AVReview pits four high-end receivers against each other

by Steven Kim posted Apr 27th 2009 at 7:28AM

Pioneer SC-LX71, Onkyo TX-NR906, Sony STR-DA5400ES, Yamaha RX-V3900

Despite the trickle down of advanced features on many manufacturers' lower-end receivers, there's still plenty of room for their upper-echelon offerings as well, and the UK's AVReview put four £1,200 - £1,500 ($1,750 - $2,200) receivers in a matchup. Entering the ring were the Onkyo TX-NR906, Pioneer SC-LX71 (SC-07 in the US), Sony STR-DA5400ES and Yamaha RX-V3900; we only wish models from Denon and Marantz would have made it to the contest as well. That said, matching up four receivers is not to be taken lightly, and it sounds like each of the contestants would serve you well in both features and absolute performance. We won't spoil the ending for you, but even though only one receiver snagged the overall crown, at this price point you should know that things are more nuanced than a single "winner;" your personal priorities are going to be the biggest variable in choosing the best model for you.

[Boxing glove image courtesy germes-online]

Filed under: Reviews, Receivers, Others, Pioneer, Sony

Tags: avreview, comparison, england, onkyo, onkyo tx-nr906, OnkyoTx-nr906, pioneer, pioneer sc-07, pioneer sc-lx71, PioneerSc-07, PioneerSc-lx71, receiver, review, rx-v3900, sc-07, sc-lx71, shootout, sony, sony str-da5400es, SonyStr-da5400es, str-da5400es, tx-nr906, uk, yamaha, yamaha rx-v3900, YamahaRx-v3900

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Lowest Ranked

Patrick Joseph @ Apr 27th 2009 7:44AM

Best value for the money is still the Onkyo 6100 HTIB

Neutral

jason @ Apr 27th 2009 12:05PM

let me guess! the reason for the british boxing glove is due to the fight this past weekend?

Neutral

Jon @ Apr 27th 2009 3:14PM

That was a good Fight .. Damn British guy

Neutral

Brian @ Apr 27th 2009 8:53AM

I would pit the Denon 3808CI against these. It's definitely a shame they didn't include it. I still think the Onkyo would have won, and that's only because of the price cap limiting the AVR4308CI from being considered.

Neutral

chadlipp @ Apr 27th 2009 9:41AM

i knew the outcome before reading, but i checked just to make sure. had it been consumer reports (they suck) the sherwood (which sucks) for $150 would have won. I wish they also would have included denon and harmon for the test.

Neutral

zargon @ Apr 27th 2009 9:08AM

Approaching the $1.5k range, I think you are better going off with separates. Even if it means getting a AVR for a pre-amp, the higher Onkyo's and Pioneer's and maybe Denon and marantz will get you a good pre/pro and match it with something like a Emotiva UPA-7 or even any combination of the XPA-2, XPA-3 and XPA-5.

Neutral

roper @ Apr 27th 2009 12:23PM

Emotiva makes some great amps and for very reasonable prices. However, I don't think that the UPA-7 would much of an upgrade over something like the Onkyo 906, which can match the UPA-7 even on an all channels driven test.

It's a good idea, but I'd probably just get an Onkyo 805 with an Emotiva XPA-5. The 805 can put out nearly 170 wpc with only two channels (use for the 2 back surround channel)s being driven and just run the other 5 channels on the XPA-5.

If you can break 1500 dollars, an Onkyo 875 with the HQV Reon video processor would be even better with an XPA-5.

Neutral

kcmurphy88 @ Apr 27th 2009 10:20AM

Leaving Denon out makes this far less meaningful.

Neutral

HIDEF @ Apr 27th 2009 10:37AM

NAD at $1299 and or Marantz at $1000 would smoke any of the listed models... The new NAD T747 is an amazing piece. Audiophile grade receivers have now caught up to the "retail" models giving you true performance in audio and video from a much more solid box.

Neutral

roper @ Apr 27th 2009 12:11PM

The video processor in that NAD (Faroudja DCDi) is subpar for its peer group.

Look we all know that the Sony model is fluff with underpowered amps, but a 1000 dollar Marantz is not in the same league as these units. I would have liked to see an upper end Marantz in the test though, as well as the Denon 3808.

Neutral

Andy Sullivan @ Apr 27th 2009 10:59AM

The major point here is that they actually had a shoot out at all. This type of review gives the buyer some actual information worth ingesting. I would love to see this continue with other electronic equipment, like blu-ray players etc.

Neutral

Manny @ Apr 27th 2009 12:43PM

I agree with @Brian and @kcmurphy88. Please add Denon 3808

Neutral

bikehorn @ Apr 27th 2009 5:26PM

No Denon, no NAD, no Harman Kardon, WTF?

Neutral

kevon27 @ Apr 27th 2009 2:54PM

So how would you classify receivers from Anthem, Classe and Krell that cost $15000 and above?

Highly Ranked

Krazz @ Apr 27th 2009 3:26PM

I would classify them as make believe because there are no a/v receivers that cost that much from those manufacturers. I think you are referring to separates.

Low Ranked

kevon27 @ Apr 27th 2009 8:22PM

I like making people like you feel stupid..
Look here for the asking price for the Krell evolution 707
http://www.cepro.com/article/krell_evolution_707_preamp_processor_supports_hdmi_1_3/K28

Highest Ranked

zargon @ Apr 27th 2009 9:29PM

Do you care to enlighten us how you are making anyone look stupid?

Anthem, Classe or Krell currently do not make a receiver, they how ever do make preamplifier/processors. There is an ever so slight difference between a receiver and a pre/pro, a pre/pro does not have an amplifier built into it.

Better luck next time though...

Neutral

Krazz @ Apr 28th 2009 1:03AM

As Zargo correctly pointed out, that Krell piece is not a receiver.

On the bright side, Kevon27, soon this entire article will roll off of the engadgethd.com front page and it will be much less embarrassing to you.

Neutral

kevon27 @ Apr 28th 2009 10:25AM

Ha, Ha... I'm the idiot.. my bad

Highly Ranked

zargon @ Apr 28th 2009 11:00AM

While I respect Krell amps and if I was given one of their products for free, I would gladly accept it. But at $25k-$30k MSRP for the 707, it is beyond overkill for what you actually get, even status quo.

Neutral

kevon27 @ Apr 28th 2009 11:39AM

Has anyone looked into these Uber highend gear (Krell, Goldmond, Anthem) and compared the internal components to the Denon, Onkyo, Yamaha gears to see what the big price difference is all about?
Can you really hear much improved sound quality when you use a $30000 Krell setup vs the highest end setup from Denon?

Highly Ranked

zargon @ Apr 28th 2009 1:24PM

There is a group of people that will claim that all amps, of similar specs, will all sound the same. Including someone that has done a couple thousand blind tests to back up that claim. On top of that, most of the coloring of sound would come from the pre/pro or the source. With an amp, you only need one that will be able to drive your speakers.

From what I know and have read, I tend to believe it. There is a point of diminishing returns and I believe anything beyond that point, is all in peoples heads or the status quo. I have a very hard time believing that a $30k pre/pro is going to give me better sound than a $4-5k (Anthem and Classe, a $2k (Onkyo/Onkyo Integra/Marantz) or even a sub $1k (Emotiva, Outlaw) one. I can see the feature sets and quality of the parts changing, mainly the video processing end, but out side of that... I am not sure I see the advantage of spending more than $5k on a pre/pro (which I think is pretty high for something that will be outdated shortly).

The piece that you should be spending your most money in, where you are going to gain the most from is speakers. General rule of thumb is that your speakers should be about 80% of your budget.

Highly Ranked

chuckdaly @ Apr 27th 2009 6:11PM

Why so many mentions of video processing? Unless you are watching VHS, why would it even matter? Nine times out of Ten, the video processing is being bypassed. Blu-ray players scale DVDs, which is typically non-defeatable (Not without downrezing BD discs). Cable/Sat/OTA are HD sources as well as PS3/Xbox 360. Actually, the Onkyo with ISFccc controls is the only receiver worth mentioning, because you can calibrate separate inputs.

Neutral

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