Onkyo 805 or the Yamaha 1800 with LSI15?

Gizmo99

Has anyone compared both with the LSI15s? I am itching to see if Onkyo has better HT / Music Sound quality....

bbeacham

Check out the Sony DA5300ES. I have used both a Sony DA5000ES and DA7100ES with 4 LSi15s and an LSiC and loved it. No problem at all with accuracy and sound levels.
http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921665186458

I am still using the 7100ES as a pre-amp with an external amp (Sunfire TGA-5400) and of course it is "better" than just the AVR, but the AVR alone produced heavenly HT and music.

tonyb

Just curious...if you ran 5 speakers at 4 ohm on a receiver,and the sound was "heavenly",why shell out the coin for an amp?

Gizmo99

Speaking of Receiver + Amps, I did an AB test with and without an amp playing Nora Jones SACD. When played with the AMP, defintely more detail is revealed to the point where I can hear her breath...

Back to this topic...

Since I prefer watching my movies in PCM anyways... is there a point in getting a good receiver? The Onkyo is cheaper than the Yamaha... need to AB test this .... so if someone has done this already with the LSI.. please chime in

tonyb wrote: »

Just curious...if you ran 5 speakers at 4 ohm on a receiver,and the sound was "heavenly",why shell out the coin for an amp?

tonyb

What kind of amp did you use?
When useing a receiver on so many 4 ohm speakers,you are taxing the amp section in that AVR in ways that won't be readily apparent.Untill one day,you smell smoke,or your speakers have this crackling sound and you just don't know why.Aside from the added benefit of sound quality useing an amp,your gear will love you for it and take alot of the stress off the avr in those loud movie passages.Most AVR's amp sections are simply not built to do 4 ohm.Or maybe you have an endless supply of cash and you really don't care when your gear takes a dump.Most here like the Onyko over the Yammie for sound quality reasons.You decide on the bells and wistles you want.Comes down to personal preferance,try and get an ear on both and then decide.

bbeacham

tonyb wrote: »

Just curious...if you ran 5 speakers at 4 ohm on a receiver,and the sound was "heavenly",why shell out the coin for an amp?

If you are not upgrading then you have no business in this "hobby". There is always something better. I also added power line conditioners and that to made a noticible improvement.

Gizmo99

I am using the adcom 5503 but I am thinking of upgrading (hence selling the returning the yamaha 1800 and buying the Onkyo 805 for cheaper price).

Hmm decision, decisions

tonyb wrote: »

What kind of amp did you use?
When useing a receiver on so many 4 ohm speakers,you are taxing the amp section in that AVR in ways that won't be readily apparent.Untill one day,you smell smoke,or your speakers have this crackling sound and you just don't know why.Aside from the added benefit of sound quality useing an amp,your gear will love you for it and take alot of the stress off the avr in those loud movie passages.Most AVR's amp sections are simply not built to do 4 ohm.Or maybe you have an endless supply of cash and you really don't care when your gear takes a dump.Most here like the Onyko over the Yammie for sound quality reasons.You decide on the bells and wistles you want.Comes down to personal preferance,try and get an ear on both and then decide.

tonyb

Do a search,plenty of members have both.

mhartman29

tonyb wrote: »

What kind of amp did you use?
When useing a receiver on so many 4 ohm speakers,you are taxing the amp section in that AVR in ways that won't be readily apparent.Untill one day,you smell smoke,or your speakers have this crackling sound and you just don't know why.

tonyb, just curious about what you wrote here. Are you saying you can damage your speakers as well as your receiver by running 4ohm speakers like the lsis through a receiver w/o a dedicated amp?

Just asking because that was one of the main concerns steve and I (from another thread) had about whether or not to buy an amp for his speakers. If it just protects the receiver (which he got cheap) maybe it's not worth it. But, if running lsi15s without adequate power runs the risk of damaging the speakers, that's another story.

jdhdiggs

If you are using an external amp for most/all of the speakers, I would look further down the food chain to something that has the pre-outs you need and the video features. The only "real" difference between the 805 and 705 is the 20lbs of added amp in the 805. If you have the amps, I would probably get the 605 and spend the extra $300+ on better amps or media.

Serendipity

I'd go with the Onkyo.

Gizmo99

Just curious, is this oponion based on experience ?

appadv wrote: »

I'd go with the Onkyo.

Serendipity

Gizmo99 wrote: »

Just curious, is this oponion based on experience ?

Yes, the Yamaha seemed to be brighter sounding than the Onkyo when I heard it in a store. I preferred the sound of the Onkyo over the Yamaha.

seeclear

jdhdiggs wrote: »

If you are using an external amp for most/all of the speakers, I would look further down the food chain to something that has the pre-outs you need and the video features. The only "real" difference between the 805 and 705 is the 20lbs of added amp in the 805. If you have the amps, I would probably get the 605 and spend the extra $300+ on better amps or media.

The 605 doesn't have pre-outs. The 705 does.

tonyb

mhartman29 wrote: »

tonyb, just curious about what you wrote here. Are you saying you can damage your speakers as well as your receiver by running 4ohm speakers like the lsis through a receiver w/o a dedicated amp?

Just asking because that was one of the main concerns steve and I (from another thread) had about whether or not to buy an amp for his speakers. If it just protects the receiver (which he got cheap) maybe it's not worth it. But, if running lsi15s without adequate power runs the risk of damaging the speakers, that's another story.

Yes,you can also damage your speakers,especially if you like to crank on the volume knob.Read some old threads.Look,you can do as you wish,no harm ,no foul,but this forum is here to talk about,and offer advice on all things audio.Educate yourself on what power does,or lack of it does to speakers and gear.Some of the lsi's can dip down towards 2 ohms,know of a receiver that can handle that?Just because it sounds good now without an amp,does not mean that damage is not being done.We would like you to think about it and what your investment into audio means to you.The members here,have owned every conceivable combination of every polk speaker ever made,with a variety of gear that will amaze you.When you want to know something about Polk speakers,come here,it's a one stop shop for anything audio.Ok,off the soap box.Best advice I can give a guy who wants to run 5 LSI speakers off an AVR...get an amp,period.

jdhdiggs

seeclear wrote: »

The 605 doesn't have pre-outs. The 705 does.

Well then the 705 then!

Gizmo99

I bought the 805 for A-B test with the Yamaha 1800. I like the onkyo 805 better. In my own opinion, the Yamaha 1800 is a bit too bright. The onkyo sounds smoothing.
And its 200 dollars cheaper than my YAmaha 1800 (bought it from 6ave.com for the Silver Onkyo 805 with Coupon:ALF5 for 650 shipped new)

BIZILL

congrats!

bdaley6509

I have the 705 and love it. Can't go wrong with the 805.

sagasa

Hi, Im waiting for my 805 anytime soon, My speakers are Rti8 front, Csi5, Fxi5, Rti6.
Do i still need an amp to make this sound good or the 805 is enough to power this.
Thanks for any input...

jdhdiggs

The 805 is/should be more than enough. If you find it lacking, you could always try an amp from the used market and see if it makes enough difference to justify the cost. Personally, given the draw and amp specs for the 805, it should be more than enough for almost all applications.