Yamaha VX 1800 or Pioneer Elite 92

[bbslurp413]

Hey Guys,

I am in the process of starting my home theater system and have these two receivers in mind. I can find both for right around $750 which is right around what I was looking to spend on a receiver. In your opinion and experience which receiver would you prefer? And if there is another receiver at that price range that you think is a can't miss receiver then please let me know that as well. Thanks guys!

Bryan

[jcs913]

Originally Posted by bbslurp413

Hey Guys,

I am in the process of starting my home theater system and have these two receivers in mind. I can find both for right around $750 which is right around what I was looking to spend on a receiver. In your opinion and experience which receiver would you prefer? And if there is another receiver at that price range that you think is a can't miss receiver then please let me know that as well. Thanks guys!

Bryan

I cannot speak for the Yamaha, because I never got to demo it, but I have the 92 and love it. It has no sync problems with any of my players and does a very good job cleaning up SD sources with its Faroudja chip. The sound has a little better space than some other receivers I listened to. Again, I have never listened to the Yamaha, so make sure you put both through their paces before you decide.

[bbslurp413]

The quality of the sound is by far the most important thing for me in making the decision. You are pleased with the power of the receiver as well as the sound quality coming out? I know it also has a lot to do with speakers but I am talking strictly receiver here. Thanks!

[Slicker1]

Go Elite. Channel seperation, and the amp is better.

[MacDaddyOJack]

I heavily demoed the RX-V1800 and the Onkyo 805. If you look at my sig, you'll see that I ended up with the 805. Power supply is far better and I liked the overall design and build quality more too. I really didn't notice much difference in sound, but even there I prefered the Onkyo.

I can't speak for the Pioneer as I didn't even consider it. I just don't like the brand. I know it's quality gear, just not gear that I want. I wasn't overly impressed with the Yamaha for its price tag. Good, but not great. I'd look into the Onkyo 805 and the Pioneer more if I was you. The 805 can practically be stolen right now since the 806 is hitting shelves soon.

[dobyblue]

I think you'll be highly pleased by either one.
I would point out that if you like SACD's and you have a DSD-native player like the Oppo 980H, that the Yamaha will decode DSD>Analog without converting to PCM whereas the Pioneer will not.

Otherwise there's very little to decide upon between the two outside of aesthetics, which the Pioneer wins handily.

[bbslurp413]

There are just too many damn choices with quality receivers! It would be so much easier if one just stood out as worlds better then another. I think I've eliminated the Yamaha from what I've read on here and other places. It's between the Pioneer Elite 92 and the Onkyo 805. I am really worried about the heat that is generated the Onkyo. Is that really that big of an issue? My Fiance is not going to be very happy with me buying something that burns her anytime she touches it or needs fans to keep cool. She does sort of run the show

[blu master]

Just so u know there is a trusted seller on ebay selling the yammy 1800 for $700 brand new in the box i had got the 6160 for $320.

[Lucy Diamond]

The Rx-v1800. All the way.

[MacDaddyOJack]

Originally Posted by bbslurp413

There are just too many damn choices with quality receivers! It would be so much easier if one just stood out as worlds better then another. I think I've eliminated the Yamaha from what I've read on here and other places. It's between the Pioneer Elite 92 and the Onkyo 805. I am really worried about the heat that is generated the Onkyo. Is that really that big of an issue? My Fiance is not going to be very happy with me buying something that burns her anytime she touches it or needs fans to keep cool. She does sort of run the show

I have about 5 inches above mine and it is hot to the touch after a movie, but you can leave your hand there. It won't burn you, nor is it painful. Don't cram it in a tiny space and it will be an excellent piece of equipment for years to come.

[dobyblue]

Originally Posted by bbslurp413

I think I've eliminated the Yamaha from what I've read on here and other places.

That's a shame - the Yammy has excellent components.

http://hometheatermag.com/receivers/1007yam1800/

Out of the box, the sonic character of the receiver is warm, laid back, and easy to listen to, which is a tribute to the attention that Yamaha pays to the internal signal path and the overall construction of the chassis. The RX-V1800 arrived just in time for me to try out the copy of the Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds: Live at Radio City Blu-ray Disc I'd just received. "Crash Into Me" opens with some beautiful guitar work that the Yamaha reproduced with great delicacy and clarity. When set on straight-through playback of the Dolby TrueHD signal (decoded and converted to PCM within my Sony PS3), there was nothing in the amplifier that got in the way of either the music or the sense of space that was captured during recording of the concert.

On a whim, I pulled out an old two-channel CD, Jennifer Warnes' The Hunter, which I hadn't listened to in some time. The RX-V1800 handled the pace of the vocals and instrumentation in "Big Noise, New York", keeping all the elements distinct and layered, proving that it can function without any excuses as an audio-only piece of gear. (In fact, Yamaha's "Pure Direct" mode, like that found in some other AVRs, is a nod toward those who want to extract the maximum audio from an audio/video receiver. When engaged, all non-essential video and audio circuitry is turned off, eliminating potential signal noise.).

There are two other audio items worth mentioning. One, I was very impressed with the quality of sound from the external XM tuner, especially when using the Neural-THX Surround mode. I've been an XM subscriber for quite some time, and since I normally listen to XM in the car, I'm somewhat desensitized to the less-than-optimal sound quality of satellite radio. But many channels, especially the XM HD Surround-encoded channels sounded quite good, both in terms of enveloping surround and fidelity. The second thing is the RX-V1800's Compressed Music Enhancer. While I didn't do a side-by-side comparison of a song on the iPod versus a CD, I will say that this sound mode did a relatively good job of mellowing out the harsher effects of lower-bit rate encodings.

Again, I think you'll be happy with any of the three receivers mentioned. There's no one major advantage to one over the other.

If I had my choice, I'd probably go with the 805 for the native DSD decoding, PCM1796 DAC's and THX Ultra2 certification. It's probably the cheapest of the bunch too. My friend just ordered one from Amazon for under $600.

[bbslurp413]

Wow, your right it's $599 with free shipping on Amazon. I really can't pass that up can I? I am still worried about the heat but I haven't read anywhere that anybody elses has broken down and alot of people seem to love the 805. I heard the video conversion is just OK but I have a nice panasonic 50" plasma so I can just have the TV do all the up converting correct? Thanks for your help, I still don't know a whole lot about all this so your advice is greatly appreciated.

Bryan

[jcs913]

The reason I went with the Pioneer is its sound was more natural and expansive than the 805. The video features are nice and still work flawlessly. Onkyo has had reliability issues in the past and those have always held me back from a purchase of their brand.

[MacDaddyOJack]

Originally Posted by jcs913

Onkyo has had reliability issues in the past

Name one?

@bbslurp - the 805 only upscales analog sources to 720p. It actually made my PS2 look worse, so I connected it straight to the tv and it looked much better. Again, the only time the reciever will process the video signal is with analog sources Wii, yellow composite cable, etc. All HDMI sources will be passed through untouched and will look great on your tv.

[jcs913]

Originally Posted by MacDaddyOJack

Name one?

@bbslurp - the 805 only upscales analog sources to 720p. It actually made my PS2 look worse, so I connected it straight to the tv and it looked much better. Again, the only time the reciever will process the video signal is with analog sources Wii, yellow composite cable, etc. All HDMI sources will be passed through untouched and will look great on your tv.

I don't know how old you are, but Onkyo had a lot of problems with reliability and functunality back in the 90's. I know some of their current receivers have lip-sync issues and handshake issues with BD players. I don't look through AVS very often, but it seems to be in many threads. I know receivers are made to be 'upgraded' every several years now, but we used to have a receiver that lasted for 10+ years, so the investment was different. Now, to pick up a receiver for $600 seems to be commonplace. The bottom-line, is he needs to listen to both with the same set of speakers and sources. We can throw our 2 cents in all we want, but whatever you do, please make sure you demo the units...

[bbslurp413]

Yes I'm planning on listening to them both if I can. I'm having trouble finding the 805 in any places where I can listen to it. I live in the Detroit area so if anyone has any suggestions please let me know. Also, in your opinion, is the Elite 92 worth an addtional 200+ dollars? I can find the elite 92 for $825 and the 805 for $600...

Can anybody else comment on the popping noises and delays in audio for the 805 I have read about?

Bryan

[Slicker1]

Originally Posted by jcs913

Onkyo has had reliability issues in the past and those have always held me back from a purchase of their brand.

Bingo! +1

[MacDaddyOJack]

Originally Posted by bbslurp413

Can anybody else comment on the popping noises and delays in audio for the 805 I have read about?

I have had neither of those problems. I think that those issues are far less occurant than people have made them out to be. I also think that there are lots of 805's floating around so some sort of issue is always going to arise. I know it's a lot of money you are talking about spending so there is nothing wrong with being skeptical. However, I paid $875 for my 805 and I still think it was worth every penny.

As others mentioned though, it's very important to demo first!

[bbslurp413]

Originally Posted by MacDaddyOJack

I have had neither of those problems. I think that those issues are far less occurant than people have made them out to be. I also think that there are lots of 805's floating around so some sort of issue is always going to arise. I know it's a lot of money you are talking about spending so there is nothing wrong with being skeptical. However, I paid $875 for my 805 and I still think it was worth every penny.

As others mentioned though, it's very important to demo first!

Understand, I am going to demo the pioneer elite 92 and yamaha 1800 at Magnolia and then the Onkyo 806 at Circuit City (they didn't have the 805). Is there any real difference in sound between the 805 and 806? Also, this may be a very stupid question but is it more imporant to get the speakers first and match the receiver to the speakers or doesn't it matter? I have a few speakers in mind but will not be able to test the actual receiver with the speakers. I know that is preferred but I just don't see that happening. I know this is the receiver forum but is there any speakers that are must buy or a must stay away from? Thanks again!!!!

Bryan

[dobyblue]

Originally Posted by bbslurp413

are there any speakers that are a "must stay away from?"

I'd stay away from BOSE - with the 92TX, TX-SR805 or RX-V1800 you're at a nice level of performance so you should look to match. That means I'd stay away from little satellite systems too unless you are really tight for cash, in which case I'd look to a $400-$500 5.1 system from JBL, Infinity, Polk Audio, etc.

What sort of budget have you? In addition to auditioning in store, you should take a look at some online speakers from Axiom Audio and/or Aperion Audio. You get 30 days in home trial, so you hear them where they're going to be living which is usually better than all but the higher end AV stores who are willing to drag speakers into a listening room for you from a few different lines.

You can get a great 5.0 set-up from Axiom for around $900 then spend a few hundred bucks on an SVS sub and you're golden.

Sure upgradeitis will set in as you read more and more reviews of higher-end speakers, but you could do tonnes worse that starting off with one of those receivers matched with a decent set-up of bookshelves/center and a sub from one of the most trusted names in bass.