All you audio junkies, I have a question for you

[shockin330i]

My father is looking into replacing his current reciever. He's a die hard yamaha fan.

Recently we went to an audio/video store and they were raving about the integra 7.8

So is the integra really that good or should he wait for the new yamaha 3800?

[crackinhedz]

I think youd get more for the dollar with the DTR-7.8...thx-select...

they both seem very comparable, close in watts/channel, both decode lossless codecs, both 1.3...

although I did notice the 3800 is compatible with 120Hz and 24Hz Refresh Rates...dint notice the DTR-7.8 was?

but if your tv doesnt support th 120Hz and 24Hz Refresh Rates then id go with the 7.8

[Zaphod]

Integra's are really nothing more than overpriced Onkyo receivers, IMO.

[shockin330i]

Originally Posted by crackinhedz

I think youd get more for the dollar with the DTR-7.8...thx-select...

they both seem very comparable, close in watts/channel, both decode lossless codecs, both 1.3...

although I did notice the 3800 is compatible with 120Hz and 24Hz Refresh Rates...dint notice the DTR-7.8 was?

but if your tv doesnt support th 120Hz and 24Hz Refresh Rates then id go with the 7.8

I should have mentioned that the price really wasn't a factor. Not saying that my father can afford anything and everything just that the main factor here is sound.

[crackinhedz]

Originally Posted by shockin330i

I should have mentioned that the price really wasn't a factor. Not saying that my father can afford anything and everything just that the main factor here is sound.

well, I have never heard sound from either unit, I just looked at the specs and they were very similar. I personally didnt see the benefit gained with the 3800 except for 120Hz and 24Hz Refresh Rates, an extra HDMI input and 10 extra watts per channel...maybe someone who has either one could give you a better idea, but no one's really jumping at this thread so I thought id give my $.02

[shockin330i]

Thanks for you help :thumpup:

[ack_bak]

I have owned both Onkyo and Yamaha receivers (as well as Sony). I would never buy another Sony receiver again just based on numerous issues I had with two receivers and DTS decoding back in the late 90's.

I currently own an Onkyo 605 (HDMI 1.3) receiver and am very happy with it. The Integra receivers are getting solid reviews right now and are basically enhanced Onkyo receivers (I believe they use the better Bur Brown DACs which are found in the high-end Onkyo receivers). I honestly think the Integras are great receivers and urge your father to compare the Inegra to a Yamaha and a Denon in similar price ranges. HDMI 1.3 is definitely the way to go as far as the future goes.

Good luck.

[ryoohki]

Yamaha 3800 is a sure bet for Yamaha but for the price the Onkyo and Denon series are just better. the 3800 is lacking big time in features..

[theknub]

personally, im a yammy fan, my dad loves denon, and my buddy liked onkyo (up till he got his monoblocks and other crap). i like yammy for it's natural sound but it also depends on what it is being paired with. some high end audio stores let you bring product home (with a credit card deposit of course) so you can demo in home. if possible, that would be my recomendation of what to do.

[CAB]

Originally Posted by shockin330i

My father is looking into replacing his current reciever. He's a die hard yamaha fan.

Recently we went to an audio/video store and they were raving about the integra 7.8

So is the integra really that good or should he wait for the new yamaha 3800?

What does your father listen to? Two-channel CDs? DVD-A? SACD? Home Theater Surround? *cough*LP? Which is he trying to optimize?

My father was asking how he can set-up his quadraphonic reel-to-reel to the Denon we picked out for him. *sigh* I loved my Yamaha but chose to upgrade to something that had an i.link to enhance my SACD enjoyment.

-CB

[GTsmokeya]

Do me and your father a favor check out some independent reviews I once spoke with a onkyo rep mind you it might be one sided however in a blind test of all settings the same a 80.3% chose onkyo over the yamaha without knowing who they were comparring. So I think that he should go with what he likes yamaha is a nice reciever but a bit on the bright side where the onkyo/integra is on the clear side. Please note you will hear alot of mumbo jumbo over integra to onkyo but really its just saying that integra has a three year warranty over onkyo's two and their network capability.

GTsmokeya
Good luck shopping for audio equipment can be fun

[shockin330i]

Originally Posted by CAB

What does your father listen to? Two-channel CDs? DVD-A? SACD? Home Theater Surround? *cough*LP? Which is he trying to optimize?

My father was asking how he can set-up his quadraphonic reel-to-reel to the Denon we picked out for him. *sigh* I loved my Yamaha but chose to upgrade to something that had an i.link to enhance my SACD enjoyment.

-CB

My father's current yamaha has i.link :dunno:

Originally Posted by GTsmokeya

Do me and your father a favor check out some independent reviews I once spoke with a onkyo rep mind you it might be one sided however in a blind test of all settings the same a 80.3% chose onkyo over the yamaha without knowing who they were comparring. So I think that he should go with what he likes yamaha is a nice reciever but a bit on the bright side where the onkyo/integra is on the clear side. Please note you will hear alot of mumbo jumbo over integra to onkyo but really its just saying that integra has a three year warranty over onkyo's two and their network capability.

GTsmokeya
Good luck shopping for audio equipment can be fun

Oddly enough we bought the integra and returned it this weekend. something just wasn't right with the sound. The highs were great but it was just lacking cripness (is that a word?) in the mids. We had to crank it up real high to get ok sound. So my father put his yamaha back up and will wait for the 3800 when it comes out later this year.

[red_5ive]

I'm not trying to get in a war with the whole yamaha brightness thing, but this is only true of their lower models and older receivers. I own 2 prior flagships from Yamaha (RX-V1 and RX-Z1) and the next model down from the late 90's (RX-V2095), and I assure you the brightness is not present in these models, although the 2095 sounds a little thin compared to the flagship units. When I picked up the Z1, I demo'd it with the Denon AVR-5803, both hooked to the same energy speakers (don't recall the model). If anything the Z1 was a tad warmer than the 5803. I can't stand sharp/bright highs, and in the 4 years I've owned the Z1 it hasn't beat my ears or head down for a second.

The 3800 would be comparable in their line to the 2095 (i.e., next model down from the flagship - the Z11 is due out in November, btw), so I think the 3800 is a great choice. However, I would also suggest maybe giving the Denon AVR-4308ci a listen. It's more expensive than the the 3800, but if I were considering a 3800 I'd at least give the 4308 a test run first.

Just my 2 cents.

[shockin330i]

Originally Posted by red_5ive

I'm not trying to get in a war with the whole yamaha brightness thing, but this is only true of their lower models and older receivers. I own 2 prior flagships from Yamaha (RX-V1 and RX-Z1) and the next model down from the late 90's (RX-V2095), and I assure you the brightness is not present in these models, although the 2095 sounds a little thin compared to the flagship units. When I picked up the Z1, I demo'd it with the Denon AVR-5803, both hooked to the same energy speakers (don't recall the model). If anything the Z1 was a tad warmer than the 5803. I can't stand sharp/bright highs, and in the 4 years I've owned the Z1 it hasn't beat my ears or head down for a second.

The 3800 would be comparable in their line to the 2095 (i.e., next model down from the flagship - the Z11 is due out in November, btw), so I think the 3800 is a great choice. However, I would also suggest maybe giving the Denon AVR-4308ci a listen. It's more expensive than the the 3800, but if I were considering a 3800 I'd at least give the 4308 a test run first.

Just my 2 cents.

Right now my father has the RX-V4600. He bought it a few months ago and really the only reason he wants a new reciever is because he wants 1.3a. I'll let him know about the Denon reciver so that he can hear it.

This is his current set up (exuse the mess and wires hanging all over, I had my ipod and computer connected at the time)

[red_5ive]

Originally Posted by shockin330i

Right now my father has the RX-V4600. He bought it a few months ago and really the only reason he wants a new reciever is because he wants 1.3a.

Yeah, that's the only reason why I have the upgrade itch myself, but I hate to part with the Z1 considering the price of the new Z11 flagship.

Anyway, If he's set on Yamaha then the 3800 might be the best route, especially if he likes the DSP for movies since it adds a distinct sound. Here's a good retailer website that offers a decent discount on HT equipment: Soundpros. I'm sure when the 3800 comes out they'll have it for cheaper than the $1699 MSRP. The Denon AVR-4308ci MSRP is $2499, but it's available here for $1935. I've picked up some gear from them and the owners are great to work with.

[ILLSQUAD2G]

Hello, since price is not really an issue I who has been a diehard Yamaha fan for years I would go with an Onkyo TX-SR875 OR THE 905 FLAGSHIP MODEL. The features and sound quality are very similar but the Onkyo has a better speaker setup by far with the AUDYSSEY aswell as superior video upconversion with the REON HQV (instead of the widely used inferior FARUOJIDA DCDi) Also one of my main reasons for my abandoning of YAMAHA FOR ONKYO is a feature many people don't pay much attention to. MOST PEOPLE SEE THE FEATURE OF HIGH CURRENT CAPABLE BUT MOST MANUFACTURERS DON'T GIVE A REAL NUMBER. YAMAHA'S HIGH CURRENT IS ABOUT 35-40AMPS WITH THE ONKYO MODELS HAVING 65 AND 70 AMPS OF CURRENT (WHICH IS MORE THAN EVEN THE HIGHEST END HARMAN KARDANS 3500$ MODEL WHICH IS i THINK 55 AMPS) also you get PUSH PULL AMPLIFIER DESIGN AND AVAILABLE BRIDGING OF THE FRONT SPEAKERS AT ABOUT 200WATTS RMS A SPEAKER. So in the overall I would really take a close look at Onkyo's new lineup over Yamaha. Hope this is helpful. As after all my research and reading of reviews from all over the net on the two models from ONKYO I know as soon as its in stock I will have a TX-SR875 at the center of my home theatre.

[shockin330i]

Originally Posted by red_5ive

Yeah, that's the only reason why I have the upgrade itch myself, but I hate to part with the Z1 considering the price of the new Z11 flagship.

Anyway, If he's set on Yamaha then the 3800 might be the best route, especially if he likes the DSP for movies since it adds a distinct sound. Here's a good retailer website that offers a decent discount on HT equipment: Soundpros. I'm sure when the 3800 comes out they'll have it for cheaper than the $1699 MSRP. The Denon AVR-4308ci MSRP is $2499, but it's available here for $1935. I've picked up some gear from them and the owners are great to work with.

Thanks for the heads up. I'm pretty sure he's gonna stick with yamaha, he currently has 4 (he still has one of the first that came out, doesn't even have component but it still kicks) I took that one with me to my college apartment along with his hand me down speakers and tv lol

Originally Posted by ILLSQUAD2G

Hello, since price is not really an issue I who has been a diehard Yamaha fan for years I would go with an Onkyo TX-SR875 OR THE 905 FLAGSHIP MODEL. The features and sound quality are very similar but the Onkyo has a better speaker setup by far with the AUDYSSEY aswell as superior video upconversion with the REON HQV (instead of the widely used inferior FARUOJIDA DCDi) Also one of my main reasons for my abandoning of YAMAHA FOR ONKYO is a feature many people don't pay much attention to. MOST PEOPLE SEE THE FEATURE OF HIGH CURRENT CAPABLE BUT MOST MANUFACTURERS DON'T GIVE A REAL NUMBER. YAMAHA'S HIGH CURRENT IS ABOUT 35-40AMPS WITH THE ONKYO MODELS HAVING 65 AND 70 AMPS OF CURRENT (WHICH IS MORE THAN EVEN THE HIGHEST END HARMAN KARDANS 3500$ MODEL WHICH IS i THINK 55 AMPS) also you get PUSH PULL AMPLIFIER DESIGN AND AVAILABLE BRIDGING OF THE FRONT SPEAKERS AT ABOUT 200WATTS RMS A SPEAKER. So in the overall I would really take a close look at Onkyo's new lineup over Yamaha. Hope this is helpful. As after all my research and reading of reviews from all over the net on the two models from ONKYO I know as soon as its in stock I will have a TX-SR875 at the center of my home theatre.

strangely enough this is what the sales rep told us. That we would love the integra (step up from the onkyo). Maybe we just didn't set it up right. We were there for 7 hours playing and matching all the settings.

[red_5ive]

Yes, current is important, but I've seen sales people at retail chains throw the phrase around as a selling point without ever discussing the speakers the amp will be mated with. So the question that needs to be asked is, what is the impedance and sensitvity of your speakers? Since we're not discussing Krell and Martin Logan here, I'm guessing the speakers you have are probably 8 ohm with a decent sensitivity of 92db or higher. If this is a the case you don't need a high current amp to drive speakers with these specs, and in my experience hooking a high current amp to sensitive speakers actually has the opposite effect and produces a numb or dead sound at normal listening levels. I'd venture to guess this is why you didn't like the sound of the Integra if it really is that high in current and you are running 8ohm speakers that are sensitive.

Additionally, based on the picture it isn't exactly a large room, so chances are the volume will probably never be cranked very high for long periods of time, which again negates the need for a high current amp if your speakers are 8 ohm. I think you'll be more than fine with the Yamaha.

Just 2 more cents

[shockin330i]

Yeah the room ain't big at all. His front speakers are definitive tech. They sound great and it usually sounds pretty loud at -20dbs. we had to crank the integra to -6dbs to get the same loudness.


All in all I thank all of you for your input and hopefully will be giving a review on yamaha's 3800 soon.

[red_5ive]

Originally Posted by shockin330i

hopefully will be giving a review on yamaha's 3800 soon.