# Onkyo,Pioneer(elite),and Yamaha? whew!



## bozobytes (Nov 23, 2008)

The more things change the more they stay the same...well, it's me again and I'm still in the same boat. :dizzy:

Grab some weekend coffee and prepare yourself for a bumpy ride.


Older AVR models have come and gone, and Onkyo, Pioneer, and Yamaha are coming out, or already came out with newer AVR models.

I never went with the Polk speakers, now contemplating HSU research sound "Performance 1" package for $500.00. (I personally have heard them and I think they sound better than the Polk 6880's for the same price range.

This HSU is a 6.1 speaker package, so I'll need an AVR to have a DTS:Neo6 feature to play that 6th rear-center channel.(Don't have the room big enough for the 7 speakers.) Only a 10'x12'.

I looked at the Pioneer 1018, (HDMI 3-out,1-in)then the Pioneer Elite VSX-01.., I think too much beast since I'm never going to multi-channel and also the $750.00 price too much. This Spring (April) Pioneer is coming out with the new 1019 AH-K ($500.00) 4-in/1-out HDMI

The Pioneer 01 AVR has on board the DTS:NEO 6 matrix feature that takes the 6th satellite speaker and uses it as a rear center channel. have you or anyone else used this feature or just use the 7.1 channels? My 10x12 room really doesn't need all 7 speakers.

Aha! here we go...let the opinions fly!
Of course everyone has his/her opinion on what IS the best AVR out on the market. I'm just looking for a mid-range, not too expensive, the most features for the money, AVR...that's all.

I have spent a lot of time looking at receivers. First it was Onkyo 606,then 706. Then I looked at Yamaha RXV563,but only has 2-in, and 1-out HDMI. Then the Yamahe RXV 565 (7.1) and the 630 (630w)

*** BUT...I was just told that Yamaha just came out this month of March with the RXV 565/ 7.1 channel / 630 Watts ($430.00) and that Onkyo also came out with two new models....and they are the TX-SR576(80w per chan) and the TX-SR506 (75w per chan)...like I'm not already confused asit is.

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I will have the same config as before..

AVR to TV (HDMI out) ... One HDMI from TV to AVR

(All the components ONLY to the AVR) If I need a optical TOS from mounted TV to AVR, then so be it.

STB(Cable) to AVR (HDMI In)
BLuRay to AVR (HDMI In)
CD player for MP3's (HDMI)

Sounds crazy, and I am!, but still want the feature of playing TV speakers for normal viewing and not have the AVR on all the time...don't watch a ton of Blurays. I believe that would be something with HDMI pass-through. 

OK, so now dump your coffee and pour yourself a maggie on the rocks! You deserve it! :snoring:


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Well, personally The Onkyo's seem to really have the best bang for buck but it seems that your budget is not very high, how much do you want to spend on a receiver. My personal choice would be to wait for about a month as onkyo has just released the first receivers with a new surround mode that actually can make not only 7.1 surround but has another set of front speaker channels that go above the mains at the ceiling (9.1 channels) and reproduces sound falling using the new Dolby digital IIX mode.


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## the_rookie (Sep 30, 2008)

Interesting development, could this be a new standard?

But realistically I could never use a 9.1, I would need a high ceiling, because I would never want anything smaller than Towers for my Fronts. And having 2 Towers would need a decent amount of height. Especially if you want a better falling effect, you would need some distance between the bottom and top speakers to get a fuller effect.

But those Onkyo are coming at a decent price range too.


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## bozobytes (Nov 23, 2008)

*Re: Onkyo,Pioneer(elite),and Yamaha? whew! ???*

On and on with the technology...when is this madness going to stop? :coocoo:

Thanks for chiming in on my quest for finding the perfect receiver in my small modest listening/viewing room.
MY BUDGET: I'd like to say I don't, and couldn't afford anything over $600.00 on the AVR. The HSU research speakers I'm thinking about getting, are about $500.00, So for me, I think the total amount I would spend on this is about $1100.00, which is about $1100.00 more than I want to spend right now....lol :joke: hehe
I know there are better than HSU speakers out there, but like I said before, to me, they do sound crisper than the Polk 6880's I heard, and the HSU sub is 150w vs the 100w elongated sub that the polk has with their 6880 package. 

The 10'x12' room just ain't big enough for the audiophile set of the new onkyo 9.1 channel setup coming out soon. Originally, I was only going to do a 3.1 channel,but opted for the three additional speakers for the 6.1. 

The fronts and rears... I was already planning on mounting them in the higher corners, so that "falling effect" won't help me if the 9.1 speakers are meant for going higher than the floor standers, which I do not have. Should I consider the new 9.1 anyway, because of the new processor, or will that make no difference unless I ultimately have all 9.1 speakers? 

:dontknow:....Unless the new Onkyo's that come out do not start over $600.00, or less, then I think I'm going to stay with the present three choices I have stated on my previous post.

The AVR's don't have to be THX certified, just something that will add more effectiveness to watching movies and listening to mp3 music. (ipod or mp3 disc) And had HDMI Pass through and the DTS:NEO:6 or the DTS-ES 6.1 feature to utilize that 6th rear-channel speaker.


Another note. Am I sacrificing worse surround sound by only having the speakers up high (around 7 feet) as opposed to having fronts on the floor? 

Whatever I do, I'm sure they will sound much better than my friends' Sony HTiab avr/speakers which are also mounted in his corners. Thank you.:hail:


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

You should be able to get into an Onkyo 707 for under that price point and is by far the best bang for buck in that price range its just not available yet.


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## bonehead848 (Jan 21, 2007)

I am also an onkyo fan. If it were me I would wait until the new 707 is released (or in that time frame) and try and pick up a clearance 706 or 806. That should be well under your budget of $600 and give you some more room to work with for speakers.


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## Jeff Aguilar (Apr 11, 2006)

I honestly think either one of those 3 receivers you are looking at are going to work really well for you. Onkyo seems to be one of the best bang for the buck receivers out there. As far as the 9.1 or the front surround speakers that Onkyo is coming out with, I know in years back that is something that the high end Yamaha receivers had, those front effect speakers, I think that is how they refered to them as.

Most of those receivers (if not all of them) will allow you to select '6.1' in the setup menu. Not everyone needs 7.1 or has the room for it. I would download the manuals and see if they can do that and then just select the one that has the inputs (hdmi connections) you are looking for and the price you want to spend. I think you would be happy with all that you listed.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Jeff Aguilar said:


> As far as the 9.1 or the front surround speakers that Onkyo is coming out with, I know in years back that is something that the high end Yamaha receivers had, those front effect speakers, I think that is how they refered to them as.


Yamaha has been using the front "presence" channels since the early 90's the difference here is that Onkyo is using them in the new surround mode PLIIz that has sound falling or going up, much different than Yamaha's presence channels.


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## bozobytes (Nov 23, 2008)

Thanks for chiming in guys...

So what the consensus here is...is that Onkyo is far more adapt than Pioneer Elite. I was at Best Buy today, and between the three models of those two Pioneer and the Yamahas, he said that the Elite 01 is the best. 

I guess the one thing that I'm not comprehening, is that without spending 2,000.00 on a AVR, any AVR I get including the Denon, and the ones I've listed, is that The only way to have a choice to either listen to the TV speakers or the Surround speakers, is to use more HDMI or component cables from the TV to the AVR...right? So many people have told me, as long as I have Video/Audio upswitching or Pass-Through in the AVR, I can choose which to listen to, without having more than one HDMI cable from the wall to the TV.

The same people are telling that if you have one HDMI from TV to AVR,then cable,bluray into the AVR, then you have to listen to those speakers ALL the time. 

If that's the case, then I should just stop trying to analyze all this and buy something.


Remember, no brains, no headache! Thanks for your patience.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Put simply if you run HDMI from your display to the receiver you will only get 2.1 audio (some sort of restriction due to copy write laws).
You must pass all audio through the receiver first in order to get all the audio formats in proper 7.1.
If you want to sometimes just have the display on without the receiver you can run a separate optical cable for audio and a component video feed directly to the display from the cable box/sat receiver.


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## the_rookie (Sep 30, 2008)

I guess the biggest question is;
Do you want the convience of watching movies, cable, games on your tv without the stereo on?
Or do you want to hear your movies, cable and games in better detail and quality?

If you run all your components to your TV first, than a cable from your TV to the stereo, your sound quality degrades, and is limited to stereo effect, not surround sound.

But if you can deal with having the news played on the stereo, you should hook it up through the stereo.

There is a third option however; most electronics will allow you to run say an HDMI cable to your TV, and than have an Digital Optical cable run to your Stereo. It wont be in HD sound, but you will have digital sound for movies, and so on. Furthermore, If you use just Component cables (red, blue, green) you can run those to the TV, a Fiber Optic sound cable to your stereo, and an RCA (red, white) cable to your TV.

Those options you can choose from. Not too difficult, just whatever you want to deal with.

Me? I deal with having to use my stereo all the time, and have everything running to my stereo. I actually turned off my TV speakers, they haven't played a single sound since I bought it. :R


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## bozobytes (Nov 23, 2008)

Thank you all for dissecting all my verbage from the previous post, and making some sense of it.:bigsmile:

I know from the beginning of this post I was thinking HTiab...boy, what was I thinking? I will need HDMI 4/out and 1/in. Be able to use either 3.1 for normal broadcast, and have HDMI pass-through.

The more peeps I talk to, the more Components systems are the way to go. Since Onkyo was my first choice (606,706), I just saw the new Yamaha RX-V565 ($430.00) and the RX-V665 ($499.99) AVR's. 

90w per channel (630w) continuous peak power. For my small 12x10 room, it would be fine. 

Everyone has their own opinion on receivers, I know, but for the price point, they are cheaper than the Onkyo,and don't overheat as much.

The 665 has some features the 565 does not have, like 20/20 frequency bandwidth,front A/B speakers,Zone 2 Output, XM/Sirius capable, and Dolby Digital Plus..(the 565 only has the Dolby Digital LogicII.)

The speakers I may go with are the HSU research sound" Performance II, ventriloquist 6.1 Package for $550.00. :jiggy:


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## Pragmatic (Sep 5, 2010)

I have been watching, comparing, and seriously getting interested in Onkyo 608, (over Denon AVR-791, or Yamaha RX-V665) for (features and) values for $'s. But then I have read several on other forums seriously questioning overheating problems and associated quality and reliability.
What are your experiences and thoughts?


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