Onkyo 606 Vs Denon 1909 Vs Yamaha 663

deepakpraveen

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Hi All,

I'm new to this forum and this is my 1st post.I need your suggestions on picking up the best AV receiver of this lot.

I have shortlisted Onkyo 606 / Denon 1909 / Yamaha 663. I currently own a Sony STR DE 597 6.1 AVR with Wharfdale Diamond 9 speaker set up.

My requirements are :

1) Good Surround effects , especially during dynamic action sequences ( Though my current Sony is good, but could be better)
2) Clear sound separation during dynamic sequences - in an action sequence all speakers seems to be activated without much highlight of effects, especially dialogues are not clear (my Sony).

I will not be listening to music on my AVR my use is only for movies.Not too keen on upscaling too since I will definitely pick up a Blue Ray by this year, and my Sony DVD player upscales anyways.

Quality of sound is my primary interest (DVD movies) .

Yamaha currently is not being considered due to 10k price difference compared to Onkyo and Denon.

A demo of DENON at Pro Fx Chennai left me disappointed with the surround effect (Denon + Polk Audio speaker combo) , the guys at the show room mentioned AVR is not calibrated hence lack of effects have requested me to come back for another demo today.

While picking up my speakers couple of months back checked out Onkyo demo, and was quite impressed.

But somehow I feel the "feel good" factor of owning a Denon is higher hence its confusing me a bit.


Pls help me choose.


[email protected]
 
For your preferences, I would suggest the following order

Yamaha
Onkyo
Denon

to pair well with the Wharfdales. All 3 are good components, this is just a question of pairing with your speakers and your preferences.

BTW, there is nothing such as calibrating the AVR. So your dealer is speaking some BS.



Hi All,

I'm new to this forum and this is my 1st post.I need your suggestions on picking up the best AV receiver of this lot.

I have shortlisted Onkyo 606 / Denon 1909 / Yamaha 663. I currently own a Sony STR DE 597 6.1 AVR with Wharfdale Diamond 9 speaker set up.

My requirements are :

1) Good Surround effects , especially during dynamic action sequences ( Though my current Sony is good, but could be better)
2) Clear sound separation during dynamic sequences - in an action sequence all speakers seems to be activated without much highlight of effects, especially dialogues are not clear (my Sony).

I will not be listening to music on my AVR my use is only for movies.Not too keen on upscaling too since I will definitely pick up a Blue Ray by this year, and my Sony DVD player upscales anyways.

Quality of sound is my primary interest (DVD movies) .

Yamaha currently is not being considered due to 10k price difference compared to Onkyo and Denon.

A demo of DENON at Pro Fx Chennai left me disappointed with the surround effect (Denon + Polk Audio speaker combo) , the guys at the show room mentioned AVR is not calibrated hence lack of effects have requested me to come back for another demo today.

While picking up my speakers couple of months back checked out Onkyo demo, and was quite impressed.

But somehow I feel the "feel good" factor of owning a Denon is higher hence its confusing me a bit.


Pls help me choose.


[email protected]
 
If you realy want true mov performance then Onk is better.
Yam are really good,but @ higher volume you can get distortion/noice.
I experienced with TannyF4 system.
 
Hey thanks for the info.

Yamaha has increased their prices, 663 costs 53k currently from December prices of 40k. Not sure if the price is right for a low spec (compared to rest) model.

Will visit Onkyo showroom today for a demo.

Its just that I always wanted to own a Denon, but it sounded so bad felt very disappointed.The guys at PRO FX mentioned current set up is straight out of the box and setting up using the Audyssey system has not been made yet.

Quality of separation was awful, would be hardly an upgrade from my current Sony.
 
Checked out the prices at Yamaha store at Chennai on 16th March it was priced at 53 K , prices at few other dealers was also the same.Other dealers mentioned they have canceled their orders due to this and mentioned Denon 1909 or Onkyo 606 was a better deal currently (although Yam sounds better they mentioned the price hike was not justified)
 
...Yam are really good,but @ higher volume you can get distortion/noice.
I experienced with TannyF4 system.

I am surprised to hear this.Yamaha's are one of the most stable receivers I have seen. I have heard many many models at reference levels and did not find any distortion. Did you have them on the right surfaces? The sound, though forward is very clean at very loud listening levels - Led Zeppelin albums are always a good test for high volume listening. So is the Deep Purple. You should get the vocals as well as the instrumentals at these volumes.
 
Checked out the prices at Yamaha store at Chennai on 16th March it was priced at 53 K , prices at few other dealers was also the same.Other dealers mentioned they have canceled their orders due to this and mentioned Denon 1909 or Onkyo 606 was a better deal currently (although Yam sounds better they mentioned the price hike was not justified)

Deepak, visit Raghu at Decibel. He has a few pieces of 663 left and can give you a good price. I have auditioned all the three models, and, amongst these three, I feel Yamaha 663 is the best for both music and movies. I have heard the 663 with a range of speaker, - PSB, Cantons, Mission, AE, Dynaudio, and Q-Acoustics. It sounds good across all these speakers.

I would also suggest that your don't crib for a few thousand rupees here and there. You need to buy a system that will give you peace and happiness for the next 2 to 3 years or more. You should feel you have bought a good piece.

All my auditioning at ProFx were disastrous, though I did pick up one 1909 with Polk Monitors 40 for a friend. He was very particular about pricing, and needed to have a system installed by the evening. It took me a month of harassing ProFx to get the system working 'properly'.

Cheers
 
Any idea on performance of Onkyo TX-SR705 ??

Surprisingly couldn't find much reviews on the net for this model.A THX certification on this one makes it look like a real good performer.Pls give your views.
 
Venkat, stretching for a few thousands definitely is not an issue but is an extra 1o grand worth it ??

Is Yamaha scoring so high over Onkyo 606 or and Denon 1909 to justify the price ?

Across forums and reviews though all these 3 options are rated good with Yamaha 663 rated superior, when it comes to movies Onkyo is rated excellent.Considering my specific requirement of great sounding movies and ABSOLUTELY zero interest in listening to music or upscaling of pictures would you still suggest paying 10k extra and picking up the Yamaha ?

I agree on the pro fx guys having lack of expertise, sadly Denon could have better informed / trained personnel but most outlets in Chennai have the same problem
 
Surprisingly couldn't find much reviews on the net for this model.A THX certification on this one makes it look like a real good performer.Pls give your views.

THX certification on just unit does not add value. All your units and your room must be tuned for THX. You hardly get any THX certified DVD Players nowadays, and just having a amp that is THX certified does not make sense. In any case the new Dolby and DTS HD audio are far ahead of THX in sound reproduction.

Though the 705 is a good amp, the price differential is too much for very little additional advantages and features. It does not even provide upscaling while all other models at that price range do. At around 70K, I would expect to have a state-of-the-art unit that the 705 is not. If you looking for that price range, I would again say the Yamaha 863 is the best bet.

In the Onkyo, I would say the 605/606 is good, and then you have to jump up to the 875 directly. The models in between do not have any oomph for the prices they demand.

Since you preference is movies, your choice is limited to Yamaha and Onkyo. As I have been writing elsewhere, Yamaha has always been leading in the delivery of movies with umpteen DSP sound effects as well supporting the standard Dolby, DTS and other formats.

Cheers

Cheers
 
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A Denon reciever has to be caliberated before playing. In a non caliberated reciever, you will feel there are no surround speakers as output to them would be minimal.
There are two solutions for this :-

1) Set up the audyssey mic and do the caliberation.

2) Set all speaker channel levels to +0. After all what caliberation does is adjust he channel levels. But a faster shortcut to caliberation is to set the values to zero(optimum).

Typically these are the values you will see in a reciver not properly caliberated :

Fronts : -2, -1.5
Surround : -6, -7
Woofer : -10/12
etc......

Just set the values to zero and get a optimum output instantly.

I wont advise to do this in your home settings ; where ideally let the audyssey to set the levels depending upon acoustics.

A denon is a investment for a long time. Onkyos will have very low resale value(personal opn) and manily frills, bells and whistles. Though there is punch in their sound.


regards
 
And if you are interested in Yamaha, go to yamaha india website. They are the all india distributors and have prices(albit nondiscounted and nego!:)) on website and list of autho dealers.

Welcome to Yamaha India
 
Bazee, as Marsilians has already said, all receivers have to be installed and calibrated for a room. This is not something unique for Denon. Denon, Onkyo and others uses Audessey, while others use other technologies.

I have installed Denon, Onkyo, and Yamaha receivers. I never had any issues interms of their not playing a few speakers or sounding bad. Yes, it is a different matter that I spend two or three days later fine tuning the system. If you play a DVD and you don't get sound on all speakers, either your connections are wrong, or you are playing the DVD in a mode (such as PCM) that the receiver does not decode. Otherwise off the carton, an AVR should power all speakers that are connected. This can be confirmed with a simple test tone.

And if ProFx demos an AVR, gives a bad demo, and then says his calibration is bad, I can only say the sales person was being extremely unprofessional or was being a rookie. The few times I have been to ProFx, he did not even have good DVDs and did not know what to demo. When I went recently, he hurriedly set up a demo, though I had given him a week's notice and specified the exact configuration I was looking for. As far as I remember, it is only the store manager there who gives decent demos. He has his own personal DVDs which he carries with him.

These kind of unprofessional demos do not matter to me, as I read up a lot and know what to expect from the unit. If I don't see that, I harass and question as I know it is there. But to a person who is relatively new to the game, it can only leave a bad impression.

BTW, I have nothing against Denon as such or its products. I only feel in the current crop, Yamaha has a sizeable edge, particularly for the delivery of movies. Who know what will happen next year?

Cheers
 
Venkat,

As you have noticed, i have given him the link to Yamaha site.

Earlier ( even now ) lots of dealers were selling yam amp without being official and there was lots of cost cuttings etc..
Now Yamaha India has taken over the whole india's supply and is supposed to be giving better service backup and proper sales.

A lot of dealers had also stopped selling yam becos there was problem with service and repairs. These amps given out were mostly grey.
Some dealers are celaring their existing stock at "old" prices before they order and new recivers from yam india(of course at new price).

And now yam has introduced a complete new line of recivers x63 series and xx90 series(ex-1900). And many of them have won stars at whathifi.com; though not many abide by the website/channel.



regards
 
Hi, will be checking out Yamaha and Onkyo demo by this week and will take a call.

I agree with Venkat on lack of quality sales person at pro fx.When you sell a brand like Denon there is a certain expectation from the consumer.The 1st DVD they played was a pirated one of HEROS a dubbed movie. Cant these guys have a decent DTS / DOLBY demo original disc ?? In fact most DVD's they have are pirated ones.

And how can they give an excuse like we do not calibrate the system since stocks keep moving out ?? why do companies invest in such a distribution system then ?? Anyways due to the bad demo experience I dont have the same excitement on denon currently, it sounded only as good as my basic Sony AVR.

Will visit them again tomorrow since they have promised a demo post calibration , lets see to what extent the sound has improved.
 
Any idea on performance of Onkyo TX-SR705 ??

Surprisingly couldn't find much reviews on the net for this model.A THX certification on this one makes it look like a real good performer.Pls give your views.

I have a SR-705 and the difference between the two is that its THX certified and it has also got pre out for your future upgrade i.e if you ever want to add more power to your system by using a power amp.
 
THX certification on just unit does not add value. All your units and your room must be tunes for THX. You hardly get any THX certified DVD Players nowadays, and just having a amp that is THX certified does not make sense. In any case the new Dolby and DTS HD audio are far ahead of THX in sound reproduction.

Though the 705 is a good amp, the price differential is too much for very little additional advantages and features. It does not even provide upscaling while all other models at that price range do. At around 70K, I would expect to have a state-of-the-art unit that the 705 is not. If you looking for that price range, I would again say the Yamaha 863 is the best bet.

In the Onkyo, I would say the 605/606 is good, and then you have to jump up to the 875 directly. The models in between do not have any oomph for the prices they demand.

Since you preference is movies, your choice is limited to Yamaha and Onkyo. As I have been writing elsewhere, Yamaha has always been leading in the delivery of movies with umpteen DSP sound effects as well supporting the standard Dolby, DTS and other formats.

Cheers

Cheers

705 is around 40K and not 70K
 
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