# Denon 5805 vs. Yamaha Z9



## ACGREEN (Feb 23, 2007)

I wanted to write up a brief comparison between my new Denon 5808 and my Yamaha RX-Z9 (now for sale). I loved the Z9 but since I moved, I wanted better multi-room capabilities and more specifically HD Video Multi-room Capabilities. 

Sound - I have had both hooked up to B&W 604 S2 series speakers in the same room and configuration. Sound is so subjective to the listener so take my comments with a grain of salt. The Denon is "louder" and the Yamaha is "brighter." I like the sound of the Yamaha better, but maybe that is because I have listened to Yamaha sound for the last 10 years. That being said, I would guess based on the mid-range reproduction, the Denon may be more accurate.

Room Correction – The Denon’s Auto-Room configuration is better as it accurately located the speaker that reversed the polarity on and it detected my subwoofer. The Yamaha did not.

User-Friendliness – The Yamaha hands down. The Denon OSD and menu system is horrible when compared to the Yamaha. Locating features was much easier on the Yamaha. But the Denon has more options and is much more configurable then the Yamaha. 

Video – I couldn’t tell a difference in the video processing of each receiver. The Denon does take longer to switch from a SD to HD source. But the Denon is able to distribute multi-room HD video. 

Multi-room - The Denon is hands down the best receiver on the market for multi-room capabilities. Obviously, having 10 channels of amplification makes it very versatile in distributing multi-room sound as any amplifier can be assigned to any of 4 possible rooms. It will also down convert digital audio to analog audio if you are connecting the unit to an external amp. The Yamaha does not do this and requires that you connect the original sources analog audio connectors. 

Overall – I would probably lean towards the Yamaha if I didn’t need the multi-room capabilities. I have also liked the spacious sound of the Yamaha DSP with the presence speakers connected.


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

Nothing like having a couple of the big boys in your possession at one time. What fun that must have been. I use to dream of having Yamaha's top of the line receiver... and probably could have had it when I snagged the NAD T785, but decided on the NAD anyway.

Good luck on moving the Z9... someone will be getting a nice receiver.


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## ACGREEN (Feb 23, 2007)

Thanks. I am having trouble listing it because I like it so much. But the sooner I sell it, the more I can get for it.

I also forgot to mention that the Denon has HDMI connections and the Yamaha doesn't. It also has network capabilities. It will play music from your computer and from Internet radio stations. Although the OSD and menu are so bad that I would rather listen to music off my computer using the XBox 360. It also allows for some basic operations over the network connection from your computer. These have a high wow factor, but not very useful in their current form on the 5805. I understand the new Denon has a much improved OSD and menu system with a great network menu that grabs album art and information from the Internet like windows does.


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## blekenbleu (Jan 4, 2007)

ACGREEN said:


> I also forgot to mention that the Denon has HDMI connections and the Yamaha doesn't.


I have read claims that audio over HDMI sounds inferior to S/PDIF,
but that has not been my experience with a 5805mk2.



> It also has network capabilities. It will play music from your computer and from Internet radio stations. Although the OSD and menu are so bad that I would rather listen to music off my computer using the XBox 360. It also allows for some basic operations over the network connection from your computer. These have a high wow factor, but not very useful in their current form on the 5805.


I eventually ended up doing as much setup as possible using a laptop with the 5805mk2's webserver.



> I understand the new Denon has a much improved OSD and menu system with a great network menu that grabs album art and information from the Internet like windows does.


Their new User Interface could not be much worse; I removed the remote's batteries
over a year ago, now turn it on and select inputs using the panel controls.
Taught a DirecTV remote to control volume and mute.


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