# Onkyo SR353 vs R391



## fviola (Oct 1, 2012)

I have these two low performance receivers, but they do the job for what I need. Even though they are low powered, I still want to use the better receiver to get the best sound. I have two rooms to use them in, one with a 5.1 setup and the other with a 3.1 setup.

The 5.1 setup is using three Polk OWM5 speakers for l/c/r and two Polk OWM3 speakers for surround, all speakers rated at 8 ohms.
The 3.1 setup is using the speakers that came with the R391 receiver in an Onkyo HT-3500 home theater in a box (surround speakers from this box are not being used).

I had contacted Onkyo about my question, but I think they gave me incorrect information, even though they specifically asked me what the ohms were of my speakers in the 5.1 setup. 

Onkyo said "...the TXSR353 would be more powerful at 140 watts whereas the HTR391 does 125 watts at 8OHMS."

The problem is that when I look at the specs from Onkyo's website, I don't see a proper match to what they told me.

According the their site, the SR353 (under specs):
http://www.onkyousa.com/Products/model.php?m=TX-SR353&class=Receiver&source=prodClass

All channels:
140 W/Ch (6 Ohms, 1 kHz, 1.0% THD, 1 Channel Driven)
80 W/Ch (8 Ohms, 20 Hz–20 kHz, 0.08% THD, 2 Channels Driven, FTC)

I am not an expert, which is why I am here, but to me, doesn't that mean that there is only 80 watts at 8ohms?

Then I searched for the R-391 (which is listed under HT-S3500 since it was a home theater kit):
http://www.onkyousa.com/Products/model.php?m=HT-S3500&class=Systems

nothing was given under All Channels,but under Dynamic Power:
85 watts, 8 Ohms

The Onkyo response of watts seems to be more in line with 6 ohm speakers, but I had already told them that they were 8 ohm speakers.

I really don't know what I am looking at, but if anyone could take a look at those links and provide any help, I would absolutely love it. Even if it is to just shed some light on what I should be looking at so that in the future I can understand how to read this better.

Thanks


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Ya, neither receiver is going to be "better" than the other. 80-90 watts really makes no difference and likely those receivers in reality would be lower than that (in the 60-70 watts) range.
What is really important is what speakers you plan to use as the efficiency (db) of those speakers will determine the outcome.


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