I want to upgrade my AVR and am debating on either of these. For some reason I always wanted to get my hands on the Onkyo...but Pioneer seems to be a winner for me in this case.
Is pioneer the correct choice? My budget is $500 - so if there is anything better in that price I would really appreciate. If it helps, I don't need the 7.1. I just need some really good/clean sound with great upconversion (to an extent) and can decode HDMI sound. Real HD
I currently have a Yamaha rx-v363 AVR andd it has been good so far. I want something big now.
I really liked my Pioneer VSX-1016K. I still have it on my gaming system, actually. Onkyo I have no experience with, but a lot of guys on here like it.
The Onkyo TX-SR607's competitor is the Pioneer VSX-919. The 1019 is the next level up and appreciably better. If you can get it for $500 I'd think that was a steal or a mistake.
If you really meant the 919, it's a difficult choice between the two, but there's something very nice about the Pioneer's sound.
Thank you Frank. I am talking about Pioneer VSX-1019AH-K to be exact. Im selling my old receiver and set of speakers for about 400 will only be spending a $100 or so for this product.
Weird - the 1019 retails for £700 in the UK and the 919 for £500. The 607 also retails for £500. Usually we have straight £/$ conversions to deal with. In my view the 1019 is a whole lot more receiver than the 919. I've listened to the 607 on a couple of occasions (we're dealers of both) and I would say prefer the Pioneer in just about every aspect. The only thing about the Pioneer I am not such a great fan of is the fan assisted cooling. Admittedly we tend to 'push' the receivers when demoing so the fan always comes on. With loud movies this isn't an issue and I've never noticed it during even quieter passages, but I always hear the fan going after a demo. Whether I'd hear it in the home is the question.
The Onkyos use convection cooling so no fan noise, but they run hotter which a lot of people don't like. It also means they MUST have decent ventilation above them. Fail to ventilate and they'll cook.
My choice would be the Pioneer. I've directly compared it to the 607 in a couple of demoes and the Onkyo didn't stand a chance.
thank you Frank. In U.S., the Pioneer 1019 is retailing for around 500ish. It is in the same exact range of the Onkyo 607. Thanks for all of your advice, it makes everything much clearer for me.
Wife was looking at movies / sound so I wandered over to the HT section. Is that how hot those HT receivers run? I mean, you could just about cook on several of 'em. Under those conditions, I couldn't imagine any of the hot ones lasting more than a few years. Not to mention putting additional strain on the old AC.