Marantz vs Harman Kardon Receivers

rengnath

Hey everyone,

I'm in the market for a new receiver. Ill be powering my RT1000i speakers, and something small in the rear and a center. All I need is 5.1, and my focus is getting the most power from a 5.1 receiver for under $400. Ill never add an external amp, so pre outs are not a deal breaker. HDMI support is nice, but not necessary.

Im looking at the Harman Kardon AVR 1650 5.1 receiver rated at 95 watts x 5 @ 8 ohms
And another choice is Marantz NR1402 receiver rated at 50 watts x 5 @ 8 ohms

I am also open to going with Yamaha or Denon, but I'm concerned with what true RMS ratings are for all of these receivers. Any help or suggestions on what will give me the best bang for my buck within the named brands?

nhhiep

it looks like HK fixed their WPC rating to match other brands. their low end AVR usually around 40-60WPC, now suddenly 90+
As far as sound goes, I like HK; very warm. Denon is very good too.

LuSh

You won't find good power brand new for under 400...save up some more...the wattage game is a joke...Manufacture specs are BS, ACD magazine tests are BS...wanna know if it's clean and powerful? Size of transformer, weight of AVR and size of capacitors (measured in uF).

lanchile

LuSh wrote: »

You won't find good power brand new for under 400...save up some more...the wattage game is a joke...Manufacture specs are BS, ACD magazine tests are BS...wanna know if it's clean and powerful? Size of transformer, weight of AVR and size of capacitors (measured in uF).

I second this!:arrowu:

Drenis

LuSh wrote: »

You won't find good power brand new for under 400...save up some more...the wattage game is a joke...Manufacture specs are BS, ACD magazine tests are BS...wanna know if it's clean and powerful? Size of transformer, weight of AVR and size of capacitors (measured in uF).

I'm going to disagree with this statement based SOLELY on the Carver TFM amps... They do not have massive transformers or weigh very much.

cnh

Maybe someone here can address the eccentric or brilliant design of Carvers? But I'm with LuSh as far as almost all other receivers are concerned. (With the exception of newer Class D designs, of course.)

cnh

Erik Tracy

cnh wrote: »

Maybe someone here can address the eccentric or brilliant design of Carvers? But I'm with LuSh as far as almost all other receivers are concerned. (With the exception of newer Class D designs, of course.)

cnh

Something to do with a variation on the flux capacitor....:cheesygrin:

Drenis

I just realized this was about AVR's and not dedicated amplifiers.

Disregard my earlier post

jayman_1975

Are you open to buying used? If so, i would highly recommend trying to score an Arcam AVR300. It will smoke anything you can buy new for $1500.

rengnath

Thanks for the suggestion jayman. I was open to buying used, but I was kind of lery, especially for some of the Yamahas because I read a lot about heat issues causing problems. I was about to buy a Yamaha V2600 on eBay, and I looked at a few Harman Kardons, but couldnt find any great deals. I ended up purchasing a brand new Yamaha RX-A800. I wasn't originally looking at amps, but now I am looking to because it is the only way to get serious power. My dad has suggested a Yamaha M-80, but Im probably looking at an amp closer to 100-200 watts per channel.