It all depends entirely on what speakers you have. Each of those receivers have very different sonic charachteristics, so speaker matching is very important.
Anonymous
Posted on
lets eliminate panasonic,jvc,sony right off the bat-massmarket stuff-you can get a better brand online for the same price.On paper I love the yamaha(soundwise it's good too),but I have concerns over quality(perhaps wrongly)and power supply-I would onlu use yamaha if you are using 16 ohm sattellites or efficient 8 ohms at reasonable volumes(bicamerica speakers are good).According to very proffessional reviews pioneer 812,814,912,914 are the best budget receivers(for amount of features and price-plus sound quality and power delivery).BTW if one wants a digital receiver pioneer vsx-c301 at under $200 is great-or pioneer ex500 system.denon 1604 at $250 online is probably a top contender(but no dpl2x-will have to wait for next generation).harman kardon I don't think will sound as good as denon or even pioneer.onkyo is good-not as hifi as denon,but smoother than hk or pioneer I think.SO-top pick for budget with the most features is pioneer 814,914-if dpl2x is not needed denon 1604,1804 is probably better by a small margin for sound quality--if dpl2x is not needed and budget and usability(heat management) is a concern pioneer vsx-c301 is top pick.top picks go like this pioneer,denon,yamaha(if you don't need too much power),onkyo,HK.
Anonymous
Posted on
in terms of power delivery the top receivers are probably pioneer,denon,onkyo,hk,yamaha in that order.As i said if you have efficient speakers and don't need huge volume yamaha 450,550,650 are top contenders.Pioneer is #1 because of good power with ALL their receivers.denon and onkyo have about equal power delivery(maybe a little more for denon).Hk has high current which will give a more powerful sound but does NOT mean it can drive low impedance loads better than others(in fact it is less capable than the others I've mentioned from what I've heard).Another receiver which is not mentioned is the marantz 4400 which might be purchased for $300 or less online and is also a top contender(as well as the 5400 etc.).In hifi terms the marantz MAY actually be better than all others(at the lower price point).