for a home theatre system, which is the higher quality receiver: Marantz, Harman Kardon,Bose or Denon?

Answer 1

Any of the three besides Bose offer great products. I think Marantz is considered a higher end brand than the others though. I would compare the systems from the three that have the features you want and see which one offers most for the price.

Answer 2

To the third poster - BOSE is total crap. To the question asker - if you were to pick between those four you'd have very little reasons to prefer one over the other. Of the four, if you're picking their higher models (Onkyo TX-SR875, TX-SR905, Denon 4308CI and 5308CI, Pioneer Elite 92 and 94TX and Yamaha RX-V3800) then the only thing I'd mention is if you have an SACD player with DSD output, the Pioneer does NOT convert DSD to analog directly. All the other models do. The Denon 4308CI tested the best with Sound and Vision for analog noise levels, which is usually a good indicator of how well the components are. If you have a $5,000 budget I'd go with either the Yamaha RX-Z11 or the Denon 5308CI. If your budget is closer to $500 I'd go with the Onkyo TX-SR606. If you have a budget between $1,000 to $1,500 then the Onkyo TX-SR905 or 906, Pioneer Elite VSX-94TX and Yamaha RX-V3800 should be in your sights. Take some of your favourite CD's or music and go to your local dealer and audition - that's always best. If you're ordering blind, you've picked four brands that won't disappoint no matter which one you choose.

Answer 3

Short answer:

Yamaha or Dennon - very good quality in all models. The RX-V models in the Yamaha are the higher end units.

Sony "ES" series or Pioneer Elite series - very good quality

Kenwood, Harmon Kardon - Good quality

Sony, Pioneer generic line - so so quality (they make a LOT of lower end units).

Bose - Mainly a speaker company and their 321 system does not let you hook too many things up like a AV Receiver will.

HOME THEATER vs MUSIC

There are a lot of good things we know about music reproduction. But music and Home Theater are different.

- Lots of watts are not needed for a HT system.
- A external, self powered sub is best for a HT system.
- Auto calibration of speaker levels is a nice feature
- HDMI Up-converting is a nice feature
- Lots of inputs is a nice feature
- Ability to assign jacks on the back to various inputs is a nice feature
- Good On Screen Display (OSD) is a nice feature

These are not things people look at for an audiophile music receiver, but they are important for an AV receiver.

Answer 4

According to these guys I will have to concur with them, for some reason Harman Kardon, receivers have just seem to fly the coop. I owned one for about a week and I wound up taking it back and just going with their DVD & CD-R units. I would definatly advise going with Marantz, or even a High End Onkyo, for that matter. The Harman Kardon[s] seem to over heat and for some reason they don't carry a lot of power [wattage] per channel. so their you have it.

Answer 5

The one that sounds the best to your ears when listening to music. You cannot go by brand name.All Receivers degrade the audio ,because of a single power supply to power all three sections. The needs of the Power Amp. degrade the Pre-Amp. which is the heart of the system. The one that degrades the Pre-Amp. the least ,is the better Receiver.

EDIT....If music quality is not that important then take the advice of the other posters.

Answer 6

Go with Marantz or Denon. I beleive they are the same company now.