6MT.net Infiniti G35/G37/GTR Community

tmjohansen · 12-26-2007, 02:38 PM

For Christmas this year my parents gave me a new Onkyo TX-SR705 receiver. I didn't really have anything I wanted but was looking at purchasing for myself shortly down the road a Harmon Kardon receiver (maybe the 647 series) that is set up for HD surround (7.1). I don't know enough about the two and was curious if any one out there can give me their opinion on the two units. Thanks!

ju5tincr3dab1e · 12-26-2007, 03:03 PM

i have an onkyo system 7.1 and its great receiver i have it hooked up to my ps3 and my hdtv and the sound qaulity is great i use to be a high end home theater installer. Harmon Kardon is okay. your not gonna know the difference in the sound i know they are better then the bose systems.

tmjohansen · 12-26-2007, 03:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ju5tincr3dab1e

your not gonna know the difference in the sound

So you are saying one against the other, it is more which look I prefer? I think the Harmon Kardon are better looking than a lot of the systems out there. But if the Onkyo is better all around, I will deal with the looks of it.

Any suggestion on speakers?

DoggyDoor · 12-28-2007, 01:36 AM

Go to your local Best Buy and pick up the Klipsch SL (799) set with the free Klipsch Sub 12(Normally 469). Great sound and awesome deal. Then get a set of S-2s to finish up the 7.1. If they don't have the SLs they can order it for you.

msb3079 · 12-28-2007, 04:55 PM

Harman/Kardon blows Onkyo out of the water.....

An H/K receiver costing half as much as another Onkyo will SOUND better... (not counting features here).

i'm about to leave the office... i can't get into it right now... i dont check on here too often so if i dont give more details soon.... PM me and remind me.
but i can tell you firsthand, owning and selling BOTH brands (i used to be hardcore Onkyo).... HK, hands down... is on a whole different level.

tmjohansen · 12-29-2007, 03:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by msb3079

Harman/Kardon blows Onkyo out of the water.....

Good to hear. I ended up going to our local electronics store today (Nebraska Furniture Mart) and exchanged the Onkyo TX-SR705 for a Harmon Kardon AVR 445. It was the model I personally looked at before Christmas for $1300...clearanced down to $899. I love the looks of it and hope it sounds just as wonderful as it looks!

msb3079 · 12-31-2007, 08:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tmjohansen

Good to hear. I ended up going to our local electronics store today (Nebraska Furniture Mart) and exchanged the Onkyo TX-SR705 for a Harmon Kardon AVR 445. It was the model I personally looked at before Christmas for $1300...clearanced down to $899. I love the looks of it and hope it sounds just as wonderful as it looks!

good. well now you can compare... you had the onkyo hooked up right?
pump up the H/K and enjoy.
one note tho.... the volume levels are set up more "true" on H/Ks..... if you have them next to each other... the Onkyo seems like it will be much louder when turning it up much less..... don't let that fool you, the H/Ks are just designed differently.... as to not get distortion from the amp. the onkyo's have a lot of "useless" volume. meaning... past a certain point, you are just getting distortion from the amp. the Harman won't do that until the last few decibal points, if at all.

enjoy!

i just relocated my whole (main) system to my girlfriends basement... i am in love again....
H/K AVR8000.... (that thing is hard to pick up)
Infinity Intermezzo active bookshelves, active center, rears and the insane Intermezzo 1.2 sub.

i've been spendning a lot of time down there the past few days.

tmjohansen · 12-31-2007, 09:23 AM

I unfortunately can't really guage the receiver yet because the speakers I have are from an old Aiwa 5.1 unit that was relatively cheap 10 years back. So my next step is buying new speakers. Any suggestions on brands to look at or technologies to inquire about?

msb3079 · 12-31-2007, 10:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tmjohansen

I unfortunately can't really guage the receiver yet because the speakers I have are from an old Aiwa 5.1 unit that was relatively cheap 10 years back. So my next step is buying new speakers. Any suggestions on brands to look at or technologies to inquire about?

that is harder for me to answer... i am very partial to Infinity's higher-end speakers.... but there are TONS of good brands out there..... it really comes down to a few things....

1 - the type. What size can you handle... floor-standing, bookshelve... maybe they even need to b ebuilt into the wall.

2- that first should help narrow down... but the biggest, is listening to them. back when i sold audio equipment... i'd get in daily arguments about what is "better"... however, when it comes down to it... the answer lyes with your ears. different people hear differently and like different speakers... some are "warmer" than others... people like a different sound.

i'd advise taking your favorite cd to the store and just listening to the same track on several different speakers... you'll figure out what you like better.

like i said... i've always loved my infinity's... my old co-worker, loved Polk's (which i could not stand)... he said the infinity's were too "bright"... but with the good amp i have, they are not. and he was referring to the basic infinitys... not what i own....

anyway... i could go on forever... i'd just check some out.. see what you find for the money and what you liek for the money.
with the receiver, i can simply say "HK!" bc I am confident that they are by far, the best for the money... (no matter which series you buy).
but with the speakers... there are endless numbers of possibilities.

good luck.

jmcclain · 01-02-2008, 06:28 PM

msb, I was out looking a little this weekend at new receivers and I'm glad I did some research. I have everything ran through HDMI and I found out that you have to get to pretty much the upper end of any manufacturer to get audio through HDMI. Have you found this to be the case as well? Vieo is not a problem, the lowest lines will carry video through HDMI, but I found this is not the case with Audio. Do you like H/K better then Denon? If so, what have you noticed to be the difference?

msb3079 · 01-04-2008, 02:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmcclain

msb, I was out looking a little this weekend at new receivers and I'm glad I did some research. I have everything ran through HDMI and I found out that you have to get to pretty much the upper end of any manufacturer to get audio through HDMI. Have you found this to be the case as well? Vieo is not a problem, the lowest lines will carry video through HDMI, but I found this is not the case with Audio. Do you like H/K better then Denon? If so, what have you noticed to be the difference?

sorry for the slow response.....
yeah HDMI is obviously taking longer for receivers..... first and formost, i haven't kept up with things like i used to... since i am "out of the business"
i havent looked at or listened to any of the new Denons... and to be completely honest... i havent even listend to the new HKs.. ive just be really out of the loop recently.

but typically in the past.... it's not really that H/K was better or worse than Denon... it was just that you got more for the money with HK....
again, i am talking mostly sound quality here.. i feel especially now more than ever, there is a lot of extra crap thrown in that isnt really used.
back when i was really "into things"... for a $900 or $1,000 HK.. to get simialr sound from Denon... you'd be spending easy $500+ more. Onkyo, for instance.. wouldnt even compare until you got to their flagship 989 $3,000 receiver.
but yeah, as i said before.. you are going to get more for the money from HK.
i honestly don't know which receivers do and do not have HDMI at this point..... Denon, honestly, might have a lowered price receiver with HDMI, not sure. but you'd probably miss out on some sound quality.
I know H/K has been using Faradouja lately... (can't spell that word)

sorry i dont know more specifics....

jmcclain · 01-04-2008, 04:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by msb3079

sorry for the slow response.....
yeah HDMI is obviously taking longer for receivers..... first and formost, i haven't kept up with things like i used to... since i am "out of the business"
i havent looked at or listened to any of the new Denons... and to be completely honest... i havent even listend to the new HKs.. ive just be really out of the loop recently.

but typically in the past.... it's not really that H/K was better or worse than Denon... it was just that you got more for the money with HK....
again, i am talking mostly sound quality here.. i feel especially now more than ever, there is a lot of extra crap thrown in that isnt really used.
back when i was really "into things"... for a $900 or $1,000 HK.. to get simialr sound from Denon... you'd be spending easy $500+ more. Onkyo, for instance.. wouldnt even compare until you got to their flagship 989 $3,000 receiver.
but yeah, as i said before.. you are going to get more for the money from HK.
i honestly don't know which receivers do and do not have HDMI at this point..... Denon, honestly, might have a lowered price receiver with HDMI, not sure. but you'd probably miss out on some sound quality.
I know H/K has been using Faradouja lately... (can't spell that word)

sorry i dont know more specifics....

I agree. There's so much junk thrown on receivers now days that never gets used. I'll take a look at the H/Ks and see what kind of price they offer for a receiver that carries Audio and video.

tmjohansen · 01-04-2008, 05:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmcclain

I agree. There's so much junk thrown on receivers now days that never gets used. I'll take a look at the H/Ks and see what kind of price they offer for a receiver that carries Audio and video.

I will let you know it will probably be over $1500. I believe that the H/K AVR 647 is the first of their models that processes both audio and video for HDMI. Is there a large difference between audio from HDMI over audio from an optical digital output?

tmjohansen · 01-07-2008, 03:06 PM

I will be picking up the first portion of my new speaker set up tonight. I purchased a set of JBL Stadium speakers (JBL Home Audio). Hopefully I will get a couple more each month until I get to the full 7.1 experience.

Ltrain · 01-07-2008, 03:50 PM

I was actually looking at the AVR-247 which is a little more cost effective for me and my income

Still gives u the 7.1 sound with a little less kick then the more superior 647.
Trust me I would go with the 647 if I could afford it