Onkyo tx-nr818 or the Yamaha RX-A1020

Nimonie

I am in a bit of a pickle I am trying to decide which one of these to buy. the onkyo has been having alot of problem lately but it has the Audyssey MultEQ XT32 which I think would make a huge difference but yamaha seems to have some of the best track records for performance (from what I have been reading anyway). So what are your opinions I have tried to find someplace to try these out but no one has them in stock yet.

mesquitehead

Let me save you some headaches...go get one of the new Yamaha Receivers. All the firmware bugs associated with the Denon and Onkyo stuff are not a problem in the Yamaha gear. The Onkyo stuff runs hot as hell and has bugs in the firmware. Denon quickly released the 2113ci due to all the bugs in the 2112ci. The Yamaha RX-A820 is what I have now, upgraded from a RX-V671 just last week. I love the Yamaha iphone/ipad app that allows complete control of the receiver and it has built in Apple Airplay, I can also see all my movies and pics via my pc via a wireless internet bridge through my PS3. Last year I gave up on my Marantz SR8001 due to a known issue where the unit would shut down randomly...the factory refused to help yet there were many posts online about the issue and they should have had a recall....$2k ****! Let me know if I can help. BTW Denon and Marantz are owned by the same company. And Yamaha has their own version of Audessey: "YPAO R.S.C. (Reflect Sound Control): YPAO-R.S.C. analyzes room acoustics and measures various speaker characteristics, then calibrates audio parameters to achieve optimum sound. It employs Reflected Sound Control to correct early reflections for studio-quality sound. It also provides DSP Effect Normalization, which varies the CINEMA DSP parameters according to the reflected sounds. Yamaha's YPAO-R.S.C. system uses a small microphone and sophisticated equalization to automatically set the best sound for any room, no matter where the speakers are. First it checks the speaker connections and phase of each speaker. Then it sends out tones which are captured by the microphone to analyze the room acoustics and sets a variety of parameters; such as the speaker size, the distance of the speakers, and even the volume level; until it achieves the best sound conditions for your room. Using the supplied Optimizer Microphone, YPAO performs the following checks and makes appropriate adjustments to give you the best possible sound from your system."

begbie

Best bet is to head over to AVS forums where there's dedicated threads to owners of each model. You can get a better guage there. So far from what I read on the Onkyo 818 threads has been very very good. Little to no problems.

I got the Onkyo 1009 and it's been flawless especially with Audyssey Multi-XT helping out my basement. Can only imagine how much better XT32 would be !

pstrev

I had an Onkyo several years ago and it overheated. Of course they wouldn't cover it. A family member's Onkyo overheated a couple months ago. He went to Yamaha. Now I have a Yamaha RX-A700. The YPAO is great. I plan to upgrade to the RX-A820 soon. I like the Airplay and the ipod app. My only concern is if you can manually adjust the YPAO after calibration. I've heard conflicting reports...I will never go back to Onkyo because you never know when/if it may overheat. I can't afford to piss money away like that!

Pat

Nimonie

Thanks for the info guys I will head over to avs and read up on both devices.

pearsall001

Save yourself the time...just get the Yammie. On a side note, if you don't need the AirPlay feature then you can get a killer deal on one of the ....10 series. That's pretty much the only difference between them (except of course the 4K upscale feature) which is not even close to being usefull. I picked up the 3010 at a great price because I have the Sonos system & AirPlay would have been a non-issue for me.

mesquitehead

Yes, you can adjust/fine tune after calibration.

mesquitehead

THey guy at the AV store told me that the Onkyo was thier most returned unit...due to overheating. If you drive speakers that drop below 8ohms often I'd imagine it will be trouble.
My MartinLogans are rated a 5ohms and I have the Yammy set to 6ohms and have had zero issues...and I like it at 11!

cnh

I'd probably play it safe with the Yamaha. Though I do own an older TX-SR 805 Onkyo that has been a flawless performer and a true power house at almost 51 lbs with a monster transformer being most of the weight! I love that unit and (fingers crossed) it's served me well. But it does HEAT up, probably to 136 degrees or so (I think that's what it tests out at) where the HDMI board is located (Right back side). However, since I bought mine as a refurb, from Onkyo. It is quite possible that they replaced some of the items that can not stand up to that kind of heat. It's been years now, and though I don't run it often. My daughter does spend some minor marathon sessions on the PS3 which is routed through the Onkyo to the HDTV, gaming!

Go with the Yamaha for now. I'm sure Onkyo will clean up its act and start using some higher heat resistant parts in there! Actually, Yamaha is lucky that they too woke up recently and redid their AVRs in the Aventage line. Because I really did not care much for their previous series!

Also, regarding auto calibration. You do realize that a lot of the innovations in Audyssey are more commercial hype than anything that you will actually hear a difference in. They have to keep making us think that the engineering there is advancing. But I'd be willing to bet most of you, myself, included couldn't tell the difference between the old and the new? It's mostly "marketing". Have to keep getting all of you to "upgrade" every couple of years! lol

cnh

gce

I had an Onkyo that fried after 2 years! :evil: I have a Yamaha now. :cheesygrin:

SolidSnake1988

I had the yamaha rx v671 and it was an awesome receiver, great sound , menu is easy. I'm upgrading to the rx a1020 and can't wait to get it. I've read many problems with onkyo and it's hdmi and over heating. Play it safe go yamaha-quality built.

OOsemka

I think the older Onkyo AVRs had overheating issues but everything newer then X09 series should be excellent. Before my 809 I had 607 that was getting really hot, but never gave me any problems other then high temperature. The 809 runs very cool. Much cooler then Marantz 8002 and Sony I have in my office. I have heard a lot of good things about Audyssey MultEQ XT32, but also I believe there is a water down version implemented in Onkyo 818, without sub-woofer calibration of something like that. I might be wrong on that.

bookshelf^love

Have you considered the Denon AVR-4311CI, or any of the offerings from Onkyo. I have had the best of luck with the denon's and love there sound! They use really high quality dacs, and the construction is great http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/receivers/denon-avr-4311ci-fl/4311inside.jpg/image_view_fullscreen.

And for SolidSnake. Have you personally had any problems with the Onkyo, I have read of maybe 2 of the HDMI problems but then tthat was most likely Circumstantial to how they had there AVR stack.

best of reciever hunter

-CHeers

B Run

I will never own another Onkyo product, and really like the sound of the RX-A line a lot so it'd be a no brainer for me.

@arbiter

funny that a certain somebody says onkyo runs hot when the 818 has proven to run pretty cool. all the others though seem to run the usual. onkyo still uses a/b amps so it is best to have active cooling to add longevity. i have never had a problem with their stuff because it has always had plenty of airspace and active cooling. but if sub equalization isn't important to you, i would take a serious look at the yamaha. even the 1010 series since you might find it cheaper because i am sure stores are trying to clear them out. i was looking at the 818, onkyo 3009, denon 4311 and yamaha's 2010/3010. i ended up with the onkyo 3009 because i need the audyssey xt32 to eq my dual sub setup. the 3009 is a big step up from the 818 though, unless you plan on using external amps. but yamaha 4 digit series are very good performers. i am sure you will be happy with a yamaha also.

goofyGAguy

dhosi21 reported.