as fronts, Sonodyne sonus series center and surrounds, Polk Audio SUB.
3. I intend 5.1 for movies (70% use) and 2.1 for music (30% use), I simply don't ever want 7.1 or 7.2 because I will never use them.
4. Display is Optoma HD 20 (120" grandview screen) which is connected by a 35' monoprice HDMI 1.4 cable.
5. Source: BDP and Tata Sky+ HD for video and TT+phono and laptop+DAC for audio, I have a separate dedicated audio rig, hence lesser use for audio in this set-up.
6. I simply want HDMI switching, HD (DTS HDMA etc.) decoding and quality multi channel amplification, I do not need any fancy feature such as USB,network,Wi-Fi,MHL,streaming,spotify,HTC,android app control,airplay,bluetooth etc. which a simple laptop can do quite reliably.
7. Budget: I shall be glad if I pay for what I will use and not what is promoted by the manufacturer to get an edge in the competition. I can stretch myself to 60K-70K bracket but definitely lesser is better for me as I am not looking for feature packed stuff
8. Support: this one is of the most important factor for me since I have noticed almost all manufacturer becomes reluctant or less responsive when they have to support a sold product. I want professional support beyond the warranty period. I WANT CLEAR, HASSLE FREE AFTER SALES SERVICE, WANT TO AVOID SENDING A 10 KG. AVR TO A PLACE 3000 KM AWAY
So I want a AVR which runs cool, robust, stable HDMI switching (no picture drop etc.) and has a great after sales service.
I have shortlisted
1.Marantz NR 1504 - all fine but people say it lacks power. But my perception says in real world one hardly clocks 10W in HT, still not sure, I do not want to crank up the AVR. I must admit I have a soft corner for Marantz and I want to test one.
Marantz SR 5008 - this one will be right for me but I will have to pay for many thing which I will never use.
2.Yamaha V477/V577 - review is good, but do not know how they will perform. They claim they have a service center in Guwahati which I doubt.
3. Pioneer: I am not keen since they do not have any support (although they have falsely mentioned it in their website) anywhere nearby. I also doubt the authenticity of the info available in their website.
4.Denon - I have no complaints for their product, but they simply do not have any support in the entire eastern region, their facebook page is worst of all. I will never buy a Denon product because of this.
5. Onkyo - No idea about their pricing, very very limited option to buy and they do not have a proper website, I think ONKYO india site is not run by the company.
my questions are:
Is NR 1504 really lacks power for my room?
How is Marantz after sales service?
How is Yamaha 477/577 in performance?
How good is SR 5008/5009? they are quite costly
Please share your thoughts
1. Room size: 30'x13'x13' (approx.)
2. Speaker I am going to use (already in place): WHF diamond 10.2 as fronts, Sonodyne sonus series center and surrounds, Polk Audio SUB.
3. I intend 5.1 for movies (70% use) and 2.1 for music (30% use), I simply don't ever want 7.1 or 7.2 because I will never use them.
4. Display is Optoma HD 20 (120" grandview screen) which is connected by a 35' monoprice HDMI 1.4 cable.
5. Source: BDP and Tata Sky+ HD for video and TT+phono and laptop+DAC for audio, I have a separate dedicated audio rig, hence lesser use for audio in this set-up.
6. I simply want HDMI switching, HD (DTS HDMA etc.) decoding and quality multi channel amplification, I do not need any fancy feature such as USB,network,Wi-Fi,MHL,streaming,spotify,HTC,android app control,airplay,bluetooth etc. which a simple laptop can do quite reliably.
7. Budget: I shall be glad if I pay for what I will use and not what is promoted by the manufacturer to get an edge in the competition. I can stretch myself to 60K-70K bracket but definitely lesser is better for me as I am not looking for feature packed stuff
8. Support: this one is of the most important factor for me since I have noticed almost all manufacturer becomes reluctant or less responsive when they have to support a sold product. I want professional support beyond the warranty period. I WANT CLEAR, HASSLE FREE AFTER SALES SERVICE, WANT TO AVOID SENDING A 10 KG. AVR TO A PLACE 3000 KM AWAY
So I want a AVR which runs cool, robust, stable HDMI switching (no picture drop etc.) and has a great after sales service.
I have shortlisted
1.Marantz NR 1504 - all fine but people say it lacks power. But my perception says in real world one hardly clocks 10W in HT, still not sure, I do not want to crank up the AVR. I must admit I have a soft corner for Marantz and I want to test one.
Marantz SR 5008 - this one will be right for me but I will have to pay for many thing which I will never use.
2.Yamaha V477/V577 - review is good, but do not know how they will perform. They claim they have a service center in Guwahati which I doubt.
3. Pioneer: I am not keen since they do not have any support (although they have falsely mentioned it in their website) anywhere nearby. I also doubt the authenticity of the info available in their website.
4.Denon - I have no complaints for their product, but they simply do not have any support in the entire eastern region, their facebook page is worst of all. I will never buy a Denon product because of this.
5. Onkyo - No idea about their pricing, very very limited option to buy and they do not have a proper website, I think ONKYO india site is not run by the company.
my questions are:
Is NR 1504 really lacks power for my room?
How is Marantz after sales service?
How is Yamaha 477/577 in performance?
How good is SR 5008/5009? they are quite costly
Please share your thoughts