I use an older Denon AVR (circa 2009) with Paradigm speakers, works good enough for me.

I'm old school.  A relatively cheap Panasonic receiver paired with $1500 Bose acoustimass speakers.

I used to love em, as I wouldn't have bought 5 of them over a 10 year period. But ... Onkyo receivers are total junk. They will eventually die and will require being serviced. I had over 5 various models from the low end to their upper end and they all died the same exact ways. Internal electronic failure of the capacitors on the circuit boards or completely fried HDMI control board.

 

 

I used to love em, as I wouldn't have bought 5 of them over a 10 year period. But ... Onkyo receivers are total junk. They will eventually die and will require being serviced. I had over 5 various models from the low end to their upper end and they all died the same exact ways. Internal electronic failure of the capacitors on the circuit boards or completely fried HDMI control board.

 

That seems like fact about Onkyo. Where ever I read, same story. It is like driving a new high end car. Then not wanting to go back to your middle class beater. I've heard what my speakers can sound like when paired with a solid amp. Lots of people only concentrate on video and big TV's but when you want an immersive experience in your home you have to step it up. I'm currently speaking with an AV home installer guy who is giving me good recommendations. Friend of a friend. He's been installing AV/IP gear in homes for over 25 years and recommended I look towards Yamama or Pioneer for a consumer high end receiver but strongly suggested I get a pre-amp and amp / sound processor for best sound. My little receiver hunt gets more expensive as the weeks go on.

 

I've had really good luck with Yamaha.  I've had a couple of their AV amps as well as a 2 channel integrated (Yamaha A-S2100) that I dearly love.

Love my Yamaha RX-V675.  I've owned Harmon Kardon in the past before they got pretty and started to cheap out and Pioneer Elite as well.  I find the Yamahas to be a clearer cleaner sound. But thats my opinion.

 

Krispy

Love my Yamaha RX-V675.  I've owned Harmon Kardon in the past before they got pretty and started to cheap out and Pioneer Elite as well.  I find the Yamahas to be a clearer cleaner sound. But thats my opinion.

 

Krispy

 

I like Yamaha's quality, but I do not like their tinny sound. That's the verb I use to describe their sound. Others may call it crisp or clear. In the previous years I've come to like the punchier models, since I watch movies most of the time. More or less a preference but I did have the chance to listen to one of Yamaha's new Aventage series over the weekend and I heard that same tinny sound I was familiar with. It is such an objective scenario, but I at least like to talk about it and try to research what's out there, what's new and what's worth buying. Since I have a good set of speakers, not those big box models, I'd like to finally put them against a capable amp. And a receiver may not be the best option. At least not a big box store models. Looking at smaller niche models now. Darn, they are expensive.

I can see most people here are not a fan of Onkyo, I have 2 of them and I am impressed.  The oldest one is 4 years old and I haven't had any problems yet and they operate in a hot tropical climate.

 

One of mine is a fairly budget model and the other was about $1,000 after discount.  Both have a calibration microphone and automatically set up the system to give a flat frequency response and similar levels from each speaker for your particular room layout.  The difference this makes is astounding and it's a feature I would highly recommend, it sounds horrible when I turn it off.  I bought the newer one to upgrade to Dolby ATMOS and 4K definition.  Apart from ATMOS soundtracks, I can't tell the difference between the budget and the expensive receiver.

 

Years ago, I had the Bose Accoustimass 5.1 system with the dual cubes.  It sounded great when new, but as the years drew on, it sounded peaky in the mid-range.  I can only put it down to deterioration somewhere.

I can see most people here are not a fan of Onkyo, I have 2 of them and I am impressed.  The oldest one is 4 years old and I haven't had any problems yet and they operate in a hot tropical climate.

Most of the complaints about Onkyo / Integra aren't about sound quality. They are solid performers when they work. The issue seems to be a significantly higher than average failure rate. But as with almost any consumer item, there are plenty of good ones that make it off the assembly line. If there weren't, they couldn't stay in business. It's like the difference between Seagate and HGST. When you run the failure numbers for thousands of drives like backblaze, there is a clear winner, but that doesn't mean that every Seagate is bad.

 

Years ago, I had the Bose Accoustimass 5.1 system with the dual cubes.  It sounded great when new, but as the years drew on, it sounded peaky in the mid-range.  I can only put it down to deterioration somewhere.

No highs, no lows? Must be Bose. 

+1 for Yamaha.

 

I've had a 2 over the years, and never had an issue. Latest is the Yamaha rx-v1800, and though getting a bit long in the tooth, still outputs some great sound. My next model will definitely have Atmos-support and networking .

I can see most people here are not a fan of Onkyo, I have 2 of them and I am impressed.  The oldest one is 4 years old and I haven't had any problems yet and they operate in a hot tropical climate.

 

One of mine is a fairly budget model and the other was about $1,000 after discount.  Both have a calibration microphone and automatically set up the system to give a flat frequency response and similar levels from each speaker for your particular room layout.  The difference this makes is astounding and it's a feature I would highly recommend, it sounds horrible when I turn it off.  I bought the newer one to upgrade to Dolby ATMOS and 4K definition.  Apart from ATMOS soundtracks, I can't tell the difference between the budget and the expensive receiver.

 

Years ago, I had the Bose Accoustimass 5.1 system with the dual cubes.  It sounded great when new, but as the years drew on, it sounded peaky in the mid-range.  I can only put it down to deterioration somewhere.

 

When the speakers are of really good quality they often sound better over time. The less expensive stuff wears out like expected. Takes a lot of years to learn that and I myself didn't think that was really true until I got the chance to take home good quality speakers. Now my problem is that I can tell the difference between amplifier brands. Previously when I had the big box store brand stuff all the receivers/amps sounded the same and I didn't care what receiver/amp I had. This is unfortunate for me, because I don't think I've tapped my speakers full capabilities yet and that is going to cost me.

I can see most people here are not a fan of Onkyo, I have 2 of them and I am impressed.  The oldest one is 4 years old and I haven't had any problems yet and they operate in a hot tropical climate.

 

One of mine is a fairly budget model and the other was about $1,000 after discount.  Both have a calibration microphone and automatically set up the system to give a flat frequency response and similar levels from each speaker for your particular room layout.  The difference this makes is astounding and it's a feature I would highly recommend, it sounds horrible when I turn it off.  I bought the newer one to upgrade to Dolby ATMOS and 4K definition.  Apart from ATMOS soundtracks, I can't tell the difference between the budget and the expensive receiver.

 

Years ago, I had the Bose Accoustimass 5.1 system with the dual cubes.  It sounded great when new, but as the years drew on, it sounded peaky in the mid-range.  I can only put it down to deterioration somewhere.

 

When the speakers are of really good quality they often sound better over time. The less expensive stuff wears out like expected. Takes a lot of years to learn that and I myself didn't think that was really true until I got the chance to take home good quality speakers. Now my problem is that I can tell the difference between amplifier brands. Previously when I had the big box store brand stuff all the receivers/amps sounded the same and I didn't care what receiver/amp I had. This is unfortunate for me, because I don't think I've tapped my speakers full capabilities yet and that is going to cost me.

 

Totally get what your talking about here. Box store speakers were great, had no problem with them or my old receiver. Then I got a set of Paradigm Reference Studio 60's along with the matching centre and rear, boy, that receiver went away fast.

I bought a set of 7.1 speakers from Best Buy up here in Canada over 10 years ago.  They are Sony but look like Polk Audio in shape.  Have since replaced the sub with a polk audio sub.  I paid $375 for the speaker set initially on a 50% off sale.  Sound is incredible for satellite speakers.

 

Kryspy

look at the Denon AVR-X5200  I am very satisfied with this receiver