Yamaha or Onkyo?

Wow, I wish more could learn from you. the details are great and quite
helpful compared to some of those brand fixicated goof ball out there.

thanks again for all your hard work.

sherman knight

I just finished researching/comparing/auditioning a number of different
"one-box" solutions to my new home theater setup, and I ended up going
with the big Yammie. Here's why:

First, the contenders. Besides the DSP-A1 and Onkyo, I looked at the
Sherwood Newcastle R-945, the Yamaha RX-V2095, the Sony DTR50ES (I forget
the exact model nomenclature), the B&K AVR202, the Rotel RX-965, and the
Marantz SR-980. These receivers range in price (retail) from $1300 for the
Sherwood to $2800 for the B&K. My conclusions:

Reflecting their prices (you know what they say, you get what you pay
for), the B&K and DSP-A1 are in a completely different class from the
others. These are truly awesome pieces, arguably the best receivers ever
made. For me, the decision quickly came down to these two units, but I
should note that we're talking about nearly $1000 in increased cost
compared to the other receivers listed above. This may make my analysis
irrelevant to you.

Sound quality: the B&K wins, hands down. Perhaps not surprising given its
price tag and the audiophile heritage of B&K, but it really is the
cleanest sounding of these units. The amps have mucho high current output,
which is what you're looking for on dynamic movie soundtracks. The bass
from the B&K was particularly clean and effortless. The DSP-A1 I would say
was second best overall in terms of sound quality, but the Rotel was a
little less "bright". On the negative side, the B&K gets damn hot when
it's on, so hot you can barely touch it, while the Yamaha just purrs along
no problem. Also, the B&K has an annoying power supply hum which is
audible through your speakers in quiet rooms at extremely low volumes. For
me at least, this was maddening.

Input/output flexibility: DSP-A1 wins by a mile. This thing does
everything! Unbelievable number of connection and setup options.
Pre-out/main-in loops for the main channels AND center channels is
particularly nice. Digital tape monitor loop for recording onto CD-R decks
or mini-disk. Mono and stereo subwoofer outputs. Cinema-EQ for muting off
extreme treble on some DVD soundtracks. Just incredible. The ONLY feature
that the DSP-A1 is lacking, given the current state of technology, is
component video switching. It does have 5 S-Video inputs, and 2 S-Video
outputs though, and that's good enough for me. I would suspect few people
with component-video-capable TV monitors would be looking at a one-box
solution anyway. For the B&K, it doesn't have pre-out/main-in couplers,
which is probably the main reason I didn't buy it (otherwise I'd need a
separate power amp for the main speakers). It also won't do stereo
subwoofers, and lacks a cinema-EQ equalization feature, which IMO is
absolutely necessary for bright movie soundtracks.

Other: sorry to be blunt if anyone owns one, but the Sherwood is a piece
of crap. The Marantz and Rotel receivers are high-quality and very well
made, but a little soft on the power side (80 wpc) and don't have the
flexibility of the Yamaha in terms of setup and connections. The Sony is
not a well-polished unit, and has the least number of connection options
of any of these. If you have more than 3 digital source units, you're
screwed with the Sony. The Onkyo lacks dts audio decoding, which to me is
an important feature.

The interesting comparison where you'll have to do some thought is between
the DSP-A1 and the RX-V2095. The receiver is about $800 less than the A1
so this is not a trivial point. Feature-wise, you lose little with the
2095. But I found it is not as clean as the A1 in terms of sonic quality.
Though I could't verify this from the brochures and manuals, I believe the
A1 uses better quality DACs and power supplys, which would account for the
increased sound quality. In addition, if you have a complicated speaker
setup involving multiple subwoofers, as I do, the 2095 won't cut the
mustard, while the A1 works perfectly.

I would guess that for most people shopping for one-box solutions, the
2095 is the way to go. But at it's price point, the Marantz and Rotel are
priced comparably and frankly they sound better than the 2095 (though not
better than the A1). You owe it to yourself to listen to these two new
receivers before you make a final decision. If you buy the Sony or
Sherwood, I may have to track you down and slap you silly. Don't waste
your money when an extra $100 or $200 can get you MUCH better quality.

Oh yeah, one final thing. The Yamaha remote is OK, but the Marantz remote
is excellent. It's the same Mark II remote they sell separately for like
$300 or something, and it's a truly powerful remote control. I would think
that for some with multiple source units (DVD, Laser Disc, CD, CD-R or
mini-disk, one or two VCrs, etc...) this remote alone may lead them to
take the Marantz receiver.

Hope some of this rambling helpedDK


--
(remove nospam for email)

The sound and AC-3 on the Onkyo are excellent. Plenty of power and
separation. I haven't compared it to the Yamaha as the DSP A1 wasn't
available when I was purchasing. I have no regrets about the buying the
Onkyo. I got it almost a year ago from One Call for $1850.

If you are doing a multi-room system, check it out. It provides complete
support for 5.1 in two rooms, though not at the same time.

Matthew

--
Matthew L. Martin <mlmar@my-dejanews.com
I'm a contractor. If you want an opinion, I'll sell you one. Here's one:
DIVX, you can get better, but you can't pay more.

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In message <74r1nn$@news3.euro.net
I would be interested in hearing a comparision between the Yamaha DSP-A1
(or A2) and the Yamaha 2095.

Ron