Need a new receiver: Denon or Onkyo?

[SundayMoney]

I had a Kenwood receiver that served me well for over 20 years. So I am looking at the following choices. Any audiophiles in here care to give me what you think would be best and why?


Denon AVR-2312CI Home theater receiver with 3D-ready HDMI switching and Apple AirPlay® at Crutchfield.com


Onkyo TX-NR717 Home Theater A/V Receiver - 7.2 Channel, 770 Watts Total, Optical, HDMI, USB, Black at TigerDirect.com


Right now I'm kind of stuck between the Denon and Onkyo. The Onkyo has wifi which would make it real easy to stream music. It also decodes quite a few more formats, but I've seen more negative reviews. Not a ton but moreso than Denon and I have seen a few people who reviewed both consider the Denon a tad better on sound. I think Onkyo sells a lot more which would reflect a few more negative reviews when put in context. However, the Denon has an ethernet and no wifi, and that would require me running an ethernet cable under the house or buying one of those expensive ethernet into WiFi adapters.

Thoughts? Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

[TheRupp]

Both are pretty good. I personally have more experience with Denon and have found the clarity and evenness of the sound to be excellent. Of course, this all does depend on the speakers. What speakers will you be running this through?

Right now I'm using an older Yamaha through some Definitive Technologies speakers.

[SundayMoney]

Thanks for your thoughts. Right now I'm using a pair of old AAL's I bought at the same time I bought the Kenwood receiver. They are over 20 years old and still sound pretty decent. Right now I just want the best bang for the buck on a receiver and hopefully closer to black friday and Christmas I can possibly upgrade on the speakers. First things first...I hate watching football without good sound.




Love the black on your ECO!

[XtremeRevolution]

When you're ready to upgrade speakers, let me know. I design home theater speakers from scratch. With $150, I can absolutely destroy anything you find retail for $1000 or less. That is, if you don't mind doing a little bit of work yourself.

Most Class A/B receivers will sound pretty similar. Ignore the power output ratings; they're complete BS. You'll probably get about 75-80W RMS x 2 channels on either of those.

[Mick]

You can't go wrong with either of those really. I personally would go with the one with wifi because I hate wires! Although not sure if I'd have the Mains as wifi.

[XtremeRevolution]

You can't go wrong with either of those really. I personally would go with the one with wifi because I hate wires! Although not sure if I'd have the Mains as wifi.

Wifi functionailty is probably limited to communication with your computer, and nothing else. You'll still have to get creative with cable management, lol.

[Mick]

For $600 they can't stream to wireless speakers?
Airplay much cheaper then.

[SundayMoney]

When you're ready to upgrade speakers, let me know. I design home theater speakers from scratch. With $150, I can absolutely destroy anything you find retail for $1000 or less. That is, if you don't mind doing a little bit of work yourself.

Most Class A/B receivers will sound pretty similar. Ignore the power output ratings; they're complete BS. You'll probably get about 75-80W RMS x 2 channels on either of those.

You have piqued my interest for sure. I would definitely be interested. Are you talking about making the boxes and assembling them at home?

[XtremeRevolution]

You have piqued my interest for sure. I would definitely be interested. Are you talking about making the boxes and assembling them at home?

I was more referring to using a proven design by a well-engineered speaker. There are many such designs available for free, where the schematic is provided for you. You can even buy very nice pre-made cabinets on partsexpress.com, and all you'd need to do is find someone with a router to route the mounting holes. The rest is simple soldering of large parts according to a schematic. Quite a lot of fun, and the results blow away anything you find in a store.

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[jblackburn]

Denon would definitely be my choice - amazing clarity from most of their audio equipment I've had.

Harmon/Kardon used to be good too...but not so much anymore. I have a 1970's-era Harmon/Kardon receiver in my living room, and it still sounds great.