Let me start off by saying I am a life long fan of Onkyo. But as I am buying new Whafedales I am keeping an open mind to find which brand of receiver matches best with them. Here is an interesting demo and I hope it does not bore you.
Ok....pulled the trigger and got the Diamond 9 series. My fronts are the 9.6 and am doing demos to see which receiver matches best. Started my demo and observing was a fellow DVD member, sir ShogDGreat. We got to chatting and he joined me as he was there to buy a pair of Diamond 9.1's and also came to demo receivers with an eye on figuring out which would match up best with Wharfs. (He actually told me he was most interested in Denon and that was his objective today....to see how they matched up with the 9.1.)We demoed Pioneer, Yamaha, Onkyo and then Denon. Shog also brought his friends and family who took interest in our demo. Let me start off by saying that all of us agreed on the best of the bunch as well as those that were not. I can not tell you all the model numbers but remember prices But perhaps Shog can shed some lite as well.
At the bottom of the list and what was most UNIMPRESSIVE was the Denon and very close to that was the Yamaha. I WILL ADD THAT OF THE 4 RECEIVERS THESE TWO WERE THE MOST EXPENSIVE! The Pioneer (VSX-520 5.1) which was the cheapest in price was not bad at all in fact it was less than 1/2 the price of the previous two tested. Shog and I were impressed with the revealing detail yeilded by this entry level receiver. This left me wanting to her more from Pioneer but a higher end 7.1 unit. We next demoed the Onkyo and without going in to the long story...simply put.... The best reciever for the "objective of matching them with warfs" was by far the Onkyo 507. It created a driving force in these wharfs that was lacking in the previous three. The highs and lows all came together. The base was so tight and pronounced that shog and I imediately turned to one another and commented. The demo was over.
Of these 4 brands we listened to there was a "hands down" clear winner. Onkyo by a country mile. I soon left Shog and his crew but not before he told me that the 9.1's and the Onkyo 507 were going home with him. I guess Shog found his "pefect match".
And I am getting closer to finding the reciever to make my Wharfs sing!
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Hi Mr dannielsimone. Actually the one we auditioned was Onkyo 508 not 507. At first im eyeing on Denon 1611 which is 3d ready just like 508. When I arrived in S&S, Mr danniel was there and auditioning the pioneer at first. Then i ask one of the staff to audition the Denon 1611. Mr danniel got my attention when he played his demo cd (def leppard) which is one of my favorite rock band. That time he was auditioning the onkyo 508 and i was impressed by the sound coming from wharf 9.4 and mirage omni subwoofer. The slam was very good for me and the detail is just fine for my ears. Then we test the yamaha for comparison and the yamaha was too far for onkyo. Both receivers was tested using their default settings in tone control. I found the yamaha lacking of treble and the slam is not as good as onkyo. Then I said to danniel to try the denon 1611. Then when we played again the same music, i was disappointed. I thought 1611 will sound good because of the reviews i read about 1610. The bass was not there just like there is no sub. Then we ask Mr jhun of S&S that maybe there is something wrong with the setup. Then he said every setup are identical. He check the sub, settings and it is set on yes. Maybe denon will sound good if you will do some tweaking in its tone control. However the detail of the denon is just ok for me.
So my rating for the 4 receivers will be:
1. Onkyo 508
2. Pioneer 520 (if im not mistaken)
3. Denon 1611
4. Yamaha (?)
This is just only for my own preference maybe what is good for me may not be good for others. That's why always audition first before you buy.
I was ended to bring the onkyo 508, wharf 9.1 and omni s10 mirage subwoofer...... Grin Grin Grin
I would like to thanks PDVD for educating me in this hobby and also to Mr dannielsimone in choosing my first HT......So far im very happy to my purchase.
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SO GUYS...ANY OF YOU ONKYO FANS USING WHARFEDALES? I AM THINKING ABOUT DOING A HEAD TO HEAD DEMO BETWEEN THE ONKYO 508/608 VS THE HIGHER END PIONEER 920 OR 1020?
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
