Receivers


Hi all!

Anyone would know which would be the best choice of these receivers below:

- Denon AVR 5803
- Pioneer Elite VSX-59TXi
- ONKYO TX-NR1000

I am looking to upgrade my receivers but also looking for a used THX Ultra receiver. My speakeres are THX Ultra and wanted to get a THX Ultra receiver to match the THX sound.

Thanks for any advice!
mantaraydesign
I was looking at the Arcam 350 and it looks great. However, the power rating is pretty low (100 watts @8 ohms per channel) considering the price $2500 and weighing only 35 pounds. The 350 reminds me of the Sunfire Ultimate Receiver II which I just sold recently. The Sunfire was very lightweight (40 pounds) but producing 200 watts @8 ohms per channel. I sold the Sunfire because I bought the THX speaker systems.

For sure, all the latest Arcam products looks fantastic.
ARCAM AVR-350 is the DIVA series whichwill be discontinued and just a fact, they are actually built in China - the ARCAM FMJ series are built in England... Have you scoped out the Integra DTR 9.9? And Supposely DENON AVR-4310 will be out next month!
Audiotomb, Got bow? Are you playing with anybody? What do you play? The picture of your fiddle makes it almost look plastic, it's not is it?
What happen to Harman Kardon products???

They use to make nice products but now they make really wimpy receivers. Even their top of the receiver line AVR 3550HD. It's rated at 7 x 75W. The AVR 3550HD is not a bad looking receiver but the specs are awful I think!
as has often been stated, an ht receiver's power specs are hugely misleading because there is no established standard for how they're published. since most consumers buy on the basis of claimed power ratings, many manufactuturers claim power ratings based only on one or two channels driven (or on the basis of all channels driven at some ridiculously high distortion level). i had a yamaha htr which claimed 100w x 5; when i read the actual lab-tested specs, it actually produced 40w with all channels driven in real-world conditions.
hk, nad, rotel and some others are much more scrupulous about their power ratings--that 75w/ch hk unit may in reality have more oomph than some japanese-branded unit claiming 130w. i would look closely at actual bench test results (frequently published in sound and vision et al) and at the dynamic headroom rating, which is a better indicia of how the receiver will actually perform. my nad integrated, for example, is rated at "only" 50w x 2, but goes to 180w for short transient bursts and never lacks for power.
all that said, if you like the hk i wouldn't be dissuaded on the basis of its printed specs.