Help Purchasing a new AVR

[wayfastwhitie]

Hi Guys,

 

Im looking at retiring my Onkyo TXNR509 for something a little more modern and supporting newer formats and some more working HDMI inputs (one not working). So i have narrowed down the following

 

Sony DN1080

and Onkyo txnr575

 

Now Im a little out of the game and things have changed alot.  I would like some opinions from you guys on the mentioned models

 

thanks in advance

[Quark]

2 hours ago, wayfastwhitie said:

Hi Guys,

 

Im looking at retiring my Onkyo TXNR509 for something a little more modern and supporting newer formats and some more working HDMI inputs (one not working). So i have narrowed down the following

 

Sony DN1080

and Onkyo txnr575

 

Now Im a little out of the game and things have changed alot.  I would like some opinions from you guys on the mentioned models

 

thanks in advance

The Sony continues their recent trend of installing puny power supplies - max power consumption is 240W. With typical class A/B amp efficiency of 70% this leaves 168W divided by 7 channels = 24W per channel (ignore the marketing crud about claimed power output).

 

The Onkyo has a max power consumption double that of the Sony, 480W. While I'm not a huge fan of Onkyo's recent products, I'd pick the 575 over the Sony in a heartbeat.

[Snoopy8]

Sound advice from Quark regarding power consumption. Get the one with the highest power consumption, ignore marketing crap about power per channel in specs.

 

Are you open to other AVRs?  If so, what is your budget and must have features?

[wayfastwhitie]

Thanks for the reply's.

 

I am open to other receivers but limited as my employer really only sells Onkyo, Harman Kardon, Poineer, Sony and possibly Denon. I would like to take advantage of staff pricing.

I would like to stay as south of $1000 as possible. I was looking at the Pioneer VSX932 but Im finding 4 HDMIs limiting now - but I could live with this as some equipment I have plugged in isnt used very often.

 

Currently Im only using 3.1 configuration as my lounge room is not very conducive to rear surround placement (I do want to but thats another threads question). 

 

I want support for Dolby Atmos/DTS-X, bluetooth/wifi music connections, 4k passthru and decent upscaling of content to 4k should I require it. Other bells and whistles will be just an added extra as I have not had time to investigate how I can make all these "new" features work for me. 

[Jamo8]

5 hours ago, wayfastwhitie said:

 

 $1000 as possible.

http://clefhifi.com.au/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=3053 

[wayfastwhitie]

thanks mate, that one more to throw in the mix.

 

Whats the thoughts on the Yamaha rx-v683, and the pioneer vsx932

[Snoopy8]

19 hours ago, wayfastwhitie said:

I want support for Dolby Atmos/DTS-X, bluetooth/wifi music connections, 4k passthru and decent upscaling of content to 4k should I require it. Other bells and whistles will be just an added extra as I have not had time to investigate how I can make all these "new" features work for me. 

Your budget should get you an AVR with the above other than "decent upscaling to 4k" (need to spend a lot more!).  As Quark mentioned earlier, check the power consumption and eliminate lower ones.  More power = better ability to drive speakers, especially when you move beyond a 3.1 setup.

 

Ideally, visit Clef and a few stores to audition and let your ears be the judge.

 

If you can't, and want to buy from your employer, pick the one which has the highest power, and sounds the best, within your budget.

[wayfastwhitie]

Hi Guys,

 

Sorry for the late/slow reply. I end up taking the plunge with an Onkyo TxNR676. It was on sale and a deal I could not say no too.

So now - I would like some more experienced opinions of what I bought. Thoughts and so on.

 

One thing Ive noticed is I need to give the new AVR much more volume to listen to - even though the new amp is almost twice as powerful as the old AVR (txnr509)

 

thanks for the pointers 

Edited December 29, 2017 by wayfastwhitie

[Cope]

On 28/12/2017 at 10:41 PM, wayfastwhitie said:

Hi Guys,

 

Sorry for the late/slow reply. I end up taking the plunge with an Onkyo TxNR676. It was on sale and a deal I could not say no too.

So now - I would like some more experienced opinions of what I bought. Thoughts and so on.

 

One thing Ive noticed is I need to give the new AVR much more volume to listen to - even though the new amp is almost twice as powerful as the old AVR (txnr509)

Remember AVRs have about 50-bajillion audio profiles (mono, stereo, all channel stereo, direct, pure direct, THX in multiple flavors, etc. etc.) so it's possible that the setting on your new unit at present might be slightly different to the setting on your old unit, emphasising different channels and frequencies and meaning it might need more juice to fill the room in the same way. It could also be a difference in room correction. Have you run the room correction on the new one?

 

As you are only using 3 channels the new unit should have a bit more on tap VS the old one before distorting than suggested by the 7 channel calculation, but whether this is noticeable really depends on the speakers, the room, what you're listening to, and how the amp power supply actually works. The sucky thing about all of the options in this price range is that none of them have full pre outs, so you can't use them with a power amp. You're stuck with the power you have.

 

How does it compare to your 509? You gain Chromecast, Airplay, HDR support, 4k support, more power, a better DAC, and an HDMI board that doesn't flake out for no reason (it was a thing with that generation of Onkyo). All of this is great news.

 

How does it compare to the other brands you've mentioned? More features per dollar than any of the others IIRC. More power than the Sony. Sound would depend on your speakers (and ears) - I find Onkyo lacking a bit of omph/ sounding a bit brittle, but that's just my opinion, several expensive upgrades later. For the money, they makes a great receiver.

[Kaynin]

On 12/28/2017 at 10:41 PM, wayfastwhitie said:

One thing Ive noticed is I need to give the new AVR much more volume to listen to

 

Check in the AVR menu setting for your speakers.  Often new AVR's have a volume setting per channel.  Put that at 100%, the default may be something like 50%. 

 

*Note - I'm not talking about the speaker calibration settings (AccuEQ for your AVR)...

Edited January 17, 2018 by Kaynin
Typo.

[wayfastwhitie]

I have ran the auto calibration and it seems to set the gains into the negatives. Which means to drive the system at "normal" listening levels at 75% volume. I have manually adjusted gains into the positive with listening levels down to 30%.

Im going to purchase a new center channel speaker to increase my vocals (Dali Vokal). Im finally going to take the plunge and setup my rears and possible heights.

 

I use at the moment my Xbox one as my source for media - soon to be a Pana xb400 UHD player. Question I have to make sure the reciever is getting the correct signals for Dolby digital/DTS and so forth what should the audio output on the xbox be?  I find it difficult to read the screen to know if the amp it outputting multi channel audio