Onkyo 608 or Pioneer Elite VSX 30?

[nolfoc]

Originally Posted by lojack1976

Check out winstonsreviews.com and look at his review. He gave a very good review and states that its very similar to last year's VSX-9040TXH which is the clone of the Elite VSX-21TXH.

I doubt that you will need to add an amp with this receiver unless you get some really thirsty and inefficient speakers. Most 6ohm and 8ohm speakers won't give you any problems since this receiver packs quite a bit of power.

Of course you will be future proofing yourself by getting this receiver. In the event that you decide to go all out one day and get some power hungry speakers you will be able to add an amp instead of having to go out and buy another receiver as well.

awesome.. good stuff, yeah i cant have too much power living in an apt building.. dont want the neighbors to complain too much.. ill be getting all the speakers i posted my OP.. you think tehy should do fine with this receiver? also will 14 oxygen free wires work fine for this as well..

Thanks again

[LordoftheRings]

Originally Posted by nolfoc

awesome.. good stuff, yeah i cant have too much power living in an apt building.. dont want the neighbors to complain too much.. ill be getting all the speakers i posted my OP.. you think tehy should do fine with this receiver? also will 14 oxygen free wires work fine for this as well..

Thanks again

I'm not Jack, but I'm sure he'd say the same as I: All those Polk speakers you mentioned in your original first post will do just fine with that Pioneer receiver, so is 14 AWG 'oxygen free' copper wires for the speakers (Monoprice).

[lojack1976]

Originally Posted by nolfoc

awesome.. good stuff, yeah i cant have too much power living in an apt building.. dont want the neighbors to complain too much.. ill be getting all the speakers i posted my OP.. you think tehy should do fine with this receiver? also will 14 oxygen free wires work fine for this as well..

Thanks again

Oh yeah...that receiver will play real nice with those speakers. I myself am no expert as far as wiring goes. I'm not using particular great wiring myself, and its kind of on my list of things to do, so I'll be thinking it over for a bit before I purchase. I'm sure I'll benefit from a wire upgrade, but its not a high priority. My next upgrade that I'm contemplating is an ICEpower Elite receiver or at least the VSX-33. I haven't quite decided yet, but I'm thinking on it pretty hard.

[nolfoc]

Originally Posted by LordoftheRings

I'm not Jack, but I'm sure he'd say the same as I: All those Polk speakers you mentioned in your original first post will do just fine with that Pioneer receiver, so is 14 AWG 'oxygen free' copper wires for the speakers (Monoprice).

thanks for responding lordoftherings ive been waiting to hear from you.. you and lojack seem to really help a lot of people out on this site Snguy was helping me out for a while but hes been MIA for sometime now.. anyways i checked out this monoprice site its really confusing for some reason.. theres just so much going on, also i always hear you talking about the audyessy on these receivers how is that on the 1120?

Originally Posted by lojack1976

Oh yeah...that receiver will play real nice with those speakers. I myself am no expert as far as wiring goes. I'm not using particular great wiring myself, and its kind of on my list of things to do, so I'll be thinking it over for a bit before I purchase. I'm sure I'll benefit from a wire upgrade, but its not a high priority. My next upgrade that I'm contemplating is an ICEpower Elite receiver or at least the VSX-33. I haven't quite decided yet, but I'm thinking on it pretty hard.

will do thanks again lojack youve been a great help

[lojack1976]

Originally Posted by nolfoc

thanks for responding lordoftherings ive been waiting to hear from you.. you and lojack seem to really help a lot of people out on this site Snguy was helping me out for a while but hes been MIA for sometime now.. anyways i checked out this monoprice site its really confusing for some reason.. theres just so much going on, also i always hear you talking about the audyessy on these receivers how is that on the 1120?



will do thanks again lojack youve been a great help

Pioneer doesn't use Audyssey. They use MCACC which is a different calibration software. They are similar in that they both calibrate using sound tones to do measurements.

I honestly think Audyssey works a little better. MCACC works well too, but I find that it requires some tweaking after you run it whereas the Audyssey seemed to get everything right on its own.

This is just my experience with both, but there are many people who prefer MCACC over Audyssey. Both are good solutions especially in comparison to my experience with Harman's solution. Harman's didn't do anything for me. I ended doing everything manually with my old HK.

[LordoftheRings]

I'm a little bias towards Audyssey (quite normal with so many Onkyo products I own/ed).

But Advanced MCACC has excellent results too. What people like about MCACC is that you can manually tweak it, as with Audyssey you can't.

* It's like choosing your own poison to exit life faster or slower!

[nolfoc]

Originally Posted by lojack1976

Pioneer doesn't use Audyssey. They use MCACC which is a different calibration software. They are similar in that they both calibrate using sound tones to do measurements.

I honestly think Audyssey works a little better. MCACC works well too, but I find that it requires some tweaking after you run it whereas the Audyssey seemed to get everything right on its own.

This is just my experience with both, but there are many people who prefer MCACC over Audyssey. Both are good solutions especially in comparison to my experience with Harman's solution. Harman's didn't do anything for me. I ended doing everything manually with my old HK.

Originally Posted by LordoftheRings

I'm a little bias towards Audyssey (quite normal with so many Onkyo products I own/ed).

But Advanced MCACC has excellent results too. What people like about MCACC is that you can manually tweak it, as with Audyssey you can't.

* It's like choosing your own poison to exit life faster or slower!

Thanks guys, i went to my local BB today and they dont carry the 1120 only the 1020.. so after what you guys have told me i decided not to get it.. i usually buy everything from BB so im kinda bummed they dont have it.. also i noticed the speakers im getting they dont carry either.. saw them on the site newegg.com.. so im guessing even BB with Magnolia section still isnt the best choice to buy your HT at

[lojack1976]

Originally Posted by nolfoc

Thanks guys, i went to my local BB today and they dont carry the 1120 only the 1020.. so after what you guys have told me i decided not to get it.. i usually buy everything from BB so im kinda bummed they dont have it.. also i noticed the speakers im getting they dont carry either.. saw them on the site newegg.com.. so im guessing even BB with Magnolia section still isnt the best choice to buy your HT at

I think part of it has to do with the various models that Pioneer is selling being nearly identical. For example the VSX-1020 is the same receiver as the Elite VSX-30 and VSX-31. The Elite versions come with fewer HDMI ports, but since they are Elites you get a two year warranty instead of the standard one year....and of course they have that snazzy Elite stamp on the front.

The same is true with the VSX-1120. The VSX-32 and VSX-33 are the same receiver with Elite stamps on them. Both of these have 12V triggers unlike the 1120. The VSX-32 also has one fewer HDMI port, but the VSX-33 has the same number as the 1120. The VSX-33 also has a second HDMI output.

From what I can tell Pioneer is only offering the 1120 to select retailers. The Best Buy Magnolia stores will carry all of the other models though. The non-Mag stores have all of the non-Elites except for the 1120. Pioneer is probably trying to prevent the 1120 from cannibalizing the Elites at Best Buy. I personally think Pioneer made two too many models this year.

If I were you I would get the 1120 online anyway since its way cheaper than the suggested retail price of $750 which is what Best Buy would have charged for it. I paid nearly $580 for my 1020 at Best Buy with tax yet it can be found for just $430 shipped right now online. Like I said centraldigital.com has the 1120 for $575 shipped which is a great deal. Newegg is also the best place to get the speakers you want.

[Fors*]

Originally Posted by LordoftheRings

I'm a little bias towards Audyssey (quite normal with so many Onkyo products I own/ed).

But Advanced MCACC has excellent results too. What people like about MCACC is that you can manually tweak it, as with Audyssey you can't.

* It's like choosing your own poison to exit life faster or slower!

Yes, MCACC is a tweakers dream, and I love it. I have had Audyssey too with a prior Onkyo I had. Like LordoftheRings says, they are both excellent calibration programs. Once I learned more about audio, I felt comfortable and wanted to tweak more, so it was nice to initially learn with Audyssey and then get a new receiver and have the option to tweak things like you can with MCACC.

[Doughoef]

You guys have me totally confused. You can manually adjust Audyssey. For example I used Audyssey for my initial setup and then adjusted the center channel +1 db.

I chose the 608 over the Panasonic 1020 because I was concerned the 1020 was underpowered. I saw were it said 245 watts on the back of the unit vs. 400w for the 608. I have been more than please with the Onkyo... great sound quality, easy to setup, no fan noise or heat issues.