I was wondering what the positives of having a THX receiver would be besides adding about 200 bucks to the price. I am currently looking into getting either a Yamaha HTR 5860 (non THX, $500) or a Yamaha HTR 5890 (THX,$800). Both of these receivers are relatively the same with only a few minor differences.
RichF
Unregistered guest
Posted on
Try the Pioneer 1014 and save $150 or $450 and you'll never have to question your THX decision.
At many price points there's a variety of receivers "with only a few minor differences", some with and many without THX certification. They all sound different to a greater or lesser extent. If you stay within a brand (as in the choices you suggest), then it's a relatively safe bet that the more expensive item is likely to sound better, although this is not necessarily a given - there is such a thing as 'overcooking' the design!
Therefore it is more important to listen to the options than it is to feature-count. You may find that a non-THX receiver from a different manufacturer suits you more than the THX'd Yamaha, or you may find that the THX'd Yamaha is in a completely different performance league to the non-THX version (likely). And yet, your best buddy who you may have taken along for the demo might turn round and say he can't hear the difference - such is the nature of this industry.
Chris, Actually, I think there is more difference between those models than just 'thx'. I believe the 5890 has a better powerplant under the hood. I dont have the specs in front of me, but take a look at their weight. I'll bet you the 5890 weighs more.Plus, the 5890 has more inputs and features.
I was looking at the 5890 vs. the RX-V2500. I could not see a lot of difference between these two Yamaha's, except the 2500 is more expensive. Am I missing something? I think I need to take a look at the Pioneer 1014 after seeing this thread. Thanks
the 5890 is closer to the RX-v1500 than the 2500. THX is a bench mark that it reachs that level of preformence. Not saying that non-THX stuff is not as good. The 5890 in my opinion does sound better than the 5860. A little fuller. With the pioneer you lose some features, like a second zone, lower quality DSP's.
THX certification is largely about how much power can be delivered over a constant amount of time and how much S.P.L. can the speakers output for an extended period. (You can obtain the THX certification requirements at the THX web site.) This is very important if you are building a cinema and want the THX cerification for advertising. It can be somewhat important if you are setting up a reasonably large scale home theater and are very demanding of the quality. In this case you will want THX certs on every piece of equipment in the system. It can also be important if that sort of thing is important to you for some reason other than performance.
If the THX certified components have other reasons that would make them attractive, then they should be considered. A larger, more sophisticated power supply will almost always pay off in benefits at any volume level.
In a reasonably sized room, the power requirements of THX cert will go largely unnoticed in all but the most unusual situations. The idea of THX power and S.P.L. requirements is to never not have enough power to meet the most demanding needs. Since there is no alignment to a 0 VU/dB when playing THX films in your home theater, with just a small bit of indiscretion you can easily run a THX system into distortion on the extremely demanding portions of a film.
If you want THX, go all the way with THX certified speakers and sources. Otherwise, THX by itself means little to nothing special in a home situation.