Just a quick opinion here. I have a friend who has a very limited budget. They have Kef q55's for mains, a Q9c for a center and twqo cheapo bookshleves for surrounds. Their budget is tapped except for a couple hundred bucks for now. Here are the choices.(=<$300 range) Pioneer VSX-914 Onkyo TX-sr601 Panasonic SA-HE200
I tried to convince her to spend the extra and go with an NAD or Marantz but she just doesn't have the money right now and currently doesn't have an AV receiver at all.. just 2 channell. I told her I would go to the experts...... Thanks in Advance Guys!!
a long time ago, i listened to sony, jvc, pioneer, yamaha and harmon kardon recievers with similar ratings. what i found then, at least, was that pioneer was the best value of the bunch. sony had the most rolled of and muffled treble. harmon kardon had the best treble, but was the most expensive by nearly a couple hundred dollars.
the sony, jvc and pioneer were all around the same price give or take $20. out of that group, the pioneer had the best treble. yamaha at maybe $50 more was a little better, and HK at $100+ more was only slightly clearer than the yamaha.
i OWN an older NAD 2 channel reciever rated at close to 50wpc after headroom is figured and bought a $250 onkyo 55wpc DTS surround reciever after my DVD player.
i TOTALLY like the sound of my CHEAPER onkyo over the NAD. i was surprised that the onkyo had so much clearer treble and imaged better than the NAD in stereo mode. i'm very happy with my budget onkyo.
some people think that onkyo sound is too bright, but with my soft domed super zeros, it gave a welcomed treble clearing. with my brighter sounding mission speakers, the onkyo is a little bright, but the missions themselves are known to be bright. they also have cheesy cabinets and sound boxy.
if the speakers being used are a little dull and muffled sounding, i wouldn't hesitate to recommend onkyo which is a great value. i'd probably go with denon next time as they have slightly better specs, but i liked my onkyo's cleaner looks and it matched the DVD player i already owned.
if the speakers are bright and shrill, then nad would be a better choice as it would soften and tame them.
out of the choices you list, i'd buy the onkyo. panasonic has an excellent reputation for reliability, but isn't the best sounding in any DVD at least reviews i've read.
i'd recommend a shortlist of: denon onkyo yamaha
for a budget system.
definately NOT sony. my onkyo DVD trounced my sony CD in CD stereo playback for better treble again. i've never liked lifeless sony sound. way too "polite."
Budget, Thank you for your opinion on this. I just found an Onkyo 601 on e-cost for $249. One of their special bargains for the next 24 hours. I will advise her to go that route. It is the receiver I think that is best in the $300 range from what I have read. The panasonic had my interest as it is basically the old Technics Class H amps in the box... nice power and good features, but the onkyo is a better overall unit I think. Thanks again!
I recently got that same ONKYO 601 system refurbished item from pcmall.com along with a 701 dvd player, and I love it to death, all landed, the box the size of a refrigerator for less than $475. I just wish they had a silver one for my bedroom.